The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Is this true? Got this via e-mail today:

>I just went into Chukar Flats on the lower John Day River in >North Central OR. The BLM has put up a sign warning that
>the area is closed to aircraft. This is a remote strip in a >deep canyon with access only by air or boat. The strip has been
>used for many years by our type of aircraft. I think we should >write our State & Federal Reps. to protest and see if we
>can stop this effort.

Bela,

Are you an AOPA member? If so, you should give them a call and let them know; they may investigate, and if there's something that can be done about it, they can be very effective in keeping airports open. They know all the sympathetic members of congress.

If you're not an AOPA member, call them anyway -- join up, and then complain! They're some of the best friends we've got, outside of the C170 Association.

Best Regards,

John

I am an AOPA member. I'll contact them (good idea).

From what I'm told on another board, Chukar Flats is the strip Kelly posted a pic of a while back, about 20 miles west of Condon. I've never been there (yet) but it looked awesome!
Porbably the thing to do is to contact the BLM & ask fof details why the strip was posted. And then tell them why it should not be closed.
Seems like a similar thing happened to the Rogersberg strip in southeast Washington, and that it was eventually reopened after eniough people raised hell about it. Oops, I meant H-E-double toothpicks.

Eric

Yeah, here's the pic. of Kelly's airplane at Chucker Flats:

http://www.popularaviation.com/PhotoGallery/2340.JPG

The story I get it has been used for years but is not an
"approved/blessed" airstrip (someone climbed the one
juniper tree there and attached a wind-sock to the top
years ago).

For those familiar with the area, it's fairly close to Lands Inn.

I agree it looks like a really cool place to visit. AOPA will
get an e-mail from me promptly....

Bela,
You are doing a verry good thing. I am still POed about the loss of El Toro in So. Cal and Meigs in Chicago. Please keep us informed as to AOPA's response. And, yeah I am also a member.
Regards,
Chuck

Tell me more about the "loss" of El Toro in California. When I lived there years ago, El Toro was a Marine Corp Air Station. From what I recall, the Marines moved to Miramar (near San Diego) when the Navy (including Top Gun) moved out. To the best of my knowledge, El Toro ws never a civilian airport. There was a lot of controversy in Orange County several years ago about making it one, and shifting traffic over from John Wayne (Santa Ana) Airport , but I don't believe it ever happened- too many vocal land-owners in the area protested.
I believe something similar did happen to George AFB near Victorville, converting it to So Cal Internat'l.
I don't know what ever happened to Norton AFB, it was out near Riverside somewhere. And where did Ontario Internat'l come from? Was that something else before?-- I don't really remember it being there. But then again, I wasn't into aviation when I lived there.

Eric

Eric,

Lots of questions..will attempt to answer.

First your memory re El Toro is generally accurate. Last week it was sold to a developer who will build lotsa homes and add a "Great Park" which is particularly sad in view of the gorgeous/huge concrete runways there.
I flew out of SNA for many years and El Toro would have been a wonderful replacement. Amazing how many people buy homes next to an airport and then seek to close it. Ontario is an up and running reliever airport for LAX. George AFB is now a civilian airport as is Norton which is currently identified as San Bernardino International. Neither George nor Norton have much traffic mostly due to the fact they are so far out from LA.
Regards,
Chuck

I might be the reason the got excited about its closure.

It is evidently owned by two different groups. One end is BLM and the other is the railroad or something like that. I had heard that they were concerned about its use in the web but not enough to contact me. I did not know any of this prior to going there. I will be upset if it closes; I really enjoyed my stay there. Top Notch!

Kelly