Hi everyone,

For years I've looked down at a lone hanger and two crossing strips that happens to be out in the practice area northwest of Ogden. I'll often pull an engine on whoever I am flying with when the plane is in such a position that the field is in the pilot's blind spot. After he chooses a hay field, I'll ask why he didn't land on the runway. I'll get puzzled stares and then will take them back around to show them the hanger and strips. (The lesson is to check the blind spots for all options.)

Anyway, I've always wondered about it and wanted to drive out to explore it. So, today I decided to give Dee a break, loaded Adam in the truck, and set out to find it. No roads were posted so I made my way to within a couple of hundred yards from it. We walked out and I was surprised to find the trailer house next to the hanger showed some signs of use in the last few years. There were some shelves that had some cans of food and a modern looking can of Nestle Quick. There is also a small dish on the top of the trailer and the windows have curtains on them and there was furniture inside. The door was locked but I could see some rubber boots and duck decoys in a storage area built onto to the trailer. I'm thinking that this might just be used by someone during duck hunting season. I had to cross a fence to get to it, and the fence had a "Utah Wildlife Management Area" sign on it, most likely for the bird refuge that is out there. I'm guessing that this is private land that is excluded from the refuge.

Anyway, after I poked around the trailer house, I walked over to the hanger. This is where it got interesting. The hanger was locked, but I could peer in through the cracks between the door. To my surprise, there is an aircraft inside. I couldn't get a good look at it though. The cowl is off and I could just see part of the front left door and the bottom half of the wing strut. It has a split strut, like a champ, but it looked like it had a metal door. The left main was inflated and it has conventional gear. I really wish I could have seen a tail number or gotten my camera in far enough to take a picture. I'm pretty certain that it hasn't moved in years and is probably being used to house a variety of critters.

So now my curiosity is really going. The last vehicle in there was when the roads were really wet because deep ruts were made. There was no new signs of activity other than the possibly one person on foot that had laid some weeds over. The runways as well as all the area around the hanger and trailer are overgrown, although the runways are still easily recognizable. I'm guessing that this might just be a case of someone that had a plane out there and got to the point of not flying any more and just tucked it away to be forgotten. So, anyone from northern Utah know anything about this place? It would be interesting to know who owned/owns it and what the story is on the aircraft in the hanger.

The strip is located at 41 17' 39.09"N and 112 12' 07.07"W. Check it out and let me know if you know anything about it.

Thanks,

GSP

Mornin Cory
How overgrown were the runways? Still useable?
Gary

Go down to the county assessors office with the GPS co ordinance and they will be able to give you a printout of the owners name, mailing address, tax info and everything to do with the land. Sometimes they will pull out old map books and you just need to identify which parcel it is. Usually costs about a dollar per printout.

I did that on an abandoned airstrip I found out in Nevada. There were cheap lots right by it so I wrote and asked if he would care if I cleaned off the strip. Never got a response but I know the taxes were sent to the same address and they were current. Good luck!

Hey Gary,

Yeah, I think that they both are still usable. You guys with big tires wouldn't have a problem landing there as it is right now. Even though there are weeds, they aren't really thick and the north/south runway is clearer than the other one.

Jaerl,

I had that same thought. I called a friend of mine that is a realtor and he told me about the process. I've also called a local that kind of knows everything GA around here and am waiting to hear back from him. He also works for the Division of Wildlife and Resources, so I thought he might have some info on it.

Meanwhile, I thought someone here might know something about it.

I've flown over it many times and wondered the same things. Are you located at OGD? We should get together and figure this out.

As long as we are talking about Northern Utah Strips. Anyone know of a strip that is supposed to be East of logan? I think I saw it in Fly Utah but I can't remember. Seems like it had two runways at one time. Sorry for the thread hijack

CORY
dOWN HERE WE CAN ACCESS COUNTY RECORDS FOR LAND OWNERS ON LINE.
gARY

Have you ever seen the TV show "Breaking Bad" about meth labs in trailers?? You might get shot if you are in the wrong place.

Is this the strip that Russian guy lives at? I think his name is Ivan and he is the man behind the Ivo prop that are used on homebuilts. He likes the serenity out there they say.

He lives near Lucin and has a strip and hangar. He had an old straight-tailed 172 that was take into Ogden for an annual and was condemned on the spot (rumor ). Seems airplanes dont like salty mud that never gets washed off

Steve, we should do that. I am out of Ogden.

Gary, I wondered about that too and will look into that.

Patrolguy, I thought about that too and was thinking I should have had my .40 with me.

The Russian guy is out at Lucin. Not the same place. He had an old 182 in a camo paint scheme.

Not sure about east of Logan, but there is one east of Ogden that has/had 2 or 3 strips and is in the Fly Utah book. I believe some sort of outfitter uses it to bring people into their new lodge.

Ivo is actually Czechoslovakian. I talked to him once about landing there and he just asked me why I would want to do that. He told me the best times to come in because the winds get crazy out there. I would get permission before I went in there. Here is a story a local paper ran a few years ago:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/state-a ... c3b9d.html

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=41.29421,-11 ... 007.07%22W

http://gis.co.weber.ut.us/gis/plattmaps/19-053.PDF

Here is the tax info on that parcel:

http://www.co.weber.ut.us/psearch/summa ... =190530002

Could it have been a PA-12?

http://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry ... rtxt=4036M

Guess I'm bored Guy appears to be in his 80's and is still around Weber County.

Grasstrippilot - the crossing runways airstrip northwest of Ogden belongs to Odekirk (sp?) He has a PA-12, but I haven't seen him flying around much in the past few years.

The Jacks grass strip has a power line that crosses right through the middle of it, so now it's unuseable.

windy

Go chat with him GSP, he'd probably love the company, an ya might make a hell of a deal....

Breakfast tomorrow in Logan. We could do a fly-over afterwards.

SixTwoLeemer wrote:Is this the strip that Russian guy lives at? I think his name is Ivan and he is the man behind the Ivo prop that are used on homebuilts. He likes the serenity out there they say.

He lives near Lucin and has a strip and hangar. He had an old straight-tailed 172 that was take into Ogden for an annual and was condemned on the spot (rumor ). Seems airplanes dont like salty mud that never gets washed off

Ivo's ride (not a straight tail) gets annualed in the same hangar I park in. It just got a 180 hp conversion less than a year ago and he is in Alaska right now. I'd like to have seen the look on the Customs Officer when Ivo taxied up......

I helped build one of his cross wind runways several years ago, and have landed out there many times. It's not as cool as you'd think. Ivo's story has some historical signifigance though.

http://www.ivoprop.com/ivostory.htm

UtahMaule wrote:

SixTwoLeemer wrote:Is this the strip that Russian guy lives at? I think his name is Ivan and he is the man behind the Ivo prop that are used on homebuilts. He likes the serenity out there they say.

He lives near Lucin and has a strip and hangar. He had an old straight-tailed 172 that was take into Ogden for an annual and was condemned on the spot (rumor ). Seems airplanes dont like salty mud that never gets washed off

Ivo's ride (not a straight tail) gets annualed in the same hangar I park in. It just got a 180 hp conversion less than a year ago and he is in Alaska right now. I'd like to have seen the look on the Customs Officer when Ivo taxied up......

I helped build one of his cross wind runways several years ago, and have landed out there many times. It's not as cool as you'd think. Ivo's story has some historical signifigance though.

http://www.ivoprop.com/ivostory.htm

So does it have an Ivo prop?
tom

Nope.

He builds experimental VTOL aircraft in his hangar/home and I see a lot of Ivo props on and around those projects.

sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

The Ivo prop is not certified, no? I'd like to drop in there to visit but would feel bad doing so as I do not fly with an Ivo prop on my bird.....it would just seem in poor taste? You guys with the McCauleys, Sensinich's, or other cert props don't have that "problem". I first flew over last year and could not help remarking to myself (not knowing who or what place it was) "Damn, this guy must like his privacy". I've always liked the people who escaped the Iron Curtain as my Hungarian grandfolks sponsered a guy for US citizenship who had one eye, that he had lost a month earlier escaping Hungary, and got shot up, never forgot that even though I was 8 or so!

Remember that Ivo also lives under a very active MOA.