Posts by Lisa Ellington

RAF Georgia Liaison Eric Davis responded to a recent plea to help airlift close to 1,000 endangered turtles from New England beaches to facilities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. What better way to help these slow-moving creatures get to rehab centers quickly than by Bonanza?  Some GA pilots donate their services transporting dogs from overcrowded shelters to…

Well, maybe not exactly international, but with 25 aircraft, including a brand spanking new Cessna Caravan and 50 plus people, anyone would have wondered what was going on at the USFS Pleasant Valley (24AZ) airstrip this weekend.  When the USFS reached out to the aviation community to ask for volunteers we thought eight to ten volunteers showing up…

The Mexican Mountain back country air strip over the years has grown in with weeds and debris. The Back Country Pilots Association with the help and support of the Recreational Aviation Foundation started a project to make repairs to the strip. Steve Durtschi, President of the Back County Pilots Association and RAF Utah state liaison…

We accomplished everything we’d planned and more this weekend at the old Double Circle Ranch and airstrip. (Eagle Creek.) Nine aircraft and about twenty-two folks including personnel from the US Forest Service came to support the work. Local ranchers Jean and Erik Schwennesen, Jacob Cannon, ranch hand from the old 4-Drag Ranch and Dave Krejci, showed…

Beautiful Sullivan Lake in the northeast corner of Washington State (09S) was the site of another perfect weekend fly-in Aug. 15-16. Affectionately dubbed the “Gopher Gaggle” in years past by the late Bob Kay, it’s the annual work weekend, coordinated by the RAF and Washington State Dep’t of Transportation WSDOT. Folks flew in to help…

Sacramento, Calif. —Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law Senate Bill 1072, which amends the California Recreational Use Statute (RUS) to include recreational aviation. Since the RUS now protects landowners from liability arising from recreational use of their property, airstrip owners will likely be more receptive to transient pilots. ​California becomes the 24th state to include such…

Saturday August 17th was a perfect day to mow a little grass, trim a few weeds, tighten some fence wire, cut some firewood and clean the outhouse. So, that is just what a group of volunteers did this past weekend at Russian Flat, MT (M42) in central MT. The group, led by Pete Smith of the Central (Lewistown) Hangar…

The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) is pleased to announce today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that largely upholds the backcountry airstrip designations on Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The RAF and Montana Pilots’ Association mobilized early on in the Bureau of Land Management planning process to retain the airstrips. “This is…

Maybe it was the promise of Ande LaRoche’s barbecued brats and dutch-oven vegetables, but whatever it was brought out a crew of pilots and friends this weekend to get Ryan Field (2MT1) into shape for another season of flying. Director Chuck Jarecki outlined and prioritized the tasks, and folks brought their complementary skills. Volunteers began showing up Friday, and began…

Recreational Aviation Foundation Arkansas State Liaison Dave Myrick reports that after sending a copy of the RAF newsletter and website links to another Arkansas pilot, he received some exciting news. “The phone call made my day,” Myrick said. “It was RAF member David Ellison of Bradford. He knew of our success with the Arkansas Recreational Use Statutes (RUS) amendment…