End of August ConUS Challenge Update

[SkyHog]

August has come and gone, and we have a new update for everyone! Not many claims, but some really great photos taken. I strongly suggest perusing the pictures that people are posting!

So, here's the stats for last month...

Top Claims for August: (lots of ties)
1) Kent Shook 11
2) Grant Prellwitz 6
Jay Maynard 6
4) Ron Hammer 3
5) Skip Miller 2
Bill Mellett 2
Mari 2
Timothy Poole 2

Top Claims overall:
1) Barb Miller 356
2) Peter Yee 255
3) C. Edward Irvin 142
4) Mike Schneider 101
5) Karl J. Kisser 95

So - some important claims we need for next month...California is only 3 airports away from being 100% completed. That's a really big accomplishment. A28 (Fort Bidwell), L78 (Jacumba) and 1Q5 (Gravelly Valley) are all that is left. Someone want to let me know for sure that Fort Bidwell is not a military use only airport?

There are only 8 more Maryland airports left: KBWI (Baltimore International), W48 (Essex Skypark), KCGS (College Park), KCBE (Greater Cumberland Regional), 1W3 (Mexico Farms), 1W5 (Hoby Wolf), KVKX (Potomac Airfield), and 2G4 (Garrett County).

Only 13 more to go in New Hampshire too. Anyone in New England would do well to grab those, as I've flown in New Hampshire and its an amazing place to fly.

I should point out that grass landing season is quickly coming to an end! I think a great focus would be to get as many grass airports knocked out as possible so that we can all focus on the paved ones during the summer.

All that said, there are some states that really need some claims! I know New Mexico is one of them, and as soon as I feel comfortable flying again, I'll be up and raring to go, but there are others that barely have any claims at all. Louisiana only has 5 claims (6.6%), North Dakota only has 8 claims (9%), South Dakota only has 14 claims (18.7%). We gotta have pilots flying in these states, right?

There have not been any bravos claimed anytime recently (understandable, I know they're tough and somewhat pricey to get).
Bravos left to claim: KBOS, KBWI, KCVG, KEWR, KJFK, KMCO, KPIT, KSEA, KTPA

State info:

State Claims Airports Pct 
CA 248 251 98.8% 
MI 225 225 100.0% 
WI 104 126 82.5% 
TX 95 381 24.9% 
OH 93 163 57.1% 
GA 91 109 83.5% 
IN 85 103 82.5% 
WA 75 126 59.5% 
MO 70 125 56.0% 
OR 69 95 72.6% 
PA 65 125 52.0% 
IA 62 121 51.2% 
AZ 59 80 73.8% 
FL 58 125 46.4% 
IL 57 110 51.8% 
MN 52 144 36.1% 
AR 48 100 48.0% 
OK 48 141 34.0% 
TN 41 82 50.0% 
NY 39 142 27.5% 
AL 36 97 37.1% 
NC 35 110 31.8% 
CO 33 77 42.9% 
NV 33 51 64.7% 
KS 32 143 22.4% 
WY 28 41 68.3% 
MD 27 35 77.1% 
MT 27 119 22.7% 
VA 27 67 40.3% 
ID 25 116 21.6% 
KY 24 61 39.3% 
NE 24 88 27.3% 
MA 23 39 59.0% 
SC 23 68 33.8% 
NJ 21 47 44.7% 
CT 16 21 76.2% 
MS 15 80 18.8% 
NM 15 60 25.0% 
SD 14 75 18.7% 
ME 13 49 26.5% 
NH 11 24 45.8% 
UT 11 47 23.4% 
WV 11 36 30.6% 
DE 10 10 100.0% 
ND 8 89 9.0% 
RI 7 7 100.0% 
LA 5 76 6.6% 
VT 4 17 23.5% 
DC 1 1 100.0%

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Top Claims for August: (lots of ties)
1) Kent Shook 11

Woohoo! And I actually have quite a few more to turn in from my trip... I think... Gotta go back and find which ones I have pics for that I haven't turned in yet.

So - some important claims we need for next month...California is only 3 airports away from being 100% completed. That's a really big accomplishment. A28 (Fort Bidwell), L78 (Jacumba) and 1Q5 (Gravelly Valley) are all that is left.

Make that TWO airports. I landed at Gravelly Valley and took a few different possible claim pictures. Unfortunately, the one that showed the elk we had to chase off the runway didn't turn out too well.

Aight folks, if I get #1 again in September just by virtue of procrastinating on sending my claims in, you're all a bunch of slackers!

 

[gprellwitz]

There have not been any bravos claimed anytime recently (understandable, I know they're tough and somewhat pricey to get).
Bravos left to claim: KBOS, KBWI, KCVG, KEWR, KJFK, KMCO, KPIT, KSEA, KTPA

They don't have to be. I don't think we paid anything to land at ORD. The trick is to coordinate with tower ahead of time and tell them to put you on the runup pad of an unused runway or something where you'll be out of the way, but away from the FBOs.

 

[jmaynard]

North Dakota only has 8 claims (9%), South Dakota only has 14 claims (18.7%). We gotta have pilots flying in these states, right?

I can get some of SD, and a few of ND...I was surprised to discover FSD hasn't been claimed. Sioux Falls is easy to deal with; I'll be back there in the not too distant future, and will get it then.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I can get some of SD, and a few of ND...I was surprised to discover FSD hasn't been claimed. Sioux Falls is easy to deal with; I'll be back there in the not too distant future, and will get it then.

Jay (and everyone),

I've found that the best way to do the ConUS thing is to go somewhere, and then try to hit a bunch of airports along the way that are unclaimed.

Some will be duds, where there's nothing around and no airplanes and not even a curious person to see what's going on.

But, you'll also discover that there are some REALLY cool airports out there. Here's a few examples that I've discovered by virtue of the ConUS Challenge that I'd love to return to:

* 40D Three Lakes Muni, WI - Best grass strip I've ever landed on, like a putting green. Even had a King Air, an Aerostar, and an SR22 parked there, not planes you often see on grass. Right across the street, the Sunset Grill offers good food on one of the lakes, and next door to that was a boat rental place. Oh, and there's camping on field and the Sunset Grill has a convenience store on the other side of the building. Looked like a great place to spend a weekend camping with the plane.
* U53 Henry's Lake, ID. Nice peaceful spot for a picnic, not far from West Yellowstone.
* 1Q5 Gravelly Valley, CA. Another nice peaceful spot for a picnic. Had to chase elk off the runway to land here, and they hung around a little ways away to see what was going on. Very cool.

I've also found numerous small airports that would be great places to stop for fuel and food, and even more that would be a good haven in a storm - You don't want to land somewhere and be stuck sitting in your plane all night!