Hospice people are angels. I've lost my mother and sister to cancer in the past 3 years. It is unbearable pain watching your loved ones deteriorate. And hospice does their level best to ease the transition of the inevitable - and I for one am eternally grateful.

Good on her. I'm very thankful there are people out there that can do that job. I have no idea how she can watch people like us suffer day in and day out. Bless her.

Iceman..I've never met your wife, but she must be very special to do the work she does. Have had toooooo many friends and relatives have to use their services the last few years. This takes a very special kind of person to do this work, I know I couldn't do it.
Please tell her thank you for me.
Ernie

I agree with Matt, combining the two events will not work, just too many planes Super Cub's should have first pick of dates, because they were there first. I would rather keep it at JC; just space it two weeks apart. I think that is a better option than moving it somewhere else. If we do move it somewhere: Big Creek= bring in porta pots. Sulphur Creek would be great but how do you get extra porta pots in there? One bathroom won't work Maybe we could rent Root Ranch for a couple of days?? Mackay Bar would be great if they have enough room to park planes. Garden Valley and Smiley Creek are great, but to far away from the places we want to fly out to while we're camping. Ryan Field, Montana ?? This is my 2 cents worth. Let's set a date soon for 2013

iceman wrote:an interesting note I learned also... they were thinning out the trees that were a possible hazard in the camp area... now you would think they'd just get a chain saw and start cutting... Oh Nay Nay.... they got the army or somebody like that to come in with c 4 and wrap the trees with c4 and blow them up... Her reason was that they looked more naturally taken down than cut with a chain saw and also she felt that the stumps would decay faster if left with jagged edges rather than a smooth level cut....and yeah they had all the roofing material flown in on a c 47...I was glad she got up and walked off cause I was just about to head back to the Maule and sit by myself.. Dumb B"""ch...

It's insane. The geniuses in Missoula were doing that...claimed they couldn't find people who knew how to use a chain saw ("lack of 'qualified' tree sawyers"). It bothers me that this passes for being innovative...there are an awful lot of unemployed loggers within a 50 mile radius.

My Two Cents,

I think moving it a week would be OK but I prefer it to be sequential weekends since it is a lot of fun to do both.I think it is curious that someone from the state is suggesting that we do that and suspect it is not someone from the aviation side since most aviators understand how tentative the weather can be in Idaho. Having an event with 100 + planes right after a separate event with 100 + planes in the middle of nowhere is a huge statement re GA and supports John McKenna's comment that backcountry flying is the segment of GA that is growing. I agree with Rob that the environmental impact is minimal so something else is afoot.

If my memory serves me we donated thousands of dollars to IAA and RAF the past several years. The best use of those funds to support GA at this time may be to earmark them to preserve and enhance the BCP flyin. Therefore my second choice would be to open up a discussion with Sulphur Creek keeping those funds in mind to support the possibility. Based upon what I have seen there they are very aviator-friendly, it could handle a lot of airplanes and who knows what might be able to be worked out.

Hanging out in front of a large bonfire in front of the lodge in the evening, catered dinners, happy hours, early morning coffee and donuts, ice on site, plenty of camp sites, a relatively benign strip etc might be a nice twist and it is still generally the same location. With all those cabins I suspect there are several bathroom/shower facilities on site. We get by with only 4 showers at JC ! I would not be surprised if they would even sell out their cabins for part of the week. Might be worth a try.

I live in the area Matt, let me know if you want me to check it out.

Paul

Maybe, just maybe, we ought to think about moving it to Caveman?? They love us... We love them... Flying is utterly awesome... If Idaho's getting overcrowded, lets try Utah.. It's amazing too.!!!

Don't get me wrong, I love both places.. a whole bunch..!!!

Coyote Ugly wrote:Maybe, just maybe, we ought to think about moving it to Caveman?? They love us... We love them... Flying is utterly awesome... If Idaho's getting overcrowded, lets try Utah.. It's amazing too.!!!

Don't get me wrong, I love both places.. a whole bunch..!!!

I'd be down for that! I'm only allowed off "the rez" for one big flying trip/year. Always wanted to do Caveman/Utah. Maybe we work out with SC.org to alternate these years?

I for one do not feel that trading beautiful grass runway in the wonderful idaho mountains for a a Desert and mountains is a good deal. I know I would probably still go to JC creek for the SC fly in along with a lot of others. Therefore they wouldn't have 2 fly in's, but instead a lot more people at the SC fly in...which it's already (from what I know) at least 100 airplanes.

Yup, I'd have to say something else is driving this too. It really seems out of character for the state to want to impose restrictions. If they do, a letter campaign reminding them of the donations of the groups would probably be in order. A little push back is a good thing sometimes.

I agree with Rob, Robertc, Utahmaule and a bunch more of you. Let's just plan it and see what happens. I too don't buy the impact on the grass excuse. Plenty of time to water the lawn before and after the rush of both events. The caretakers were great and did a great job. As for the number of planes, they moved much more smoothly than I thought they would. I saw of and heard of no issues. There weren't many spots left to camp this year and I couldn't see it comfortably accommodating another 50-100 aircraft. Besides, we already have a great fly-in at Caveman in May!

sorry guys didn't mean to hijack this thread.. but thanks for the comments and I'll relay them to Gunny Ice... SHe's got 250 people who do the actual patient seeing.. SHe hasn't done that for years.. but she runs the show so I'm proud of her...

Idahomauledriver wrote:My Two Cents,

I think moving it a week would be OK but I prefer it to be sequential weekends since it is a lot of fun to do both.I think it is curious that someone from the state is suggesting that we do that and suspect it is not someone from the aviation side since most aviators understand how tentative the weather can be in Idaho. Having an event with 100 + planes right after a separate event with 100 + planes in the middle of nowhere is a huge statement re GA and supports John McKenna's comment that backcountry flying is the segment of GA that is growing. I agree with Rob that the environmental impact is minimal so something else is afoot.

If my memory serves me we donated thousands of dollars to IAA and RAF the past several years. The best use of those funds to support GA at this time may be to earmark them to preserve and enhance the BCP flyin. Therefore my second choice would be to open up a discussion with Sulphur Creek keeping those funds in mind to support the possibility. Based upon what I have seen there they are very aviator-friendly, it could handle a lot of airplanes and who knows what might be able to be worked out.

Hanging out in front of a large bonfire in front of the lodge in the evening, catered dinners, happy hours, early morning coffee and donuts, ice on site, plenty of camp sites, a relatively benign strip etc might be a nice twist and it is still generally the same location. With all those cabins I suspect there are several bathroom/shower facilities on site. We get by with only 4 showers at JC ! I would not be surprised if they would even sell out their cabins for part of the week. Might be worth a try.

I live in the area Matt, let me know if you want me to check it out.

Paul

Well there are new owners there so they might just go for it... Tom Alagreza wouldn't have but he no longer owns it... only thing that might be a hurdle is liability... It's a private strip and they might balk at so many aircraft coming and going...but it's worth a shot...They rent horses too...

yup im with ice and grass...plan it as usual and let's roll. sulphur or the B would both be great ideas as well...
we seem to all do pretty dang good at JC for sure...lots of missions in and out and no real incidents there either...i believe the rash of crashes in and around the wilderness during that time were the result of a lot of abnormally strong winds and such...when Pete in challis hangs it up early, u know somethings up with the wx...and he did that when i was there sunday gassin' up...those 20 + yr locals know their stuff, dont be afraid to ask 'em what they think...

Any new info from the powers?

Rumors then??

Cheers

Interesting read: From the Skywagon Club newsletter


Johnson Creek 2012 fly in review
From my standpoint you had to really want to get to Johnson Creek this year. Most of Washington was expe- riencing unseasonal thunder storms – something, we out here don’t get very often. Day time isolated CBs are one thing but on my trip going to Johnson Creek we were under the spell of the weather gods with many em- bedded CB’s. With ATC’s help we were able to skirt around the bad stuff and my son Joel and two grand- sons, Tim and Adam arrived on Friday. Once we were there the weatherman again took good care of us this year with beautiful clear skies, warm daytime temperatures and cool nights.

The Johnson Creek event this year followed the convention in Cranbrook, BC which followed the Garden Valley fly-in. Myron Ramsdell from Georgia gets the ‘long trip’ award as he had attended all three of the C180/185 events and was off to Oshkosh enroute home.

Again we have new caretakers this year, Phil and Roxie Pryor and the facilities were in great shape. Spring time had produced a lot of rain in Idaho and that makes the grass grow and the runway was in excellent con- dition. We climbed up to the hot tub on Saturday for some exercise and enjoyment; it is 45 minutes uphill go- ing there but real easy downhill returning.

It has been a tradition for several years to have a Saturday night BBQ and potluck. The facility has the mak- ing for this event with concrete blocks and a grate. With two bags of charcoal briquettes the fire is hot enough to cook anything. During this event I try to have a speaker come in and talk about things important to flying in Idaho. This year Mike Pape from the Idaho Department of Transportation was on site and talked about DA and a recent accident. It has been a bad year in Idaho for accidents with some real stupid stunts by other groups and this did not go unnoticed by the FAA. Cliff Smart, a safety inspector from the Boise FSDO was there and also spoke about safety. Unless things change we can expect this type of scrutiny in the future.

For a number of years the 180/185 Club has had the largest number of aircraft attending Johnson Creek dur- ing the year. Other type clubs and organizations have also started coming so the facility is pressed sometimes to accommodate all of us. Fortunately we schedule this event and have it mostly to ourselves. Next year I’ll try and have the fly-in during the Harmonica Festival.

Thanks to those that came.
Al Hewitt

Just a bump?

SC.org is June 14-16th.

Anyone have and ideas for BCP? Who generally sets this up?

AKT

Bryan (piperpainter) is usually the one who sets it up.

This will be 28-30th 2013. I'll post soon and I'll get the form from Gary. It looks like the fly in will be 2 weeks after the SC fly in so thats perfect!

Those dates are fine with me. I guess I'll have to go to sc and bcp, I want to see my sc friends. was there an official deceleration for the spacing?

G'Day

I'll be at SC. For my BCP friends who like less people. I am staying June 17, 18, 19 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY after SC.org we will keep the party going,have the place all to ourselves. yee haw

G'Day...Rob

OregonMaule wrote:I'll be at SC. For my BCP friends who like less people. I am staying June 17, 18, 19 MONDAY-WEDNESDAY after SC.org we will keep the party going,have the place all to ourselves. yee haw

G'Day...Rob

Hope my schedule works out to where I'll be home this time And, I sure the hell hope my plane is running by then, too!!!

And as you know, my home is your home, Rob and other BCP friends.