RAF BOARD MEETING HELD IN DENVER

Signature Flight Support hosted the meeting in their facility at Denver International Airport.  We would like to thank Signature for their support and generosity.

All board members were present including vice-president-elect Reade Genzlinger, secretary/treasurer Tim Clifford and board members Rol Murrow, Pete Bunce, Steve Johnson and Alan Metzler. Colorado liaison Patrick Romano attended as well.

In addition to covering regular meeting agenda items, Patrick Romano presented an exhaustive inventory of Colorado airstrips. He included strips that are open for use, private or haven’t been used for many years. Many pilots seem unaware that 30 plus backcountry recreational airstrips exist along the Front Range and on the Western Slope. It took a lot of work both in the air and on the ground to first identify their locations and then research ownership and access.  According to Patrick the strips range from open without needing permission to those that are currently closed and for sale. He now plans to work through the list to gain access everywhere possible.  We know that getting “aviation” added to the Colorado Recreational Use Statute (RUS) should facilitate access to many of these destinations.

Tim Clifford commented, “board members continue to be excited about the future of the RAF.  The RAF is driven by passion for aviation with a strong volunteer force and the future is looking very bright.”

Submitted on January 12, 2014.