R-2305 and P01, Eric Marcus Muni just north of Ajo, Az (rambling)

N174RT has been based at P01 for part of the winter. P01 has a nice paved runway, large ramp area, some hangars and not much else. No fuel. No services. I don't think there is a pay phone. The "Country Club"/golf course is a short walk, and has a volunteer run restaurant with a simple menu a few days of the week during the winter season. The tie down chains are too large to fit through my tie down rings. A few of the tie down spots have moveable hooks that do fit through my tie down rings. It appears to have originally been a WWII training base. The runway has more loose gravel than I would like.

Flying into and out of P01 is "interesting". It has restricted areas to the north and west. It is about 30 nm north of the AZ/Mexico border. R-2301E is about 2 miles to the west and extends south to the border which makes west departures impractical. R2305 is less than 2 miles to the north and has a VFR corridor that is usually available for flights to the north. The south border of R-2304 extends about 30nm to the east.

The sectional notes "Permission for flight through R-2305 must be secured from Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on 127.75 or 122.775." I found it very easy to get the WRONG frequency tuned, 127.775 or 122.75. 127.75 is the AF tower and 122.775 is "Snake Eyes" - the controlling agency for R-2305.


Permission to fly through the VFR corridor means follow highway 85 through R-2305 for more than 20nm no more than 500' AGL. I'm not used to flying 500' AGL, and desert heating can make the air bumpy! There are a few small peaks near the highway that are more than 500' AGL. More interesting! My AFS5600T and my Avidyne IFD440 each display gps based AGL which helps with the no higher than 500' AGL.

For transition through R-2305 we have learned to PHONE "Snake Eyes" at 623-865-8818 to see if the corridor will be available. We learned to PHONE after fueling in Gila Bend, getting airborne to fly south to P01 and were told "not available at this time, call back in 15 minutes". We got the phone number for Snake Eyes, landed and waited. It was about 25 minutes before the VFR corridor was available.

So our drill now is: phone Snake Eyes from the plane when ready for engine start. Ask if the VFR corridor will be available in 10-15 minutes and confirm we are familiar with the corridor. Start the plane, warm up, taxi etc, take off and call Gila Bend Aux tower if heading south from Gila Bend or call Snake Eyes if flying north from P01. Either controller will ask if we are familiar with the corridor and then tell us cleared to fly over Highwey 85 no higher than 500' AGL. We get switched to the other controller about 5 miles south of Gila Bend AF Aux Field. We then report when clear of the restricted area.

For flights to the east, we just fly through the SELLS 1 MOA.

Regards,

Thanks for a PIREP Roy. It is ?interesting? indeed. I do enjoy 500? departures though

Ajo

While visiting Phoenix during Christmas holidays I had an opportunity to fly to Ajo. It was rather spontaneous sorry Roy and Sandy I didn't give you any notice




I went around restricted areas and approached from the east.




Diverted for a copper mine tour.




The hole in the planet is so enormous you can make a circle inside it




Here is Roy's airplane on the ramp.

I landed, parked by Roy's RV and walked to community golf course.











The little cafe was closed.



A LE agency craft didn't express much interest.



"Snake eyes" didn't allow me to transit R-2305 on departure. A swarm of Vipers were busy at Range 2 and he suggested to wait. I went around.



Interesting place. Might be very hot in summer time

Speaking of flying around in copper mines... in the Arizona meteor crater, there is a Cessna 150 that was flown by two airline pilots, one of whom also owned a Cessna 182. This was in August (think density altitude), 1964, with two guys in a C150. This was a delivery flight from Wichita to Los Angeles. Anyway, they overflew the crater, were unable to get out and stalled the airplane in the attempt. Both men were seriously injured and the airplane caught fire after the crash.

I am aware of that accident Ed. There are certain times of the year (think quiet winter mornings) when our little RVs have enough power at 3,000 DA to make a tight turn comfortable. With partial fuel and a midget pilot it's a non event.

Hey Vlad. Ever been to Wayside Inn strip near Alamo Lake AZ?
If not, you might get a kick out of it. Curiously, it's not on any chart I've seen, but it's way busier than most charted strips in the area. Great greasy spoon food in an iconic slice of America in the middle of nowhere. About a dozen planes there last week.

N34 14 35.2 W113 29 4.6

woxofswa said:

Hey Vlad. Ever been to Wayside Inn strip near Alamo Lake AZ?
If not, you might get a kick out of it. Curiously, it's not on any chart I've seen, but it's way busier than most charted strips in the area. Great greasy spoon food in an iconic slice of America in the middle of nowhere. About a dozen planes there last week.

N34 14 35.2 W113 29 4.6

Click to expand...

Cool thanks Myron! Location marked.

Vlad, sorry we missedd you!

We were probably home. Not enough detail to see if our van was with the Airstream in your photo. Please let us know when you will be returning or if you would like to meet somewhere between our bases.

ALWAYS recommend calling to see if the restuarant at the golf course is open. 520-387-5011.

Regards,