tedwaltman wrote:At last fall's fly in, stood there with a few fellow BCP'ers. Watched a "gentleman" with his son along in a Husky taxi in, then proceed to blast several planes with dirt & dust as he gunned it to turn around.

Hope folks think a bit and simply shut-down and let the many willing helping hands turn their plane into parking spots.

Of course, I was being purposely silly, but you're right. I'm often amazed at how inconsiderate others are with their prop wash.

Cary

Can't wait to fly that beautiful area once again, see all of you this weekend.

flynbeekeeper wrote:I forgot to mention that we are working with the County Commissioners to get a reduction in fuel price at the Del Norte (KRCV) Airport for the weekend. I will keep you posted.
Tom

Tom, any word on a fuel discount at KRCV?

Thanks!
-asa

I am confident that it will happen. We have a new County Administrator and two new Commissioners. They meet tomorrow to discuss the discount. I will be able to post for sure and the price tomorrow eve.
Tom

Thanks for all your doing Tom. Lynn with the Helio won't make it this weekend sadly Prop problems, not back from the prop shop. We dropped it off about a month and a half ago, but they had to ship the blades out and do some extensive work to the hub.

flynbeekeeper wrote:I am confident that it will happen. We have a new County Administrator and two new Commissioners. They meet tomorrow to discuss the discount. I will be able to post for sure and the price tomorrow eve.
Tom

Awesome, thanks for all the work you've put in!

-asa

HOOPER IS CLOSED FOR THE WEEKEND - DO NOT LAND

UPDATE (6/1/17)
Due to the 2017 Dirt Drags, the Hooper Sand Dunes Pool has a large group camping with RV's and tents Thursday (6/1) till Sunday (6/4) on the runway and in the parking area. Because of this, the HOOPER RUNWAY IS CLOSED until Monday due to concerns of vehicles, tents, people, pets, and blowing sand. This was due to a lack of communication on my end and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

WE WILL HOWEVER BE RUNNING SHUTTLES FROM LEACH AIRPORT (1V8) TO THE HOOPER SAND DUNES POOL BETWEEN 10AM TILL 3PM FOR LUNCH ON SATURDAY (6/3). SO PLEASE PLAN ON LANDING AT LEACH IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO EAT LUNCH OR GO FOR A SWIM AT HOOPER. (THANK YOU MIKE SPEARMAN!)

Thank you for your understanding.

Just got the word that KRCV fuel will be $3.99 for the weekend.
As for the Sand Dunes Pool being closed due to the Dirt Drags. That is awesome! speaks to the draw of this event and the Sand Dunes Pool. People are willing to camp way out here (because it is super cool) and drive an hour to attend the drags. I think I mentioned the Dirt Drags before. An incredible experience, people come from all over the world to attend. And this is just the third annual!http://www.hotroddirtdrags.com
Now for some potential good news: The original Monte Vista airport is located adjacent to the Movie Manor Motel. A very recently minted Super Cub owner/pilot is the son of the property owner. His family has expressed interest in getting at least one of the runways open. I will be working with them and the RAF to get that done. We are hoping to work with the owner of the Movie Manor for a through the fence agreement to allow access to his property. The Movie Manor has camping and shower facilities and drive in movies that are viewable from the motel rooms (hi def speakers in the rooms). What a great place to fly into!!
Back to LGCR: Some bad news. I just found out that Bonnie from the La Garita store is recovering (suffering) from lung cancer chemo. Her employee had been keeping the Cafe open and has agreed to do burgers for us tomorrow night, as Bonnie has done for the last several years. I plan on showing just a little more gratitude after burgers tomorrow night.
Finally, several have expressed thanks to me in this thread. I should be about forth down the line. Please thank the owners (Caruthers), manager (Mike Spearman) and then the CORAC guys (mtnwest, mountainmatt, Nathan Kurth and others). Without their hard work to get the strip open, and continued hard work to keep the fly ins going, it would not happen.
Oh, then the RAF: They granted $1000 to the Rio Grande Headwaters Trust last year in their efforts at gaining a conservation easement on LGCR. This year the RAF has granted $750 to LGCR for airstrip maintenance.
Going to be a great weekend!!
Tom

Perhaps a formation, drag fly-by at hooper is in order to support our fellow petrol heads !!!!!
So is it burgers at the trading post Friday night and the chuck wagon dinner on Saturday?
Whats the plan for breakfast?
Just trying to plan on what to bring. See y'all there.

It was an awesome fly-in again!!! great flying, great people... literally that's the only way to sum it up.

Paul, thanks for sharing the fascinating details of your trip far south. You guys really did something there. That was super neat to hear about! Can't even tell you how much I got out of hearing about that.

Of course big thanks go to Alec, Matt, Tom, Mike and others who make all this fun happen

I'll post up a few pictures, might have a few video clips worth a crap once I have a chance to go through them.

Already looking forward to the fall fly-in.


(Some of these strips are private property and permission was granted prior to landing, some have waivers that are required to be signed before landing. Please obtain permission before landing in these spots so we can continue to use these locations)

Nice pics, great to catch up with all of the good folks at this fly-in. It is one of my favorites.
See you at the next one!

I was told that I won the "Pod" class in the spot landing

GREAT FLY-IN AS ALWAYS. GREAT SEEING OLD FRIENDS AND MEETING NEW ONES. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL IN SEPT.

Sorry I missed it, but I did drop into Tom's shop in Del Norte and buy a bunch of beeswax and honey. I hope to see you in the fall if not sooner. We had a great time coming through the area on our way down to Pagosa Springs.

I was recently told about this fly in, looks like a blast. maybe I can make it to the next one, but I will have to drive in, as they wont let me take a rental on dirt of course.

Spdcrazy wrote:I was recently told about this fly in, looks like a blast. maybe I can make it to the next one, but I will have to drive in, as they wont let me take a rental on dirt of course.

It's a shame that many renters are prevented from using anything but pavement. Learning "soft fields" and "short fields" on a 10,000' x 150' hard-surfaced runway is anything but realistic.

On the other hand, I sure wouldn't recommend La Garita to a newbie. It's not a difficult strip for experienced pilots, but it's steeply sloped, it's not very long, it's pretty narrow, and it's at a high elevation in a place known for gusty cross winds and higher temps, so good control and density altitude are very definite factors. So driving in is a good option for you, until you get some time and real experience under your belt.

Cary

ya, that's is going to be tough for me until I buy an airplane. and I can't justify buying one until I'm out of A&P school, and moved back to Alaska. so far I haven't found any way around it. so for the time being, i'll rack up my time, learn to land on the numbers and be as efficient as I can.... in a 172.

Spdcrazy wrote:I was recently told about this fly in, looks like a blast. maybe I can make it to the next one, but I will have to drive in, as they wont let me take a rental on dirt of course.

Spdcrazy- The Fall La Garita Fly-In will be Sept 15-17. While you may not be able to take the rental 172 in La Garita, we run shuttles to nearby (paved) Del Norte or Leach Airport. That is always an option for anyone who wants to check out the airstrip and watch others before flying in. Feel free to give me a shout or contact the ranch manager via the registration page.

Hope to see you there!

Alec

Thank you for posting the fall fly-in dates.

Good points about being careful flying into La Garita. Some poor soul did a lot of damage to his 172 at Smiley Creek (of all places!) two weeks ago doing a soft-field takeoff (incorrectly it seems). Be careful out there!