EdFred
Taxi to Parking
Sometimes the reasons behind a fly-in are very simple: A few people want to get together and have some food and some conversation, and as often occurs, some admiration of other people's aircraft. From time to time those gatherings grow into something a little bigger, and tend to draw in and benefit the non-aviation community. Fly-ins such as Oshkosh, Sun-N-Fun, and Young Eagles events have become this sort of assembly. But for the most part, fly-ins tend to focus inward with the benefit to the surrounding community being merely an afterthought, or side-effect. With Prickett-Grooms, we hope the primary benefit isn't so much about the gathering of pilots and aircraft, but to make the beneficiaries of the fly-in extend beyond the aviation circle.
The town of Sidnaw is home to Prickett-Grooms Airfield. A humble town with a grass strip tucked among the trees of the Ottawa National Forest. Three years ago, the field was about to suffer the fate of many other airports – closure. The airport was owned and run by the state of Michigan, but was rarely used for aircraft, and most of the use it did receive was by various other forms of transportation. When I was younger, even I used it like many of the others who did, as an open area just off the riding trails to open up the throttle on the motorcycle, snowmobile, or ATV. The main purpose of the strip was not being utilized, and without much argument, the state proposed to close the facility. So, in June of 2004 the strip was officially closed, with ‘perfect’ timing. I had just taken delivery of my first airplane only two weeks prior to that, and had planned on using the field as a means to avoid the near eight our drive to visit the family cabin which sits just southwest of the airfield. The process of resurrection began.
To make a long bureaucratic story of red tape, government policy, and negotiations short, a non-profit organization formed by my father was able to acquire the airstrip at a reasonable price, and a long 25 months after the airstrip was closed, we were able to reopen it with the help of the surrounding communities. As a thank you to the communities, we are hoping this fly-in will start to repay them for their help in reviving a dead airport. The small towns in this area have no real industry, and the town of Sidnaw mainly relies on recreation to keep going. So rather than have this fly-in be solely focused around us, the pilots, we want it to go beyond what we did last year. Last year we have volunteer pilots giving rides, talking to locals, and really mixing with the community. This year we hope to do more as we make it a weekend event.
Our hope is that you enjoy it up there as much as we do, that you’ll want to keep coming back, whether the rest of us are there or not.
The town of Sidnaw is home to Prickett-Grooms Airfield. A humble town with a grass strip tucked among the trees of the Ottawa National Forest. Three years ago, the field was about to suffer the fate of many other airports – closure. The airport was owned and run by the state of Michigan, but was rarely used for aircraft, and most of the use it did receive was by various other forms of transportation. When I was younger, even I used it like many of the others who did, as an open area just off the riding trails to open up the throttle on the motorcycle, snowmobile, or ATV. The main purpose of the strip was not being utilized, and without much argument, the state proposed to close the facility. So, in June of 2004 the strip was officially closed, with ‘perfect’ timing. I had just taken delivery of my first airplane only two weeks prior to that, and had planned on using the field as a means to avoid the near eight our drive to visit the family cabin which sits just southwest of the airfield. The process of resurrection began.
To make a long bureaucratic story of red tape, government policy, and negotiations short, a non-profit organization formed by my father was able to acquire the airstrip at a reasonable price, and a long 25 months after the airstrip was closed, we were able to reopen it with the help of the surrounding communities. As a thank you to the communities, we are hoping this fly-in will start to repay them for their help in reviving a dead airport. The small towns in this area have no real industry, and the town of Sidnaw mainly relies on recreation to keep going. So rather than have this fly-in be solely focused around us, the pilots, we want it to go beyond what we did last year. Last year we have volunteer pilots giving rides, talking to locals, and really mixing with the community. This year we hope to do more as we make it a weekend event.
Our hope is that you enjoy it up there as much as we do, that you’ll want to keep coming back, whether the rest of us are there or not.
