Alton Ice Airport
 

There was a feature article in this month's AOPA magazine on the Alton Bay Ice airport. The article is a good read and features a video online. I hope the link works for non-members.

http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pi...icerunway.html

<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?height=270&width=474&embedCode=5oeHYyMTp X6zJW16G7-mRDmIUmRHyq1N"></script>

Thanks for sharing
 

Thanks for sharing, and the Alton Airport Crew has already been out on the ice, and have drilled holes and placed sticks in the holes delineating the parking areas and runway areas. Hopefully the bobhouse owners and icefishing people will respect the airport area, and we can all share the bay. Hopefully we will have good weather for the next few months, no rain, and only moderate snow, and the bay will end up full of planes, people, and ice fishing.

To Paul, Steve, and Roger, thanks for all you do.

Absolutely Awesome...
 

Always been a favorite of mine, and it is neat to be able to watch the festivities from around the world on the Alton Bay Cam.
My thanks to everyone that keeps this operational and alive!
Terry

Great article, ITD. It really describes the experience

A million thank yous for posting that clip! And many more thank yous to the crew that keeps the airport going. I love taking the kids to the Bay in the winter to watch the planes, helicopters, snowmobiles, etc. - there's nothing else like it.

One year, one of the helicopter pilots was so tickled with my oldest boy's reaction to his helicopter (the kid was only 3 at the time - the kid lives, eats, and breathes airplanes, jets, helicopters, etc., still) that he lifted him up to look inside and answered his questions about his machine. It was a special time - my son still remembers it several years later.

This is one of the many great things about Alton - but probably #1 on my list. :)

Great article!
Last year, there was an event when several planes flew in on the same day. Does anyone know if that is happening again this year? I would love to bring my son to see that, as he is a pilot just waiting to be old enough to fly.

Nice video.
I read the article but didn't watch the video before.
Seeker, AOPA 384698

Usually Presidents day weekend
 

The fly-in has traditionally been on Presidents day weekend, on the Sunday, which also coincides with Alton's Winter Carnival, which by Parks and Rec's calendar is on the 14th of Feb.

Cool story. Thanks for posting.

As one of the pilots (yellow Piper Cub in the avatar) who flew in several times last year and the year before, I can tell you that there's a lot of excitement among a group of us about the possibility of returning this year. On one of our aviation forums it seems someone posts a screenshot of the ice from the webcam almost daily, waiting to see when the process of clearing the surface actually begins. Friends from around the country watch the process with great envy, and we think someone is even coming from Kansas this year just to be part of it.

We all had a ball at the Winter Carnival last year. Many, many, many thanks to Paul and all of the other guys who put in all the effort to keep it alive. http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ons/icon14.gif http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ons/icon14.gif http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ons/icon14.gif


BTW, if the airport is open and it looks a few days in advance that there will be a weather day like you had for the Carnival last year, I suspect that the internet network of interested pilots will create an impromptu fly-in that will involve "more planes than usual". ;)

Alton Bay B18 Ice Runway
 

Hi everyone,
Glad to hear you are ready for the runway. It won't be long now, as we have been checking the ice daily. We have a little over 12" of ice. We just hope it gets colder and stays colder, as this will be good for the ice. We are hoping to plow this Friday, and set signs, windsock flag and runway markers. So that we can have State Inspection. Nice to hear you all enjoyed the article from the AOPA magazine.
See you on the Ice!
Paul

Thanks for the update Paul, look forward to it as always.

Paul, let me know when you want a test landing. ;);)

http://purple.woodenpropeller.com/ABay12.jpg

As noted by dbahn, there are many people monitoring the iceport's progress from afar!

Can't wait to fly in again this year. :)

Alton airport
 

Thanks. Ironically, I had just posted a similar picture on our pilot's board, taken maybe a little earlier this morning before the snow started.

Great to see the action! :liplick:

Plow trucks
 

Yes we saw the two plow trucks out on the ice about 10:30 this morning.

As I recall, last year the fly boys offered the plow boys scenic plane rides as thanks for their efforts. Hopefully they will be so thanked again this year.

That shouldn't be a problem. Last year I think they were too busy with the carnival to take us up on it. :)

Ice airport
 

How thick is the ice out there? I thought it wasn't safe for such large vehicles yet.

Ice conditions
 

There is over a foot of ice most parts of the lake (Meredith and Alton).

Hi I am Riverat and I have the bobhouse just left of the runway in the picture above, been there the last few years. Watched Paul and his crew work on the runway from 7:30am until 4:30pm today and they did an excellent job, the layout is a little different than previous years and Paul believes it is going to be much better navigating in and out than before. The parking area is huge, plenty of room for lots of planes so come on down! I believe he is openning it tomorrow.
Again as always, stop in for a cup of hot chocolate or coffee or tea.

Plane Weight
 

A fully fueled Cessna 172 (All Metal Aircraft) weighs about 1700 pounds. ... 240 pounds of that is fuel. A Piper J-3 as in the picture weighs ..(All Fabric) ..what..? Havn't looked it up but my guess would be around 850 pounds.

A late model 4x4 Toyota Tacoma Pickup weighs about 4000 pounds. I'm guessing a snowmobile weighs about 450 pounds....add the rider. Just throwing out some numbers for reference........for those that are interested in details. :D NB

PS: I would really like to hear from the J-3 Pilot as to the all up weight of the J-3.

Alton Bay b18 runway
 

Hi Riverat,glad to see you out there today.And thankyou for the vote of confidence. The way we plowed today is as close as we could get to the d.o.t. map.So we are open. dbahn, we are ready for your test run!!! But we had some lite snow after we plowed about 1". I'm looking forward to seeing you and all the pilots and ice fisherman. talk to you soon Paul!

Thanks to you guys
 

Paul, thanks for all you and your partners do for the bay, the town, and the guests who join us here. Nice to see the runway plowed, and glad that we start to see our aviation friends start to arrive. Unfortunately, tomorrow's forecast is for pretty high winds, not the greatest thing for landing on ice.


Dave

Since the Cub is currently classified in the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category its maximum takeoff gross weight has to be under 1320 pounds. That is my Cub in the photos, and I don't even know the exact empty weights and gross weights without checking the manual, but your estimate is very close.

Keep in mind that the trucks distribute the weight onto 4 wheels, while most of the aircraft weight is on 2 of the three wheels, but even several inches of clear ice can easily support most airplanes. The FAA requires a considerable margin of safety to approve Alton Bay as an "ice airport", partly due to differences in the quality of ice and partly just because they are the FAA.

When the runway is officially open, it will be published in a NOTAM ("notice to airmen"). I haven't checked those yet, but I imagine one will be appearing soon.


EDIT: According to the NOTAM the airport is open, with a call to confirm.

WAY TO GO, GUYS! Thanks.

Does the Ice Airport have a deginated 3 character code, like BDL or JFK?

The FAA says: B18 (Bee eighteen)

http://www.faacodes.com/

That's the identifier. For some strange reason if you check the NOTAM using the DOD website you need to enter the "K" designation, even though that's not the correct one, so on that site it has to be KB18.

1st plane of the season
 

So, is that a plane I see on the ice? First of the season!

First for the 2010 season
 

Layout
 

Awesome layout, Paul!

Love what you did with the taxiway this year! No more choke point at the runway threshold.

FYI... look for a decent sized group of planes landing there tomorrow (Sunday) morning!

Wooooohooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, our group should be at least 4 or 5 planes, maybe more. Paul, it looks like I'll be a passenger instead of a pilot so I can't offer rides this visit, but I'd love to buy breakfast for any of your ice crew that wants to join us. I think we're aiming for 10:00 a.m., so the Patriots fans can get back in time to watch the game.

Dave's buying breakfast! I'll be there! :D

Plow the runway and they will come
 

Great day!
 

Great day at Alton Bay!

My plane is the one on the far right in the picture above this. Had a great time and a great breakfast at the Olde Bay. Paul came in a joined us for breakfast.

Thanks again for all the work, Paul and crew... the runway is in terrific shape!

Nice Day!
 

Hi Everyone, It was a great day for pilots to fly in and ice fishing. I had a good time talking with Texash,collybus and the other pilots breakfast was good too. Thank you for all your support.We also thank all the people in town who support and enjoy the runway and planes.

Thank You
 

This thread needs a "Thank You Button" for all the pilots and runway crew.

:cheers:

Alton bay airport
 

Saw a couple planes out there yesterday..must be fun!