JOHN CYRIER

The new Fly Rocky Top airstrip network, developed by the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF), is now open to backcountry aviation enthusiasts. Located in East Tennessee, Fly Rocky Top is a "basecamp and outpost" concept for regional aviation exploration, adding the Southeast to a growing collection of well-recognized recreational airstrip networks across the country, including Fly Oz in Arkansas and others in the West and Southwest. Fly Rocky Top is the most significant achievement to date of the RAF's Expanding the Map initiative, a nationwide effort focused on opening, improving, and restoring access to airstrips, helping connect aviators to more of the places they love to explore. Named and inspired by local culture, each Fly Rocky Top airstrip has unique features, amenities, and recreational options that embody the mission and spirit of the RAF. The new network is in the heart of a region nationally recognized for its unique topography that includes the Obed Wild and Scenic River, Big South Fork National Recreation Area, Cumberland Plateau, and Great Smoky Mountains… altogether a landscape uniquely suited to backcountry aviation. Rockwood Municipal Airport, RKW, anchors the network with its 2,400-ft manicured turf landing area and is designed with backcountry flyers in mind. Rockwood Aviation, which operates RKW, offers products and services for pilots to engage in tailwheel, backcountry, and recreational flying, including training, service, and support. City of Rockwood Mayor Jason Jolly highlighted the significance of Rockwood Airport to the community and East Tennessee. Mayor Jolly said, "We are a national recreation destination and the progress at Rockwood Airport and the surrounding network of airstrips is just the latest step in our region's growth and development for adventurers and enthusiasts." The Fly Rocky Top network is unique in that the initial collection of airstrips – with more planned – are a combination of both public lands and privately owned property with the common desire to welcome the flying public. Specific new airstrips in the Fly Rocky Top network include Smuggler's Landing, a grass landing area at RKW (with tent camping and a welcoming pavilion planned), McGraw's Backyard (5TN4), Robbin's Farm, and Tellico Plains (85TN). An additional outpost, Sawbriar, will be ready in August 2026. More airstrips are in the process of being added and will appear on the Fly Rocky Top webpage . Plans continue to add amenities to each RAF Fly Rocky Top airstrip, including accessible flush toilets and timber-framed shelters where camping is available. Other attractions include access to world-class upland bird hunting, hiking, some of the nation’s best trout fishing, kayaking/canoeing on the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers, and a 44-mile Water Trail on Beaver Creek. Select airstrips have access to meals and accommodations. RAF Co-founder and Chairman John McKenna highlighted what makes this opening so important. “Fly Rocky Top is not just a new airstrip network; it’s also a group of pilots who are passionate about aviation, stewardship, and the great outdoors,” he said. “Fly Rocky Top will connect Southeast pilots, landowners, and outdoor enthusiasts alike with the shared mission to preserve access to the region's wild beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities.”

RAF Montana Liaison Scott Newpower organizes the annual Montana Pilots Association and RAF cooperative work party at Schafer Meadows USFS airstrip, and on Saturday, July 18, nearly two dozen volunteers flew in to help. The airstrip lies in the Great Bear Wilderness, so work is limited to hand tools. A special thanks to Montana Aeronautics Aviation Support Officer Stephen Torske and the team at MT Aeronautics for their support.

RAF Michigan Liaisons General Grant and Tanmoy Ganguly organized a work party July 11 at North Fox Island, 6Y3, the Lake Michigan island airfield just 24 nm northwest of Charlevoix. This year the work party added a new feature for visitors to enjoy – Tanmoy’s do-it-yourself RAF Kabob Station. The group cleared drainage ditches, cut out stumps, split and stacked firewood, cleaned up several miles of beaches, and trimmed and cleared four miles of trail. Grant thanked the volunteers for what he called, “A full day of work.” They gathered unneeded items and flew them off the island. Tanmoy is known for providing delicious kabobs at work parties, and debuted his RAF Kabob Station for pilots who want to cook up his legendary kabobs while on their own camping adventure. Many volunteers opted to camp for the weekend and enjoyed camaraderie around the campfire. See the Airfield Guide for more on North Fox Island. Please read the airfield Safety Briefing. Below it, you will now find a “Kabob Station” briefing. Submitted July 29, 2026

Visitors to the remote Black Bear Lake cabin on Prince of Wales Island, 50 air miles west-northwest of Ketchikan, can now enjoy the results of reconstruction completed by RAF volunteers in cooperation with the US Forest Service. The project began in 2025 thanks to an RAF grant for materials. RAF Alaska Liaison Jeff DeFreest and Alaska Ambassador Kari DeFreest report that they and two other volunteers flew in June 24-28 to provide labor. The project started last summer to begin deferred maintenance on the Panabode-style USFS cabin. It is one of 140 recreational cabins for public use in the Tongass National Forest. Where most of these cabins experience heavy winter rains, Black Bear Lake typically sees twelve or more feet of snow at its 1,650-foot elevation.