I missed my rental today. I completely forgot that I had the plane on Sunday night from 8pm to 10pm to complete some night landings to get night current for carrying passengers. I feel like such an idiot. I’ll call Midway Aviators tomorrow and find out if there are consequences and what they might be.
During the time I was supposed to be flying, I was at home looking online for a fly-in, camp-out destination. Unlike the very useful restaurant reviews at 100 Dollar Hamburger, their reviews on fly-in camping opportunities are less than helpful. I’m a big fan of the new Adventure Pilot site because it is well designed and has numerous useful features. Unfortunately, the site is relatively new so there aren’t many reviews of camp grounds in the upper Midwest. And I found at least one review that was inaccurate: according to all the Web sites I’ve found, Mackinaw Island does not have camping areas, so AP has it mislabeled. (If anyone knows otherwise, please leave a comment.) So I needed to do my own research.
I finally settled on Rock Island State Park in Door County, Wisconsin, about 3 hours away by plane. (Google Map of the island.) To non-pilots, it is only accessible by two ferry rides: one from the mainland to Washington Island (a destination in and of itself), then another from Washington Island to Rock Island. However, pilots can fly into Washington Island Airport (2P2), which has two turf strips, skipping one ferry ride.
Wait. Turf strips. The longest of which is only 2,200 feet. Uhm...
As it turns out, all camp sites are booked full on the weekends until late September. (I have to check that the park is still open to camping after mid-September.) Between now and then, I’ll need to practice landing on real turf fields to decide if I’m comfortable landing on turf and taking off on only 2,200 feet of turf. I scheduled a lesson with Pete next Monday (August 14th) to get that practice. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Monday, August 07, 2006
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2 comments:
Rock Island looks heavenly. This photoset (not mine) shows it off nicely: http://flickr.com/photos/drewdomkus/sets/72157594158317318/
I'll be curious about what you find. I know a lot of airports in the area offer/allow on-field camping. If there's anything interesting to do around there and if you need showers, etc., are different questions entirely.
BTW, 2200' should be fine, but reviewing with a CFI is a great idea. I like to practice turf work at this airport: http://www.airnav.com/airport/64C Even has an interesting slope. Though the field DID eat one of our club's 152 last year. . . .
And yeah, forgetting you had a plane booked is a big D'oh! moment. I've done it twice - once when I was primary training and the CFI had to call wondering where I was, and once last week - I'd forgotten to cancel my 'backup' date when I complete my BFR on the first date.
Thanks for the info about that grass strip. and the flickr photoset. My wife is now more keen than ever to visit Rock Island.
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