Other Airports Up North

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[Speaker 0]
In a world created by Mike Dell, I

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[Speaker 0]
guess you would call it Mike Dell's world.

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[Speaker 1]
And this is the aforementioned Mike Dell, and

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[Speaker 1]
this is episode four thirty for November twenty

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[Speaker 1]
four twenty twenty five. And, yeah. Well, I

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[Speaker 1]
didn't create the world. I wouldn't wanna take

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[Speaker 1]
blame for that. But thanks to Mark there,

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[Speaker 1]
I have that stinger. Yeah. Anyway, So I

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[Speaker 1]
I yesterday's episode is all about flight schools

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[Speaker 1]
and, other schools, aviation related around Traverse City,

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[Speaker 1]
but there's a lot of other airports, around

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the area. And in fact, I'm gonna just

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kinda look here on, a thing called ForeFlight.

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[Speaker 1]
And what four ForeFlight is is no it's

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[Speaker 1]
known as a an electronic flight bag. And,

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you know, used to be pilots would have

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[Speaker 1]
to carry a a flight bag full of

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paperwork and maps and things, you know, because,

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[Speaker 1]
well, we didn't have iPads and iPhones and

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[Speaker 1]
Android devices and flat screen, glass panels with

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all the maps and stuff on the airplane

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I fly. There's you know, all the charts

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are on the screen. You know? I can

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split the screen in front of me and

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have the flight instruments on the one side

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and the maps on the other and get

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all the same information. But I also have

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[Speaker 1]
an iPad that I can carry or I

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do carry that also has all that information

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on it. And the program I use is

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[Speaker 1]
called ForeFlight, and it shows all the airport.

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[Speaker 1]
It's basically the, you know, VFR sectional, does

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[Speaker 1]
all the IFR stuff. It, you know, it's

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it's all the aviation stuff all packed into

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[Speaker 1]
an iPad. It's pretty cool. But, I'm gonna

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[Speaker 1]
use that to, talk about all the airports

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[Speaker 1]
that I've flown to. I I I won't

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talk about too many other airports around, but,

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at least the ones I've flown to or

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flown around or flown near or have some

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other connection to. So, of course, Traverse City,

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[Speaker 1]
we talked all about in an episode, about

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[Speaker 1]
Traverse City's airport. But the first other airport

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[Speaker 1]
that I flew to, you know, around here,

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anyway, is, Interim County Airport. It's a little

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north east of Traverse City. I had to

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think about that for a second. And it's

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a a little county airport, near Bel Air,

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Michigan. And my fore flight just crashed. That's

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always nice, but I'm using the web version,

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[Speaker 1]
not the iPad version. But but, yeah, Antrim

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[Speaker 1]
County is a nice, nice airport. They've got

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a lot of hangars, a lot of general

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aviation. It's in Bel Air, Michigan, and a

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lot of, people have winter or summer houses,

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I should say, or winter houses because there's

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a big ski resort nearby. And, they utilize

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[Speaker 1]
the the Antrim County Airport or KACB for

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those of you keeping score. And, Antrim, like

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[Speaker 1]
I said, it's a nice little airports. Note,

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there's no control tower, so it's class echo

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airspace, class e, which, you know, when you

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fly into it, you you announce yourself five

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miles out and and on the common traffic

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frequency. And anybody that's flying around there will,

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acknowledge you or at least know about you.

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And then you you tell them you get

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in a little closer. You tell them how

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you're gonna enter the pattern. You know, usually,

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it's, like in this case, it's runway zero

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two and two zero. So depending on the

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winds, which so say I was coming in

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from the west or actually from the southwest,

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I I would be coming in, and I'd

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call them about five miles out on the

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common frequency and tell them, hey. This is

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whoever whoever, you know, your call sign. And

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I'm gonna enter the left downwind for runway

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two zero. And I'm gonna cross midway, midfield

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and enter that, left downwind, and then you

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follow the pattern around. Every time you make

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a turn, you call, know, entering the downwind,

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entering the the base, on final runway two

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zero. And then when you land and you

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taxi off the runway, say clear of the

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air clear of the runway. You know? And

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you you announce that even if there's nobody

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else flying around. But if there is somebody

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else flying around, generally, they'll tell you where

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they are and what they're doing, and you

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can just kinda slot yourself into the traffic

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pattern. I won't explain this on every airport,

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but in this particular case, this is what

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I do when I go there. And, you

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know, sometimes do touch and goes, sometimes do

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go around, sometimes do a low pass. Low

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passes are fun, by the way. And this

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is a five thousand foot runway, and, that's

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it's a lot of fun, I think. You

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know, you get down as close to the

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runway as you can without touching it. And

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you go down the most of the length

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of the runway, then you climb out. That's

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called a low pass, but the the reason

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[Speaker 1]
for that is, you get to get into

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ground effect, and that's a lot of fun

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to, and good practice because, you know, the

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more you get the feel for ground effect,

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the more you can control your landings better

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and, land the way you want to. You

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know, they're short field or normal landing or

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[Speaker 1]
a soft field landing, you know, so you're

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gonna land on grass or mud or snow

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or whatever. You know, you do the soft

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field technique. And like I said, getting used

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to ground effect and experiencing that is a

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really good way to get that muscle memory.

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[Speaker 1]
So that's mainly what I've done at, Antrim

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is, like I said, do touch and goes

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or do, you know, land land and taxi

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back, for short field or or, short field

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or, soft field technique landings and low passes.

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[Speaker 1]
So, anyway, that's Antrim. Antrim's got a really

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nice, I guess it's not really an FBO,

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but, I guess that's kinda what they call

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it. They sell gas there and and, you've

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got a nice lounge for you to lounge

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around in and, bathrooms and whatnot. You know,

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just a good place to stop off and,

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and, do your aviation stuff. But that's that's

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[Speaker 1]
the one that I've been to the most,

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and that's, you know, literally fifteen minutes, ten

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minutes away from Traverse City. Gets us out

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[Speaker 1]
of the class delta at Traverse City where

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[Speaker 1]
the control tower is. And and, you know,

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[Speaker 1]
this makes it a little easier when it's

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[Speaker 1]
not busy at Andrew. If it's busy, you

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know, in an uncontrolled airport, it's, it's better

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[Speaker 1]
to go somewhere else. And, well, since we're

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[Speaker 1]
going that direction, a little further north, and

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[Speaker 1]
I haven't been to a lot of these

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[Speaker 1]
airports. There's one in Charlevoix. There's one in,

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[Speaker 1]
Boyne City. What's that one? Always forget the

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[Speaker 1]
name of that. Harbor Springs. But the one

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[Speaker 1]
that I've been to, further north is up

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[Speaker 1]
by the tip of the, lower peninsula, pretty

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[Speaker 1]
close to the Mackinac Bridge is Pellston. And

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[Speaker 1]
Pellston is actually kind of a biggish airport

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for an uncontrolled field. They actually have airliners

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flying in there. Delta, I think, has two

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[Speaker 1]
flights a day in and out of there.

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[Speaker 1]
I think I've talked about that previously, but,

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[Speaker 1]
Paulson's kind of a neat little, well, not

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[Speaker 1]
little airport, but a little, you know, little

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[Speaker 1]
ish airport. And, one of the runways is

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[Speaker 1]
six thousand five hundred feet, feet, and another

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[Speaker 1]
one is five thousand four hundred feet. And

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[Speaker 1]
they have the distinction of having a restaurant

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[Speaker 1]
on the field. So a lot of people

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go up to Charleston, specifically to go to

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[Speaker 1]
the the restaurant there. And, you know that's

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[Speaker 1]
kind of the hundred dollar hamburger destination and

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[Speaker 1]
a hundred dollar hamburger usually costs more than

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[Speaker 1]
a hundred dollars but it's still pretty cool.

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[Speaker 1]
Back to Charlevoix which is a little further

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[Speaker 1]
south of Pellston and along the shoreline. Shoreline

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[Speaker 1]
or shoreline. Charlevoix has the the distinction of

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[Speaker 1]
having a little airline there. I don't know

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[Speaker 1]
if it's an airline, more of a charter

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[Speaker 1]
thing. But Island Airways, which goes out to

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[Speaker 1]
Beaver Island, so the Wilkie Airport on Beaver

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[Speaker 1]
Island. There's actually two airports on Beaver Island,

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[Speaker 1]
the Beaver Island airport, and then there's Wilkie,

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[Speaker 1]
which is owned by Paul Wilkie and the

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[Speaker 1]
guy that runs Island Airways. So I don't

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[Speaker 1]
know anybody that actually uses the the one,

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[Speaker 1]
the the the regular Beaver Island airport. I

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guess, probably, because they do have fuel there,

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[Speaker 1]
and they they and they are lighted, so

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is Wilkie. But, you know, the Beaver Island

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Airport, the the proper airport has three runways,

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four thousand three hundred feet's the longest one,

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[Speaker 1]
and then they got two shorter ones that

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are grass. But their asphalt runway is, like

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[Speaker 1]
I said, almost forty three hundred feet. And

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[Speaker 1]
then just a couple miles away or a

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[Speaker 1]
mile away maybe is Wilkie. And Wilkie has

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one asphalt runway that's twenty five hundred feet,

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[Speaker 1]
and a grass runway is thirty five hundred

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feet. So the grass runway is, is longer.

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[Speaker 1]
I wonder which one the islanders come in

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[Speaker 1]
on. Anyway, I've not been to either of

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[Speaker 1]
those. I have been over Charlevoix Airport. I've

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[Speaker 1]
have not landed there. Another airport in the

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[Speaker 1]
area is, the Grayling. No. Gaylord. Sorry. Grayling

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Airport is an army airport or army Gaylord

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[Speaker 1]
or Grayling Army Airfield, but I have not

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[Speaker 1]
landed there. You can you can go there.

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[Speaker 1]
You know, it's a public use airport, but

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[Speaker 1]
it's, it's got a class delta, you know,

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[Speaker 1]
control tower and and all that. So I

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[Speaker 1]
haven't been there yet. At some point, I

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[Speaker 1]
might check it out, but it's, it's owned

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[Speaker 1]
by the, US army, Grayling Army Airfield. And,

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[Speaker 1]
but, again, it's a public use airport in

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[Speaker 1]
the town of Grayling, Michigan, not, not on

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00:11:14,020 --> 00:11:17,875
[Speaker 1]
the base, which is south of town. Kind

208
00:11:17,875 --> 00:11:21,634
[Speaker 1]
of an interesting setup there, I thought. But

209
00:11:21,634 --> 00:11:23,894
[Speaker 1]
the one I've been to is Gaylord Airport.

210
00:11:24,915 --> 00:11:31,290
[Speaker 1]
That's, fifteen miles north of Grayling, along I

211
00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:33,050
[Speaker 1]
seventy five kind of out in the middle

212
00:11:33,050 --> 00:11:37,370
[Speaker 1]
of the state. And it's nice except for

213
00:11:37,370 --> 00:11:41,130
[Speaker 1]
there's a restricted area that's pretty close. Although,

214
00:11:41,130 --> 00:11:42,330
[Speaker 1]
you have to be up pretty high to

215
00:11:42,330 --> 00:11:44,590
[Speaker 1]
get in the restricted area, so it's not

216
00:11:44,730 --> 00:11:50,165
[Speaker 1]
really a problem. But, Gaylord Regional Airport, and

217
00:11:50,305 --> 00:11:53,425
[Speaker 1]
they have a couple of runways there at

218
00:11:53,425 --> 00:11:57,585
[Speaker 1]
both asphalt, a sixty five hundred foot runway,

219
00:11:57,585 --> 00:11:59,825
[Speaker 1]
and a forty two hundred foot runway, and

220
00:11:59,825 --> 00:12:02,880
[Speaker 1]
both of which are in good condition and

221
00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,320
[Speaker 1]
paved. And I've actually landed on, both the

222
00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:12,020
[Speaker 1]
runways up there, with there with an instructor

223
00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,720
[Speaker 1]
one time and, you know, just for a

224
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,155
[Speaker 1]
place to go land. And then, did it

225
00:12:17,155 --> 00:12:20,755
[Speaker 1]
one other time by myself and landed on

226
00:12:20,755 --> 00:12:22,835
[Speaker 1]
a different runway. You know, I ran landed

227
00:12:22,835 --> 00:12:24,515
[Speaker 1]
on the north south runway when I was

228
00:12:24,515 --> 00:12:27,635
[Speaker 1]
by myself and, east west runway with the

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00:12:27,635 --> 00:12:32,510
[Speaker 1]
instructor doing, some cross country training. Cross country,

230
00:12:32,510 --> 00:12:35,630
[Speaker 1]
really. Yeah. Around the late twenty eight mile

231
00:12:35,870 --> 00:12:37,630
[Speaker 1]
no. It's more than that. Fifty miles, I

232
00:12:37,630 --> 00:12:40,270
[Speaker 1]
guess. Forty something. I don't know. Whatever it

233
00:12:40,270 --> 00:12:42,925
[Speaker 1]
was, it was just a a thing I

234
00:12:42,925 --> 00:12:47,165
[Speaker 1]
had to do. And that was, you know,

235
00:12:47,165 --> 00:12:49,585
[Speaker 1]
that that was a cool airport, I thought.

236
00:12:50,605 --> 00:12:53,245
[Speaker 1]
One of my favorite airports to play around

237
00:12:53,245 --> 00:12:56,225
[Speaker 1]
with. The problem with this airport is if

238
00:12:57,580 --> 00:13:02,960
[Speaker 1]
Traverse City's airliners are running on two eight,

239
00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:05,340
[Speaker 1]
landing to you know, pointing towards the west

240
00:13:05,340 --> 00:13:09,180
[Speaker 1]
when they land, they come awfully close to

241
00:13:09,180 --> 00:13:12,785
[Speaker 1]
this airport. It's Kalkaska is the name of

242
00:13:13,325 --> 00:13:15,805
[Speaker 1]
the airport. It's Kalkaska City Airport, and, you

243
00:13:15,805 --> 00:13:21,825
[Speaker 1]
know, twenty ish miles, east of Traverse City.

244
00:13:22,365 --> 00:13:25,805
[Speaker 1]
But, went over there one time, early morning,

245
00:13:25,805 --> 00:13:27,930
[Speaker 1]
and I thought, oh, try that out. And,

246
00:13:28,710 --> 00:13:30,790
[Speaker 1]
they've got a thirty five hundred foot runway

247
00:13:30,790 --> 00:13:33,510
[Speaker 1]
that's only seventy five feet wide, which gives

248
00:13:33,510 --> 00:13:36,790
[Speaker 1]
you a whole different perspective than the hundred

249
00:13:36,790 --> 00:13:39,350
[Speaker 1]
and fifty foot wide runways at Traverse City

250
00:13:39,350 --> 00:13:42,365
[Speaker 1]
or the hundred foot wide runways, Antrim and

251
00:13:42,365 --> 00:13:46,765
[Speaker 1]
Pellston. So seventy five is pretty skinny, and

252
00:13:46,765 --> 00:13:49,404
[Speaker 1]
it gives you a different sight picture. So

253
00:13:49,404 --> 00:13:51,505
[Speaker 1]
the first time I tried to land there,

254
00:13:52,365 --> 00:13:54,205
[Speaker 1]
I I was way higher than I thought

255
00:13:54,205 --> 00:13:57,460
[Speaker 1]
I was, because of the weird visuals, you

256
00:13:57,460 --> 00:13:59,640
[Speaker 1]
know, just being used to a wider runway.

257
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:02,740
[Speaker 1]
And, ended up doing a go around first

258
00:14:02,740 --> 00:14:04,500
[Speaker 1]
time and then did, I don't know, four

259
00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:06,500
[Speaker 1]
or five touch and goes there and then

260
00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:08,340
[Speaker 1]
came back. But it was first thing in

261
00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:09,940
[Speaker 1]
the morning and not a lot of airline

262
00:14:09,940 --> 00:14:12,625
[Speaker 1]
traffic. And even the airline, that's not really

263
00:14:12,625 --> 00:14:16,065
[Speaker 1]
a problem. The airliners usually turn somewhere between

264
00:14:16,065 --> 00:14:18,944
[Speaker 1]
Kalkaska and Traverse City. And, you know, you're

265
00:14:18,944 --> 00:14:21,185
[Speaker 1]
really not in their way, but, it still

266
00:14:21,185 --> 00:14:23,985
[Speaker 1]
makes you a little nervous being around a

267
00:14:23,985 --> 00:14:25,649
[Speaker 1]
lot of airliners. Of Course flying out of

268
00:14:25,649 --> 00:14:27,670
[Speaker 1]
Traverse City, we're around a lot of airliners

269
00:14:27,730 --> 00:14:30,290
[Speaker 1]
anyway, but, you have a control tower there,

270
00:14:30,290 --> 00:14:33,570
[Speaker 1]
Kalkaska. You don't. Let's see. One of the

271
00:14:33,570 --> 00:14:37,010
[Speaker 1]
other airports that, also yeah. I have this

272
00:14:37,010 --> 00:14:39,089
[Speaker 1]
habit. Whenever it's the first time I landed

273
00:14:39,089 --> 00:14:43,145
[Speaker 1]
an airport, I would say ninety percent of

274
00:14:43,145 --> 00:14:45,405
[Speaker 1]
the time, it's been a go around because

275
00:14:45,705 --> 00:14:48,345
[Speaker 1]
I somehow screw up the screw up the

276
00:14:48,345 --> 00:14:51,865
[Speaker 1]
approach. Yeah. It's just a a thing of

277
00:14:51,865 --> 00:14:55,140
[Speaker 1]
mine, I guess. But another one I did

278
00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:59,380
[Speaker 1]
that at was Frankfurt Airport. Frankfurt, Michigan is

279
00:14:59,380 --> 00:15:02,180
[Speaker 1]
over on the shoreline, and it's about as

280
00:15:02,180 --> 00:15:05,220
[Speaker 1]
far west of Traverse City as Kalkaska is

281
00:15:05,220 --> 00:15:07,400
[Speaker 1]
east of Traverse City. Maybe a little further,

282
00:15:08,175 --> 00:15:10,335
[Speaker 1]
but it's kind of down in a hole

283
00:15:10,335 --> 00:15:13,315
[Speaker 1]
kind of down on a bowl and so

284
00:15:13,455 --> 00:15:16,355
[Speaker 1]
the the approach into the airport both direction

285
00:15:16,495 --> 00:15:18,175
[Speaker 1]
well actually the south side is not too

286
00:15:18,175 --> 00:15:20,335
[Speaker 1]
bad but on the north side it's you're

287
00:15:20,335 --> 00:15:23,200
[Speaker 1]
kind of coming over a hill That's kind

288
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,560
[Speaker 1]
of the same way in, Antrim, but, Antrim's

289
00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:30,640
[Speaker 1]
not quite as bad. But Frankfurt is, and,

290
00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,320
[Speaker 1]
their runway is is also seventy five feet

291
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,000
[Speaker 1]
wide. So that was part of the problem.

292
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:37,905
[Speaker 1]
They got a, you know, four thousand foot

293
00:15:37,905 --> 00:15:40,785
[Speaker 1]
long runway, but it's only seventy five feet

294
00:15:40,785 --> 00:15:42,885
[Speaker 1]
wide. So it has kind of a weird

295
00:15:43,825 --> 00:15:47,985
[Speaker 1]
weird thing going on there. And a bit

296
00:15:47,985 --> 00:15:52,580
[Speaker 1]
south of that, is Manistee County Airport, Blacker

297
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,680
[Speaker 1]
Airport. And, you know, I've flown in and

298
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,020
[Speaker 1]
out of there a few times, both commercially

299
00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,640
[Speaker 1]
and myself. It's a it's a neat neat

300
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,185
[Speaker 1]
little airport, but it has a a little

301
00:16:06,885 --> 00:16:11,285
[Speaker 1]
airline. They're, they they keep changing the airline

302
00:16:11,285 --> 00:16:13,365
[Speaker 1]
out as part of the essential air service.

303
00:16:13,365 --> 00:16:15,305
[Speaker 1]
I think I talked about in the other,

304
00:16:16,725 --> 00:16:22,100
[Speaker 1]
the other show I had about aviation. But,

305
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,760
[Speaker 1]
yeah, I forget what the new newest one

306
00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,860
[Speaker 1]
is, but they fly, you know, little regional

307
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,515
[Speaker 1]
jets back and forth to Chicago. I think

308
00:16:32,515 --> 00:16:34,935
[Speaker 1]
I talked about all that. So we'll just

309
00:16:34,995 --> 00:16:37,875
[Speaker 1]
skip that, but they've got, kind of the

310
00:16:37,875 --> 00:16:41,495
[Speaker 1]
same runway layout as Traverse City more or

311
00:16:42,515 --> 00:16:45,399
[Speaker 1]
less. Ten and two eight, the east west

312
00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:49,160
[Speaker 1]
runway, five thousand five hundred feet, long and

313
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,560
[Speaker 1]
hundred foot wide. So, you know, that's not

314
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,880
[Speaker 1]
too odd. And then they have a a

315
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,480
[Speaker 1]
shorter runway, only twenty seven hundred feet, long.

316
00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,274
[Speaker 1]
It's a north south runway, at one and

317
00:17:00,274 --> 00:17:04,195
[Speaker 1]
nineteen. So not quite Traverse City's, three six

318
00:17:04,195 --> 00:17:06,835
[Speaker 1]
and one eight, and this is one nine

319
00:17:06,835 --> 00:17:10,515
[Speaker 1]
and zero one. It's a little bit different,

320
00:17:10,515 --> 00:17:12,995
[Speaker 1]
but, not not too much. Not enough to

321
00:17:12,995 --> 00:17:18,160
[Speaker 1]
notice. Still north south. And, yeah, I've never

322
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,920
[Speaker 1]
landed on that one. I always land on

323
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,320
[Speaker 1]
two eight or I think once I landed

324
00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,200
[Speaker 1]
on one zero that's, coming from the west

325
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,320
[Speaker 1]
going east. But, been in and out of

326
00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,485
[Speaker 1]
that one a fair number of times. And

327
00:17:31,545 --> 00:17:35,885
[Speaker 1]
Cadillac, that's another one, that's south of us.

328
00:17:36,265 --> 00:17:38,665
[Speaker 1]
It's about yeah. Like I said, about about

329
00:17:38,665 --> 00:17:41,785
[Speaker 1]
an hour drive and, you know, maybe fifteen,

330
00:17:41,785 --> 00:17:46,890
[Speaker 1]
twenty minutes by air. And, they've got, well,

331
00:17:46,890 --> 00:17:50,190
[Speaker 1]
officially, two runways, but, really, it's just one.

332
00:17:51,290 --> 00:17:53,850
[Speaker 1]
It's o seven and two five, which is

333
00:17:53,850 --> 00:17:59,285
[Speaker 1]
kind of, you know, it's it's, you know,

334
00:17:59,285 --> 00:18:02,505
[Speaker 1]
not east west, not, not north south either,

335
00:18:03,125 --> 00:18:05,605
[Speaker 1]
kind of a diagonal. And the weird part

336
00:18:05,605 --> 00:18:08,885
[Speaker 1]
about that airport, you know, the runway is

337
00:18:08,885 --> 00:18:12,105
[Speaker 1]
a hundred and no. No. I'm yeah. Wexford

338
00:18:12,165 --> 00:18:14,519
[Speaker 1]
County. So the, yeah, the runway is a

339
00:18:14,519 --> 00:18:17,320
[Speaker 1]
hundred feet wide, so that's pretty standard for

340
00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,200
[Speaker 1]
a non towered airport. But the weird part

341
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,679
[Speaker 1]
is they have this little grass runway that's

342
00:18:22,679 --> 00:18:25,720
[Speaker 1]
only nineteen hundred feet and a hundred and

343
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,955
[Speaker 1]
fifty feet wide that was used for gliders.

344
00:18:30,095 --> 00:18:32,975
[Speaker 1]
They had a big glider outfit there. And,

345
00:18:33,295 --> 00:18:35,375
[Speaker 1]
you know, they talked about the schools yesterday.

346
00:18:35,375 --> 00:18:37,375
[Speaker 1]
I was gonna mention the glider school, but

347
00:18:37,375 --> 00:18:40,115
[Speaker 1]
they ain't there anymore. It was a glider

348
00:18:40,255 --> 00:18:44,620
[Speaker 1]
club that also gave instructions, and, they pretty

349
00:18:44,620 --> 00:18:48,480
[Speaker 1]
much exclusively use that north south grass runway.

350
00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:52,000
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. But, they've since donated all their airplanes

351
00:18:52,060 --> 00:18:55,660
[Speaker 1]
to, I think, Western Michigan University's aviation program

352
00:18:55,660 --> 00:19:01,895
[Speaker 1]
and and ceased operations in in Cadillac, officially

353
00:19:01,895 --> 00:19:07,015
[Speaker 1]
known as the Wexford County Airport. So those

354
00:19:07,015 --> 00:19:09,095
[Speaker 1]
are, you know, the main airports around here

355
00:19:09,095 --> 00:19:13,140
[Speaker 1]
that I've flown into. I've also flown over

356
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,260
[Speaker 1]
a bunch of airports, you know, because going

357
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,280
[Speaker 1]
going places. We go up and do the

358
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,520
[Speaker 1]
bridge run. There's a I, another airport on

359
00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:27,125
[Speaker 1]
Mackinac Island, which I have not landed at.

360
00:19:27,125 --> 00:19:28,804
[Speaker 1]
I think next summer, I I wanna do

361
00:19:28,804 --> 00:19:32,005
[Speaker 1]
that, land on the island and take a

362
00:19:32,005 --> 00:19:35,925
[Speaker 1]
horse drawn taxi cab into town and get

363
00:19:35,925 --> 00:19:38,184
[Speaker 1]
some lunch. That'd be kind of fun. But

364
00:19:39,250 --> 00:19:42,370
[Speaker 1]
but that airport there is, let's see, the

365
00:19:42,370 --> 00:19:45,570
[Speaker 1]
thirty five hundred foot runway asphalt, kind of

366
00:19:45,570 --> 00:19:49,090
[Speaker 1]
an east west. And, you know, both both

367
00:19:49,090 --> 00:19:52,049
[Speaker 1]
approaches are over water, you know, Lake Huron.

368
00:19:52,049 --> 00:19:55,235
[Speaker 1]
It's in northern Lake Huron officially, but it's

369
00:19:55,235 --> 00:19:57,715
[Speaker 1]
really the straits which is between Lake Huron,

370
00:19:57,715 --> 00:20:01,794
[Speaker 1]
Lake Michigan. And, there's another airport just on

371
00:20:01,794 --> 00:20:04,434
[Speaker 1]
the other side of the water across the

372
00:20:04,434 --> 00:20:08,440
[Speaker 1]
bridge, Saint Ignace, Michigan. I never landed there

373
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:09,880
[Speaker 1]
either, but we we did, you know, we

374
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,240
[Speaker 1]
do the bridge around once a while. It's

375
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,320
[Speaker 1]
always fun to fly up there and, you

376
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,240
[Speaker 1]
know, you fly, fly up the east side

377
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,095
[Speaker 1]
of the bridge and, and then, you know,

378
00:20:21,095 --> 00:20:23,735
[Speaker 1]
fly kinda over Saint Ignace and then come

379
00:20:23,735 --> 00:20:25,595
[Speaker 1]
back down the west side of the bridge,

380
00:20:25,654 --> 00:20:27,895
[Speaker 1]
get all the all the stuff or fly,

381
00:20:27,895 --> 00:20:29,815
[Speaker 1]
you know, fly near the island. You know,

382
00:20:29,815 --> 00:20:31,895
[Speaker 1]
I usually fly up in between the island

383
00:20:31,895 --> 00:20:34,980
[Speaker 1]
and and the UP. But, always like to

384
00:20:34,980 --> 00:20:36,900
[Speaker 1]
get a little altitude when I'm flying over

385
00:20:36,900 --> 00:20:39,460
[Speaker 1]
that much water. So we're usually up over

386
00:20:39,460 --> 00:20:42,820
[Speaker 1]
three thousand, thirty five hundred feet, maybe maybe

387
00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:46,500
[Speaker 1]
four thousand, something like that. Just, just so

388
00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:48,600
[Speaker 1]
that I got enough glide to get somewhere

389
00:20:48,985 --> 00:20:52,105
[Speaker 1]
if something conks out. You know, same thing

390
00:20:52,105 --> 00:20:54,264
[Speaker 1]
going over the bridge, you know, or going

391
00:20:54,264 --> 00:20:56,664
[Speaker 1]
across the straits near the bridge. You don't

392
00:20:56,664 --> 00:20:58,845
[Speaker 1]
fly right over it. I never have anyway.

393
00:20:59,784 --> 00:21:03,900
[Speaker 1]
But, so those two airports would be an

394
00:21:03,900 --> 00:21:07,580
[Speaker 1]
option if, if need be. It's also another

395
00:21:07,580 --> 00:21:12,540
[Speaker 1]
island airport on well, it's it's spelled Boyce

396
00:21:12,540 --> 00:21:17,674
[Speaker 1]
Blanc, but everybody calls it Pablo. But, there's

397
00:21:17,674 --> 00:21:20,095
[Speaker 1]
an airport there. There's nobody that lives there.

398
00:21:21,115 --> 00:21:24,495
[Speaker 1]
So I don't know how used the airport

399
00:21:24,554 --> 00:21:28,735
[Speaker 1]
is, but it is paved, and, it's there.

400
00:21:28,875 --> 00:21:31,730
[Speaker 1]
So yeah. To go check that one out

401
00:21:31,730 --> 00:21:34,450
[Speaker 1]
sometime. Thirty five hundred foot seventy five foot

402
00:21:34,450 --> 00:21:38,070
[Speaker 1]
wide runways would be another skinny one. But,

403
00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:40,130
[Speaker 1]
you know, that's kind of the the the

404
00:21:40,130 --> 00:21:42,450
[Speaker 1]
major airports around here. When I was a

405
00:21:42,450 --> 00:21:44,450
[Speaker 1]
kid, we my dad used to fly out

406
00:21:44,450 --> 00:21:47,845
[Speaker 1]
of Interlochen Airport or officially known as Green

407
00:21:47,845 --> 00:21:50,805
[Speaker 1]
Lake Airport, and that is a really small

408
00:21:50,805 --> 00:21:54,965
[Speaker 1]
little airport. I think I did talk about

409
00:21:54,965 --> 00:22:00,130
[Speaker 1]
that in in another episode, but, Green Lake,

410
00:22:00,370 --> 00:22:03,170
[Speaker 1]
that's the one that has the sports fields

411
00:22:03,170 --> 00:22:05,090
[Speaker 1]
on it. So they restrict you to flying

412
00:22:05,090 --> 00:22:06,690
[Speaker 1]
out there. But anyway, yeah, I did talk

413
00:22:06,690 --> 00:22:10,930
[Speaker 1]
about that. And then there's another airport that

414
00:22:10,930 --> 00:22:13,975
[Speaker 1]
I I've driven by a lot flown over

415
00:22:13,975 --> 00:22:16,955
[Speaker 1]
it and whatever, but it's, Lake Ann Airway

416
00:22:17,095 --> 00:22:21,415
[Speaker 1]
Estates. And, it's got a east west grass

417
00:22:21,415 --> 00:22:23,975
[Speaker 1]
runway. Used to have a north south runway.

418
00:22:23,975 --> 00:22:27,210
[Speaker 1]
I don't know what happened to that. But,

419
00:22:27,450 --> 00:22:31,050
[Speaker 1]
they they're, you know, it's out by Lake

420
00:22:31,050 --> 00:22:32,570
[Speaker 1]
Anne. You know? If you guys have been

421
00:22:32,570 --> 00:22:34,890
[Speaker 1]
with me since the beginning of podcasting, I

422
00:22:34,890 --> 00:22:38,935
[Speaker 1]
used to live in Lake Anne, Michigan. This

423
00:22:38,935 --> 00:22:40,615
[Speaker 1]
is kind of out there. It's a little

424
00:22:40,615 --> 00:22:45,335
[Speaker 1]
further out of Traverse City than, than the

425
00:22:45,335 --> 00:22:47,735
[Speaker 1]
town of Lake Ann, and it's a it's

426
00:22:47,735 --> 00:22:52,560
[Speaker 1]
a private airport, but public use. And what's

427
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:58,080
[Speaker 1]
funny is on the chart, it, doesn't say

428
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:02,260
[Speaker 1]
the name of the airport. It says questionable

429
00:23:03,295 --> 00:23:07,055
[Speaker 1]
or object object objectionable. That's right. That's what

430
00:23:07,055 --> 00:23:10,975
[Speaker 1]
it says over that airport. And I you

431
00:23:10,975 --> 00:23:12,975
[Speaker 1]
know, I've I've asked a couple of people,

432
00:23:12,975 --> 00:23:16,200
[Speaker 1]
what does that mean? And, usually, this mean

433
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,440
[Speaker 1]
the the runway is not maintained well or

434
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,240
[Speaker 1]
something. I don't know. But there's some houses

435
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,160
[Speaker 1]
on that airport. It's one of those, you

436
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:24,760
[Speaker 1]
know, where you can buy a house there

437
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,880
[Speaker 1]
and build a hangar and whatever. I think

438
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,005
[Speaker 1]
all the lots are sold now, but it's

439
00:23:31,005 --> 00:23:33,025
[Speaker 1]
a it's a it's a cool little airport.

440
00:23:33,565 --> 00:23:35,645
[Speaker 1]
There used to be another airport, and it

441
00:23:35,645 --> 00:23:39,565
[Speaker 1]
is still there technically, but it's a private

442
00:23:39,565 --> 00:23:45,640
[Speaker 1]
airport called, Miller Herald Airport. And that's, used

443
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,520
[Speaker 1]
to be part of the Sugar Loaf, ski

444
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,780
[Speaker 1]
resort, which is up, north of Cedar, Michigan

445
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:58,705
[Speaker 1]
in Leelanau County. And they, I don't think

446
00:23:58,764 --> 00:24:02,524
[Speaker 1]
that that's available for public use anymore. Really,

447
00:24:02,524 --> 00:24:04,465
[Speaker 1]
the only thing there is a golf course,

448
00:24:05,404 --> 00:24:08,524
[Speaker 1]
so I don't know if, if there's still

449
00:24:08,524 --> 00:24:11,389
[Speaker 1]
a thing. It's another kind of a cool

450
00:24:12,330 --> 00:24:15,610
[Speaker 1]
airport up in Northport. I've been around it,

451
00:24:15,610 --> 00:24:19,129
[Speaker 1]
just not been into it mainly because it's

452
00:24:19,129 --> 00:24:22,509
[Speaker 1]
a, you know, grass runway or grass runways,

453
00:24:23,755 --> 00:24:26,715
[Speaker 1]
but, that one's got quite a history. At

454
00:24:26,715 --> 00:24:28,794
[Speaker 1]
some point, maybe I'll do a quick episode

455
00:24:28,794 --> 00:24:34,715
[Speaker 1]
about, Woosley Woosley Airport in Northport, Michigan. That's,

456
00:24:34,875 --> 00:24:37,615
[Speaker 1]
right up at the tip of the Leelanau

457
00:24:37,674 --> 00:24:41,800
[Speaker 1]
Peninsula. And there's another one that I haven't

458
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,020
[Speaker 1]
been to yet, been over it several times,

459
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,840
[Speaker 1]
drove by it several times, is Torchport. It's

460
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:53,384
[Speaker 1]
in Torch Lake, Michigan along Highway thirty one.

461
00:24:53,384 --> 00:24:55,465
[Speaker 1]
So, you know, and and the runway comes

462
00:24:55,465 --> 00:24:56,904
[Speaker 1]
right up to the road or at least

463
00:24:56,904 --> 00:24:58,825
[Speaker 1]
the east west runway comes right up to

464
00:24:58,825 --> 00:25:02,044
[Speaker 1]
the road. And it was grass up until

465
00:25:02,345 --> 00:25:04,264
[Speaker 1]
the beginning of this summer, and they paved

466
00:25:04,264 --> 00:25:06,264
[Speaker 1]
it. So now there's a paved runway there,

467
00:25:06,264 --> 00:25:09,990
[Speaker 1]
and they're selling lots and houses and stuff

468
00:25:09,990 --> 00:25:11,590
[Speaker 1]
on that airport. So it's kind of a

469
00:25:11,590 --> 00:25:14,790
[Speaker 1]
airport community, but it is a public use

470
00:25:14,790 --> 00:25:18,790
[Speaker 1]
airport. So technically, we can, go in there.

471
00:25:18,790 --> 00:25:20,309
[Speaker 1]
Right now on the chart, it still says

472
00:25:20,309 --> 00:25:23,285
[Speaker 1]
it's grass, but their east west runway is

473
00:25:23,285 --> 00:25:28,025
[Speaker 1]
now paved with asphalt. I know that because,

474
00:25:29,045 --> 00:25:32,245
[Speaker 1]
friend of mine, Eric, he, he was, I

475
00:25:32,245 --> 00:25:36,005
[Speaker 1]
think, the first personal land there, after the

476
00:25:36,005 --> 00:25:39,419
[Speaker 1]
pavement was ready to go. He, landed his

477
00:25:39,419 --> 00:25:41,820
[Speaker 1]
Aztec there, which the twin that he had.

478
00:25:41,820 --> 00:25:44,140
[Speaker 1]
And he doesn't have the he doesn't have

479
00:25:44,140 --> 00:25:50,554
[Speaker 1]
the Aztec anymore. But, anyway, so that kinda

480
00:25:50,715 --> 00:25:52,875
[Speaker 1]
oh, one more airport, and I I think

481
00:25:52,875 --> 00:25:54,715
[Speaker 1]
I've talked about it, but I wanna talk

482
00:25:54,715 --> 00:25:57,855
[Speaker 1]
about it again because, I definitely wanna utilize

483
00:25:57,995 --> 00:26:00,255
[Speaker 1]
this airport at some point in the future

484
00:26:00,875 --> 00:26:07,530
[Speaker 1]
is the historic Acme Skyport. That's what it's

485
00:26:07,990 --> 00:26:10,870
[Speaker 1]
officially called, but that was a airport, you

486
00:26:10,870 --> 00:26:14,490
[Speaker 1]
know, back in the, I guess, fifty, sixties,

487
00:26:14,905 --> 00:26:16,745
[Speaker 1]
seventies. I know it was in the seventies

488
00:26:16,745 --> 00:26:18,425
[Speaker 1]
because dad and I flew in and out

489
00:26:18,425 --> 00:26:20,505
[Speaker 1]
of there a few times when they had

490
00:26:20,505 --> 00:26:22,985
[Speaker 1]
the north south runway. Now they just have

491
00:26:22,985 --> 00:26:25,705
[Speaker 1]
an east west runway that's rather short right

492
00:26:25,705 --> 00:26:29,980
[Speaker 1]
now. It's like sixteen hundred feet, which, you

493
00:26:29,980 --> 00:26:31,820
[Speaker 1]
know, not bad for you know, you you

494
00:26:31,820 --> 00:26:34,960
[Speaker 1]
can do it in a normal small aircraft,

495
00:26:35,020 --> 00:26:38,220
[Speaker 1]
but, it is a tad on the short

496
00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:42,620
[Speaker 1]
side for, when I'm flying. So although, Eric's

497
00:26:42,620 --> 00:26:45,019
[Speaker 1]
taken that those those planes in there no

498
00:26:45,019 --> 00:26:46,835
[Speaker 1]
problem, but, you know, Eric's a lot better

499
00:26:46,835 --> 00:26:49,015
[Speaker 1]
pilot than I am, and it's his airplanes.

500
00:26:49,235 --> 00:26:53,495
[Speaker 1]
So not gonna not gonna question that one.

501
00:26:54,035 --> 00:26:57,075
[Speaker 1]
But, it's it's a really neat airport, and,

502
00:26:57,315 --> 00:27:02,300
[Speaker 1]
Eric got it reopened here. Hell, I guess,

503
00:27:02,300 --> 00:27:06,060
[Speaker 1]
last year officially. It's, it was back on

504
00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:08,460
[Speaker 1]
the chart. I also use it as a

505
00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:14,300
[Speaker 1]
jump zone for, parachutists, and, he's been fixing

506
00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:17,434
[Speaker 1]
up the hangers out there. And, yeah, it's

507
00:27:17,654 --> 00:27:19,654
[Speaker 1]
a it's a it's a neat little little

508
00:27:19,654 --> 00:27:23,034
[Speaker 1]
thing, and it's, like I said, it's better.

509
00:27:23,174 --> 00:27:26,215
[Speaker 1]
It got closed sometime in the nineties and

510
00:27:26,215 --> 00:27:28,455
[Speaker 1]
then, like I said, brought back to life

511
00:27:28,455 --> 00:27:32,480
[Speaker 1]
here recently. And I look forward to that

512
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,440
[Speaker 1]
becoming a little more active, and, I'd like

513
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,200
[Speaker 1]
to get an airplane that, would be perfect

514
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,680
[Speaker 1]
for that little airport. I think that would

515
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,925
[Speaker 1]
be my best bet if I'm gonna own

516
00:27:43,925 --> 00:27:46,325
[Speaker 1]
an airplane. I'll own a little one, and

517
00:27:46,325 --> 00:27:52,025
[Speaker 1]
that'll be perfect. So that's, that's the story.

518
00:27:53,045 --> 00:27:55,765
[Speaker 1]
Let's see. What other airports? Thompsonville, that one's

519
00:27:55,765 --> 00:27:58,230
[Speaker 1]
kind of a neat little airport too. That's

520
00:27:59,110 --> 00:28:02,970
[Speaker 1]
right by, Crystal Mountain Ski Resort in Thompsonville,

521
00:28:03,190 --> 00:28:06,549
[Speaker 1]
Michigan. And my uncle had a a a

522
00:28:06,549 --> 00:28:11,350
[Speaker 1]
big part in getting that built up. He

523
00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:14,715
[Speaker 1]
built the first hangar out there that, you

524
00:28:14,715 --> 00:28:18,075
[Speaker 1]
know, sometime twenty or thirty years ago. I

525
00:28:18,075 --> 00:28:19,595
[Speaker 1]
mean, the airport had been there for a

526
00:28:19,595 --> 00:28:22,335
[Speaker 1]
long time, and, they got that one paved.

527
00:28:23,195 --> 00:28:26,100
[Speaker 1]
I forget which runway. Yeah. They paved a

528
00:28:26,100 --> 00:28:28,660
[Speaker 1]
twenty nine hundred foot, seventy five foot wide

529
00:28:28,660 --> 00:28:31,700
[Speaker 1]
runway. That's their east west runway, and then

530
00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:36,100
[Speaker 1]
they've got a twenty four hundred foot, not

531
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:39,480
[Speaker 1]
quite north south runway that the, that's grass.

532
00:28:40,455 --> 00:28:44,455
[Speaker 1]
And, Thompsonville used to also have the, glider

533
00:28:44,455 --> 00:28:47,335
[Speaker 1]
club, and so did Frankfurt. So that glider

534
00:28:47,335 --> 00:28:50,855
[Speaker 1]
club moved a couple of times before closing

535
00:28:50,855 --> 00:28:56,940
[Speaker 1]
down in Cadillac. But Thompsonville, it was has

536
00:28:56,940 --> 00:28:59,100
[Speaker 1]
the distinction of the the only place I've

537
00:28:59,100 --> 00:29:03,900
[Speaker 1]
ever flown in an ultralight. Guy there had

538
00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:06,860
[Speaker 1]
a ultralight, two seater, and this was before

539
00:29:06,860 --> 00:29:10,415
[Speaker 1]
the Sport Pilot rule, and, so now there's

540
00:29:10,415 --> 00:29:12,835
[Speaker 1]
no such thing as an ultralight two seater.

541
00:29:13,055 --> 00:29:15,695
[Speaker 1]
Now now it's a sport pilot plane or

542
00:29:15,695 --> 00:29:19,135
[Speaker 1]
a sport light sport aircraft. But, this thing

543
00:29:19,135 --> 00:29:21,535
[Speaker 1]
was literally a hang glider with an engine

544
00:29:21,535 --> 00:29:24,790
[Speaker 1]
and and, you sat in a seat. It

545
00:29:24,790 --> 00:29:26,970
[Speaker 1]
was it reminded me of riding a motorcycle,

546
00:29:27,350 --> 00:29:30,250
[Speaker 1]
and it was a ball. I loved it.

547
00:29:30,710 --> 00:29:32,890
[Speaker 1]
But, got got to fly out of Thompsonville

548
00:29:33,510 --> 00:29:36,245
[Speaker 1]
there. And like I said, my uncle used

549
00:29:36,245 --> 00:29:39,684
[Speaker 1]
to keep his plane there and, bunch of

550
00:29:39,684 --> 00:29:41,605
[Speaker 1]
the bunch of the guys had, had that

551
00:29:41,765 --> 00:29:44,085
[Speaker 1]
had a big community hangar there that, I

552
00:29:44,085 --> 00:29:45,845
[Speaker 1]
don't know. They had probably five or six

553
00:29:45,845 --> 00:29:48,325
[Speaker 1]
aircraft in there, and it's kind of a

554
00:29:48,325 --> 00:29:52,720
[Speaker 1]
neat thing. That's, but, that that's one of

555
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,560
[Speaker 1]
one of one of the airports at one

556
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,580
[Speaker 1]
at some point I'm gonna go to, and

557
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,840
[Speaker 1]
that would be another alternative place for me

558
00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,500
[Speaker 1]
to keep an airplane if I buy one.

559
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,325
[Speaker 1]
But we'll see. Yeah. Might might not, might

560
00:30:09,325 --> 00:30:12,785
[Speaker 1]
not buy one. I might, just keep renting

561
00:30:13,645 --> 00:30:15,725
[Speaker 1]
for the little bit that I actually fly.

562
00:30:15,725 --> 00:30:18,125
[Speaker 1]
That probably be okay too. I don't know.

563
00:30:18,125 --> 00:30:22,169
[Speaker 1]
We'll see. Anyway, that's kind of a rundown

564
00:30:22,169 --> 00:30:25,290
[Speaker 1]
of the airports up north here. And like

565
00:30:25,290 --> 00:30:26,409
[Speaker 1]
I said, there's a lot of other ones.

566
00:30:26,409 --> 00:30:27,929
[Speaker 1]
I guess I I wanna I wanna talk

567
00:30:27,929 --> 00:30:30,250
[Speaker 1]
about one other one, and I talked about

568
00:30:30,250 --> 00:30:33,789
[Speaker 1]
it a little bit in the episode yesterday,

569
00:30:33,850 --> 00:30:37,904
[Speaker 1]
but the old, Wertsmith Air Force Base, which

570
00:30:37,904 --> 00:30:41,345
[Speaker 1]
is, in Oscoda, Michigan, which is kind of

571
00:30:41,345 --> 00:30:46,945
[Speaker 1]
on the East Coast of Michigan on on,

572
00:30:46,945 --> 00:30:49,345
[Speaker 1]
like, you know, on Lake Huron pretty much.

573
00:30:49,345 --> 00:30:51,264
[Speaker 1]
I mean, they're not right on Lake Huron,

574
00:30:51,264 --> 00:30:55,350
[Speaker 1]
but close. Really close. And, Wertz Smith Air

575
00:30:55,350 --> 00:30:58,970
[Speaker 1]
Force Base is now called Oscoda Wertz Smith

576
00:30:59,110 --> 00:31:03,510
[Speaker 1]
Airport, and they've got a really long east

577
00:31:03,510 --> 00:31:06,865
[Speaker 1]
west runway and a really wide one. It's

578
00:31:06,865 --> 00:31:10,965
[Speaker 1]
eleven thousand eight hundred and one feet long

579
00:31:11,025 --> 00:31:14,885
[Speaker 1]
and two hundred feet wide. And the reason

580
00:31:14,945 --> 00:31:17,025
[Speaker 1]
for that is they were a huge b

581
00:31:17,025 --> 00:31:20,070
[Speaker 1]
fifty two base. They had a bunch of

582
00:31:20,070 --> 00:31:22,230
[Speaker 1]
b fifty twos and k c one thirty

583
00:31:22,230 --> 00:31:25,190
[Speaker 1]
five tankers. And, you know, b fifty twos

584
00:31:25,190 --> 00:31:28,250
[Speaker 1]
like really long runways. And, you know, that's

585
00:31:28,950 --> 00:31:31,830
[Speaker 1]
just a tad over two miles of long

586
00:31:31,830 --> 00:31:35,255
[Speaker 1]
runway and two hundred feet wide. I was

587
00:31:35,255 --> 00:31:36,935
[Speaker 1]
always joking. If I was ever to go

588
00:31:36,935 --> 00:31:38,935
[Speaker 1]
there, I could do two or three touch

589
00:31:38,935 --> 00:31:43,975
[Speaker 1]
and goes in one pass, but, always wanted

590
00:31:43,975 --> 00:31:45,575
[Speaker 1]
to go to that one. So at some

591
00:31:45,575 --> 00:31:47,815
[Speaker 1]
point, I will, I will make the trek

592
00:31:47,815 --> 00:31:49,770
[Speaker 1]
over there and check it out. But there's

593
00:31:49,770 --> 00:31:54,090
[Speaker 1]
a lot of military airspace. Alpena Airport has

594
00:31:54,090 --> 00:31:59,770
[Speaker 1]
a, a fighter contingent there. And, and, of

595
00:31:59,770 --> 00:32:02,570
[Speaker 1]
course, there's Camp Grayling and the Grayling Army

596
00:32:02,570 --> 00:32:05,545
[Speaker 1]
Airfield and, you know, just a lot of

597
00:32:05,685 --> 00:32:10,885
[Speaker 1]
military operating areas, restricted areas. I'm looking at

598
00:32:10,885 --> 00:32:13,305
[Speaker 1]
the chart here. There's, you know, one, two,

599
00:32:14,565 --> 00:32:20,800
[Speaker 1]
three, four, five military operating areas. And then

600
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:26,320
[Speaker 1]
around Grayling, there's a restricted and a couple

601
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,680
[Speaker 1]
other places you're not supposed to fly without

602
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,560
[Speaker 1]
permission. You know, not that you can't fly

603
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,595
[Speaker 1]
through them. You you know, you you certainly

604
00:32:34,735 --> 00:32:37,855
[Speaker 1]
can, especially when they're cold. Meaning, there's not

605
00:32:37,855 --> 00:32:40,175
[Speaker 1]
anything going on. But even when they're not

606
00:32:40,175 --> 00:32:42,735
[Speaker 1]
cold, you know, as long as you, get

607
00:32:42,735 --> 00:32:45,055
[Speaker 1]
permission and kinda let everybody know you're you're

608
00:32:45,055 --> 00:32:47,900
[Speaker 1]
coming through, and they're cool with it. But,

609
00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:50,940
[Speaker 1]
again, you know, it's a it's a thing

610
00:32:50,940 --> 00:32:52,780
[Speaker 1]
you gotta worry about when you're flying. You

611
00:32:52,780 --> 00:32:55,100
[Speaker 1]
just can't go everywhere you want to. There's

612
00:32:55,100 --> 00:32:57,900
[Speaker 1]
certain air spaces. And, you know, kind of

613
00:32:57,900 --> 00:33:00,015
[Speaker 1]
out in the middle of Lake Michigan, couple

614
00:33:00,015 --> 00:33:03,855
[Speaker 1]
of there's a restricted area and a, an

615
00:33:03,855 --> 00:33:07,555
[Speaker 1]
MOA, which is kind of off the Wisconsin

616
00:33:08,015 --> 00:33:12,995
[Speaker 1]
shoreline. You know, what airport is that? Yes.

617
00:33:13,055 --> 00:33:18,760
[Speaker 1]
Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There's a big

618
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:24,280
[Speaker 1]
restricted area. What's the altitudes on that? It

619
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,980
[Speaker 1]
should tell you on the chart. Maybe not.

620
00:33:29,895 --> 00:33:31,735
[Speaker 1]
Anyway, I can look it up at some

621
00:33:31,735 --> 00:33:35,655
[Speaker 1]
point, but, now what is it? Anyway, so

622
00:33:35,655 --> 00:33:37,975
[Speaker 1]
there's a a military operating area and all

623
00:33:37,975 --> 00:33:39,415
[Speaker 1]
that. And I I think what they do

624
00:33:39,415 --> 00:33:43,175
[Speaker 1]
out there is simulated bomb runs or something.

625
00:33:43,175 --> 00:33:46,130
[Speaker 1]
I who knows? But, if you were to

626
00:33:46,130 --> 00:33:49,490
[Speaker 1]
cross Lake Michigan, which personally, I will not

627
00:33:49,490 --> 00:33:52,610
[Speaker 1]
do in a single engine aircraft. But, you

628
00:33:52,610 --> 00:33:55,250
[Speaker 1]
know, some people do. Nothing wrong with that.

629
00:33:55,410 --> 00:33:59,875
[Speaker 1]
It's perfectly legal. Although, I just don't like

630
00:33:59,875 --> 00:34:03,555
[Speaker 1]
to be over water where, I can't glide

631
00:34:03,555 --> 00:34:08,195
[Speaker 1]
to shore. So and not too long ago,

632
00:34:08,435 --> 00:34:12,520
[Speaker 1]
off of the off of, Milwaukee, They had

633
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,280
[Speaker 1]
a Cirrus, lost an engine. They were coming

634
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,760
[Speaker 1]
across Lake Michigan in the southern part of

635
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,400
[Speaker 1]
the lake, and and, of course, the Cirrus

636
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,460
[Speaker 1]
has a parachute system. So, you know, nobody

637
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,915
[Speaker 1]
nobody died, but, they did go swimming. And,

638
00:34:28,155 --> 00:34:30,075
[Speaker 1]
the airplane, as far as I know, is

639
00:34:30,075 --> 00:34:32,575
[Speaker 1]
still on the bottom of the lake, but,

640
00:34:33,195 --> 00:34:35,915
[Speaker 1]
coast guard got to them and no problem

641
00:34:35,915 --> 00:34:37,935
[Speaker 1]
there. You know, they were they were wet

642
00:34:38,235 --> 00:34:41,355
[Speaker 1]
and lost their airplane, but, they walked away

643
00:34:41,355 --> 00:34:43,960
[Speaker 1]
from it. So I guess that's the goal.

644
00:34:44,260 --> 00:34:46,099
[Speaker 1]
You know, they always say a good landing

645
00:34:46,099 --> 00:34:48,740
[Speaker 1]
is is one you can walk away from,

646
00:34:48,740 --> 00:34:51,220
[Speaker 1]
and a really good landing is one that,

647
00:34:51,460 --> 00:34:54,180
[Speaker 1]
you can reuse the airplane. And, I always

648
00:34:54,180 --> 00:34:55,960
[Speaker 1]
like to go for the really good ones.

649
00:34:57,130 --> 00:35:00,315
[Speaker 1]
So and as they say, taking off is

650
00:35:00,315 --> 00:35:05,375
[Speaker 1]
optional. Landing is mandatory. Alright. With all that,

651
00:35:05,915 --> 00:35:09,435
[Speaker 1]
I think tomorrow what's it I'm gonna do

652
00:35:09,435 --> 00:35:13,275
[Speaker 1]
tomorrow? I I know I had something in

653
00:35:13,275 --> 00:35:17,570
[Speaker 1]
mind. Got it on my list. Oh, yeah.

654
00:35:17,570 --> 00:35:20,850
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So tomorrow, I'm gonna do

655
00:35:20,850 --> 00:35:24,390
[Speaker 1]
the blizzard of seventy eight, as I remember

656
00:35:24,450 --> 00:35:28,589
[Speaker 1]
it as a newly minted twelve year old.