Written by the author, Yasmina Platt.
Reprint from August 13, 2013, from AOPA's Views From the Region (VFR) blog: https://blog.aopa.org/vfr/?p=794 One of the things we are trying to do here at AOPA is to increase recreational flying. We can do so by opening up more airstrips, preventing airstrips and airports from closing, engaging in fly-ins and other flying events, introducing new people to general aviation, etc.; however, we can also increase recreational flying by increasing visitation to some of the nation’s most beautiful spots… the U.S. National Park Service system via its airports. While at EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh this year, I attended a great seminar about “flying to national parks” and I wanted to share some of my notes with all of you. The seminar was taught by Cliff Chetwin, retired Park Ranger and Park Service pilot for the National Park Service. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 “…to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment…by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” NPS has approximately 401 national park units with over 30 designations, including parks, forests, primitive areas, wilderness areas, recreational areas, national seashores, national monuments, national lakeshores, and national wildlife refuge and range areas. For more information about the Aviation unit within NPS, visit http://www.nps.gov/fire/aviation/ Flying into these magnificent sites and parks is one of the least invasive and most enjoyable ways to get to the parks; however, it does require “careful planning and consideration.” Careful planning includes all of the normal cross country planning tasks (checking weather, planning a route, looking for alternates and alternatives, etc.) plus ensuring you and your aircraft are capable of operating at the intended airport. Some of these airports are surrounded by mountains, at high elevations, at high density altitudes, etc. and some only have gravel or grass strips with rising or descending terrain. If you need to bring a CFI with you, do it! It is also a good idea to contact the airport prior to departure to ensure you will have transportation upon arrival and that they will have fuel for you, if needed. Some of these strips are pretty remote and getting fuel can take time (sometimes days or weeks). And, while you are at it, ask the airport manager for any arrival/departure tips he/she might have as a local. Consideration refers to remembering that you are flying into a site designated as a national treasure (regardless of whether it is a national park or a historic site) and that people and animals are there to enjoy peacefulness among other things. You are flying into a noise sensitive area and, as such, Mr. Chetwin recommended following “14 noise rules” as best as possible while remaining safe and using good judgment in addition to reading any specific noise abatement procedures for the particular airport you are flying to:
FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 91-36D (VFR Flight over Sensitive Noise Areas) also encourages pilots making VFR flights near noise-sensitive areas to fly at altitudes higher than the minimum permitted by regulation and on flight paths, which will reduce aircraft noise in such area. This AC can be found athttp://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentID/23156. You should, of course, also watch for wildlife on airport grounds. Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) 7-4-6, “Flights Over Charted U.S. Wildlife Refuges, Parks, and Forest Service Areas” (http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/aim0704.html) reads, in part: “Pilots are requested to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet above the surface of the following: National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas and Scenic Riverways administered by the National Park Service, National Wildlife Refuges, Big Game Refuges, Game Ranges and Wildlife Ranges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wilderness and Primitive areas administered by the U.S. Forest Service.” AC 91-36D mentioned earlier also defines the surface of a NPS area as the highest terrain within 2,000 feet laterally of the route of flight, or the upper‐most rim of a canyon or valley. Simply stated, find the highest ground on your flight path and add 2,000 feet to your cruising altitude over these parks: – Acadia – Alibates Flint Quarries – Amistad – Aniakchak – Apostle Islands – Arches – Arkansas Post – Assateague Island – Badlands – Bandelier – Bering Land Bridge – Big Bend – Big Cypress – Bighorn Canyon – Big South Fork – Big Thicket – Biscayne – Black Canyon of the Gunnison – Bryce Canyon – Canyon de Chelly – Canyonlands – Cape Cod – Cape Hatteras – Cape Krusentern – Cape Lookout – Capital Reef – Capulin Volcano – Carlsbad Caverns – Cedar Breaks – Chaco Culture – Channel Islands – Chiricahua – Colorado – Coulee Dam – Crater Lake – Craters of the Moon – Cumberland Gap – Curecanti – Death Valley – Delaware Water Gap – Denali – Devil’s Tower – Dinosaur – Dry Tortugas – Everglades – Fire Island – Florissant Fossil Beds – Fort Laramie – Fort Point – Fort Union – Fossil Butte – Gates of the Arctic – Gateway – Gettysburg – Gila Cliff Dwellings – Glacier Bay – Glacier – Glen Canyon – Golden Gate – Golden Spike – Grand Canyon – Grand Teton – Great Basin – Great Sand Dunes – Guadalupe Mountains – Gulf Islands – Haleakala – Hawaii Volcanoes – Hovenweep – Indiana Dunes – Isle Royale – Jewel Cave – John Day Fossil Beds – Joshua Tree – Kalaupapa – Katmai – Kenai Fjords – Kings Canyon – Kobuk Valley – Lake Chelan – Lake Clark – Lake Mead – Lake Meredith – Lassen Volcanic – Lava Beds – Little Bighorn – Mammath Cave – Mesa Verde – Mount Ranier – Muir Woods – Natural Bridges – Navajo – Noatak – North Cascades – Olympic – Organ Pipe Cactus – Ozark – Padre Island – Petrified Forest – Pictured Rocks – Pinnacles – Point Reyes – Rainbow Bridge – Redwood – Rocky Mountain – Ross Lake – Saguaro – Saint Croix – Sequoia – Shenandoah – Sleeping Bear Dunes – Statue of Liberty – Sunset Crater Volcano – Theodore Roosevelt – Timpanogos Cave – Voyagers – Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity – White Sands – Wind Cave – Wrangell-St. Elias – Wupatki – Yellowstone – Yosemite – Yukon-Charley – Zion – Parks charted by some other device So, how do you know which parks have airports and which ones you can fly into? – Check sectionals – Check Airport Facility Directories (AF/D) – Check state aeronautical charts – Call NPS or check http://www.nps.gov/fire/aviation/ – Attend one of the NPS aviation seminars like I did You can fly into any public use airport in or near a park and you can also request written permission from a Park Superintendent. Some of the more known parks with airstrips are: – Big Bend National Park in Texas (3TE3). Private use airport. Permission required prior to landing. – Big Horn Canyon (5UF) in Montana which has great fishing. Winds are normally a problem and there is no fuel on the field. – Cape Cod National Seashore (PVC – Provincetown Municipal) in Massachusetts Death Valley, California: Two airports are available. Death Valley is one of the (if not “the”) hottest places on earth so density altitude is definitely an issue at both airports regardless of its elevation. It is not uncommon to see temperatures over 110 F. While one of the 14 noise rules said to try to fly later in the day to allow convection to lift your noise… flying earlier in the day is actually recommended at Death Valley due to density altitude considerations and safety.
– Ft. Vancouver (VUO – Pearson Field) in Washington State. Be aware of Portland International’s (PDX) Class B airspace close by. – Gates of the Artic (PAKP – Anaktuvuk Pass), Alaska – Glen Canyon, Utah: Two airports are available.
– Kalaupapa (PHLU), by Maui, Hawaii. First Flight Airport (FFA) in North Carolina. A daytime only airport… this is one treasured landmark for pilots, where the Wright Brothers made their first powered flight. AOPA donated a pilot facility in honor of the Wright Brothers’ 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight. FMI about it: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2003/October/5/AOPA-donated-Pilot-Facility-opens-at-Wright-Brothers-Memorial – Lake Mead National Recreational Area, Nevada: Three airports are available. A seaplane base is also available.
– Wrangell/St. Elias, Alaska: 68A (seaplane base) and PAWG (airport). – Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Michigan: Two seaplanes bases, one at Rock Harbor and another one at Windigo. – Dry Tortugas, Florida: Because of sensitive resource issues, any individual wishing to fly a private seaplane to the park must have a Special Use Permit (http://www.nps.gov/drto/parkmgmt/specialuse.htm) issued through Everglades National Park. There are no facilities at the Dry Tortugas National Park so all seaplanes must have enough fuel and supplies for a round trip flight. Remember that you can always find more information about specific airports athttp://www.aopa.org/airports/ or on FlyQ (http://www.aopa.org/Flight-Planning/FlyQ). And, with that, let’s do some flight planning and go flying! I look forward to visiting some of these airstrips.
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October 2023
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