That’s how it is supposed to go—and often it does go that well, provided you do your homework before you launch for the big event.

If this is your first flight to a given airshow or fly-in, look for a pilot who has made the trip before and is willing to share information. You might even find someone who will make the flight with you.

Pick the route that works best for your aircraft, keeping in mind performance, especially when it comes to climbing over any high terrain on the way. A turbocharged Cessna T182 might not have any trouble, but the pilot of the vintage Taylorcraft might take a longer route that keeps the airplane over lower terrain.

Consider using supplemental oxygen. Though the regs say that the minimum flight crew needs to be on supplemental oxygen at 12,500 feet after 30 minutes, most pilots begin to experience hypoxia at much lower altitudes—sometimes as low as 6,000 feet—so be prepared.

Know how to calculate performance and use the avionics you’re flying with. You don’t want to be the pilot randomly pushing buttons to update a flight plan while hurtling through the air.

Be conservative about weight and balance as well as performance. While it is tempting to overload your aircraft by ‘just a little’ with all the gear you want for camping, it can come back to bite you. Remember, the OEM determined the calculations in the POH using a new airplane and a test pilot at the controls.

Have at least two methods for updating your preflight briefing in the air—a tablet and com radio, for example—and always carry a backup handheld radio. If you’ve never used a payphone (these people walk among us—payphone operation is now part of my curriculum), learn how to use it. There are places that lack cell service but still have a payphone on location, believe it or not.

Pack water and snacks for the trip, and be wary of dehydration and hunger as they make you sleepy. Drink some water before the approach to landing, as water wakes you up—and an alert pilot is a better pilot.

Plan each leg of the flight meticulously. Be careful that get-there-itis does not cloud your judgment. Build in extra days, and ID places to divert to on each leg.

Make sure you are night current and proficient before you begin the journey. There are times when a pilot finds themselves playing “beat the clock” in an aircraft not certified for night flight because the last flight segment went longer than they anticipated.

For navigation, use a combination of digital and analog methods—if the digital goes tango uniform, the paper could save your trip. Make sure both paper and digital materials are current. You do not want to fly with a sectional years out of date and enter Class D airspace thinking it’s a Class E airport—only to learn the airport now has a tower.

Be conservative about fuel burn. Make a list of all the airports that have fuel, located along your route and within 20 miles off to each side, just in case.

If you are flying with a copilot or a companion, have a discussion about cockpit duties before you leave the ground. With a copilot, make sure to designate who is the ‘pilot flying’ and who is the pilot monitoring and fielding radio calls and programming avionics.

If they are not a pilot, you can still assign them the task of watching for traffic and dialing in frequencies on the com side.

Airshow NOTAMs

By regulation, specifically FAR 91.103: “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.” This means the pilot needs to know what weather to expect, be familiar with the forecasts, fuel requirements, aircraft takeoff and landing data, weight and balance, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC. If your intended destination is an airshow or fly-in, this regulation is now on steroids—expect to find a multi- page notice to air missions (NOTAM) released several days before the event.

The larger the fly-in, the larger the NOTAM. Pay special attention to the communication procedures. If the airport is non-towered, it is likely that a temporary control tower will be brought in for the event. The procedures are created to lessen frequency congestion.

Instead of having hundreds of pilots all talking at once, it’s often one radio call made over a specific landmark to establish contact. Rock your wings when recognized, then follow instructions for landing.

Most NOTAMs have traffic pattern diagrams imposed on Google Earth images for illustration—it’s easy to see where you should be and where you need to avoid when you have an image to refer to.

Pilots who have flown into airshows before—like Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo and EAA AirVenture—recommend having a hard copy of the NOTAM with you in the cockpit along with any digital presentation. Paper doesn’t run out of batteries.

Even if you have flown into this particular event before, still study the NOTAM, as they are often adjusted year to year—for example, traffic patterns may be altered to move aircraft away from heavily populated parking areas.

Skills for the Airshow Arrival

Brush up on specialty takeoffs and landings, crosswind approaches, and go-arounds before you head out on the great adventure. You do not want to be rusty flying into an airshow.

There is a maneuver you were probably not taught as a student pilot but you need it to establish communication and many of these events—that is rocking the wings of the aircraft.

It sounds simple enough, but the controllers who ask the airplanes to identify themselves by rocking their wings really want to see you rock those wings. Make that airplane thrash around like a 10-year-old who has had a frog put down their shirt—but don’t stall or roll inverted.

Practice approaches, especially short approaches and precision landing technique, because “land on the green dot” means land on the green dot.

Study the airport diagram for the facility and know where you will be expected to park. Usually, airshows have ground marshalers, often people on scooters wearing safety vests with FOLLOW ME on the back.

Remember to watch your wingtips as you taxi, especially when there are lots of people around. Though there may be designated pathways for pe- destrians, some people drift outside of their lanes. You don’t want to be the pilot of the Cessna 172 who hits someone in the back of the head with your wing while you taxi, or the guy in the Beechcraft Baron who decides to ignore the ground handlers and taxi into the grass—putting the nosewheel into a gopher hole, resulting in two propeller strikes.

And, in the end, if you are delayed getting to the event, learn from the experience—and realize that it will make a better story to be told around the campfire.

The post A Fond Memory: Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo 2023 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Pilots gathered to share the thrill of Husky National STOL’s Sodbusters 2022 event from July 22-24 at Wisconsin’s Hartford Municipal Airport (KHXF).

• READ MORE: Sod-Busting STOL Event Tears Up the Grass

The venue is just down the road from Oshkosh, where the following week, the EAA held its iconic AirVenture airshow.

Take a minute to enjoy FLYING‘s photo highlights from this exciting competition.

Husky National STOL awards on display. [Photo: Cam Walton]

The post Gallery: Best of STOL Sodbusters ’22 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The grass strip was manicured to perfection and the hosting organization was the Cub Air Flight School. 

This school is unique in that it requires all flight students to fly a Piper J-3 Cub (that’s a tailwheel, of course) for the first 15 to 20 hours before transitioning to a Cessna 150 with tricycle gear.

I didn’t get to witness, but last weekend my brother attended the husky national STOL competition. That took place at our hometown airport. In my dad’s home built j-3 pic.twitter.com/aFNxR0eerh

— Atra Cygnus – Golden Wings studio (@AtraCygnus) July 30, 2022

Unfortunately, not all of the competitors would be able to continue on to Oshkosh after traveling half the country, as many had to return to their daily lives.

By the way, don’t miss FLYING‘s gallery of the best photos from STOL Sodbusters ’22 here:

• GALLERY: Best of STOL Sodbuster’s ’22

The weather was beautiful for the event but would later take a turn for the worse with tornado warnings in effect along with severe thunderstorms. Enjoying the calm before the storm, pilots had tough competition in all classes. The competitors’ experience level had increased as the second year of Husky National STOL continues to draw new pilots and hone the skills of current ones. 

Light Experimental

In the light experimental class, Steve Henry in his Wild West Highlander was the only pilot to break below the 100-foot mark with a combined takeoff and landing score of 95 feet for the Best Overall Win.

Hal Stockman in his Rans S7S took the Most Consistent Award with a total of only 12 feet between his three runs and second place overall at 162 feet.

Colin Caneva in his Carbon Cub rounded out the podium for overall best score at 175 feet, beating Levi Noguess in the Slepcev Storch. 

Bush Class and Experimental Bush

In the bush class, relative newcomer Colin Cosubinsky showed his skills in his Super Cub, taking first place with a score of 249 feet and the most consistent third place award with a deviation of only 38 feet between his runs. He beat out the much more experienced Shawn Francis on this day, who took second, followed by Craig Owen. Francis and Owen both flew Husky A1-Cs

In one of the largest classes (experimental bush), STOL Drag celebrity Kyle Bushman made an appearance in traditional STOL with an impressive second-place performance in a borrowed backcountry Super Cub. He came in just behind the winner, Jay Jolley of the STOL Bandits, in his Bigfoot Carbon Cub EX-2. Clint Busenitz, in his custom built Badlands Traveler, rounded out third place just 7 feet behind Bushman. 

Light Touring and Heavy Touring

The light touring class saw another changing of the guard with Jeff Pohl stopping his airplane hard with the tail high to take the win over Micah Lindstrom (both flying Cessna 170s), followed by an impressive performance in a  Cessna 172 by Kenny Monger.

Warren Grobbelaar remains on top of the heavy touring class with Aaron Greear beating out Andrew Patry for second place. Andrew was testing a new MT Prop with Beta capability and will be one to watch in the future. 

The post A Sod-Busting STOL Event Tears Up the Grass in Wisconsin appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Warren Grobbelaar, No. 46, had a very large following in his home state of Florida. He had an impressive performance in his polished Cessna 180—although it was hard to hear his actual distances from the announcers over the large chanting section yelling “WAR-REN! WAR-REN! WAR-REN!” which was reminiscent of the Section 3 crowd at the Reno Air Races.

The crowds were packed with energy as familiar aircraft took the line waiting to be released for takeoff. The stands were full and most of the course’s sidelines were stacked five deep trying to catch a glimpse of the start line. 

As a demo only, there were no class divisions and airplanes were sorted more by their cruise speeds in the pattern to limit an unnecessary amount of go-arounds. There were manufacturer’s demo aircraft mixed with regular STOL competitors, even a powered hang glider and a gyroplane entering the mix for the first time. It was a great exhibition of light sport, experimental, STOL, paramotor, and bush aircraft. 

Although this was not a competition, there were still measurements taken for both takeoff and landing. 

Results of each day were posted, but generally, the scores were consistent with the first day’s totals Tuesday, with a few exceptions.

One of those notable exceptions was Steve Henry, No. 44, who—after already being in first place—on his last landing Tuesday, broke an axle, causing him to go onto his nose, breaking his prop, and damaging a carbon fiber leading edge slat. The incident caused the famous Yee-Haw 6 to miss the following day’s activities.

Jon Humberd in his Zenith Super 701 was biting at Henry’s heels all week, and he took the top spot in Henry’s absence. Humberd always has impressive takeoffs after beeping his horn for the crowd. But this week, he shortened them even more and added impressive landings to his bag of tricks. Humberd will definitely be one to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.

Nineteen-year-old Jayden Newman graced us with her presence, returning to National STOL with a beautiful Patriot Cub that she had never flown before. She donned her flight suit, hopped in, and beat all of her previous STOL scores in STOL. Newman started STOL right after getting her pilot certificate at 17 years old, then left to complete her schooling and acquire her ratings to fly corporate jets, which she now does full time.

Seeing her return to STOL even more polished was heartwarming for all that know her. She’s expected to compete more regularly now that Patriot Cub is building a custom airplane for her.

The post Husky National STOL Returns to the Grass Strip at Paradise City appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

While severe storms ravaged the surrounding areas, Jennings was 75 degrees and CAVU this year and offered up 15-kt gusty headwinds right down the runway for the light experimental bush class later in the day. 

Dan Reynolds hanging in the air with little forward movement in his custom built “Valdez special” Chinook aircraft, which was an absolute crowd pleaser. With the slowest and steepest approach in the field, Reynolds made it look easy, working the stick and rudder to exhaustion while keeping his airplane perfectly straight. 

Steve Henry in his “Wild West” Highlander did not change his tried-and-true technique of coming in long and low at about 5 feet off the deck—a risky challenge in gusty winds. He often fought to stay afloat, assisted by his 300 hp engine, which quickly lifted him when he encountered a sinker. Hal Stockman in his Rans S-7 and Colin Caneva in his Carbon Cub rounded out the top of the class both with impressive performances of their own.

In the end, Henry pulled off the win by 7 feet over Reynolds, giving him the overall win as well.

In the light touring class Jeff Pohl was bumped from his normal first-place podium by hometown rival, newcomer, and TikTok star Micah Lindstrom—both flying Cessna 170s—an accomplishment that Pohl was very supportive of. However, he looks forward to the upcoming rematch. 

Kenneth Monger achieved his personal best in a Cessna 172, and Joanna Jestice in her Cessna 150/150, rounded out this class. 

In the heavy touring class, Warren Grobbelaar, flying his Cessna 180, led the way followed by Andrew Patry in his Cessna 182. Don Mickey in his Cessna 180 and Brandon Corn in his Cessna 205 rounded out the heavies.

The bush class also had movement, when 19-year-old Austin Clemens in his Aviat Husky A1-C was bumped by Tom Ford in his Piper PA-18 with Colin Kosubinski (PA-18-150) and Shawn Francis (Aviat Husky A1-C) finished up class.

The experimental bush class had Luke Spoor (Legend/Super Legend) taking the top spot, followed by Brian Steck (Legend MOAC), Robbie Stanton (Javron SuperCub), and Mike Case (Legend AL-18).

With an authentic local live band playing and Mayor Henry Guinn present, the city of Jennings, in partnership with the Jeff Davis Tourism Parish, had several hundred pounds of crawfish and jambalaya cooked on the spot and served to all the pilots and crews in attendance. It was a wonderful gesture sure to make competitors want to return. 

Next, the Husky National STOL Series comes to the West Coast. Any pilots who would like to try their hand at flying in a STOL competition should look into SoCal STOL. Newcomers can compete in a relaxed environment, in Tehachapi, California (KTSP) on May 27 and 28. Go to nationalstol.com for more info.

The post ‘Swamp STOL’ Doubles in Size appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

A pilot himself, Drury suspected they had landed their seaplane at Lake Dora, a short walk from the bar. His hunch proved correct. “They said, ‘We just splashed in, in that seaplane. It’s kind of hard to get from the water to the restaurant…but you get a pretty good hamburger and a pretty good meal here.’”   

As the newly appointed city administrator for Tavares, it was just the inspiration Drury needed.  

Realizing that the city was uniquely positioned in the center of the state, he thought, “Wouldn’t this be a great refueling location” for seaplanes headed to and from the Florida Keys and the Bahamas?

When he looked for an historic tie-in that would align the city with seaplanes, Drury hit the jackpot. He says he found evidence that in February 1914, Tony Jannus—the world’s first airline pilot—landed his Benoist flying boat on Lake Eustis, on the city’s northeast border. He also discovered that Clara Adams, an early aircraft passenger and advocate for aviation transportation who became known as a “First Flighter” and the “Maiden of Maiden Flights,” landed on that same lake a month later. The discovery was the spark that ignited economic revival for the city. 

Sold on the idea of revitalizing the city’s economy by turning it into a seaplane destination, city officials approved an initial $8.3 million bond to create the Tavares Seaplane Base and Marina. The FBO opened in 2010 and today, Tavares is officially branded as “America’s Seaplane City.” 

FBO Facilities

The public-use seaplane base includes on-water and on-land refueling stations that offer 100LL and mogas, a 90-octane non-ethanol fuel favored by seaplanes; a non-towered airport terminal with weather reporting and a unicom; a 60-foot-wide designated seaplane ramp; paved parking with tie downs to accommodate 10 to 12 amphibious aircraft; and a 3,000-foot FAA-approved, east-west runway (FA1) on Lake Dora.

The city was so committed to its vision of establishing “America’s Seaplane City” that in 2012 it passed an ordinance protecting the airport zone from future land use and structural development that might encroach upon its operations. 

A business-friendly entertainment district that’s walking distance from Lake Dora was established, as well as an events center, an outdoor stage, and a children’s park with a splash pad that features a life-size aircraft replica. “We took a civic-entrepreneurial approach to government…We felt like if we invest in ourselves, others will invest in us. And they did. Tens of millions of private dollars followed from the dollars that were invested in the city,” Drury says.

The Transformation

Kendall Clutts, the aviation manager for the city, grew up in Tavares. “As a kid, Tavares was just kind of a middle of nowhere, rural town…If you wanted to go out to eat, you had to drive an hour,” he says. Clutts graduated high school in 2012 and was gone for about five years at college and starting his career. When he came back home, he was pleasantly surprised. “It was a 100 percent turnaround. It is a different downtown.”

According to Bob Tweedie, director of economic development for Tavares, since creating the FBO, 24 new businesses, including the lakefront Key West Resort with 64 guest rooms, have opened. The population has also increased from less than 10,000 full-time residents in 2010 to 20,000 today. Some of this Tweedie attributes to natural growth, but he says the city’s enhancements to and beautification of the waterfront, along with the new businesses downtown, also make it a more attractive place to live. 

A report prepared by the Florida Department of Transportation, estimates that in 2019 the Tavares airport generated $39.3 million in direct and indirect economic impact for the region. An updated study is planned for later this year.

Tweedie says the seaplane base was a catalyst for upgrading and expanding the city’s lakefront park, its boating facilities and adjacent greenspace, and adding a robust schedule of 24 annual events that “literally bring tens of thousands of people here, both locally and from outside the area.” 

Two of those events are seaplane focused. Up to 80 aircraft over a weekend and roughly 1,000 visitors typically show up to the splash-ins, Clutts says. An air boss is hired to help manage arrivals and departures, as well as an aerial display and seaplane contests. The spring Seaplane-A-Palooza event serves as an unofficial kickoff for the Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo, a fly-in and airshow held annually at nearby Lakeland. This year’s spring splash-in will be combined with the city’s Planes, Tunes, and BBQ festival and will be held April 1 and 2. 

Serious Seaplane Business

Contributing to the airport’s economic impact is Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey, which manufactures and sells two models of light sport amphibious aircraft and an experimental, taildragger flying boat kit.

The company operates its own 3,000-foot private runway (3FA8) on Lake Idamere, three miles southwest of downtown Tavares. President of Progressive Aerodyne, Kerry Richter says the airport is mostly used by the company for demo flights and customers, but they don’t mind if an occasional non-SeaRey aircraft splashes-in either. Formerly located in Orlando, city officials persuaded SeaRey to pick up its chocks and move 40 miles north, shortly after the seaplane base opened in 2010.

“We turned them down twice and they upped the ante. They actually funded the move for us,” Richter says. “It was probably one of the best decisions we ever made. It put us right on the lake, in a nice building and we just taxi to the water and go flying now.”

Tavares is also home to Jones Brothers & Co. Air & Seaplane Adventures, which offers seaplane rides and tours, Part 135 charter excursions—and a Part 61 flight school that trains pilots for high-performance and complex single-engine seaplane ratings.

The former owner of Jones Brothers & Co., Rob Galloway, sold the company a year ago and now serves as its designated pilot examiner. He said the business blossomed over the decade that he owned it, especially on the flight training side. “At the very beginning, back 10 years ago, it was 90 percent sightseeing and 10 percent flight training. We might have done like five students in a year, or something like that. Now, we do more than five students in a week.” 

With 7,000 seaplane flight hours, Galloway says landing on the water opens up opportunities that aren’t available to regular aircraft. “We get people at Jones Brothers with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences in aviation and most of the time you hear people say, ‘This is the most fun flying I’ve ever done.’”  

Waterway Approach

One of the only challenges to landing at FA1 is boat traffic, which on some weekends can be heavy. But Galloway says, from “your birds-eye-view,” it’s pretty easy to find a good landing lane. 

FA1 has a VFR-only approach, and the runway is only open during daylight hours. As in any body of water, it’s important to assess the surface before touching down. “You want to look at water conditions, choppiness. Once you get above 10 knots of wind, you will start to see some white capping… It makes it a bit bumpier of a landing,” Galloway says. “So typically, you’ll want to find an area that’s protected from the wind and try to land there, where it’s a little more calm.”

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On the flipside, truly calm wind conditions can make landing difficult, as well. “If you have an extremely calm day, the water is so smooth…it’s actually the most difficult [landing] because you can’t judge where the surface is,” he says. “You have to be trained well to do glassy water landings.”

At Tavares, glassy water is usually not an issue. On most days, the winds range from 5 to 10 knots, which is the “sweet spot” for seaplanes, Galloway says.    

Boats and aircraft share the lake—usually amicably, Clutts says. Following a direct hit from Hurricane Irma in 2017, the city rebuilt its docks and beachfront, which allowed it to create some additional separation for the aircraft and boats. The shoreline can now accommodate up to 20 aircraft on floats or up to 60 boats. There’s also a newly refurbished 340-foot dock “that was built with seaplanes in mind,” Clutts says. The rebuilt boat marina, with 80 slips, is now located west of the seaplane base and has its own designated boat ramp. 

According to Clutts, who along with his staff hand counts operations (takeoffs) at the FBO, most of the traffic at FA1 is light sport aircraft, including SeaReys, Super Cubs, and Huskies, but Twin Otters and Grumman G-44 Widgeon are also common—and even an Albatross has flown in. The Albatross anchored offshore. The three years prior to COVID-19, operations at the seaplane base averaged roughly 3,000 per year. That number shrank to 1,700 in 2020 when a lot of the local festivals had to be canceled, but climbed back to 2,000 in 2021.

Projected Growth for Amphib Market

Given the healthy state of seaplane sales, these numbers may soon rebound to pre-COVID figures. A 2021 Fortune Business Insights report projects the global amphibious aircraft market will more than double from $159.2 million in 2020 to $358.1 million by 2028, at a compound annual growth rate of 11.7 percent. The report projects the greatest growth for light weight, turboprop aircraft operating in the civil segment, with North America dominating the global market. 

Joey Graham, director of sales and marketing at Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey, says he’s already seeing this projected growth. “Last year was the best year Progressive Aerodyne has had in the last four,” he says.

He says the pandemic, which forced people to stay in place and save money, also created a pent-up desire to spend. “As a result of COVID, a lot of people realized tomorrow’s not guaranteed, and they’re finally pulling the trigger on something that for some people has been a lifelong dream and for others it’s a new journey for them,” Graham says. 

SeaRey kit airplane sales have also increased. “For most kit manufacturers, sales are way up, with a one and a-half to two-year backlog,” he says.

Kevin Oaks, the seaplane specialist for Aviat Aircraft, manufacturers of the Husky A-1 series—which comes with a float package option—says sales are also up at Aviat. He says 2020 was a record year for Husky sales; 2021 was a close second, and 2022 is starting strong. “Just in the last three to four months, we’ve sold three Huskies directly on floats. We’ve had people order them as seaplanes,” Oaks says. “That’s a good number of them; normally we would do that in a year.” 

Florida Seaplane Experience Center

Oaks, who lives and works in Florida, says the Tavares FBO helps him sell more aircraft. “I use the Tavares base as kind of a customer experience center, because it’s very representative of why somebody would want a GA airplane just for recreational use. They’ve got fuel there, restaurants…and a nice wide, paved ramp. Especially for someone who’s more of a novice, it’s a great place to confidently come and go as a destination.” 

• READ MORE: Seaplane Adventures for Pilots

According to seaplanebase.com, there are 49 FAA-designated seaplane airports in the state of Florida—and 489 in the U.S. Galloway says most of these, however, are not public-use runways.

“A lot of them are, someone has a seaplane and they want a designated seaplane base in their backyard. There are very few that are true public seaplane bases with services.” 

Oaks would agree. “[In Florida] I don’t really think there’s anything comparable to Tavares…Perhaps the Miami seaplane base, which is in salt water, is kind of similar, but not as good. There’s a lot of commercial operations in and out of there.” 

A Model for Other Communities

Steven McCaughey, executive director of the Seaplane Pilots Association, is admittedly Tavares’ “biggest fan.” He uses the FBO as a model in discussions with other waterfront cities that are considering adding seaplane facilities. “We believe that there’s a lot of potential for other communities to replicate the formula, even if they don’t do it at the same scale as Tavares has done,” he says. 

According to McCaughey, it can be challenging for cities to attract state or federal funding to establish a seaplane FBO, as to justify the funding, they require hundreds of operations per month—which is more than most seaplane bases can achieve. Still, he says, the long-term economic benefits can be worth the initial investment, pointing to Tavares as an example. 

“Tavares is really my poster child of our ultimate dream of civic support and of the non-flying community supporting seaplanes.”

Fees By the Numbers

There are no daily-use fees for either the dock or seaplane apron at the Tavares Seaplane Base.  Overnight tie-down fees, as of January 2022:

• Multiengine:
  • Overnight: $12
  • Weekly: $72
• Single engine:
  • Overnight: $10
  • Weekly: $60
• Light sport:
  • Overnight: $8
  • Weekly: $48

The post A City Transformed by Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The collaboration adds an additional event to the series, the Outlaw STOL and Fly-In, scheduled for February 25 and 26 at Somerton Airport (54AZ), in Somerton, Arizona.

STOL competitions offer pilots an opportunity to demonstrate their short takeoff and landing skills, such as landing on a set point, hitting a target, or a series of targets.

The Story Behind Outlaw STOL

Outlaw STOL, located in Yuma, Arizona, was founded last year by Jonathan Stains, who is active duty military, a pilot, and a skydiver. Following his return from Afghanistan, Stains began flying in the Pacific Northwest, where he was introduced to a large, but very close-knit, flying community. 

In 2020, when Stains came to Yuma, he found that he missed all the fun things about flying in his former home – such as the weekend fly-ins and the tight general aviation community. He wanted to recreate that culture in Yuma and the surrounding area.

Inspired by the cowboy crop duster style of the Southwest and the Bush flyers of the Northwest – Stains started Outlaw STOL, which quickly gained plenty of local support. 

Currently in its second year, the Outlaw STOL and Fly-In already has competitors signed up to compete from across the U.S. and Canada. As a result of the partnership, starting this year, competitors will earn points toward the Husky National STOL Series’ 2022 Season Championship.

Outlaw STOL and Fly-In Schedule (all times local)

Thursday, February 24

• 3 p.m. Competitor aircraft arrivals and camping opens

Friday, February 25

• 1 p.m. Pilot safety briefing

• 1:30 p.m. Practice opens
• 4 p.m. Practice closes
• 4:30 p.m. Fly-out, destinations to be determined
• 6:34 p.m. Sunset

Saturday, February 26

• 9 a.m. Pilot safety briefing
• 10 a.m. Vendor booths open/food vendors open
• 10:30 a.m. Aircraft staging begins
• 11 a.m. Competition begins
• 12:45 p.m. After bush class ends: lunch break  
• 1:45 p.m. Competition resumes
• 4 p.m. Competition concludes

Trophy presentation follows, shortly after the end of competition.

The post Husky National STOL Series Partners with Outlaw STOL appeared first on FLYING Magazine.