2016 6Y3 (N. Fox Is.) PIREP

rwellner98 said:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/ixf35lifevestwhistle.php?clickkey=9202
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If you decide to get a different model, make sure that it is CO2 inflatable, but that its inflation has to be activated manually.
Most life vests inflate automatically, upon contact with water. In an aircraft, this is potentially dangerous, as a life vest, already inflated inside the plane, might make it impossible to egress. Not good... :eek:
 
Tim, are you talking about one of those blow up dolls ?
I suppose that would look better in the right seat than just a life vest
 
We saw 5 planes last Saturday (9/3/2016) and a lot of tends. Looked like you picked the perfect weekend for staying at North Fox. :)
 
Here comes a picture of the planes:

NorthFox_LowPass.jpg

One of the amazing beaches of North Fox:

NorthFox_Beach.jpg
 
I'm planning on heading back for a day or two next week...Early goose season has started, and North Fox would make an excellent forward goose hunting base.
 
Spent another lovely night there last weekend. Somehow, despite nearly perfect weather, there was only one other plane. Saw several snakes.
 
This thread makes me homesick! <sniff>

I moved out here before 6Y3 reopened, but I always loved the Great Lakes islands, particularly Mackinac and Beaver. It's great to see this beautiful getaway made available to so many pilots. Kudos to Brad and the RAF for all their good work! :thumbsup:
 
Has anyone told Barb about this one? She may want to check that one off the newly expanded list :-)
 
vontresc said:
Has anyone told Barb about this one? She may want to check that one off the newly expanded list :)
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If you mean One Short, she checks in every once in a while and probably knows about it already. It's a little far to fly to from Montana, though (assuming she's still there -- maybe she's moved again?)...
 
Barb, however, can no longer claimed to have landed in every (public) airport in the state of Michigan. We opened 6Y9 and she landed there the week it opened. Which is why Pete brought it up. She's missing one - soon(ish) to be two - now.
 
EdFred said:
Barb, however, can no longer claimed to have landed in every (public) airport in the state of Michigan. We opened 6Y9 and she landed there the week it opened. Which is why Pete brought it up. She's missing one - soon(ish) to be two - now.
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I have already landed at the Two Heart. Have friends that used to have a camper at the lodge.
 
EdFred said:
Barb, however, can no longer claimed to have landed in every (public) airport in the state of Michigan. We opened 6Y9 and she landed there the week it opened. Which is why Pete brought it up. She's missing one - soon(ish) to be two - now.
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Ok, I know about the Two Heart, but what's the other one?
 
tawood said:
Ok, I know about the Two Heart, but what's the other one?
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Two Hearted is the other one.

She's missing one (North Fox) and soon to be two (Two Hearted)...

But she has already landed there, even though it wasn't a public airport at the time.
 
Went back to 6Y3 on Friday with my son for a little Saturday morning goose hunting. When we tried to leave later Saturday, we had a scary couple of aborted take offs due to the grass being so long and dragging our speed down.
Question for Elcon: is it okay for visitors to get out the mowers and help mow? We had the time/energy, but I didn't want to overstep...
 
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Hi Tim
I was there and mowed Sept 11th , after this weeks 3 days of predicted rain I hope to get out there by Thurs. Sept.29th.
As far as helping goes we have had a unknown "helpful volunteer " break a mower that took me three hours to fix. Three hours is almost what it takes to mow just the runway between the cones.
In an emergency only situation would we want anyone to get out a mower.
The weather has been relentless with rain and cool weather perfect for grass to grow. I am having the same issue with 6Y9 Prickett Grooms.and have a notam issued it as closed till Oct. 15th, then I'll review it again as to condition .
The issue with 6Y3 is that due to the slowness in the FAA getting 6Y3 into there system, I have no current way to notam the airstrip. I was assured by the FAA rep. two months ago he would work to get it in the system. Another call and left message on Fri. Sept.23rd, I am still waiting.
Remote strips can be a challenge to fly into and also are a challenge at times because of weather and there remoteness to maintain.
It is why they are licensed as a " unimproved airport " under the MDOT-Aeronautics Dept. and is a land at your own risk airport according to there description.
As much as we would like to keep it perfectly manicured as it has been much of the Summer, there are times that is not possible.
Problems on takeoff with any grass strip when grass gets longer is that aircraft that are somewhat under powered have more difficulty over powering the resistance .
The best course of action on these airstrips is to call the Airport manager before going out and asking current conditions and weigh that against the performance of your aircraft.
Truly sorry for your scary departure, hope your next trip out there is uneventful,call me before you go if you would.
 
Ok, I'm glad I asked first, I didn't want to mow without permission (but for the record, if anyone wants to mow MY yard, you are more than welcome!!!).
As for the scary departure, it was a learning experience...I've got some bush flying experience in tailwheel aircraft...I've even landed a tailwheel on High Island before (which is another State of Michigan owned island, just to the north of N. Fox, and just west of Beaver Island), on the long sand bar on the northeast side of the island.
But, this was the first time for this aircraft (Cherokee 140/160) on tall grass. It had a much bigger effect than I thought. It also didn't help that there was a strong wind out of the east that kept us from the normal 25 departure. Eventually we got it dialed in though, and found the best technique, which included starting our run WESTBOUND in the cleared area on the southwest corner of the airfield, then doing a 180 to eastbound, crossing the west runway end eastbound at almost 20 mph.
 
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Would like to let everyone mow it that used it but repairing mowers out there is different than on the mainland. Not easy to take it to the dealer.
Glad you were able to get take off dialed in.
FYI -the runway was mowed yesterday Sept.29th.,previous to that Sept.11th.
Not sure why the grass was so high, was it also wet( soft ground) also?
 
el con said:
Would like to let everyone mow it that used it but repairing mowers out there is different than on the mainland. Not easy to take it to the dealer.
Glad you were able to get take off dialed in.
FYI -the runway was mowed yesterday Sept.29th.,previous to that Sept.11th.
Not sure why the grass was so high, was it also wet( soft ground) also?
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It wasn't wet, just tall, not even that tall either...maybe 6 inches or so, which is why it surprised me how much I was dragged down by it. When I got home I was again surprised, this time by how much of that long grass had accumulated in my wheel pants.
 
This is awesome. We are glad that we were among those planes that visited North Fox Island and were able to enjoy the island. We are looking forward to 2017. :)
 
rwellner98 said:
We definitely enjoyed our trips...

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Rich
Thanks for posting this video ,glad you had a good time out there. Really happy to see the young lad having a good time he will have these memories forever.
This is part of why we open airstrips like this.
 
German guy said:
Wow, amazing! Thank you for all your hard work, Brad! :)
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Thanks, but it was not just me, we had a core team of 4 guys, and you were part of the RAF work party in June ,Thank You for that.
 
el con said:
Rich
Thanks for posting this video ,glad you had a good time out there. Really happy to see the young lad having a good time he will have these memories forever.
This is part of why we open airstrips like this.
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Yeah, he had a blast. Looking forward to next summer already...
 
 
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