Wheels up at 7:45 AM and into open sky with the onboard radar reporting clouds to the west. My trusty Garmin 396 with XM has been proving a wonderful device that increases safety and reduces flight times. This trip would once again prove the value of the 396.
With wind light down low, and turbulence not a factor, a more direct course was taken straight to Greeley, a stop at Steamboat Springs for an attempt to visit a bike factory, then onto destination. The spot on the map was Mark Pringle’s new airport, made exclusively for light sport planes. I was anxious to see the place for real, having seen the photos.
The flight out was incredible; snow capped mountains, deep green valleys, rivers that cut crazy winding canyons, all viewed from my 100 kts cabin at 6,500 to 9,500 feet. Thanks to the light winds the ride was smooth, the ground speed good. Flight time was right at 7 hours. MPH was about 24.
Thanks to the photos Rocky Mountain Kit Planes showed up like a sore thumb. I found out later several flyers had a bit of trouble locating the airpark, but all did, and 39 RANS planes (54 total) descended upon West Desert Airpark for three days of fun.
As I said Mark's place was built from the ground up as a light sport plane park. A row of a dozen or more half round metal hangers bordered the west side of the 2000’ of asphalt runway. A few made- to- order airparks for light planes exist, but I bet none as neat, clean, and well thought out as West Desert. Among the many hangers that could house two maybe three RANS planes, were a pilot’s clubhouse, a painting shop, and fuel depot. Kudos to Mark and his gang for making this dream come alive.
What makes the place tick is service. Greg Pringle, Mark’s younger brother, impressed me with his knowledge and flying skills, all of which were widely taken advantage of by the many hanger occupants busy building RANS planes. The level of activity was impressive and so was the quality of the build. You know the saying, when you are among greats, you become greater too, this was very apparent in the workmanship.
Action at the fly-in was Utah style flour bombing, spot landing and general flying performing rides, and sales demos. Friday night four RANS planes made a pizza run to a nearby town (50miles SE). They must have either been hungry or non-trusting us to return, since they sent George Happ out in his 914 powered S-7S to tail us. George has quite the machine there truing out in the 150 MPH range at FL20! What a perfect plane for pizza pursuit.
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Quonset hangers! What a neat retro feel and cost effective way to house a plane. The clever structures had a handful of options, such insulation, radiant heated floors, and sturdy quick opening doors. The owners seemed to be tickled with their secure demeanor and value pricing.
The winners of this years awards are as follows, and as in previous years, it is getting harder to pick the top gun, since all the planes are getting higher and higher in build quality. So the ones that do win, you know are sporting lots of spit and polish. |
The Saturday night dinner was used to award the above and a few other prizes made into the hands of attendees, such as a brand new RANS Tailwind bike won by raffle to Alli Happ. The youngster had been eyeing the demo bike, and testing every chance she could get apart from performing leading edge cleanings, given free via Matco Brakes, to manning the Matco booth. A deserving winner!
At the dinner Mark took a vote about where to hold the fly-in next year and all hands were raised in favor of the West Desert. What that really translates into- the pilots in the west half of the states would rather not come to Hays, but it does not mean we cannot have two fly-ins, maybe three, lest we not forget about our friends on the east coast.
Congratulations to Mark Pringle and crew, composed of family, girlfriend, and competent employees. The feeling of being welcome and well cared for was always on hand, and genuine. West Desert is a place any aviator worth his cross wind technique would love spending time doing anything airplane…thanks guys! |
