Wow. That’s all I can say. Well, maybe I can say a little more.
I flew my Hatz to the Cheat Island fly-in this past weekend. This was at an uncharted private airstrip on an island in the Cheat River near Rowlesburg, WV. The owner puts on this event twice a year, and provides ferry service across the river with a tractor and farm wagon for locals and those not flying in. The RAF (Recreational Aviation Foundation, not the guys who drink tea and talk funny) assisted. I’ve been trying to get to this event for a while, but my schedule or weather always interfered. Last year I had all my camping gear packed but IFR conditions between Connecticut and West Virginia killed that. This year the forecast was iffy, but except for some rain Saturday afternoon it turned out pretty good. Even so, half of the Connecticut pilots chickened out… their loss.
I left CT at 10am and arrived at 8pm Friday evening after covering 414 miles in just over 6 hours of flying (headwinds) and 3 fuel stops. That’s a LONG day in an open cockpit. My goal was to only land on grass strips for my fuel stops except for the last one where there was no choice. At Blairstown, NJ (1N7) I landed on the grass where the gliders and tow planes land, and had lunch at the airport café. Next was Keller Brothers (08N) in Pennsylvania, an absolutely immaculate grass strip where I wasted a half hour on the phone with my bank trying to get my debit card to work. The next stop was planned for Kampel (2N5), but when I got there there were X’s on the runway despite no NOTAM, so I diverted 10 miles to the paved runway at Carlisle, PA (N94), then made a last stop at Cumberland, MD (CBE) where a few years back I explored both sides of the wide runway while ferrying my Starduster home and being foolish enough to follow a Cirrus in on the [downwind] runway of his choosing. This time my landing was a bit better.
Cheat is a really neat place to fly into. You drop into the river valley and follow it around the bend, finishing the last turn almost as you start your flare. Depart the other way, it’s mostly a one-way strip. One of the RAF guys was on the radio as informal ATC and kept people organized.
I didn’t count, but there were around 30-40 planes there… lots of bush planes, Cubs and such, a bunch of tailwheel Cessnas, several Maules, one ultralight, a Wilga, and a few ordinary airplanes. Mine was the only biplane, which I think needs to be rectified next time. I couldn’t pack much in my Hatz, but my friends, all in 4 seaters stuffed to the limit with food and coolers and stoves and grills and stuff, flew down the day before for the prime tiedown/camping spots right on the river so the party was already in full swing when I arrived.
Saturday was low clouds and intermittent showers for most of the day, but it didn’t stop people from flying, starting at 6am. I went up and did some flip flops after breakfast when the ceiling lifted high enough to allow it but mostly socialized and watched other people fly. I can’t say all of the flying quite conformed to government standards, but a good time was had by all and no doubt opening the event to the locals helped a lot for community relations.
In the afternoon, the owner put out an AMAZING spread (the usual burgers and dogs, but also pulled pork, venison, sides, drinks, and homemade ice cream made on the spot. We ate well. There was one brief violent wind and rain storm on Saturday as the gust front passed through, but it cleared up again and the flying continued until sunset when the focus turned to cocktail hour(s) and the food my friends brought.
It was good to see quite a few younger pilots compared to the usual gray hair dominating most fly-ins.. Say what you like about the current bush plane craze, but it has attracted a lot of younger pilots which is a good thing.
Sunday was packing up [wet] tents and stuff while waiting for the fog to lift out of the valley. I got off around 11 and endured 5½ hours of turbulence on the way home, I was absolutely wiped out by the time I got home... my last two landings were pretty sloppy, but the airplane is still reusable. I can’t wait for the fall event… Oct. 7, I believe.
Despite good intentions I didn’t take many pictures, but here are a few:
The hangar in the background and nearby pit privy are the only buildings on the island.
Looking south:
One pilot laid a smoke trail on takeoff. That's the field owner's house on the hillside:
I flew my Hatz to the Cheat Island fly-in this past weekend. This was at an uncharted private airstrip on an island in the Cheat River near Rowlesburg, WV. The owner puts on this event twice a year, and provides ferry service across the river with a tractor and farm wagon for locals and those not flying in. The RAF (Recreational Aviation Foundation, not the guys who drink tea and talk funny) assisted. I’ve been trying to get to this event for a while, but my schedule or weather always interfered. Last year I had all my camping gear packed but IFR conditions between Connecticut and West Virginia killed that. This year the forecast was iffy, but except for some rain Saturday afternoon it turned out pretty good. Even so, half of the Connecticut pilots chickened out… their loss.
I left CT at 10am and arrived at 8pm Friday evening after covering 414 miles in just over 6 hours of flying (headwinds) and 3 fuel stops. That’s a LONG day in an open cockpit. My goal was to only land on grass strips for my fuel stops except for the last one where there was no choice. At Blairstown, NJ (1N7) I landed on the grass where the gliders and tow planes land, and had lunch at the airport café. Next was Keller Brothers (08N) in Pennsylvania, an absolutely immaculate grass strip where I wasted a half hour on the phone with my bank trying to get my debit card to work. The next stop was planned for Kampel (2N5), but when I got there there were X’s on the runway despite no NOTAM, so I diverted 10 miles to the paved runway at Carlisle, PA (N94), then made a last stop at Cumberland, MD (CBE) where a few years back I explored both sides of the wide runway while ferrying my Starduster home and being foolish enough to follow a Cirrus in on the [downwind] runway of his choosing. This time my landing was a bit better.
Cheat is a really neat place to fly into. You drop into the river valley and follow it around the bend, finishing the last turn almost as you start your flare. Depart the other way, it’s mostly a one-way strip. One of the RAF guys was on the radio as informal ATC and kept people organized.
I didn’t count, but there were around 30-40 planes there… lots of bush planes, Cubs and such, a bunch of tailwheel Cessnas, several Maules, one ultralight, a Wilga, and a few ordinary airplanes. Mine was the only biplane, which I think needs to be rectified next time. I couldn’t pack much in my Hatz, but my friends, all in 4 seaters stuffed to the limit with food and coolers and stoves and grills and stuff, flew down the day before for the prime tiedown/camping spots right on the river so the party was already in full swing when I arrived.
Saturday was low clouds and intermittent showers for most of the day, but it didn’t stop people from flying, starting at 6am. I went up and did some flip flops after breakfast when the ceiling lifted high enough to allow it but mostly socialized and watched other people fly. I can’t say all of the flying quite conformed to government standards, but a good time was had by all and no doubt opening the event to the locals helped a lot for community relations.
In the afternoon, the owner put out an AMAZING spread (the usual burgers and dogs, but also pulled pork, venison, sides, drinks, and homemade ice cream made on the spot. We ate well. There was one brief violent wind and rain storm on Saturday as the gust front passed through, but it cleared up again and the flying continued until sunset when the focus turned to cocktail hour(s) and the food my friends brought.
It was good to see quite a few younger pilots compared to the usual gray hair dominating most fly-ins.. Say what you like about the current bush plane craze, but it has attracted a lot of younger pilots which is a good thing.
Sunday was packing up [wet] tents and stuff while waiting for the fog to lift out of the valley. I got off around 11 and endured 5½ hours of turbulence on the way home, I was absolutely wiped out by the time I got home... my last two landings were pretty sloppy, but the airplane is still reusable. I can’t wait for the fall event… Oct. 7, I believe.
Despite good intentions I didn’t take many pictures, but here are a few:
The hangar in the background and nearby pit privy are the only buildings on the island.
Looking south:
One pilot laid a smoke trail on takeoff. That's the field owner's house on the hillside:
