Yellowbird

Checking out the Neighborhood

Once settled, we took a few days to explore our new surroundings. Things are pretty sparse compared to the Northeast, but it's not all cornfields.

About 35 miles to the east we find this sleepy little field, with about half a dozen hangars and not much else. They do have fuel, for somewhat less than out home field, so it may be worth an occasional visit. There's a whopping big displaced threshold when landing to the south, for the benefit of the farmer across the street, no doubt.

The same distance to the west brings us to this more developed facility, with a full service FBO and a couple of non-precision approaches.

Bouncing back to the east, we have this impressive but uncontrolled field. It used to be very well controlled - you needed to be wearing a blue suit and flying something with the Stars and Bars on the side to get in.

To the north, a scene that plays out continually during the summer months: a small squadron of crop dusters prepares to launch a sortie against whatever critters are munching the corn.

To the south, a similar field, but boasting a grass crosswind runway and a small museum. A crop duster was in the pattern as I stopped in to touch rubber to runway and add another identifier to the logbook. He wasn't making radio calls (as dusters often decline to do), but fortunately his bright yellow livery made him visible enough to the attentive eye.

At another field frequented by dusters, I stopped in and found the conditions a bit... rustic.

There seem to be far more private strips than public around here. This one apparently used to be open to the public.

Just what the well-to-do Ag pilot would want - two nicely groomed grass runways, a couple of hangars, and two big yellow taildraggers.

No airport here, but a nice panorama from a thousand feet or so showing that there is some variety to the scenery. Of interest are the wind flow patterns in the crops that appear when you look downwind on a breezy day. It's been said that with the plentiful straight roads, you'll never need to look far for an emergency landing place. And if you know where to look, you'll never lack a wind indicator either.

They also have sunsets in the Midwest.

Posted by Yellowbird @ 8:18 PM | permanent link