2006 Fly In Updates

This newsletter is created in html. It should be viewed while connected to the internet.

If your email system does not support html, you see strange characters, or you do not see the photos, click here

To view in your browser, copy and paste the following link to your address line: http://www.leebottom.com/nordo/Archives/2006 Fly-In Special.htm

Holding Aviation to a HIGHER STANDARD™

Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels Special Issue 2006

ISSN: 1930-0131

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

The Food is in the smoker, tents have been put up, signs are being placed, and everyone is getting excited. The DC-3 is heading this way, others planes have called to say they are coming, and some are already here. There are some great new additions to our Lee Bottom Apparel department, the limited edition Lee Bottom Aviation Refuge posters are here, and the brand new Lee Bottom Flying Field runway extension is in use. Now all we need is you.

WEATHER UPDATE

We would like to give everyone wondering about the weather for the Wood, Fabric & Tailwheels Fly-In an update.

First of all, the hog roast is definitely on for Friday night.

As for Saturday, the current weather shows the wind to be right down the runway out of the South. The runway is as good as always and early arrivals have started to show. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday differ with every site but they all show around 30% chance of scattered showers on Saturday with most saying a shower around 2PM and that’s it. Because everyone needs to get home for work on Monday, we are hesitant to opt for the rain date of Sunday unless it looks like a total washout on Saturday. At this point, it does not look like a washout on Saturday. So for now, we are going to go ahead with Saturday. BUT we will make a final call at 9:00 PM Friday Night and will post it on the website.

So, to be clear. Right now Saturday is a go BUT the final word will come at 9 PM Friday night and will be posted to our website – www.leebottom.com. When you find out, be sure to let all your friends know so we can be sure everyone is notified.

_________________________________________________________________________

What is the Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels Fly-In?

The Wood, Fabric, and Tailwheels Fly-In was started in 1996 and was intended to be a relaxed event for pilots. The gathering filled a void that your typical county airport fly-in could not. . .Beautiful scenery and great great planes mixed to create something special. Called Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels, the name says it all. With models like Staggerwing, Great Lakes, Stearman, Swallow, and Tiger Moth, the line up is sure to please every enthusiast. Held the last Saturday of every September (September 30, 2006), the event is open to everyone.

Over the past 10 years, this event has grown from twenty six aircraft the first year to the current count of over 250 aircraft. As word has spread from neighboring pilots to those of further distance, it has grown from a single day event to one that includes many arriving on the Friday before. Often it is described as an experience that can't be explained. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so, sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy the slide show of photos from our past fly-ins. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW

These businesses have contributed to help us give you a great fly-in:

Jefferson County Board of Tourism

Mike's Hangar

Bowman Eagles

Louisville Executive

Classic Bi-Plane Tours

For $100, your business can be added to the list of general aviation supporters and fly-in sponsors. Contact us info@LeeBottom.com

Will fly for food

Pilots love food, Right? Yeah, we thought so. So this year we have gone out of our way to make sure everyone is well fed.

Friday night (Sept 29). . . There will be a hog roast. Thomas Family Winery has a tasty menu lined up that includes Pulled Pork, Texas Slaw, Cajun White Beans, Dirty Rice and various desserts. They will also have a cash bar set-up to serve some of their famous Hard Cider that dates back to recipes created during the prohibition as well as wine and beer. There is a $10 suggested donation for dinner. Steve Thomas, the proprietor of Thomas Family Winery located in Madison, is anxious to bring his father-in-law who flew gliders during WWII to our fly-in. In order to help us plan for the amount of food, please follow this link to RSVP. We need the RSVP ASAP (Sunday evening is the cut-off)! It sounds like there will be many people camping out so come and enjoy the fun!

Saturday morning (Sept 30) . . . Anyone staying the night or coming early on Saturday should plan to eat breakfast here. West Street Bakery, a local bakery who makes awesome treats for your sweet tooth is going to bring home-made breakfast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, coffee, and OJ. We really hope you will spend a few dollars to get your early morning start from her. Her father was a pilot and having spent her childhood going to fly-ins, she is excited to offer her services.

Saturday afternoon (Sept 30) . . . Lunch will be offered and served by a local deli called The Red Pepper Deli and Cafe. They will be serving their top notch Chili and Sandwiches. The owner's father also happens to be a local pilot and he too spent many childhood days flying to destinations with his family.

Saturday evening (Sept 30) . . .Anyone who wants to stick around on Saturday for dinner, should also let us know as we have reserved some tables at the Key West Shrimp House and we need to have some idea how many people want to go. Email us info@LeeBottom.com to be included on the list or take your chances that there will still be seats available and sign-up at the Pilot Registration tent on the fly-in day.

welcome everyone to the family

We are excited to let you know that in addition to several of our good friends from several top notch aviation publications, Julie Boatman from AOPA will be on hand attempting to get a feel for what it is that makes this place and its visitors so special. If you have any idea, feel free to let her know. We should also mention that Julie and her husband Mike hope to bring their newly purchased Swift. Isn’t it great to know that AOPA has a Swift in the stable?

As for our other media friends we mentioned in a previous email, we hope you will all go out of your way to help them get some good material for their fine publications. They are here to give some coverage to the good people of the Midwest and we don’t want to let them down.

Be on the lookout for some exciting aircraft that will be visiting us for the first time. If you spot one of them, be sure to welcome them to the family.

Spectators at the Fly-In

If you plan to drive to the Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels event, this year we will be suggesting a $10 per family (1 or more) donation. Although we enjoy having everyone here, this event is a fly-in and not a drive-in and we just don't have the facilities to handle a large amount of spectators. We have always worked hard to keep this an aviation event where owners feel comfortable bringing their aircraft. This ten dollar fee helps the drive-in enthusiast contribute to the fly-in and it keeps drive-ins down to mostly enthusiasts.

Automobile parking will be in the field East of the road. A local boy scout troop has agreed to help keep the traffic moving - please be courteous and follow their suggestions. No parking along the roadside.

Fly-In Camping

If you come in with the intention of camping with or leaving your aircraft overnight, please note that is must be tied down and that we do not have tie downs available. Therefore, you will need to bring your own. There is no fee to camp with your airplane. We do have a single shower available for overnight campers.

There is a very limited amount of RV camping spots available in the field across the street - weather permitting. Although we don't charge for this, a donation would be appreciated based on your experience.

FUEL FOR FLY-IN

We will have 100LL fuel (only) available at the fly-in this year. Many of you have just enough fuel to make it to the Fly-In and then have to make an extra stop for fuel prior to heading home. As a convenience to the 2006 Wood, Fabric, and Tailwheel Fly-In participants, Pardieck Aviation out of Seymour, IN will be onsite with a 100LL fuel truck this year. We hope that you find this service to be beneficial and patronize them with your business.

www.pardieckaviation.com

Fly-in guidelines

Through the years, as the traffic count to the "Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels Fly-In" grew, we often considered arrival and operational guidelines that would make everything flow a little easier. This year however, as we began to hear about our own event from people far away, people who had no idea who we were, we decided it might be a good year to offer some suggested procedures. So, that is what we are going to do. But please remember, this is a public use airport and the airport does not close during the event. Therefore, you are all responsible for your own safety just as you are at any other public use airport. We are only offering these guidelines as suggestions and you are not required to follow any of them. Your duty is to follow regulations and all methods available to you for a safe arrival and departure.

Since we are already on the subject of airport operations, we would like to mention some new things we are doing this year on the ground. The obvious difference in comparison to fly-ins past will be the new runway and parking extensions. We have added a 1000’ to the runway and room for an additional 200 plus aircraft. Both areas were added for safety purposes and we will be putting them to good use.

ABSOLUTELY NO AEROBATICS!!!

Arriving Lee Bottom Flying Field
September 29th:
The Friday night cookout has become quite popular so be on the lookout for around thirty planes arriving between 6pm-8pm. The only guideline we offer is that you should land into the wind and that the steam from the power plant several miles Southeast of the field can be used as a wind direction indicator…..and no, the power plant is not Nuclear. People camping with their aircraft will be guided to the West side of the runway. Also, please note that if you arrive on Friday and want to do some local area flying or are willing to take our airport neighbors for a ride which we encourage.

September 30th:
As everyone who has been here before knows, there is almost always a thick fog over the runway every fall morning. This fog usually lies only in the river valley. This never seems to be a problem though as seven miles to the North you have Madison Airport as a place to set down to wait it our or get fuel. Historically, Lee Bottom is the first place in the river bottom where the fog burns off (really). Usually there ends up being one spot elected person who calls from Madison to find out when the fog lifts and that’s when the arrivals begin.

Suggested arrival on September 30th is as follows:
Arrivals start over the defunct Marble Hill Power Plant (2 miles SSW of the airport) at 2000’ msl. NOTE: This is the defunct power plant on the West Side (Indiana Side) of the river & NOT the smoke stacks on the East Side.

If traffic is landing to the North:

Fly North from the Marble Hill Power Plant on a upwind leg for runway 35 over the hill just West of the airport.
Turn your crosswind over the North end of the runway and make your right downwind over the far East side of the River.
Extend your downwind as necessary to keep traffic flowing and appropriate distances between you and the aircraft ahead.
If you don’t feel comfortable or see something you don’t like, you can then continue around and enter the “track” again over Marble Hill Power Plant.
All aircraft should turn off the runway to the right / East unless you feel it unsafe and have room to turn left.
Once off the runway, taxi North until you reach or see a marshaller, then follow their directions to parking.
Do not go park yourself.

If traffic is landing to the South:

Fly East from the power plant on a crosswind leg for runway 17.
Turn left downwind leg over the far East side of the river.
Extend your downwind as necessary to keep traffic flowing and appropriate distances between you and the aircraft ahead.
If you don’t feel comfortable or see something you don’t like, you can then continue around and enter the “track” again over Marble Hill.
All aircraft should turn off the runway to the left / East unless you feel it unsafe and have room to turn right.
Once off the runway, taxi North until you reach or see a marshaller, then follow their directions to parking.
Do not park yourself.

All Aircraft Take Note - Arrival Times for Fast Aircraft

There is a strong possibility we will have aircraft with approach speeds in excess of 100mph. Therefore, everyone should be on special alert for these aircraft during the times of 10:00 – 10:15 and 11:00 – 11:15. These are the times we are requesting they arrive so that everyone can have a heads up on accommodating them into the field. They will fly straight in approaches or higher and wider patterns depending on their needs. Please listen up for them and do your best to assist their arrival into Lee Bottom.

Radio Communication – Frequency 122.90

Everyone attending the Wood, Fabric, & Tailwheels Fly-In should have at least a handheld radio. Although we really prefer flight without radios, due to many reasons we don’t need to cover, busy aviation events are no longer a place that can be safely attended without one. If your plane does not have a radio, please borrow a handheld and a headset so that you may hear and communicate what is going on around you. If your radio dies on the way in, do your best to see and be seen and come on in if you are comfortable with it.

With that said, Radios are not to be used for listening to yourself talk. Report only what needs to be reported and nothing more. Radios do not take the place of your eyes and the eyes of the person behind you.

If you want to help everyone out and feel the need to add more words, how about adding the color of your aircraft? Examples: Red Great Lakes Northbound over Marble hill, Yellow Fleet downwind 17, or Green Spitfire right base 35.

Please do not ask for advisories over the radio. Tune your radio as soon as possible and listen up. You will soon find out which runway is in use. If you still cannot figure it out. Climb above everyone and out of the pattern so that you may observe what is going on. Once you get your bearings, join the fun.

Aircraft Departures

If you need to depart Lee Bottom between 10am and 1pm on Saturday, you will need to get permission prior to starting. Departures and local area flying on Saturday morning have repeatedly caused problems for arriving aircraft, so this year we are restricting take offs during that time period. Again, there will be no departures or local flights originating from Lee Bottom between the time of 10am and 1pm, on Saturday, September 30^th.

Please note that we often have aircraft arriving after 5pm and that no matter how late or what level of arriving traffic there is, you should take arrivals into consideration and depart so that you do not conflict with any possible arriving aircraft.

Aircraft Parking

In previous years, we always parked the training wheel aircraft (another friendly jab at our tricycle buddies) somewhere separate because they are not able to maneuver on the ground as well as taildraggers and their prop clearances are not as good. After many years, we were able to find them a nice smooth spot that required little effort for parking but quickly realized having two different parking areas for two different configurations threw a wrench in the parking system. Yet, we still felt it the best we could do considering what we had to work with.

Now though, with the enlarged parking areas, we find ourselves able to do something we always wanted to do; park everyone together. You see, I have never liked the segregation that goes on at airshows and fly-ins. Me personally, I think we all like flying and we should all be parked together as we arrive. Of course there are obvious problems with jets parked in front Taylorcrafts, but for our event, that is not something we have to worry about. Yes, there is no doubt that our true love is for antique and classic aircraft and those are the aircraft for which this event was created and they always outnumber the trikes by ten to one. But, we also feel that anyone who loves flying is a friend of ours and that anyone who flies their 172 into our field may be the next person we get to introduce to the joys of flying vintage aircraft. And as for segregation, we will also be parking antiques and other the same way. Everyone will be parked in order of arrival and if you arrive in a flight of twenty whatever, please don’t be upset if you are not parked together. We’re all here to enjoy ourselves, meet new friends, and enjoy each other’s aircraft and that is what we intend to do.

Odds and Ends Lee Bottom Codes of Conduct.

If you need or wish to cross the runway during the fly-in, you must go to the North end of the runway to do so. This applies to everyone but volunteers who have been instructed how to look both ways before crossing. There are no exceptions to this rule. When crossing the runway, you MUST be at the North end of the runway. This does not mean the Northern most 2000.’ We mean the end of the runway. There will be signs that point you to the crossing area. With that said, you must also look both ways before crossing. Safety above all…
It has been and will always be our creed that everyone who visits the field or fly-in gets treated just like everyone else. We know that every regular who visits Lee Bottom knows this, but during Oshkosh a related subject came up that we have never really discussed. Therefore, we will put it out there for everyone just this once. If you are ever here at Lee Bottom and believe you have spotted a well known figure in aviation or even a celebrity, please treat them no different than anyone else. Do not ask them for autographs, do not ask to have your photo taken with them, and above all, do not take photographs of them. This is an aviation refuge; a safe place for anyone with a passion for flight. Please treat it that way. We are not saying to avoid them or shun them, merely, let them blend in to the group and be treated as a fellow aviator.
Be polite in the pattern and on the ground, if you scream in the air, I’ll scream on the ground.
Pet Policy - As much as we love animals, the fly-in has become too large for people to safely bring their pets. So unfortunately, we have to ask you to leave them at home. Ace wants you to know though, that at any other time, your pet and potential playmate are welcome.
Above all else, HAVE FUN.

We are guessing that each of you know at least one other pilot that would like to see aviation continue for future generations to enjoy. If you do, NORDO News asks would like you to forward this newsletter to a friend and ask them to Sign-Up. Let's grow our group that is focused on

"Holding Aviation to a Higher Standard".