Gavilan Air Field CLOSED!

[bearcat]

Hopefully this doesn't mean that all the crashes has worn out our welcome, but Mike Tarleton had the gate closed this morning and cows were moving through. So no flying today!!!

Unless you guys regrouped and went to another airfield, it appears that we might be a flying club without an aerodrome.
I brought my sailplane and arrived about 10:15 or so, but just whipped around and went to the Ranchos Elementary field to see if anyone went there. That was also a negative, and that field appeared to be closed off.

Didn't stop me from glide testing. It appears I got my sailplane balanced okay this time and I flew it into tall grass twice. (I love tall grass, but there's so little of it here). The third time, however, a gust grabbed my sailplane and it got about 10 ft of altitude, made a right turn and hauled ass downwind, heading towards a chain link fence. I did not have the radio on because I was only tossing it a couple yards into the grass.

Shame on me! I should ALWAYS have the radio on. I could have steered it away from the fence. It caught a wingtip on the fence, spun around and smacked the horizontal stabilizer. I had to repair both, which only took a few hours. But I was elated that it flew so well. Of course it did. I should have been better prepared by having the radio switched on.

Oh well, at least it's fixed.

Guys, WHERE ARE WE GONNA FLY???
And how come me and Mitch are the ONLY ones posting here?
I see others reading but no one's posting.

[bearcat]

Hey, I've got an idear. The Taos Elementary school has an old baseball field that is pretty much abandoned. It's larger than Gavilan Field too, by about 500%. MUCH more room to fly. There's also a soccer field next door with an excellent grassy area and a paved RUNWAY! So we can do some ROG action and smooth landings.

Let me talk to the principal and see if we can get permission to regroup there. At least for the abandoned 15 acre-ish baseball field, and maybe even the soccer field/track area.

And if you guys want to, maybe we can ask the principal of the Ranchos Elementary too, since it's fenced off and we'd have to get access.

[Lt Swiss]

Hey Tony,

I am down with the flu and did not make the Sunday thing, but I fly every day so Sunday is not my 'fly day', but rather my 'friends flying day'.

Sorry about your plane taking a tumble, bummer, but it flew...

And as to Taos Elementary field, that sounds awesome! Do you mean Enos? Where is this place you speak of? Do tell please...

Thanks Tony

[bearcat]

Hi Mitch. I'm sorry you caught the flu. And you were being careful too, with handshakes and stuff. Figures. Seems everytime you try and avoid it, you catch it, when just ignoring it seems to keep one healthy as a horse.

Hey no worries on the plane. I had it fixed within two hours. It's good to go now. I've got an extra wrinkle or two in the monocote on the tail that I might break down and replace, but it's certainly flyable again. It was my own fault for not turning on the radio. That's what it's for. I just thought I was going 10 ft in front of me into some tall grass, and forgot the fact that this plane soars like a homesick angel, so when it caught a gust of wind, that's all it needed.

The field I'm talking about is not Enos Garcia. It is Taos middle school, which is located on the northeast corner of Gusdorf and Paseo Del Canon. I want to talk to the principal briefly and see if there's any problem with flying in their huge abandoned baseball field that nobody uses. Just got to watch and make sure no one's letting their dogs run loose in there, since I don't think planes would survive teeth too well. That's rare though. Most of the time, it's completely empty.

I got Evan's number and I'm going to call him to see if he could talk to Mike Tarleton. The gate wasn't just closed, it was fastened on both ends. Not even a nice note. I think he pretty much divorced us, but maybe Evan can check with him. Kim thought that perhaps if we join the AMA, and follow their safety rules, Mike might let us back in, since then he wouldn't have to worry about liability. I mean I don't blame him. We were dropping out of the sky like a meteor shower that day.

I ordered that military Piper Cub, so it should be in soon.
But dude, that sailplane flies GREAT. "Homesick Angel", I like that. That would make some nice nose art on a warbird someday.

[bearcat]

Here's an update. Evan told me that Mike Tarleton said we could have just opened the gate and come on in. He thought that's what we were going to do. He just had the gate closed to get the cows through.

I asked Even if he was upset because of all the crashes, and he said no, he thought it was funny, actually.

So I guess we should try again for Gavilan Field. Sounds like we're cool.
Kim just called me too and he'll be there next Sunday. I'll bring my sailplane and if the Cub comes in, I'll bring that too.