Posts by Lisa Ellington

Bob Burley, Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) Vermont Liaison, attended a Facility Tour and Safety Briefing hosted by Vermont Air National Guard 158th Fighting Wing in April at Burlington International Airport (KBTV). “Backcountry operations are a primary focus of the RAF,” Burley said, “and pilots can encounter Military Operations Areas (MOAs) and Military Training Routes (MTRs). Both GA…

Exactly one year ago the RAF hosted the first public aviation event in decades at Blackwater Airfield 8FD3.  In fact, the event was chronicled on this webpage (see the April 4 2013 entry):  a long, forgiving turf airstrip, all the campground amenities a brief walk away in the beautiful Blackwater River Forest, and kids, families…

On Saturday March 19th with temperatures lingering in the single digits, Pete Smith, Donald Hartrich, Ralph Rogers  and RAF Director, Alan Metzler, all Montana Pilot’s Association (MPA) members as well as members of the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) ventured out to the Cow Creek airstrip north of the Missouri River along the Cow Creek drainage…

At this year’s Montana Aeronautics Aviation conference, Chuck Jarecki was awarded the President’s Award by the Montana Pilots Association. Members of the 600+member group meet during the annual conference to elect officers, award scholarships and plan advocacy. Outgoing President Scott Newpower announced the award to a full meeting room, which acknowledged Jarecki with a standing…

Thank you everyone who stopped by the RAF booth at the NW Aviation Conference in Puyallup, WA, February 19-21. TEAM RAF has been there for several years to talk about preserving, maintaining and creating airstrips for recreational access.  We wish to thank Redbird Simulator, Inc. for donating a TD2 simulator for our tradeshows! The sim…

Great Florida weather and two great aviation organizations came together for a delightful three-day weekend at Melrose Landing (FD22) at the end of January.  Florida Sport Aviation, Antique, and Classic Association (FSAACA) and the RAF co-hosted. No ice, no snow, no grey skies, just lots of camaraderie among the families from 40-plus aircraft and ten RVs. …

December isn’t typically the ideal time for a work party in Montana, but RAF’s BLM Liaison Pete Smith and some intrepid volunteers decided it was for this project. Motor vehicles had left deep ruts on Cow Creek airstrip within scenic Missouri River Breaks country. A fence was needed to restrict abuse. Working between rainstorms to land and bring in…

Volunteers from the RAF and Arizona Pilots Assoc. rolled up their sleeves this fall and worked into the nights to reclaim beautiful Grapevine Airstrip, located on the Tonto National Forest, just 1,400 feet from the shores of Roosevelt Lake.  Thanks to their hard work and financial support; and special contributions from Crafco, Inc, and Otto Trucking,…

There are times when you see or read something that you just know you want to share. On this Veterans Day I was fortunate enough to have the following excerpts shared from the logs and diary of a then 23 year old B-24 pilot. Mr. Drummond, who is still with us today and is the…

Thanks to all the great folks that showed up today to volunteer their time on this hot November day to help Friends of Arcadia Airport with final brush trimming on phase 2 of   ” Aviation City “,  our Fly-In/Camp-Out Center @ X06.  It was a treat for us to meet most of these people for the…