O/T a bit but worth it IMHO

[Guest TPN_Turnip]

I took all my flight training at a small "mom & pop" airport called Spanaway Airport (S44). At 20 X 3700, this was not an easy place to learn to land by any means. The width slapped many pilots trying to learn to fly but after they learned there, we knew that they could fly/land anywhere. Due to the ever expanding urban sprawl, Spanaway airport is now on the chopping block. Slated to be replaced by 188 homes. Why am I telling you this? I'm not exactly sure. I think it has something to do with the fact that everywhere I look, there is another GA airport disapperaing. The increase in fuel costs, insurance and maintenance has all but killed the GA business. Now, because I am not wealthy I am left to fly flight sims mostly. Granted, I occasionally take to the skies with other people who "split the cost" but it is not, and never will be the same. I look to Microsoft, Radar Contact, FS Nav and 100's of other programs / flight enthusiasts to fill a void that will never actually be filled. There is a poem that has been around for many years. It has a line in it that says... "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, reached out my hands and touched the face of God." Been there... Done that... Have the memories! Good bye Spanaway!System Specs:P4 3.0SB LiveATI Radeon X800 GTO (256)1 Gig DDR RAM

[jd 57]

thanks. well said

[Guest mmcevilley]

> There is a poem that has been around for many years. It has> a line in it that says... "I have slipped the surly bonds of>earth, reached out my hands and touched the face of God." Been>there... Done that... Have the memories! Good bye Spanaway!"High Flight" is the name. What you quoted is the first and last lines of the poem.Your post reminds of the good times in the 80's, while stationed at Shaw AFB, flying out of Sumter Municipal (SMS). I would check weather at around 2PM and only then decide I wanted to go fly. A quick call to the field to determine what was available and I almost always got my choice of aircraft. The FBO/instructor/ferry pilot/air limosine pilot/grounds keeper would tell me "I've got to run down to Savannah - so the key will be in the usual place". The usual place was under a flower pot next to the office door.I would go home, get out of uniform, and shoot out to the field. I would park, hop over the chain link fence, fetch the key and go out to the aircraft. My destination would be somewhere, nowhere, and I would have no clue how I intended to get there. Only after the prevailing winds provided me a takeoff direction would I determine what I wanted to do. Sometimes it was flying low trying to follow the winding rivers, other times it would be flying 'up North' to see what was going on at Darlington Racetrack. Or maybe a visit to a never-before-visited field (used to love making approaches to the airport in Marion SC where the runway started right off the banks of a lake). BTW: I learned to fly off a 5000x100 runway. But, my instructor used to take me to a field like the one you described, oriented 9-27, where the winds were always gusting out the NW, it was there I learned/perfected crosswind landing technique! ;-)Yeah - the good old days ...-michael

[Guest jskibo]

I just bought a home / hangar in an airstrip community (2OK2). Not much wider than your and a 1000ft shorter (2700 x 30). Tight landings and a few of the residents have taildragger....Got to be spot on with those!-John