Posts by Lisa Ellington

The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) was selected to  receive one of AOPA Foundation’s $10,000 awards from its “Giving Back” program. The RAF was one of ten charities who “do good work through general aviation, keeping pilots safe and safeguarding the future of GA,” according to today’s AOPA Foundation announcement. The RAF has committed to match…

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…

Thirty pilots and about ten aircraft attended the Backcountry Operations Refresher Clinic at Peach State Aerodrome (GA2) on Aug. 10. The day began at Candler Field Museum with RAF Georgia Liaison Eric Davis’s 50-slide PowerPoint. Toby Blanton, a flight instructor, reviewed essentials such as short field techniques and density altitude. Eric’s slide presentation covered RAF accomplishments, followed by a…

Steve “sj” Johnson came to aviation from an unusual direction. Fear of flying on commercial airliners led him to confront the fear and start taking flying lessons in 1997. A rocky start – including an accident as a low-time pilot – fueled his determination to learn all he could about flying. Now a 4500+ hour pilot,…

Mark Novak recently retired from a 35-year career with the US Forest Service throughout the west as a Forest Ecologist and Forest Silviculturist. He also worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He graduated with a forestry science degree from the Univ. of Idaho in 1976 and completed advanced silviculture training at the Univ. of…

The air cleared by recent rains in time for another annual RAF Donor-appreciation Fly-In at Ryan Field (2MT1). 28 aircraft flew in, joining folks who’d driven there to enjoy perfect summer weather at the strip near West Glacier, Montana. It was a family affair, and children had no problem finding places to explore, bugs to catch,…

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…

Recreational Aviation Foundation Calif. state Liaison Rick Lach was warmly welcomed by the Del Amo flying club at the Palos Verde golf club for its May dinner meeting. Mitch Taylor, Program Director for the group, flies a Grumman Tiger out of Torrance, and introduced Lach. After the presentation on the RAF and its goals, there…

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…

“This show is to aviation what Cabela’s is to sporting goods,” one Alaska pilot said at the Recreational Aviation Foundation booth during the May 4-5 “Great Alaska Airmen’s Gathering” in Anchorage. Although it was the sixteenth annual trade show for the Alaska organization, it was the first appearance there for the RAF. The RAF backdrop…