Emailed you
 

I sent you an email. Again, thanks to you and to dbahn for you fine support of the ice runway. Your suggestions will just make it better and better for this season and subsequent years as well.

Dave

Anyone know what was up with the flat tire on the green Cessna that was to the left of the J3 (in my panoramic)?

Kirk

Yup, that was Jonathan, one of our group from a pilot forum. Somewhere in the air between Concord and Alton Bay, he ran over a nail or something...:laugh:

He got back okay, no property damage or fatalities. Someone on the lake went the extra mile for him and brought their air tank over to fill his tire. Another example of what great folks you are over there! We all had a terrific time and I'm looking forward to returning on the 15th.

About that Grumman pilot who missed the runway a little in that video above....we get no respect...:cool::)

Alton Bay Ice Airport
 

Hello. I'm Paul LaRochelle. Just joined the Forum. Thought it would be a good idea to be on this site, incase there were any questions concerning the ice runway. I am currently the new Alton Bay B18 Ice Airport runway manager. (FAA approved). I am not a pilot. I have been plowing the runway, with Steve and Roger assisting me. So grateful to have them. We are all thrilled with the enthusiam of all the pilots and local residents. Everyone in Alton loves to see the planes fly in at the Bay, as they tell Brian. When you check your NOTEMs, you will see my phone number, 603-875-3498.
And you will get the current conditions of the runway.
It was a great fly-in day on Sunday. I was on the ice most of the day, talking with alot of the pilots. To answer a question, one pilot, with the green plane, got a flat tire, so I went and got my air caddy tank, and the Pilot and I filled it with air. I hope we can keep up the tradition, and runway as in the past!
Any questions or comments, I will try to answer.[EMAIL="larbr@worldpath.net"]
Paul LaRochelle (Iceguy)
P.O. Box 390
Alton Bay, NH 03810

Thanks for stepping in, Paul. Nice job you and the others are doing. I'm sure the community really appreciates it -- more than they can show, even. I know I appreciate it -- and I'm not even there!

Don't be afraid to let us know what you need. There will be someone on this forum that can help, I'm sure.

Paul!! Welcome, and THANK YOU!!!

Being an airport manager is usually a thankless job... I hope we can do a good enough job changing that for you. You and the rest of the crew did a great job on the runway and those of us that flew in from all over New England (one as far away as Poughkeepsie, NY) on Sunday sincerely appreciate the effort.

I hope the weather's good on the 15th, our group is itching to fly up again!

To Iceguy, as a tourist who loves to see the planes and activities on the ice at Alton Bay, THANK YOU. You reinforce my belief that people in the North Country are a cut above the rest.

Thanks Paul
 

As an Alton Bay resident and loving to see the town and especially the bay being used as a family source of entertainment, the way you guys stepped up to the plate has been fantastic.

With the great input you will get from the pilots and your endeavors, the Alton Bay Ice Runway will continue to be a must go destination for years.

Now about trying to smooth out the waves for the seaplanes in the summer...:laugh:

Great job and I'll see you in the bay or at Amilyn's. Thanks again for all you do.

I Appreciate and Applaud Those Whom....
 

have worked to keep the winter Airport in Alton Up and Running! As a long time resident, watching those planes landing and taking off on the ice has always been a winter highlight for me!
Thank you all,
Terry

Hi Paul, as the inhabitant of the tan bobhouse closest to the runway parking area with the American flag flying proudly I truly love sitting and watching the planes flying in and out. And seeing the joy on the faces of young and old looking up in amazement and saying "here comes another one!" Akso makes for great pastime when the fishing is slow.
I watch you guys plow for many hours day after day to maintain the runway, and it is great to see the recognition you are receiving for it. Thank you
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...ge_800x600.jpg

curious
 

Just curious - where are you flying in from?

Airport Information
 

In case anyone would like further info on the airport, here is a link to the AirNav website that has some nice information about the airport.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/B18#notes

And in Iceman's first post, he mentions NOTAM's, which is an acronym for NOtice To AirMen (perhaps just a little sexist:D) (Gotta admit it reads better than NOTAW or NOTAP:rolleye2:) . NOTAMs are notices about safety issues, general info that may not be found on charts, changes to info that are on charts, etc. Here is the link for the NOTAM's for Alton Bay B18 for this year:

https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/geo/geoQuery.html

Note: I got a certificate error from Microsoft when I first went to this link. I clicked on ok to continue and it took me to the page.

It seems that B18 is still the only FAA authorized ice runway in the country, and again Kudo's to Paul (Iceman) and his crew of volunteers for keeping it up.

Our "group" flew in from several different locations, including Pougheepsi, NY, Rutland, VT, Norwood, MA, Nashua, NH and maybe one or two other locations. At least one pilot coming from Maine had to cancel because of snow squalls in the departure area.

That group only accounts for 5 or 6 airplanes, though. I'm not sure where the others were coming from.

Say, some of the pilots from the "Purpleboard" have offered airplane rides to Brian and the guys who are plowing the runway, if they are interested. We hope to have another group (mostly the same people as flew in Sunday so far) fly over for the Winter Carnival in 2 weeks, so weather permitting we'll touch bases before that.

Alton Bay Airport
 

Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to say "thanks" for all your support. The picture of the tan bob house was great, with the American Flag waving proudly.
Off to plow the runway! (Unfortunately I had to close it this morning due to the snow.) Will re-open soon.
Ice Guy

Hey Paul...how about an insider's update? There's a lot of anticipation in the pilot community for the festival this Sunday!

Alton Winter Carnival
 

Hello Collybus,
If you look at the "Baysiders" thread, you will see a list of all of the day's events. The storm date is February 21, 2009. Let's hope for good weather.
Now, in my opinion, pilots should come in early for breakfast, before it gets too busy. (Note for all pilots: from 2:45 - 3:15, the runway will be shut down for the Ice Bed Race only). The reason for this, is it is the only place to have the bed race, an Alton Bay tradition, put on by the Parks and Rec Dept. I will be posting this on Notems, so all pilots will be aware of this time. I will also have my hand held radio to communicate with any pilots. We hope to have a great day. See you on Sunday!
Paul (Iceguy).

Really looking forward to coming this Sunday!

Hope the weather is good to the Alton activities
 

Hey Paul,

When you get a chance, can you give us an update on the condition of the ice?

What fun to hear from you Paul. We know each other. I love reading what you are doing. Let me say, I just hope you don't quit your day job!

ALL TAKEOFFS & LNDGS MUST BE NORTH OF THE BANDSTAND. ALL TRAVEL SOUTH OF THE BANDSTAND MUST NOT EXCEED HEADWAY SPEED.

Found this statement on AIRNAV listing. Pretty funny if Marine Patrol is out there issuing tix to planes for exceeding headway speed in a no-wake zone!

Update on Runway
 

Hi Everyone.
Had to close the runway down today because of standing water and slush. Did not want to make ruts in the runway ice when it freezes. Tonight and tomorrow should be colder, hopefully this will be good for the weekend.
Hope to see you all on the weekend!

Paul (Iceguy)

Good move.

I'm kind of curious. How do you manage to keep the snowmobiles off the runway when it's wet like this?

Sunday is expected to be a gorgeous day - sunny with temps right at the freezing level and a few cold nights before that. We're keeping our fingers crossed...

The weather's looking great! Looks like the only variable might be the runway conditions, but hopefully your decision to close (a wise one!) and a few cold nights will fix it right up.

Looking forward to another trip to B18!

Snowmobiles
 

It's not easy. Only if we are at the bay or near the runway we can stop them. Fish & Game will stop the snowmobilers if they see them too. But for the most part they have been cooperative.

Lucky
 

Iceguy and his crew have done a good job of getting the word out: Stay off the runway, and as he says, for the most part it has been good.

It would only take one idiot to run down the runway when it is starting to freeze, that would make the strip unsafe for you pilots.

As hard as the guys have worked, I hope temps down to 15 over night, and pretty cool temps during the day will salvage at least one more weekend.

Thanks to all you pilots for supporting their efforts, and the town of Alton.

Dave

Update
 

Airport is open. Runway looks good but it will be slick. The parking area we have will take about 30 planes at a time however, we may be able to park a few out side of that area. Hope to see you all at the carnival. I will be on the ice if you should need assistance. I'll will be wearing a green vest.
Ice guy

Paul, do you have any advice for pilots who fly in and find the parking area full? Should they avoid landing there, or can they be pushed into an alternative area for parking?

Tomorrow may be a bit windy, but it sounds like Sunday will be a picture perfect February winter day. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for this event.

Runway Update
 

Hello.
The runway will still be opened. However, the taxi way is shut down due to standing water on top of 2 feet of ice. We do not want anyone slipping into a snowbank. As it stands now, all flights will have to back taxi on the runway. As far as the parking area, at best 30 planes. I will be on the ice for any assistance. It may be possible to bring some planes into where I drive onto the parking area. This area is bumpy. It would be up to the pilots to park in this area. It was a shame that we had all the rain and warm temps this week. The ice is still safe.
Iceguy

Thanks for the update, Paul.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, and again, we really appreciate all the hard work.

We had a blast at Alton Bay today. The weather couldn't have been better, great food (Olde Bay Diner for Breakfast, Shibley's Drive In for Clam/Lobster rolls), airplanes, helicopters, snowmobiles, good people... what more can you ask for?

Considering Alton Bay is the only remaining FAA approved Ice Runway in the US, it's fantastic that Paul and his crew stepped up to keep it that way and very refreshing to see a community support an airport rather than try to close it down.

Here's a shot of the hardest working man at Alton Bay:

http://www.likekeohana.com/paul.JPG

Hope you got a better meal than that frozen burger when you got home, Paul... you earned it!

It really was amazing to see that today! What a great effort on behalf of that man. It was incredible to watch the planes taking off and landing today. Add the helicopter and the bed races and the sleigh ride and the..... etc. etc. It was a fun day indeed. My twin boys loved it. Here is a crude cell phone photo of a long shot of the airstrip plane parking with two planes ready for takeoff.

I want to also salute the pilots and runway keepers (plowers), in addition to Paul. You pilots were the attraction, and you couldn't have done it unless the runway was kept in tip-top shape. As I said before, my only view was the webcam; but from what I saw, you thrilled all the kids there -- from 3 to 63! Thanks for your time and your enthusiasm. I'm like you -- it's good to see good people soaking up the fun today.

Thank to you for everyone for making the Winter Carnival an amazingly fun afternoon. Special thanks to the crew that made the ice airport possible. It was truly a day to remember.

PS---The helicopter rides were a blast!

Pics from Alton Bay today
 

We were on our way through Alton and stopped to take a couple of quick pics.

Attachment 2351

Attachment 2352

Attachment 2353

Some of the pilots that flew into Alton Bay (and have posted here... dbahn, Collybus, myself) also belong to a pilot-oriented forum called "The Purple Board for Pilots." This is where we all originall met and we use the forum to discuss aviation topics, shoot the bull, and plan fly outs to events such as our two trips this season to Alton Bay.

There's a great, albeit long, thread on our forum that shows the genesis of our planning of the event from the disappointment in the very beginning when we thought AB wouldn't open this year, to our excitement and appreciation when it did open. Some of you might find it interesting.

At Dave's (dbahn) suggestion, I've created a user account any of you can use to view the thread if you're interested. The latter pages contain discussion of our latest trip, including a whole bunch of our pictures and videos.

To view the thread, click here:

http://www.purpleboard.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9778

The user name you can use is: Alton Bay Guest
and the password is: guest

Any of you are more than welcome to join up, register and post.

Enjoy!

Everyone who had anything to do with pulling this thing off should be commended. "Build it and they will come" worked for us as pilots, and we shouldn't be credited with anything except wanting to have a good time.

As I mentioned on our own (Purple) board, the whole thing just represents a slice of Americana that should be cherished. It's very refreshing to me to see a community event like this that also attracts outsiders like us, and to see everyone having such a good time.

(For anyone who wants to login in as "Alton Bay Guest" and enter password "guest" (rather than register) and just pick up on the posts and pictures for Winter Carnival weekend, you can just go directly to page 31 to start.)

Thanks again for all of the hard work.

Thanks for the link to the Purple board
 

and you guys are waaaaayyyyy too funny. :D

Nice to see other folks having a good time on their forum.

Dave