Does anyone have a current (this winter/spring) pirep for the condition of the chicken strip? I’ve heard that some of the roads out there washed out this winter and I’m wondering if there are ruts on the airstrip that would make it unusable for a big-tired trike.

If you have any info, I’d appreciate it. Don’t know where else I can track this kind of thing down, so thank you!

Well, I will chime in here to second the request for any current information available on the condition of Chicken Strip. Looks like a great destination before it gets real hot... Big tired 1957 182 is what I will be flying.

If the strip is blown out the care taker at the springs usually X's it off on both ends. If it's not X'd off, it's PROBABLY good to go. At your own risk, of course.

I'll try and get out there this weekend and post an update. So far the Park Service has said nothing to me and that's good. When it gets rained out I normally get a call or an email.

Rick

just got an update from Lee at the strip. He says the strip in in "Standard condition" which means no rutting from rains so far this year. I'll still try and make it out there and post an update this weekend.

Rick

Well Sh__ happens and I never made it out to Chicken Strip. We are going to get some weather in the next couple of days here at Kern Valley so I Won't get out there until after the weather goes through. Sorry.

pacerpilot wrote:Well Sh__ happens and I never made it out to Chicken Strip. We are going to get some weather in the next couple of days here at Kern Valley so I Won't get out there until after the weather goes through. Sorry.

Don't worry about it - Lizard Lee's endorsement is all I need. Thanks!

I'm interested as well... oh wait 2 more weeks of winter first.

skiermanmike wrote:

pacerpilot wrote:Well Sh__ happens and I never made it out to Chicken Strip. We are going to get some weather in the next couple of days here at Kern Valley so I Won't get out there until after the weather goes through. Sorry.

Don't worry about it - Lizard Lee's endorsement is all I need. Thanks!

When are you planing on going to Chicken Strip?

Well I didn't make it over to the Chicken Strip but a good friend of mine that I trust did and his report is:

The strip is in good shape no rutting from winter rains.

Russ fly's a 180 and knows what he is talking about.

Rick

I flew by last Friday (Mar 22), and the strip was blocked with some large tires, at two locations in the middle.

I can't speak for Friday, but Russ was there yesterday Sunday the 24th and landed with the above report.

Rick

Looks like it might be official?? Chicken Strip will remain open under a special regulation...

I guess there is still the chance that the special regulation will not happen, but if they are mentioning it in the management plan for the springs, it looks good.

Any word on it being charted?
http://flash.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Chicken-Strip-To-Be-Legalized-231869-1.html

TrevDog wrote:Any word on it being charted?
http://flash.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Chicken-Strip-To-Be-Legalized-231869-1.html

Let's hope not...nothing good will come from that.

Yea seriously ! Hope it can stay the same. Maybe the park circus could remove some of the non native rocks to improve the strip in the future .

Not sure how that is a bad thing? RAF is a great organization as far as I know. Charting it and having RAF maintain it sounds like an ideal way to preserve it.

hamer wrote:Not sure how that is a bad thing? RAF is a great organization as far as I know. Charting it and having RAF maintain it sounds like an ideal way to preserve it.

RAF maintaining it is great...charting it is where the problem will be. It simply cannot accommodate a larger volume of traffic than it's already receiving. Scores of additional users aren't going to preserve it, they're going to ruin it.

The CS isn't difficult, but it's several steps above any other charted, public airstrip on the sectional. One-way approach, soft, short surface, sporadic and often STRONG winds, plus some simply ridiculous DA conspires to wreck a couple airplanes every year... And those were the pilots that found it without it being on the chart. When your average renter takes the flight school 172 for a spin and decides that the CS is an interesting looking place to go for the afternoon, it's going to get worse. Much worse.

Accidents, especially accidents with fatalities, WILL close the strip. Pilots and the RAF can raise all the stink they want, but if the Park Super decides there's more political or legal exposure to leaving it open than there is to closing it, they'll close it. You'll notice it's not part of the Saline Valley Management Plan....they don't have to re-write the plan to change their standing on the CS.

It's a small strip with a very small parking area. Just about every time a new pilot comes in they turn around in a direction that sand-blasts any other airplanes and camps. Given that they're blowing crushed volcanic cinders, that's not a small thing. Inexperienced pilots using the short/soft field departure taught in basic training create a cloud of dust and pulverized propeller aluminum big enough to be seen from space. There are no toilets and no garbage pick-up, and even without being charted, regular users are constantly cleaning up after other less considerate visitors.

Pilots who want to find strips like the CS because they're looking for a remote place to visit don't have any trouble finding them. But advertising it to everyone in So Cal with an airplane reserved for the afternoon and a sectional is a big mistake.

It's pretty academic to me...I don't live in that part of the world anymore and don't plan to ever return, but when I did live in CA my wife and I were the single biggest users of the CS for over a decade. We've camped there every month of the year, often racking up a couple months use during the year. We saw a lot of things during that time, none of which suggested that more inexperienced users was going to be a good thing for the CS.

I'll say it again: if the number of accidents, especially accidents with injuries or fatalities increases, the Park will close the strip. I can already hear the scores of people screaming "they can't do that...it's OUR land...they made an agreement", but they can, and they will. The simplest way to prevent that is to keep it off the chart.

Exactly .

Hammer, is that your 170 in the pic for this article?

TrevDog wrote:Any word on it being charted?
http://flash.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Chicken-Strip-To-Be-Legalized-231869-1.html