Ken Brock Freedom Fly-In El Mirage CA Sept 27-29, 2013
By klp
| El Mirage Lake, California 92301, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013-09-27 07:00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| http://www.kbffi.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| blm camping fee, donation to PRA1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fly In | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attendees (9)
Interested (4)
| El Mirage Lake, California 92301, USA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013-09-27 07:00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| http://www.kbffi.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| blm camping fee, donation to PRA1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fly In | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments
Hey I called Jim, the "J" of flying J-Ranch (a strip on the West edge of El Mirage) to ask if it was OK to bring RVs to his ranch for the Fly-In weekend. He said basically Yes, with some conditions-- you must be an experienced pilot and you need to sign his liability waiver when you get there. I think he'd also like a phone call and a $10 per night donation wouldn't hurt. (I have his phone number if you'd like it).
I think it would be much better to stay at Jim's place- to drive in to the lake itself you have to go through a ranger station and you have to pay, check-in /out, maybe a line, etc.
Here's a SkyVector of ElMirage on a sectional (actually a route form nearby Palmdale KPMD class D to middle of El Mirage- which is just a GPS coordinate. This is NOT the GPS coordinates for Flying J).
Here's an aerial of El Mirage lake. Flying J is approximately marked by the green arrow
Some photos of El Mirage HERE
Papalotzin (link Here)- I'm (well actually Janet is) ordering the Papalotzin DVD movie for us now and I'll bring to El Mirage so we can all watch it. There's also a movie I made HG in Valle de Bravo Mexico several years ago I've wanted to show you guys (too long to post on YouTube).
Bring your favorite movies and we can share them. Have you guys seen, "Winged Migration" OH, man, epic film-- Winged Migration- Spell Binding and filmed with trikes by our 100th-member(Freebird @Scott)!!! Watch the trailer, sooo good. I'll bring it too ;)
@Knussear, what did you think of Winged Migration? You saw it at Monument Valley with us didn't you?
Yea, great movie. Can't wait to see it again.
Hey Frugal Flyer ( @explorer3333 )-- looking forward to meeting you there. That makes 8 for sure and 4 more potential attendees!!! Plus the locals and those who show up but din't use the RSVP here. Wow!!
A lot of people are going to El Mirage soon (9/27- 29). I've just been warning the guys who's wives might be going to warn them the area is basically barren, dusty, no big towns around. Tons of fun to Fly!!! But, if you're planning on spending some hard earned wife points getting her to go with you this weekend, you might want to keep those points in the bank for a different trip. If anything, market this as a weekend to unplug from it all, read a book and enjoy the solitude ;)
Rules for El Mirage !!!??? So, I had the pleasure of hanging out with "The Venerable Vance Breese" and we were talking about the upcoming Ken Brock Freedom (Gyro) Fly-In. I asked him if there was any particular protocol for their Gyro event and all the traffic- basically there are no "rules" out there (except fly safe and generic FAA codes) -- but the Gyros do have a certain protocol it would probably be good to have some familiarity with (double click on the picture below to enlarge):
In the satellite photo, North is up, and the big grey patch is El Mirage as seen from space. Near the end of the green arrow is the Flying J, where many trikes will be. Just to the left of the white arrows is an out-bulging of the dry lake called "Gyro Cove" at least during the fly-in. From what I could understand of Vance's description, the Gyro Pilots park their RV's in approximately the blue line. Which is just West of some bushes/"stuff" on the dry lake (marked by red triangle in the diagram). The Gyros have been instructed to not fly over the top of the RVs (blue), rather to fly parallel to the RVs near Gyro Cove (following the directions of the white arrows). That's it, that's all he know of any particular protocol.
We both discussed that our major concern out there usually (given basically an anything goes traffic pattern, ability to land in all directions, and no "pattern" altitude, and aircraft of every type-- especially UAVs (drones)) is running into another airplane. Also, motorcycles, dragsters, dune buggies, ATV's etc all over the lake bed. That's on a normal weekend. The air is going to be especially crazy on a "Fly-In" weekend. There is no particular radio frequency that I or Vance know of (if you know of a particular freq, let us know. Multicom- 122.9 or Air to Air Chat 122.75 (or rarely 122.85) would be my best guesses.
I also had to ask a little about Ken Brock. He was a pilot who was instrumental in the development of Gyros, and every year they hold this Fly-In in his memory and fly over his ranch (nearby I believe). He was killed in an accident in a fixed wing plane landing at his ranch.
Thanks for the info! Is Vance coming?
Awesome, I can't wait to see you all there.
There is a shopping center/mall at highway 15 and Bear Valley in Victorville.
More pictures of Flying J ranch.
http://www.trikebuggy.com/sites/flyingj/gallery/index.htm
Ken, ( @Knussear ), YES the Venerable Vance Breese is coming !!!
got it from the horses mouth last night at the airport meeting (now Vance is going to ask me if I called him a horse)
Oh, and Vance absolutely does NOT fly a Weight Shift Aircraft very similar to a Trike!! Even though it's an open cockpit, pusher prop, high wing, strange looking thing (like us) that when he moves the joy stick does NOT (Vance is adamant about this) tilt the rotor disc and put more weight on the side toward which it turns!!! Got that, Vance does NOT fly a weight shift aircraft (trike)!!
I am proud to know Dave and I have liked all his friends I have met.
I don’t fly a Trike.
I hope to meet some more of Dave’s friends at The Ken Brock Freedom Fly In.
Thank you, Vance
I have not driven to Flying J before, but I have flown in there once. I sent an email to those who I think are going with some general maps of how to get there. If you email me here with your email address, I can forward them to you also. I am not arranging this fly-in, it is a Gyro thing, I'm just saying where we intend to fly out of- ie, Flying J (on W/S/W edge of the dry lake).
I spoke to Jim of the Flying J Ranch and advised that about 11+ trikes are going. He said there are liability waivers there for us to sign (he previously mentioned he only feels comfortable with experienced pilots flying in (no freshly licensed Pilots)). I can get you his phone number for you to talk with him directly and recommend that, especially if you have questions. A donation for staying there overnight (say $10) would be appreciated by the Ranch.
Weather: http://www.weather.com/weather/5-day/Lancaster+CA+USCA0591:1:US
If you happen to be needing fuel for your trike, the airport in Hesperia sells very cheap fuel.
Thanks Sally!
Here's the link that the Flying J boys use for weather.
It's best one. http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/el_mirage_dry_lake_bed
Hello everyone, what's the detailed plan for this weekend? Movie, bbq and flying on which days??
I might come on Friday and stay overnight or come on Saturday for a day only.
Hi Sally - I'm flying in Friday with Leo (@lfitz3). @XCtriker is meeting us somewhere along the route and flying in with us as well. We have talked about a couple of day trips checking out the graveyard at Mojave on Friday and Flabob on Saturday. We depart at the crack of Dawn Sunday returning to our respective homes.
Hi Sally- as Ken (@Knussear) says here's what I know of the weekend:
We land, stretch our legs, empty things, fill things, then jump back in planes (Leo is not flying a trike) and go off in search of lunch at a local airport-- Suggestions?
Then we go off in search of additional airports to check off the list and hopefully (if winds out of Tehachapi not honkin') land at Mohave (KMHV) Spaceport on their 12,000 foot runway and see if we can check out the airplane graveyard and/or Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites.
Janet brings in the RV that afternoon. Yeah Janet.
We'd love to meet up with anyone. Try texting us
We'd like to leave ASAP in the am Saturday for FlaBob Antique Fly-In 40 miles to the South. Maybe go there via Big Bear (landing up on the mountain). Let's say Jim takes off at 6:30, gets to el Mirage by 7:45, we gas him up and go by 08:00. We're at FlaBob by 09:30, we stay an hour and return to El Mirage by noon. (Winds are supposed to be mellow this weekend).
We do lunch at El Mirage, and BS and fly El Mirage the rest of the day.
We visit the Gyros on the lake (@Vance, how's this work?)
Some kind of get together / food / movies Saturday night.
So, Saturday is the big day for getting together. Or Friday if you guys can make it out. The rest of the guys are probably coming in Friday night. They may be packing up Sunday afternoon (doing a little more local flying with you guys than Ken, Leo & I can).
Lunch at Big Bear airport is good. I know a guy who has his architect business office right at the airport. He sold his plane. Hesperia airport has good restaurant as well.
There is a dirt runaway at Lake Arrowhead airport. Lot of historic. You cannot land there but fly over on way to Big Bear. http://www.lakearrowheadairport.com
How about returning, flying over Marshall peak and Crestline launch. There will be paragliders and hanggliders flying. There is a lz for hanggliding and paragliding, but no landing for powered trikes. Crestline launch is great area for ridge soaring. Rob McKenzie, hg and pg instructors since 1980. He flew his trike from Redlands airport over to El Mirage (over Crestline and straight to El Mirage). He and his wife might come or not, depending on his instruction schedule. http://www.flytandem.com/justmaps.htm (34.193N 117.324W).
Lake Arrowhead airport is up for sale, asking for $3M. Mark Bayley tried to open and run the airport but failed due to limited access and bankruptcy. No one in the mountain communities wants to use this airport with the off-road trip. I know few mountain pilots choose to use Redland airport rather than Lake Arrowhead airport. I had been to the airport several times by off-road, it took me 40 minutes from Lake Arrowhead to the airport. It's known as a "Lost Ranch".
I met Mark Bayley several times in the past, inquiring to store my trike at the hangar. I find the road "iffy" during the winter. Then I moved my trike to the hangar at the Brian Ranch airport in Llano, then moved to the Flying J last year. Brian Ranch airport is popular for ultraight planes.
http://www.thelostranch.com/ranchowner.htm
http://www.thelostranch.com/airstrip/airstrip1.htm
Hesperia is about 11 minutes west of Lake Arrowhead airport.
http://forums.rimoftheworld.net/showthread.php?1313-Lake-Arrowhead-airport
I've contacted someone about the Lake Arrowhead airport. It is officially closed. No liability for landing.
Thanks @SallyTucker are there "X"s on Lake Arrowhead field?
El Mirage Tips from @Vance (PLEASE READ): I called Vance just now, he's out at El Mirage helping them set up. He's told them we want to stop by. I asked for any protocol, etc, he said:
He said that Souther Calif Logistics KVCV has a great $1 lunch BBQ weekdays (ie Friday)- their fuel is expensive, and apparently the cheap BBQ is an enticement to land there. It's class D.
Hi Sally, with your email I understand that you meant Arrowhead is closed, no ability to land there, or that the owner has no liability insurance so can't let us land.
(Click on NEXT below, for next page of continued comments)