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Alton Bay (B18) is open!

Perfect day at Alton Bay

What a great day! My rough estimate was 40-50 airplanes landed there from 10 am till we left late afternoon. Why late? The Chief Rivetbanger was on the way from Maryland and we wanted to greet him. :D

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I had a first timer going on the ice from the left seat and we taxied on a snowmobile trail. :)

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Here Charlie lands his freshly painted RV.

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Captain John, yours truly and Charlie. What a lovely day! :D

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A yellow RV-7a had just landed before I took off, and there was a flight of 3 RVs heading in when I was climbing out. That was around 10:45.
 
A yellow RV-7a had just landed before I took off, and there was a flight of 3 RVs heading in when I was climbing out. That was around 10:45.

We heard you on the radio Michael. CJ recognized you immediately. It was a good day of flying. On Sunday I came again and there was the newest RV8 on ice. Somebody told me he has a "flat tire". Would love to hear what happened :D
 
Not quite flat

We heard you on the radio Michael. CJ recognized you immediately. It was a good day of flying. On Sunday I came again and there was the newest RV8 on ice. Somebody told me he has a "flat tire". Would love to hear what happened :D

Yup, that was me. When I started taxiing out to leave I could not get my tailwheel to 'snap' in-line with my rudder. Could only turn to the right, so returned to where I started and shut down. Borrowed a wrench from the very friendly folks working the ramp, removed my tailwheel and went into the control tower, (AKA Paul's fishing shack) to try to warm it up...I thought maybe the pin was frozen.
Alas, the pin was jammed in pretty good, so I decided that if I could make it to the end of the runway, the rest of the day would be OK. It took a couple bursts of power to swing the tail around on taxi-out ( sorry to all those behind me..), and managed to stay out of the snowberms and get to the "snowmobile trail", which allowed me to safely taxi to the opposite end. Takeoff was normal, and flight home/landing was good.
Thanks to the boys on the ramp, Donna in the store, and the gals at the Diner for making my visit extra special. :)
 
I finally managed to get to Alton Bay. Heck, I only started this thread FIVE YEARS AGO! :eek:

The pictures are on my blog but two are "the map" and "I'm here" :D

B18 isn't very close to 53VG ...

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Thankfully, the Devastator has its 22 gallon AUX tank for just such trips.

Arrival at Alton Bay was cold, and windy, and not very busy ...

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Several New England RVators are planning Alton Bay B18 tomorrow. Ice runway is open and is in great shape. Come support local economy. :)

I didn't think to look at the forums until just now when I realized I'd caught Vlad and another nice RV on my camera.

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RV12 visits Alton Bay

Today checked one off the list by flying to Alton Bay. The Ice Runway and Seaplane Base (B18) in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire is unbelievable.

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The airport is an ice runway during the winter and a seaplane base in the summer. Flight with one of my friends for breakfast and he knew a couple that met us there.

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The recommended ice grippers for your shoes are a must. Breakfast then stopped by Facet Jewelers, signed the flight guest book, pick up a sertificate for landing @ B18, very friendly people.

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Calm winds landing and the ice was in great shape. I had a nice tail wind for the return, ground speed 153 kts in my RV12. :D

A Short 3 min YouTube video
https://youtu.be/LKby_W4TKU8
 
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Alton Bay

Sorry to see this! My daughter and I flew to Alton Bay this morning for breakfast and to walk around the Ice Festival. I visited with this pilot and passenger for a while. Glad to hear they weren't severely injured. Planes can be repaired. Our thoughts are with them.
 
2018 season is looking promising!

There is a hard cold snap gripping the Eastern United States which isn’t much fun unless you are trying to make ice :)

Just a week ago Alton Bay was reporting open water but today they are watching significant ice developing!

”Good Saturday Morning! It’s over cast and 3 degrees below 0 in Alton Bay. I checked the ice we have approximately 71/2” to 8” in the bay it’s coming along!!”​

They need a minimum of 12” everywhere - runway, taxiway, parking, access routes, and snow removal & equipment areas - before they can open. Then also need to be able to keep everything plowed.
 
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Great news!

Great news Glen! I am returning from Canada in couple days will take a look. :)

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There is a hard cold snap gripping the Eastern United States which isn?t much fun unless you are trying to make ice :)

Just a week ago Alton Bay was reporting open water but today they are watching significant ice developing!

?Good Saturday Morning! It?s over cast and 3 degrees below 0 in Alton Bay. I checked the ice we have approximately 71/2? to 8? in the bay it?s coming along!!?​

They need a minimum of 12? everywhere - runway, taxiway, parking, access routes, and snow removal & equipment areas - before they can open. Then also need to be able to keep everything plowed.

Thanks for the heads up humpty. BTW, the accident on 02/19/2017, never showed up in the FAA preliminary?s or an NTSB query. Looks like substantial damage...

Can?t wait for it to open, as we missed last season. Again, thanks for the reminder...
 
The snow hasn?t helped and indeed they re in for a bit of a warm up. Ironically, the snow may help insulate the ice.

Today?s report ...

?Hi everyone we checked the ice again this afternoon. We are not gaining as fast as we would like. The ice is still uneven 9 1/2 to 13 ? the snow didn?t help . We just have to wait longer to be safe?
 
2018 STARTS NOW !

From Facebook today ...

?Alton Bay ice Airport Runway is now Open. Runway 1 /19. Runway is 100? wide x 2800 ? long surface conditions all ice no snow very slick . Runway is marked with yellow cones every 300? on both sides with triple cones on both ends marking thresholds . Taxi way is on east side of runway marked with orange cones into parking ramp on south end. If you have ice cleats for your shoes I suggest you bring them.? - Paul LaRochelle Airport Manager​
 
Ruts

Be somewhat careful as one of the pilots from Concord said some snowmobiles had run up and down the runway and created some ruts in the strip.

Someone in the town was suppose to keep it open and plowed but I'm not sure who to call to check about it?
 
Checking with Paul re: conditions on Friday. If it is smooth a few of us are planning to arrive 9 am
 
Steve,

Nah, If it is glare ice I doubt that some sleds could rut it up... unless the top layer turned to slush while they were riding on it and it froze that way.

Dave, I am down for annual Condition Inspection now. If I am back into the air, I will head north and see you!

:) CJ
 
Alton Bay 2018

I was the only airplane on Friday noon. A welcome from airport crews. :)

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Our planes match

Hi Vlad. I've enjoyed reading your posts. As Dick said to Roy once, "That guy knows what to do with an airplane" - applies to you too. People ask when we're going to paint our plane. The first thing that enters my head with that question, is what part of my camping gear I'd have to give up to compensate for the added weight.
:)
Perhaps we'll me up some time.
N174RT.
 
Alton Bay Feb 2018

Cold crisp day in Maine and conditions were most likey the best they would be before Alton Bay closes, so off we went. Short hour flight with Temps -15c at 3000 feet and plenty of sun shine we arrived at Alton Bay, NH (B18). They were closed on Friday due to warm weather and standing water on the ice. Got down to -2 last night and refroze on the surface. Good news no water, smooth and level conditions, on the other side of the equation smooth, slippery, glazed Ice. It was just like the Zamboni had been working overtime last night. No braking and virtually no steering with the castering nose wheel. Actually I had to have a little help on the way out taxing, you can see in the video below.

But great fun! :D

The guys do a great job of managing the runway and taxi areas. They keep the information available on current conditions via their record message or visit the Alton Bay Facebook page for up to date information.

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https://youtu.be/6nv7bcyy45M

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We were there today for a little while for the winter carnival.
They got too much snow to be able to plow and get the runway open today.
Of course, looking at the forecast, it doesn't seem like the runway will be able to be open much longer anyways, so I'm sure that's a factor too.

Just not the same without planes coming and going...

Thanks to Paul and his crew for all they do each year maintaining the runway.
 
You are probably one of the very few RV-12s to have made the visit to the bay. One of our local RV-9s had an incident there last year which has raised my caution level about venturing up there myself. That and its been real cold at altitude lately. Anyhow, well done and good video Mr. Governor...
 
You are probably one of the very few RV-12s to have made the visit to the bay. One of our local RV-9s had an incident there last year which has raised my caution level about venturing up there myself. That and its been real cold at altitude lately. Anyhow, well done and good video Mr. Governor...

Brent, Remember lots of practice flying out of Maine, most runways have Ice and KBST seams to be at least 50 percent of the time when we want to fly on weekends - so landing at Alton Bay is some what in the norm :D
 
I landed in Rangeley, Maine (8B0) today and the ice runway on the lake was a better option than the airport!

Check out the condition of the runway at about the four minute mark!
https://youtu.be/M7n3oFDPbLE

Dave, I now own a Hangar in Rangeley.

Let me know if you need my Jeep that I leave in the hangar next time you visit!

It's all yours!

:) CJ
 
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Alton Bay 2019

I went up north a while ago. On my way to Rangeley ME I decided to land on famous ice. It was windy and not many planes made it that day.




A Cirrus followed me and asked for a PIREP on the ground. It was so cross windy became a challenge to keep that approach speed stabilized.



I tried two times and gently planted the mains at the beginning of RWY 01 on third try. All fun started at the middle of the runway. Braking action almost zero. Rudder authority gone after the slowdown to taxi speed. Wind gusts tried hard to push me off but I resisted. At 3/4 of the runway remaining I quit, applied power and took off. So it was a Touch and Go. I relayed my experience to the Cirrus driver he did a low pass. In 10 minutes he returned for another attempt. No joy again but it was a lot of fun on the radio. I kept flying north there was another ice runway waiting for me. :)








See you next year Alton Bay!
 
Alton Bay

Dave,
Keep posting the videos. It may be the closest I get to Alton Bay. My youngest son and I tried a few years ago. It is difficult to get winter weather good enough from Tennesse to Alton Bay and still have the runway frozen. I may need to try it by myself next winter. Just go as far as I can and wait for the weather to clear.

Marvin
 
Last day of 2019 ice season

Today was the last day of ice runway at Alton Bay. It was a good season. Looking forward to 2020 good job airport crew! Thank YOU!














 
2019 was one of the longest seasons. It had some fits and starts with storms but Paul and the crew did an amazing job as always!
 
Vlad,

Doesn't look like Alton Bay will be open this year, according to the airport manager's Facebook posts. Looks like you've found some other ice to land on!

Dave
 
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