jeb@eisx.UUCP (07/21/83)
A suggestion for pilots looking for a new airport to visit, or
just an excuse to land somewhere new:
Van Sant airport, just across the river from Frenchtown, NJ, is
a field that is particularly friendly toward gliders, antiques,
and homebuilts. There's no food service on the field, but lots
of interesting planes to look at. You can get rides and/or lessons
in various types of gliders, including a new two-place fiberglass,
high performance Grob twin, and in powered planes ranging from
J-3 Cubs to a Stearman. The runway is grass, and is on top of
a hill, thus you land uphill from both approaches.
Also at Van Sant this weekend (7/23-7/24) and the following weekend,
the local glider club is running a contest. The local club, really
just a loose association of glider pilots flying at Van Sant, is
called the Bucks County Air Force and Wayward Drinkers Association,
so you might guess that any contest they sponsor will be a lot of
fun for everybody involved. So if you want to look at a bunch of
nice gliders (20 to 30 expected) and see what a contest looks like,
drop by one of those days. At any rate, if you're flying in that
area, please be alert for an unusual amount of glider activity.
I'll be participating in the contest as a backseat passenger and
coach in a Schweizer 2-33, with three relatively inexperienced
cross-country soaring pilots. Entering a 2-33 in a contest is
about like entering my 1964 Fairlane in the Indy 500. However,
it is equally true in both cases that if I finish, I won't be
last.
Remember: Any wimp can fly fiberglass, but it takes
a REAL PILOT to keep heavy iron in the air.
Jim Beckman
ABI South Plainfield
vtxb!jeb eisx!jeb