2022 Valdez Fly In May 13-15

Hi All
The Valdez Fly In is coming together well for 2022!
The schedule is similar to years past. Pilot round tables Friday afternoon, Beach Landing on Saturday morning, STOL in the afternoon, Flour Bombing Sunday morning and airshow Sunday afternoon. Melissa Burns and Scott Sexton are set for Aerobatics. The Coast Guard and Army National Guard are going to have demonstrations as well.

This year there are still huge piles of snow on the airport so this year we don't have room for camping inside the fence as years past. You can camp with your plane but there is no room for RV and separate tenting. Camping is allowed in the airport parking lot and the RV parks are trying to open in town. We will have a free shuttle available too.

If you make it over Friday night we will have a barbecue at my hangar sponsored by Crowley. Please stop by.

If you are flying in please check the weather and use the weather cams.

Update:
We have about 12 planes that have made it in so far, including several from Canada. Scott Sexton and Melissa Burns have their planes here for aerobatics as well.

If you are driving in (reminder this is a FLY In there won't be space inside the fence to camp. You can park around the airport and camp and the RV parks in town have done a great job of plowing snow so they can open up. Hotels may be full but keep trying as plans change for attendees. We will have a free shuttle as well. You may camp with your plane and the ramp is surprisingly dry.

Vertical solutions has installed a credit card reader at the pump. The price is $8.50 a gallon. They have put a large amount of money into the fueling system and outside of the fly in volume is pretty low so we are happy someone is supplying it again.

Weather looks good for Thursday and Saturday and Sunday. If you are looking at the forecast on your iPhone it most likely uses The Weather Channel for information. The Valdez forecast area includes Thompson Pass and into the mountains. When they say there is "an X% chance of rain" that means there is that percent chance for rain falling somewhere in the forecast area. Also temps are almost always 10 degrees warmer in Valdez than forecast. Yes like most anywhere in Alaska we can get snow in May it is unlikely Friday but showers are likely. If you are planning on flying always check the weather with flight service and use the weather cams. We of course want everyone to attend but don't push weather beyond your comfort. Saturday and Sunday look to be partly cloudy. Incidentally we find that AccuWeather or Weather Underground are more accurate apps.

If you end up flying in Saturday morning you can head directly to the beach landing at Hook Point. There is an online briefing for it on our website. Note that the briefing will be 8am Saturday, the times online need to be updated.

Let me know if you have questions. My number is 907-831-0058
Have a great flight everyone!

Control Tower will be active

We will again have a temporary tower set up Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The AWOS is 118.8, the tower 119.05 and ground is 120.1. There are reporting points listed on the website as well. If you are coming through Thompson Pass Robe Lake is a good reporting point. If you are coming over the sound Gold Creek is a good reporting point. If the tower is closed then use the CTAF 122.9

The active control tower requires a huge amount of effort to set up. We have to annually get frequencies approved with the FCC even though they don't change as well as getting approval from the FAA for the controllers themselves. Thankfully all involved recognize the added safety the tower provides for both arrivals and departures as well as competition and airshow traffic. Our controllers now attend other events to duplicate the safety efforts. We appreciate their efforts to keep the traffic organized and safe.

We are dropping off a plane this morning, will be back on fri with 7 campers at the Eagles Nest Campground. Looks like it is going to be a great time as always.
DENNY

Good luck this year Denny! You are safe, my “outlaw” rent a plane is in the lower 48 this yr;-)

I have moved into the stands and will only be watching this year. I have to let the young ones win a few or they will get discouraged (my story and I am sticking to it!) Cache Carr and the Green Bean are already there so it will be a good year. Snow is 6 ft deep at my usual 5th wheel parking spot so we are going downtown. The runway is all clear, as is plane parking. Camping under the wing will be fine but no other space on the runway. RV parks downtown are plowing and prepping as I type. I think it is going to be a good year. DENNY

Hi All
We have 24 planes on the ground as of Thursday evening. We had some rain move through late at night and showers are predicted for Friday. Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be partly cloudy. Please check the weather if you are flying down. The weather cams also provide good information.

If you are planning on doing the beach landing we have moved the times up a bit due to tides. The safety briefing will be at 8am at the west end of the terminal. We are aiming to have everyone off the beach by 11am or so with the tide coming in. If you are flying into Valdez Saturday morning you can head directly to the beach at Hook Point on Hinchinbrook Island. There will be set up crews out there at 7am. We will have one of the controllers out there helping with traffic and using unicom 122.9. The briefing is online as well but the times listed are wrong and we have been unable to update them. The information on landing on the beach and traffic is all correct however.

We have a great bunch of prizes this year as well. We have prizes for first place in all the categories. Also we have a bunch more prizes that will be given away in a drawing. You will get one ticket for each contest you enter.
Thanks everyone and hope to see you here.

People PLEASE check the NOTAM for Valdez and use the tower frequencies!! The tower is 119.05 when open. This evening we had 36 planes on the ground. It turned into a nice evening but looked like Wx in Anchorage was poor so planes had a hard time getting over here. The forecast is looking great for Saturday and Sunday!

We have some great prizes this year! Heavy Touring first place will be a Best Tugs Alpha 2! Airframes is again donating a set of Bushwheels for the Bush Class. STOL signup deadline is NOON. Mandatory Safety Briefing at 1pm.

The beach landing will depart at 8:30, we will have people at the beach at 7:30. Use the briefing online if you want to fly directly to the beach. HOWEVER times are wrong online. In person Safety Briefing is 8 am in the west end of the terminal.

The weather looked great from the pictures I saw! Hope everything went smoothly, love to see more pictures!

sj

It was one of the best years for the crowd. Lots of sun, temps were fine for Alaskans. The wind was all over the place especially for the Heavy Touring. We watched the sock make a complete 360 around the pole in about 15 sec. Several times the socks pointed at each other. Light Touring had hero wind that laid down a bit for the bush class. A great day overall. DENNY