Thanks for the leg work guys. It seems there are weeks when I barely get the basics done when I am home...especially with the little one coming soon.

I try to get a hold of him and see what I can learn. At the very least, should be some good story telling to be had!

windy wrote: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

Yup. I think that is his PA-12 out there.

I was really bummed when they built the power lines across Jacks strip. So very, very wrong. A friend of mine was approached about buying a 182 that was up there years ago. Too much of a project plane though for him at the time.

The strip with the power lines across it, Jack's. Is his last name Pierce?

Not sure. Wendy, do you know? I just always saw it and wanted to land there. Sad they put it across the middle of the runway. I guess you could still land on it...just don't do a go around!

UBCP has a Larry Pierce listed as the owner of Jack's.

Grassstrippilot wrote:UBCP has a Larry Pierce listed as the owner of Jack's.

Larry is Jack's son. Jack passed away several years ago. Larry now has a huge new hangar at KBMC courtesy of the power line......

I was curious because I was going to camp at Brigham City on my way to Oshkosh. I was going to set up a tent on the grass next to the pilot's lounge. The mosquitoes were eating me alive so I decided to camp in the pilot's lounge instead. I had just finished my delicious MRE and was enjoying the warm sunset when a couple drove up in a convertable and parked in front of the big hangar next to the pilot's lounge. The woman got out of the car and asked me what I was doing there. I told her I was going to camp out in the pilot's lounge because it was cooler and no bugs. She became indignant and told me I was NOT going to sleep in the pilot's lounge. I thought oh great, an airport nazi. She grabbed me by the wrist and led me to her husband like I was going to see the principal. She said "Pearce, he says he's going to sleep in the pilot's lounge." "Oh no you're not" Pearce said to me, "I'll show you where you're sleeping tonight."

They take me into this huge hangar and up the stairs in the back to a gorgeous home built into the second floor of this hangar. Fully stocked kitchen, pool table, TV, shower, big four poster bed, all to myself. He told me there was only one rule, leave it the way I found it. Told me to help myself to whatever I liked in the kitchen and if he didn't see me again to have a safe flight. I thanked them profusely. Pearce and his wife Dorothy are REAL nice folks, at least in my experience.

I was told by another guy on the airport that this Pearce guy had a strip up in the mountains but had a power line built across it. As part of the settlement the power company built him this hangar.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

UtahMaule wrote:

Grassstrippilot wrote:UBCP has a Larry Pierce listed as the owner of Jack's.

Larry is Jack's son. Jack passed away several years ago. Larry now has a huge new hangar at KBMC courtesy of the power line......

Interesting. Good for him. Just bummed I never got to land at the strip.

Svanarts, that is a great story. It is good to hear people out there taking care of each other like that.

Update:

I finally ran into the guy that I needed to talk to in order to kind of complete the information that I was able to find. So here is what I found out about the strip in the original post.

After it was discovered who owned the land, Adam and I went for a ride to see if we could find Mr. Odekirk. We ended up finding his place and, after explaining to his wife why I was looking for him, she invited us in. I felt kind of bad just dropping in, but I think having Adam in tow didn't hurt my cause. Before long she had him hooked up a huge rice crispy treat with sprinkles. A few minutes later, Mr. Odekirk arrived and we had a good chat. He told me that he still flies and that they were planning on going out to mow the strip soon. In years past he had done a lot of flying in Idaho's backcountry, so that gave us a lot to talk about. We didn't stay long and soon were on our way. I left feeling a little confused since some of what he had said didn't jive. I wanted to talk to one of his old flying buddies to kind of piece it together.

A week or so ago, I finally ran into that flying buddy and asked him what the deal is. He said that it is a great strip and that he still goes out there to duck hunt. I asked about Mr. Odekirk's plane and he kind of chuckled. He said that he has a hanger on the airport and keeps his plane there. He said that he didn't think he had flown for a while and said that the plane has had an "honest annual" in years. This confused me and I asked if he knew whose airplane was in the hanger at the strip. He said that Mr. Odekirk had owned a couple of planes and that the one out at the strip he thinks is one that he gave to his son. He wasn't sure how long it had been there or when it flew last.

Shortly thereafter, I was out in that area and it looked like the strip had been mowed, although I didn't get low enough to verify this. So, that is what I found out. For those that are interested, I bet a phone call to him would yield permission to land their if you wanted.

Now for the next strip I'm curious about...look for a new thread.

Nice sleuthing