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Trick Air Ski Plane fly-in at Jackson Seaplane Base McGregor, MN Saturday January 30th, 2021

Paul Jackson

PATRON
MN
The 6th Annual is on the calendar. Come one, come all and dress for the elements....

We are hoping for better weather this year than last. Two years in a row MSP has been IFR and we barely got to MVFR. Hoping for better weather

We moved most everything to the lake and will have fire, food and beverages there. I had a few bonfire pits and some pallets with plywood to get your feet off the ice. If you're from Kansas City you may want to bring boots anyways.

We will plow a runway again for our wheeled friends and drag a good ski plane surface. Horseshoe Lake Inn will cater a lunch menu. (As always food is compliments of Trick Air Skis). I have invited MN Gov Walz to park the first arriving aircraft 12 feet from my 180 to start the event. Yes, for those wondering outdoor events are legal for up to 250 and masks are not required. I have gone ahead and installed a visible breath system on the lake so that everyone's breath is visible. It was expensive to buy from the Norwegian guy who sold me on it but I tested it and you can see your breath. Neat stuff.

If you are looking to come up on Friday and/or stay over on Saturday Big Sandy Lodge is the next lake over.

Here is a link to them: https://www.bigsandylodgeandresort.com/ their phone is 218-426-5040

We will have snow and runway information as we get closer to the date. Ice looks good already and we are way ahead of last year in depth at this time.

Mogas is available on the lake at Horseshoe Lake Inn on the northeast corner of the lake.

For advanced planning we are MN61 and we are about 8 miles NE of KHZX which has 100LL and tie downs.

More news to come......let's make 2021 suck a little less than 2020 can we?
 
Just got word that Big Sandy Lodge is only open for cabins and not for hotel rooms. I am calling tomorrow to see if they will open if I buy a few rooms. If you are coming in and want to stay there they have 3 BR cabins for $350. I am booking one tomorrow for my ramp volunteers.

So far 2021 is kinda sucking. Let's make this work!
 
My hat is off to you Paul, I sure hope it all works out and you have a big turnout. Wish I could make it but unfortunately I can not make it.

Kurt
 
Thanks Kurt. If wx is good we usually have a good number of planes come in. The year it was 30 and sunny I had everything within 100 miles trying to land on an ice runway for the first time. I ran out of skinny tire parking spots about 11 am. Had more than a few incidents and scares that day. Pray for clear skies and a chance of pilot competence with occasional use of 122.90.

I bought my own plow truck this year and will make plenty of parking. Snow is flat and not very deep at this point so it should plow nicely.

Bring us your tired your poor and your Covid cooped up crazy people. We will give them cold feet, a warm fire, and the entertainment that only fly in arrivals can provide.
 
I'm plowed out this year, hoping for a nice day next Saturday
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This guy ^^^^ challenged me to get mine plowed. Got half of it done yesterday in -17 wind-chill. Loggers have piles of logs on the NE half of the strip so until they get them hauled away, I've got an obstruction to contend with. Hopefully they will get them hauled in the next few days. 650 cord cut, do there were some pretty big piles.
One of these days I need to be like him and get a tractor with a heated cab! IMG_20210124_145510239_HDR.jpg
 

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Conditions update a week out

I was at the base this weekend and conditions are good and bad. The good is we have a powdery layer of snow at about a foot which is plowable and should set up great for a ski runway. The bad is that I did find some spots on the lake with overflow and slush under the layer of snow. I have a plow on my truck (yes, I finally bought one) and will get busy on a parking area and runway midweek. I will let the latest cold snap see if it can freeze some of the overflow or I may have to slide the runway slightly north from its usual layout. Ice Runway.jpg
The pic shows that the slush is right in the middle of the runway. I will try to move the runway north and still allow for approaches in the cut and not over cabins on the northwest corner of the lake. I will know Wednesday when I get back up there what I have.

Tundras and skis should be fine on whatever we can drag and we will cone off the bad spots and have the parking at the SE corner by the Seaplane Base. Look for the tents and plowed area to park. I will have volunteers helping park planes. Use and monitor 122.90.

Weather looks like it will be around 1000 OVC or hopefully a bit more with highs in upper 20's and spotty snow showers. Winds are forecast to be gusty so use caution.
 

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Sounds good. Looking forward to the trip in the new 31” bush wheels with my brother.
Thank you for all of the work.


Sent from my iPad using SuperCub.Org
 
Arrived at base today and got working on the runway. Glad we hit it today as there are several spots that needed to get some cold air on them. We were able to get about 2000' done but it is still iffy on the ice runway waiting for the swampy spots to freeze up. Here are a couple of pics.
Ice 3.jpg
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As you an see there was a bit of pucker factor in plowing as the overflow there was pretty decent. We are going to see temps below zero for a couple of days so it was good to get those spots opened up. The NW end of the runway was the same with a pretty good crack so I had to stop at that spot until it firms up. I would like to add a few more feet for the green horns if I can get past that spot over the next couple days.

Weather is also a factor. We have two days of hard freeze (why i plowed today) and then it warms up to the upper 20's. We are calling long range for MVFR and ceilings of 700-1500 broken with snow showers in the area. The good news is the wind is out of the SE so we will be landing over the lake instead of the trees which should help with the shorter runway conditions. I don't think I am going to get it Mooney or Bonanza ready but good enough for the Cubs and 180's of the world. Skinny tires should be OK if I can knock down some of the bumps and leave some humps and you know that the overrun of the snow packed ice runway has trees to catch you.

We are looking at the weather and the runway tomorrow and will make a go/no go call by Thursday January 28 6 pm CST. We are almost in the TAF by that time. Stay tuned here and the other sites and I will update.
 

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OK here we go. I just got off the phone with the co-host Steve from Trick Air skis and we decided we are a go for Saturday. Couple of notes.

I was not able to extend the runway due to overflow. I measured it out at about 1500 feet. The good news is we will have a decent wind out of the SE and that means we will approach over the lake and you can drag it in to the plowed area. I was able to knock down most of the large ruts and bumps. It is still not a perfect surface and I would recommend big tires and no nose wheels on that surface. It is short and bumpy and you don't have any overrun with shore and trees at the end. Please assess yourself and your aircraft before committing.

Ski guys should be great. If you have retract skis I highly recommend landing on the groomed snow. I tramped it down with a snowmobile and there is no overflow in the area that I will have marked out. It is about 1500 feet also and there is overflow to the west end and I will have a threshold marked with orange snow fence. Don't land short or you will be in the slush. If there is a concern for take off we can taxi you over to the packed snowmobile trail on the north side of the lake (escort will keep you out of the slush) and get you off there. Most should have no issues but the option is there.

I will ask that if you have retractable skis that you taxi to the end and to the plowed area and retract and park on the ice area. I have plenty of parking there. Food will be ready about 10 and we will have coffee and cocoa and fires going on the lake.
 
Sorry I posted everywhere but here but weather got us. It is 700-1 and snow forecast here all day. We decided to push back to February 13th. Same stuff and I will try to get the runway a bit lengthened. We are here today if you want to pop in and run the scud. Restaurant on the NE corner of the lake is hosting a vintage snowmobile run and they have great lunch.
 
Sorry it didn’t work out Paul. Appreciate all your hard work. Was plugged in and ready but freezing mist and winter advisory changed plans. Rod503B1682-E819-4BCE-94DD-497BE5BF8444.jpeg
 

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Paul, good try. Sorry the weather and conditions wouldn't work out. Have a great flyin in February! We need winter flyins, so keep up the great work!

Randy
 
Headed over to Jackson's this morning...

Following 210 eastbound

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There's Horseshoe lake. Should be hearing chatter?

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Hmmm... I must have got the wrong day! Ain't nobody here.

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Paul is here! But, there was to be no clean-up on door prizes for being the only one, alas... 8)

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Okay, forlornly heading home...

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In the deep mid-winter, it's time to think floats...

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Brad, is that an L-19/O-1, the orange plane with Us army on the underside of the wing? Could you pm me the owners name, I have a couple of questions about it.
 
Thanks guys on the Birddog replies!

Guess I am a wimp. Gusting over 20 at my place and flying the RANS would have been no fun.
 
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