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The Realities of Air-Camping

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Topaz

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
15,993
Location
Orange County, California
One of the goals on my plate for the next couple of years is to get my Sport Pilot license. I love soaring, but let's face it - it's not at all useful for even recreational travel. I'm getting tired of having to drive to aviation events that are a fairly trivial flight away, but a dreary long drive.

I'm also an avid camper, and the idea of air-camping has a really big appeal for me. Yes, I know that, for a lot of people, "roughing it" means room-service is late, but I personally really enjoy backpacking and 4x4 off-road camping. I'm wondering at the realities of air-camping in this vein, and I'd love to hear your input. I've done a bit of web-searching on the subject and have been quite disappointed in the results: I've found either how-to articles about what to carry (I already own and know how to use all the gear, for my other camping activities, and it's already light-weight backpacking stuff) or descriptions of "camping" at airshows or airports that surely have a motel within walking distance. Why bother? I don't object to camping on an airstrip in the middle of nowhere, but "camping" on an airport really doesn't have any appeal. When I go camping, I'm trying to get away from people and "civilization", frankly.

Have any of you done any "back country" air-camping? Does it more or less require STOL or amphibious capability in the real world, or are there "enough" opportunities with "middle of nowhere" airstrips and fire-roads to keep a camper with something LSA (performs like a Cub) happy? Any regional realities (I'm on the west coast)?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.
 
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