My friend Russ is having his annual Memorial Day Fly-in at his grass/dirt strip northeast of Fort Collins, scheduled for May 26, beginning about 7 a.m. You might remember that’s where I kept my airplane for a year, after Fort Collins Downtown was closed.

It’s a good old fashioned barnstormer fly-in, with a number of folks usually coming up from the Denver area, down from Cheyenne, and of course from Fort Collins and Greeley. There’ll be pancakes, coffee, flour-bombing competition, some RC flying (those are airplanes and helicopters, not drones!), and just good ol’ aviation fun and camaraderie. It gets a little bigger each year, so Russ and Angie would like to know who and how many are coming so that there will be enough food. Let me know here, and I’ll pass the word.

Here's the GPS coordinates (according to my GPS): N40º 11’ 15.8”, W104º 51’ 39.2”. If no GPS, it's on the 289º radial off of GILL, about 18 nm. If using pilotage to find it, the easiest way is north of Fort Collins along I-25 to Wellington, then east along the Nunn road to the huge power line that crosses the Nunn road, then southeast a mile and there you are.

Elevation is 5350', length is roughly 2800' x 40'. CTAF: 122.85. Main obstacle is a power line on the west end, so any go around when landing to the northwest should be initiated early enough to clear that--it's about 40' high. However, there is a huge radio tower about 3 miles southeast of Russ's, which penetrates to about 6100' MSL. Stay at 6500' until over his place, and you'll be safe.

The house and hangar are very visible, as is the runway now. There's a windsock and segmented circle about 1/3 southeast of the northwest end of the runway, on the northeast side of the runway. Unless the wind is really strong the other way, most landings are to the northwest and takeoffs to the southeast, because of the slope and the powerlines.

Cary

A reminder to those in the general vicinity of northern Colorado--this annual event is a whole lot of fun, and it's a great way to spend Memorial Day among fellow aviation enthusiasts. For those who are reluctant to fly into a relatively high elevation/relatively short grass strip, there have been 8 or 10 drive-in folks the last few years. Everyone is welcome--though again, an RSVP is nice for Russ and Angie to have enough food.

Cary

The fly-in was a success, as usual. The Reeds are stand-up, super decent people. 18 airplanes, I don't know how many folks, enough food, great camaraderie. Had to jump start one Skylane--either she left the master on, or the battery is going down hill. Kids had fun being flour bombardiers, and only one got sick. Otherwise, lots of good fun for everyone.

Cary