Midwest Grass strip tour in June

skimanjim

skimanjim

Filing Flight Plan
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Mar 21, 2007
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Colorado Springs
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Display name:
Jim Baker
Hey everyone, I have read through most of the earlier posts from 'Grass strip tour in may' and I saw some good ideas. However, I was wondering if anyone else has any upper midwest (WI, IA,MN,IL,OH,etc) specific ideas. Myself and a buddy are graduating from the Air Force Academy this May, and have a significant amount of time off in June, so we were planning and taking our champ and flying around the midwest. We have already recieved some other suggestions on other forums for airports like Lee Bottom, Elo International, Strum Wisconsin, but we are looking for some other ideas too. We are looking for some airports with character, finding the grass roots type aviation that seems to be slowly dying off these days. People to talk too (especially during the weekdays) things to see, things to do, etc.

Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Jim,
As for places to fly I can reccommend Canton, Illinois. KCTK
It is sort of a local favorite. The kind of place where the FBO is run only for pilots. It is truly a throwback to a different era, when aviation was about people, and not money.... <sigh>
If you make it there, let me know, and we'll get together.
I sent you a PM about a favor while you are there at USAFA.
--Matt Rogers
 
Some grass strips I'm familiar with in MN are Forest Lake, Surfside, Waconia, Maple Plain, and Stanton. These are all relatively near Minneapolis. Stanton and Forest Lake are active soaring airports (Forest Lake is commercial and Stanton is a club operation). Surfside is a combination seaplane base and airport that's fairly popular among the floatplane crowd. Waconia and Maple Plain are pretty quiet with only a few airplanes (more ultralight/LSA types at Maple Plain) based there.

An interesting place in Michigan is Y88 (Green Lk, Interlochen). It's right next to one of the most respected music camps in the state if not the country and there's a nice state park across the street on a lake as well.
 
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Check out the grass strip at the Amana Colonies (C11) in eastern Iowa (just under the SW edge of CID Class C ring). Not much for 'aviation' history but it is within a block or two to the Amana Colonies (similar to Amish cultures) with GOOD German based food and pretty cool walk-through shops.

When I worked for the crop duster, we spent about a week working out of there - it was one of the coolest places to get 'blown' out by winds too strong to spray. :)
 
CJones said:
Check out the grass strip at the Amana Colonies (C11) in eastern Iowa (just under the SW edge of CID Class C ring). Not much for 'aviation' history but it is within a block or two to the Amana Colonies (similar to Amish cultures) with GOOD German based food and pretty cool walk-through shops.

When I worked for the crop duster, we spent about a week working out of there - it was one of the coolest places to get 'blown' out by winds too strong to spray. :)
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Is there overnight parking and fuel there?
 
smigaldi said:
Is there overnight parking and fuel there?
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Pretty sure fuel is unavailable. There used to be a crop duster that was based there so you used to be able to eek out a few gallons from him, but he has moved to Florida, and the last time I was there, the fuel truck was INOP.

As for overnight parking, I'm pretty sure they are OK with you tieing down for the night in the grass. There is a house next to the strip that I assume is the 'airport manager'.

Owner: THOMPSON AERO, INC
950 48 TH AVE
AMANA, IA 52203
Phone 319-622-3251
 
What about a lot of these private use strips.... are most of the owners pretty relaxed about landing there? or would it always be advisable to call ahead and get permission to land?
 
www.sidnaw.org/6y9

Camping on the field. Cabins next to the field for rent. Gas Station/Mini mart if you forgot any essentials. Bar and Grill for dinner if you stay the night. Cafe for breakfast, all within 200 yards of the tiedown.

Arinav isn't updated yet, but I'm *real* close with the manger of the field. ;)
 
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smigaldi said:
Is there overnight parking and fuel there?
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Parking yes. Fuel no. There's an honor box where you pay $5 a day.

The neatest thing is that the strip is right in town. The train depot is literally on the other side of tracks. You look up at the Amana water tower and walk a block or two to main street. It's like landing in the parking lot.

Stay at Annie's bed and breakfast which is only 1/4 mile away:
http://www.timeandtides.com
 
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skimanjim said:
What about a lot of these private use strips.... are most of the owners pretty relaxed about landing there? or would it always be advisable to call ahead and get permission to land?
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Jim, it would be advisable to check first. I know we like to have people check with us before they land at our strip. We prefer to screen them as to type of aircraft and abilities. And, sometimes, like right now, the strip is way too wet to be using.

I would suggest you log on to the YahooCitabria forum that I had previously mentioned for more grass strip recommendations. I'll give you a link to that thread there if you want. Several of the Citabria pilots have offered to let me stay with them at their private strips. One is a place in Ohio that you might be interested in.

Another grass strip in Indiana that was recommended on the AOPA forum is:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/8I3

The pilot said they are really active there and have a weekly fly-in lunch.

I'll give you some status reports on some of these airfields as my trip evolves.

:)
 
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mikea said:
The neatest thing is that the strip is right in town. The train depot is literally on the other side of tracks. You look up at the Amana water tower and walk a block or two to main street. It's like landing in the parking lot.

Stay at Annie's bed and breakfast which is only 1/4 mile away:
http://www.timeandtides.com
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Hey, that looks like a neat place to stay. I hadn't planned on spending the night there, but I might be tempted now. And, if I get weathered in, it's nice to know there might be somewhere to spend the night. Thanks Mike.
 
Diana said:
Jim, it would be advisable to check first. I know we like to have people check with us before they land at our strip. We prefer to screen them as to type of aircraft and abilities. And, sometimes, like right now, the strip is way too wet to be using.

I would suggest you log on to the YahooCitabria forum that I had previously mentioned for more grass strip recommendations. I'll give you a link to that thread there if you want. Several of the Citabria pilots have offered to let me stay with them at their private strips. One is a place in Ohio that you might be interested in.

Another grass strip in Indiana that was recommended on the AOPA forum is:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/8I3

The pilot said they are really active there and have a weekly fly-in lunch.

I'll give you some status reports on some of these airfields as my trip evolves.

:)
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I have been trying to get on the yahoocitabria forum... but i seem to be having trouble joining it...
 
skimanjim said:
I have been trying to get on the yahoocitabria forum... but i seem to be having trouble joining it...
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Hmmmm, I wonder what the problem might be. If you continue to have problems logging in, I'll send you some of the posts individually. :)
 
Jim, stop by Green Castle, IA24. www.greencastle-aeroclub.com not far from the Amanas. yes its paved, but just barely and has that down home grass strip flying club feel to it. fuel is available and Ill be around, we'll grab a bite to eat or something. Don does appreciate if you call ahead before you come in, if not a club member, but ive never heard of him telling anyone they cant land there.
 
tonycondon said:
Jim, stop by Green Castle, IA24. www.greencastle-aeroclub.com not far from the Amanas. yes its paved, but just barely and has that down home grass strip flying club feel to it. fuel is available and Ill be around, we'll grab a bite to eat or something. Don does appreciate if you call ahead before you come in, if not a club member, but ive never heard of him telling anyone they cant land there.
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Sounds interesting... it is sort of on the way home to WI. Any neat airplane/characters hangin around? Id probably also be swining by on a weekday, if thats not a problem for you.
 
skimanjim said:
Sounds interesting... it is sort of on the way home to WI. Any neat airplane/characters hangin around? Id probably also be swining by on a weekday, if thats not a problem for you.
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the club has a citabria and ercoupe, among others, also 150's a 172 a cherokee 180 and an Arrow I. Several other privately owned airplanes on the field. J3 Cub and Cessna 140, a Starduster Too (Two?), C-182, a couple other 150s, an L-4 and a few experimentals. Characters are definitely abundant. Weekdays are OK, work is usually fairly flexible. Keep me updated.
 
skimanjim said:
What about a lot of these private use strips.... are most of the owners pretty relaxed about landing there? or would it always be advisable to call ahead and get permission to land?
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I've had several strip owners say if you see a strip, land. The worst that would happen is they would tell you to get lost. But most would invite you in for coffee.:yes: If you were planning on staying overnight, I'd probably call ahead though.

Barb
PS The Amana colonies is a cool strip, at least it was in the 80's. And the restaurants have good food, served family style, bring an appetite.
 
For anyone wondering about Pioneer Airport as OSH, I called them today and they said they do not allow anyone to land their unless its a special event, such as the ski plane fly-in. If anyone knows anyway around it, I would love to hear it, but thats what i was told....

Jim
 
skimanjim said:
For anyone wondering about Pioneer Airport as OSH, I called them today and they said they do not allow anyone to land their unless its a special event, such as the ski plane fly-in. If anyone knows anyway around it, I would love to hear it, but thats what i was told....
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Jim... EAA gets requests like this all the time and has to turn them down. There's no way in except special events, and even then it requires a special safety briefing, paperwork I believe, etc. Even when I had connections, I wasn't allowed to fly in. See my post on the other grass strip tour thread.

It would be neat if Pioneer were open to the public, or at least open with prior permission / safety briefing / etc. Too much liability, I imagine. Sigh... :dunno: At least it's a short shuttle ride.
 
You might want to stop in at Poplar Grove Airport (C77), Poplar Grove, IL, 14 NM NE of Rockford, IL. N-S, E-W grass runways, numerus taildraggers of all varieties and some war birds.

The airport is usually vary active on weekends and any day during the week can see a variety of different aircraft in the pattern. C77 also has a complete maintenance facility and engine shop along with alot of friendly people.
 
We went into Wherli Memorial last fall. (34IS) It is a private strip on a golf course but they had a restaurant. The strip is short, but we got in and out okay. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the food was good.
It was our first time to fly in there, even though I have had a rough idea about where it is for many years.
It was much harder to find than I expected. On a pretty clear day, we looked and looked for it. If I had not had a pretty strong idea of where it was, I never would have found it. Thank God for GPS.
Even then, we were right on top of it when we made it out. I guess we are spoiled by these big airports that cut down every tree within 5 miles.
I would call ahead. In rainy weather, I expect it would get pretty soft. The drainage did not look too well developed. It was not too rough, though. Parking is east of the strip, north of the clubhouse. We were the only aircraft there.:blueplane:
ApacheBob
Wherli is located near Interstate 80, a good distance west of Chicago
 
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ApacheBob said:
We went into Wherli Memorial last fall. (34IS) It is a private strip on a golf course but they had a restaurant. The strip is short, but we got in and out okay. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the food was good.[...]We were the only aircraft there.:blueplane:
ApacheBob
Wherli is located near Interstate 80, a good distance west of Chicago
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Bob,
who did you contact for permission? Sounds like it might be a fun local stop!
 
skimanjim said:
Anyone heard of an airport called Morning Star Airport, along I-80 in Iowa???
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Morningstar is about 30 miles south of me in Ames. Ive never landed there. Its nothing special as far as airports go. Not sure if they've got gas or not. Its in a low level area, often flooded, not that long with the Interstate right at the end of one runway. There are several airplanes based there.
 
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