Archive for 2020
Managers of Death Valley National Park in California are seeking public input regarding future use of the park’s Stovepipe Wells Village. One of the park’s proposals is to change the Stovepipe Wells airstrip into a dedicated night sky viewing area due to the prohibitive maintenance expense of repaving the runway. This is due to the…
The RAF is pleased to announce that one of the country’s most distinctive airports has been saved from potential closure. Goodspeed Airport, (42B) lies beside the historic Connecticut River in East Haddam, CT. The airport has a 2,120-ft paved runway, a parallel turf runway, and is the only seaplane base in southern New England, listed…
The RAF has granted $14,000 toward the preservation of Minnesota’s Isle Airport, (MY72). Minnesota Liaison Kirk Hiner and RAF Director Emeritus Peter Burwell met with Isle Airport management to agree on cost sharing a project to remove encroaching trees that were threatening to close the airport. In June, the RAF reported that the city council…
A picnic pavilion is going up at Havana Regional (9I0) in Illinois! The project is being coordinated by the Havana Regional Airport Board and members of the local EAA Chapter 1420. RAF awarded grant funds to partially fund improvements at the airport. Additional improvements include year-round showers and a fire pit, f
Campground improvements at Fort Kent Municipal Airfield in Maine are now complete. Camping area additions include two picnic tables and a picnic area shelter just off the west side of the runway next to the trailhead to Fish River Falls. Fort Kent Municipal Airfield is adjacent to Maine’s Fish River, and George Dumond of the Fish River Flying Club has…
The RAF has granted funds to help cover the cost for improvements at Fort Kent Municipal Airfield in Maine. Camping area additions will include two picnic tables and a picnic area shelter just off the west side of the runway next to the trailhead to Fish River Falls. Fort Kent Municipal Airfield is adjacent to Maine’s…
Maryland Ambassador Day job: Product Manager of Digital Air Traffic Tower Solutions at Frequentis USA Favorite airstrip: Far too many to say. Perhaps Alton Bay or KLUA. Honestly, I hope I haven’t found my favorite yet. Next adventure: Backcountry flying in Idaho – hopefully very soon!
RAF grants are used typically to purchase building materials, with much of the labor provided by RAF volunteers. Occasionally professionals must be engaged to complete specialized tasks. When Montana’s Schafer Forest Service airstrip (8U2) needed serious grounds work this summer, RAF Montana Liaison Scott Newpower outlined the need, and an RAF grant was awarded for the…
A West Virginia RAF member who owns the mountaintop grass airfield Rainelle, (WV30) has worked with RAF West Virginia Liaison Evan Davis to open it to RAF membership for fly-in camping. “There is no place in West Virginia that provides a facility like this that I am aware of,” Evan said. In order to make it…
Maine RAF Liaison Andy Rowe reports that the tree removal project has begun on Cowboy’s Air Ranch (84ME), closing it for the time being. An RAF grant is being used to extend the 2,100-foot long turf airfield an additional 1,300-1,500 feet and equipment is now on site. This airfield is privately owned, and permission is required…
Recent Posts
RAF Michigan Liaisons Tanmoy Ganguly and Scott Anttila met with district U.S. Forest Service staff prior to starting work at Lost Creek airstrip, now MI45, (formerly 5Y4) in the Huron-Manistee National Forest in north-central Michigan. “We had a very constructive discussion about what the RAF does, and what we envision for future amenities at Lost Creek airstrip,” Ganguly said. The mid-August work weekend attracted 16 aircraft and 20 volunteers, including new MI Ambassador Ryan Minnick, MI Ambassador Ehsan Hamtaei, and IN Liaison Bill Steinmetz, many of whom enjoyed camping overnight in the forested setting. The crew was joined by nearby residents who donated their time, tools, and machinery to help and provided snacks.
Submitted August 27, 2025
CALL TO ACTION: Public Comments Requested to Support Access to 10 of Utah's Sensational Backcountry Airstrips The BLM has issued an Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding the following ten Moab-Monticello backcountry airstrips. Pilot comments will help to open access to the airstrips. Your Comments are Needed by Thursday, September 3. Please use the link below to state in your own words why you support access to these backcountry airstrips: Nokai Dome Piute Canyon Potato Ridge Playa Big Flat Red Canyon Spring Canyon Castle Creek Steer Ridge West Wee Hope Mine
Our many RAF supporters have such vast and varied experience, and we’re capturing some of their words of wisdom to share with you. This guest editorial is by Bill McGlynn, President of the RAF.
Nestled in among awe-inspiring mountains, Glacier Creek (KGZ) airstrip is 15 nm east of McCarthy in Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. On July 11, a work party drawing 25 volunteers was held there, led by RAF Alaska Liaison Stef Goza, her husband Randy, and Alaska Ambassador Bri Norby. They were joined by a group of National Park Service maintenance crew members who’d been flown in the night before and cleared the trail from the airstrip to the cabin before volunteers arrived.
