Hi Rick,
I was up there last July, great as always! $15 is more than I remember in the past, but still very reasonable. I would like to give some feedback regarding the gentleman who came around to collect the camping fee. He showed up in an old car and asked several of us if we were staying for the night, some people walked away and ignored him, never paid. I paid and received a generic handwritten receipt. At a minimum, if he is to be taken seriously, he should have a neat and clean shirt with a logo of the airport on it, same for the car, and some ID proving he is "from the airport". The whole thing felt very awkward; he was only able to collect from half the campers that day.
--
Rick

Hey Rick (airport manager Rick),

I attended a Zenair fly-in at Kernville a couple of months ago with a friend who is building a 750. The coffee shop there had the best damn pulled pork BBQ sandwich I ever had at an airport. Great fun, neat little airport, and very pretty scenery. I think if you had a BCP campout and fly-in wing-ding there it might be a really fun event. Just make sure there's beer and a place for everyone to BS in front of a campfire. Take an online poll or solicit comments to figure out how many of us BCP yokels would show up.

BTW, since you're the new airport manager and head honcho, if your airport has need for gov't or other grant and/or funding proposals for airport upgrades etc. etc. etc. I would be glad to talk to you about that stuff (do it for a living). PM me on that, not appropriate to detail here on a public thread.

Bill

Hi Rick. Yep, a fly in sounds great. There are several of us here at KVIS who would love to grab our poles and come see you. Are there any 'off road' strips nearby?

Thank you all for your fine complements. Out airport is definitely small town USA and we like it that way, but your critic of what needs to be improved is well taken and appreciated. Yes I think a BCP fly-in and camp-out before the cold weather gets here is a great idea. How about October 1st and 2nd, the weather is still hot right now with highs around 95 in the day but, by October things should be in the 80’s and very nice. Besides the fishing should get better as it gets cooler too. The restaurant is only open for breakfast and lunch but my lady says if the group is interested she will do a dinner for us on Saturday night. We have a BBQ area by the Café or we can do it at the camp ground.

Let me know what you think.

Rick

701driver wrote:Carl and I spent a lot of time together discussing the wisdom of the FAA.
Rick

Doh! Here I go again......obvious oxymoron here, a long time on a short subject? Just kidding!!!!

701driver wrote:
...but your critic of what needs to be improved is well taken and appreciated.

You misunderstood my comment, sorry about that. I was trying to keep that tidbit short so the whole post didn't get mis-construed as a commercial solicitation. I write federal and other gov't/private funding proposals for a living. If you or your city/county airport authority ever wants or needs a "grantwriter" to write the proposals for any sort of airport funding projects, I'd be glad to work with you one one level or another.

For you guys that have not been to "L05", Kern River Valley, here is a picture as you would be looking south setting up to land "17". With the river on the right, the lake in the distance, and the camp ground just of to the right at the center of the runway. So with nothing around but pilots and planes at the camp ground you can enjoy that cool beer. The cafe is on the left of the runway in that clump of trees at the end of the taxi way.

Rick

Is it possible to land on the grass? Just like saving the bush wheels if possible.

Great Question gtwingman.

I don't know but I'll be at the airport tomorrow and I'll check it out and make a post about if it can be done safely.

Rick

How goes your plan to restore fuel service?

What are the hours of the Airport Cafe these days? I haven't seen fire TFRs along the Kern River for a bit now and I'm eager to revisit for a burger and a shake.

-Thanks,
Dick

The Café hours are 7:00AM to 3:00PM seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, No Dinner. We have now been given the honor of having the biggest (10oz) and best hamburger in the county. This honor was awarded to us by all the fire fighters that have been through here on fires in the last two months.

Fuel is looking good as of today. I just got back from looking at a 1200GAL truck that I can afford and then spent the rest of the day talking to the county, DMV, Environmental Health and more. Painful but still in the can do world. With some luck this fuel problem might be solved in three or four weeks.

Also, as of this morning ALL “TFR’s” for our area have been canceled.

Rick

Rick,
Are you still Sheriff at Kern Valley "L05?" I've been looking at purchasing land around Lake Isabella and want to make sure L05 is healthy and will be there for years to come. Are there hangars available and is there still a homebuilding aircraft community up there?

Thanks for the help,
-Craig

Here is the website.

Www.kernvalleyairport.com

Thank you. Unfortunately, website doesn't appear to have been updated since May 2012.

Rick, my offer to speak with you about proposal and grant writing (to assist you with upgrading the airport, FAA grants, fuel, etc.) is still good.

EZFlap wrote:Rick, my offer to speak with you about proposal and grant writing (to assist you with upgrading the airport, FAA grants, fuel, etc.) is still good.

Bill I'd PM or call him if you can, last I talked to him a couple a weeks ago he could use all the support from us or anybody he can. I don't think he's a BCP website junkie like alot of us so he doesn't see these posts.

OK, sent PM to him, but I was unable to find direct number for Kern Valley airport... listed phone numbers ring in the county office in BFL.

The county and I don't exactly get along well, so I'll deal directly with Rick.

EZFlap wrote:OK, sent PM to him, but I was unable to find direct number for Kern Valley airport... listed phone numbers ring in the county office in BFL.

The county and I don't exactly get along well, so I'll deal directly with Rick.

Let us know if he responds and/or invite him to update us on L05. That's a great airport and town, I hope it's doing well.
-Craig

cogito wrote:
Let us know if he responds and/or invite him to update us on L05. That's a great airport and town, I hope it's doing well.
-Craig

I found a good phone number, spoke to his brother in law at the airport, and left my contact info. So if there is interest on Rick's part, I will be happy to donate a small amount of pro bono time and energy, to see if there is something worth pursuing.

Just finally spoke to Rick Lach at Kern Valley. Thank you to the 3 people who PM'ed me his number.

His primary mission right now is still trying to get the attention of the Kern Co. Airports division to pay attention to him about the fuel issue.

He said that he will be very happy to have my help with proposal "narratives" and applications when the time came, but there are unfortunately several steps before that.