To small plane pilots?

Question

Have you heard of or been to a small plane campground, where you could fly in, maybe taxi over to your own campspot with a fire pit, and a yurt or small cabin, maybe have a little grocery store to buy some hot dogs or a few neccecites, where you could buy aviation fuel, and spend a few quiet days, fish or relax. Would you go to someplace like that? I'm trying to think of something to do in my retirement, would a campground like that be a good idea?

Answer 1

Hi,

I did something like that at Oshkosh Wisconsin a few years ago and it was a blast. We slept in tents under the wings.

Now your idea of a camp ground for planes to fly into, that is an excellent idea. If you had just one, it may not get off the ground (pun intended), so you might want to sell franchises and try to get other places in other states.

I have a pilots license but I quit flying after about 1 year because of the expense and I got pretty much bored with doing landing practice. Even going for the $100.00 hamburger got boring. Maybe with a place like you mentioned it would give an excuse to fly the plane somewhere. Oh.....No roads into the campground!

ACCESSIBLE BY AIR ONLY.

I did at one time leave work at 3:00 in the after noon and fly to north part of Michigan to Lakes of the North Golf course, played 18 and flew back home again. The landing strip was right next to the course so we grabbed our clubs and presto we were golfing. So maybe a golf course next to the campground?

Another thought I have on the subject is the location of the campground. I know in Michigan the weather could be a problem so someplace out west like AZ and the surrounding mountain areas might be best for stable weather.

Another thought is advertising, you would have to advertise a lot to let pilots know the campground is there. What media would you use? This part could get very expensive.

Question, Would you be doing this to make money or just to have something to do?

Well, those are some of my thoughts.
Feel free to e-mail me if you want to talk about it more.

Bob

Answer 2

Man, as much as I would like to encourage such a venture, it would be difficult to make any living on this type of retirment. Several things are happening in the general aviation scene that makes it a bad business venture right now. Pilot starts are down dramatically, small airports are closing at the rate of two per week, and the requirements to fly a plane just keep getting more restrictive.

All this means that the market for a fly-in campground would be shrinking. There are other factors that make it hard too. Many pilots won't land on dirt or even grass strips. Finding the right site for aviators can be a challenge too. There are several fly-in places that have camping in the west, and mid-west, but there's very small, and many are closing down. There's also insurance to think about.

I'd look at something else for retirement unless you are not worried about making money at all, and just want a small runway for those who like to get away.

Answer 3

Your question is based on a false assumption - you have presented no evidence that any of these are the result of incompetence. For all we know, all of these could have been piloted by ATPs with 10,000 hours. Also, it's quite likely that some of these were training flights, where the pilots were in the process of "honing their skills" with an instructor. The reason airline travel is safer is the assumption of risk and public safety. Aircraft operate under different sets of rules, depending on the type of operation. These rules are designed to safeguard the public, not the pilots. Since an airliner is a public accommodation, airlines operate under extremely rigid operating rules. If the pilot flies by the book, there is little to no risk. The "book" is thick, there are rules and procedures for nearly any circumstance. When an airliner lines up to take off, it's been proven that under the conditions it's operating under (weather, load, etc) that the plane can ether take off and fly or stop on the runway, even if an engine quits at the worst time. When I take off in a C172 from a 2300ft strip with trees at the end, I am assuming the risk that if the engine quits on take off, I may end up in the trees, and there is nothing training or currency will do to change that. That's a risk I'm allowed to take, but not one that an airline would be permitted. If I take that risk ( and I have hundreds of times) and the engine quits, hopefully my training results in a survivable crash. What kills people is poor decision making. Much more is left to the pilots discretion in small aircraft, and they make those decisions to assume risk without an operations department or copilot looking over their shoulder. It's perfectly legal to do things that are very risky in a private aircraft. It's legal to fly under visual rules with 3 miles of visibility and a 900 ft ceiling, but it's an incredibly bad idea most of the time. It's up to the pilot to decide to assume or decline that risk. Often there are personal pressures an airline pilot does not face (for an airline pilot, the rules are the rules, it's not personal) that lead to bad decisions. For example, you invite 2 friends to go flying, and one shows up with a 200 lb girlfriend that will put your Cessna over max weight and a little aft of the CG envelope.... Your not instrument rated, but need to get back to home or work, and the weather's not great... The engines been burning a little more oil than normal, but money's tight and the plane's do for it's annual next month anyway..... And since a private pilot rarely flies everyday, those decisions often involve some self assessment: It's been months since I've flown actual IFR, even though I'm current shooting practice approaches under the hood, am I really prepared to shoot an ILS to minimums in actual IFR...? The worst safety record in aviation actually belongs to a branch of commercial aviation: Medi-vac helicopters, and no one doubts their skill, training or competency. The risks and pressures they face daily are the same as most private pilots, just to the 10th degree: adhoc operations that may not be well planned, often using questionable ( or no ) ground facilities, and extreme pressure to go rather than "no go", no matter the conditions.

Answer 4

I'd be there and I have a handful of friends that would go too.
But only a couple times a year...
Remember that many people rent their planes, so they would not have a lot of time and usually just go for a day.
Those that own usually go with their family, if it's for a few days - so what would wify do on your campground?
how close are you to your retirement? I've been playing with some ideas like that too, but I still have a few years to go.

Answer 5

There are many US Forest Service airstrips in the Western USA that have fly-in camping areas, although not as commercial or as recreation oriented as your idea appears to be. If you were in a popular resort area, perhaps a small grass runway would be a nice addition to an established campground, but I doubt that a campground strictly for airplanes would generate enough steady income to cover your expenses.

Here's a link to several AOPA Online articles about airplane camping...

Answer 6

Sounds like an idea out of the early 70s Popular Mechanics magazine.

Answer 7

Tieton State (4S6) near Rimrock Lake in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state not much in the way of accommodations but they do have tent camping sites it would be a great place for float planes as well

Answer 8

Here's a link to something just like your idea:
http://www.flying-m-ranch.com/camping/

Actually, there are a fair number of these in the Pacific NW and elswhere, I'm told. I've been to the Flying M and it's always a pleasure. Taxi right to the campsite, full service restaurant nearby, hiking and riding trails.........

Answer 9

Lots of airstrips in the north west of Canada.

Quite a few are only accessible by air and you can taxi right up to your camping spot or your cabin.

Answer 10

That sounds like a great idea. You'd want to make sure that there was a mechanic incase of emergency situations.
Grass runways are always fun to land on. I don't think you'd have a problem getting people.