As I'm getting closer to finishing the restoration on my Taylorcraft (three ribs left!), I'm starting to buckle down on planning how to get this plane from Anchorage, AK to Nashville, TN. Staying with friends every few hundred miles would require swinging way south out of my way, or as my IA points out, "Flying around Tornado Alley in August."

So, camping - a search for airport camping seems to bring up lots of sites either wanting to tout five or ten 'best getaway' runways, or wanting thirty to fifty bucks to tell me if they have the information I need. What site or sites would you recommend? Any other advice on flying from the Rockies to the Appalachians?

My route down the Alcan is pretty set by the Alcan itself, though I hear customs is friendly in Porthill, ID (and I'll swing way out of my way for a friendly border guard!). I'd like to go through Bozeman, MT to say hi to an old friend and the malamute I helped train, but beyond that I'm just looking at the maps, shrugging, and figuring I ought to follow roads, avoid Class B, and plan a way from here to there before I go wheels-up.

Also if you come through Indiana, 78I Pam's place is a nice grass strip which you can camp at, and if you do it soon enough you can even use my hanger for the night.

Why on earth would u leave Alaska to go to TN ??

I hope to have some improved search features added to shortfield.com soon...to make it easier for filter-out different types of runways etc. Currently, if you look at the map you will see unpaved airstrips as bigger icons while paved runways are small. Also, strips that have been updated by shortfield users have the shortfield icon as a map marker. Let me know if you have any questions about using the site, or upcoming features.

DonC wrote:Why on earth would u leave Alaska to go to TN ??

x 2! I was forced to move from Fairbanks to Alabama then Louisiana. I knew I was in trouble when I ended up in a state that isn't supported at all by shortfielder. They have a void over LA. Stay in AK!

Brett

AOPA Airport Facilities Directory has the ability to filter all airports which allow camping on site. You will be surprised how many there are.

Mongo - thank you for the suggestion and offer!

By the way, how does camping by the plane work in the Lower 48? I understand that off-airport landing is more restricted, and that it's unlikely for asphalt runways to have a set-aside camping areas? I've been told that rule-of-thumb is if it's turf, chances are high I can camp if I call ahead and ask, and if it's asphalt, chances are low?

Chris,
I've been shortfield.com using it to look at Pireps in the Rockies, trying to get a handle on the places you guys mention down there - and been poking at it for this, too. Is there / will there be any easy way to filter for camping allowed under-wing / contains campground? I figure I can send pireps and photos once I am doing less restoration, and more flying. On a complete tangent, most of the places I go with my Flying Buddy are well-known standard 'cub strips', but they don't have an identifier or any formality. Did you want those?

I'm partial to shortfield.com, but this one exists too:

http://www.americanaircampers.net/amair/map-search.php

Dunno how far they're gonna go by charging for membership though...

Dot_AK wrote:Mongo - thank you for the suggestion and offer!

By the way, how does camping by the plane work in the Lower 48? I understand that off-airport landing is more restricted, and that it's unlikely for asphalt runways to have a set-aside camping areas? I've been told that rule-of-thumb is if it's turf, chances are high I can camp if I call ahead and ask, and if it's asphalt, chances are low?

That would be correct.

Dot: Glad you are making good progress on your plane. IMO you should not be concerned about where you clear US Customs. With over 200 border crossings behind me, I have had 2 encounters with somewhat rude and excessvely official customs agents. Virtually all others have been nice, courteous people. I can't imagine you would be transporting anything from AK that would cause a problem in the lower 48, well, maybe some nice red salmon, but that would be difficult to keep frozen. Say hi to Pat when you see him. Later, FF

Suggestions for Shortfield.com:

1. Have user ratings
2. Filter by state
3. Filter by "has Photos" or "has Pireps"
4. Sorting of search results, such as by "highest rated to lowest", "most recent", etc.

Thanks for a great site!

Dot_AK and Bugs,
There are more search features on the way. The old version had more search options, but I just upgraded the site which oddly enough resulted in some temporary downgrading. I've got to re-create some of the features for the new site. My first priority is to get the 'upload' feature back online so you can upload PIREPs, photos, video, etc. After than I work on getting the 'advanced' search working. I also have a few trip-report features in the works so you'll be able to create and share information about trips as well as individual airpstrips. Ratings and comments are also in the works.

-Chris

I love Shortfield. Another resource is http://www.adventurepilot.com.

Their advanced search lets you select origin airport, max distance, attributes like camping, and how close you need the camping to be (on-field, walkable, etc.).

They don't have everything by a long shot, but it's a good complement to the other resources mentioned.