Comanche

Category: AOPA

  • New Hampshire’s Alton Bay ice airport opened for the 2019 season on Jan 22.

    New Hampshire’s Alton Bay ice airport opened for the 2019 season on Jan 22.

    New Hampshire’s Alton Bay ice airport opened for the 2019 season on Jan 22. The seasonal, public-use runway on Lake Winnipesaukee, is at the charted location of the Alton Bay Seaplane Base in Alton Bay, and is believed to be the only charted ice airport in the 48 contiguous United States.

    Airport manager Paul LaRochelle announced the runway’s opening on the ice airport’s Facebook page. He wrote. “I’m happy to announce Alton Bay ice Runway is now open. The runway is 100 feet wide, 2,730 feet long, with a taxiway 50 feet wide. Runway conditions are good, although a little bumpy in some spots.”

    LaRochelle said the depth of the ice reached the required 12 inches on Jan. 16, allowing him and other airport volunteers to begin plowing out the runway, taxiway, and parking ramp. The State of New Hampshire then inspected the runway. The opening was delayed until the weekend’s snowstorm passed and they could plow the airport surfaces again.

    The annual Alton Winter Carnival, coordinated by the Alton Business Association, will take place Feb. 17. If flying and runway conditions are good, the airport is sure to be busy. The carnival typically begins at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the Alton Bay Community Center. Activities such as sleigh rides, bed races, snowmobile events, and a chowder festival continue until 3 p.m.

    CTAF is 122.8. The wind is usually is from the north, and Runway 1 is the preferred calm-wind runway. On final, watch for snowmobiles and pedestrians. Plan for a long rollout. When the ice looks black or deep blue from above, it’s likely to be slickest; a light covering of snow actually helps. Bring chocks, and wear boots or water-resistant shoes – there can be pools of water on the surface.

    Check Notams for Alton Bay Ice Runway before departing. During the season, LaRochelle updates the airport’s information line, 603-875-3498, as needed. Updates also can be found online on the airport’s Facebook page. Notams are primary, however; if the runway must be closed temporarily, a Notam will be issued before the recording is updated.

    If you fly in, stop at Facet Jewelers—at Shoppes on the Bay—and LaRochelle’s wife, Donna, will give you a free certificate for landing on the ice runway at Alton Bay. Alton Bay Ice Runway hats are available for purchase, and several restaurants are within walking distance. Donations toward the maintenance of the ice runway also are accepted. For more information on the Alton Bay ice airport, see “The Iceway is Open,” from the January 2010 AOPA Pilot.
    Mike Collins AOPA Technical Editor

  • AOPA Fly-in

    AOPA Fly-in

    The AOPA fly-in was a success! Special huge thanks to Ray Burton, and his family (this was their 15th anniversary and they supported ICS!), Pete Morse, Bernie Stumpf, and the many ICS people who stopped by to say hello and stayed to talk. We even had a surprise visit from a very supportive FSDO official (even if it made Ray a bit nervous to see a guy standing next to his open cowling with an FAA badge in plain sight)! It was a long but productive 2 days.

    As you can see from the location, the management at Groton was very supportive of the Comanche type! The airport manager and AOPA fly-in coordinator also stopped by several times to thank us for our past support and also to ask us if we liked our nice location.

    “AOPA fly-in coordinator stopped by several times to thank us for our past support”

    The AOPA gathering was extremely well-run and had a huge attendance, we think we had over 100 visitors the first day and more the next. Everyone looked at Ray’s handily rescued and well-flown bird and learned about why they are great and why we love them.

    Two suggestions:
    1) I’d recommend a sign-in book such as Oshkosh has that can go with the materials. That way we can track results and people will have a place to write requests for more info or followup as well as suggestions.
    2) I’d request the committee to reconsider its refusal to provide cards to the volunteers and not just the display owner. The current situation causes confusion. I looked back in my notes and the basic cards are $5!
    3) we found the website to be unusable for signing up new members. The northeast version demands payment info without ever even asking for their contact and airplane information. This means we missed some new members who wanted to sign up. For the last new member, mystic jet center was kind enough to print me out a sign-up form. There I found another problem: we are using a different annual price on the form versus the website. Hope we can resolve these things ASAP.