Ice Airport 2014

[upthesaukee]

Hopefully those who are snowmobiling in Alton Bay will stay to the west side of the bandstand and avoid the runway that runs due north and south from the band stand to a point west of Sandy Point (or to a point 3000 feet out from the bandstand.

Ditto to those with bobhouses...keep them to the left of a north south line going out from the bandstand.

The runway designation is rwy 1/19, which means the runway heading (direction) is 010 degrees heading out, and 190 degrees. Lets all share the lake, and give the planes some space who give our Alton Bay businesses much needed business.

And Riverrat, I qualify for a free fishing license, and my wife bought me a hand auger for Christmas, and a tip up. Gotta go to Amilynne's and let Brian get me my license, and then I will see you on the lake.

[RLW]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Hopefully those who are snowmobiling in Alton Bay will stay to the west side of the bandstand and avoid the runway that runs due north and south from the band stand to a point west of Sandy Point (or to a point 3000 feet out from the bandstand.

Ditto to those with bobhouses...keep them to the left of a north south line going out from the bandstand.

The runway designation is rwy 1/19, which means the runway heading (direction) is 010 degrees heading out, and 190 degrees. Lets all share the lake, and give the planes some space who give our Alton Bay businesses much needed business.

And Riverrat, I qualify for a free fishing license, and my wife bought me a hand auger for Christmas, and a tip up. Gotta go to Amilynne's and let Brian get me my license, and then I will see you on the lake.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Don't forget to fill the bait bucket up while with Brian getting your license.

[Just Sold]

"upthesaukee;217447]Hopefully those who are snowmobiling in Alton Bay will stay to the west side of the bandstand and avoid the runway that runs due north and south from the band stand to a point west of Sandy Point (or to a point 3000 feet out from the bandstand.

Ditto to those with bobhouses...keep them to the left of a north south line going out from the bandstand.

The runway designation is rwy 1/19, which means the runway heading (direction) is 010 degrees heading out, and 190 degrees. Lets all share the lake, and give the planes some space who give our Alton Bay businesses much needed business."

The sign has been up for a while opposite the boat ramp.

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by Just Sold

"upthesaukee;217447]Hopefully those who are snowmobiling in Alton Bay will stay to the west side of the bandstand and avoid the runway that runs due north and south from the band stand to a point west of Sandy Point (or to a point 3000 feet out from the bandstand.

Ditto to those with bobhouses...keep them to the left of a north south line going out from the bandstand.

The runway designation is rwy 1/19, which means the runway heading (direction) is 010 degrees heading out, and 190 degrees. Lets all share the lake, and give the planes some space who give our Alton Bay businesses much needed business."

The sign has been up for a while opposite the boat ramp.

I know the sign has been up, but as long as I have lived here (1996), people have disregarded the runway area, like the two icehouses that are now pretty near where the runway is. In defense of those who have never been out here in the wintertime, the sign only mentions the fact there is an active runway on the bay, which encompasses a rather large area. There are a few cones out there, perhaps not enough to really define the runway until it gets plowed if there is snow out there.

In any case, I hope the rain this weekend doesn't scuttle the airport this year. They have had some bad luck in the past few years.

[Scott's Yott]

I am curious as to why the ice runway is created, and what does it do for Alton Bay. Does it attract planes from near and far? or is it just a neat novelty?

[upthesaukee]

Pilots will fly in from near and far. They will fly in and land from New York, Vermont, Ct, PA, NH, and other locations as well.

On President's Day Weekend, many planes will come in and land. Several years ago, it was reported to have over 50 airplanes on the ice at one time. I believe that in recent years, there have been days where there were 100 or more landings, although not all the planes were on the ground at the same time.

Alton's ice runway is the only FAA sanctioned ice runway in the country. It has its own airport designator (B18), and is maintained by volunteers here in Alton. Before any airplanes can land, an FAA inspector comes out and checks out the runway to make sure it is in accordance with the FAA guidelines for this airport.

Typically, airplanes land to the north, coming in over Parker Marine and Gillan Marine. They depart the same direction. After landing, often times the planes will have to turn around and taxi back to park between the bandstand in the bay and Gillen's.

And as final note, it is also a seaplane runway in the summer, or at least with no ice on the bay. Occasionally, a seaplane will land, but traffic in the bay gets a little interesting.

The businesses in the bay get quite a bit of business from the pilots and their passengers, and they are always willing to talk to you about where they came from and what it is like to land on ice.

There are UTube videos...search Alton Bay Ice Runway..

Thanks for your interest.

[Scott's Yott]

Great info ...Thanx

[Brad Z]

Originally Posted by Scott's Yott

I am curious as to why the ice runway is created, and what does it do for Alton Bay. Does it attract planes from near and far? or is it just a neat novelty?

I hope to fly up from Virginia and spend the weekend. Landing on a frozen lake is an experience we don't get to enjoy down this way. I've been hearing tales of Alton Bay Ice Runway for years from NE flyers and simply must check it out for myself.

Brad

[RLW]

Brad Z, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Great!!!! We will be looking for ya and I'm sure you will enjoy the comrade here in the Bay

[rscalzo]

Flew up there today with a friend who mentioned it. I never knew it was an actual runway. years ago ice diving we saw a plane land but I thought they were just trying it for the fun of it.

Im was surprised at the spots with open water this late.

[RLW]

rscalzo, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Thanks for coming into the forum. Hope that you come up for the fly in as we would love to see you and it is a good chance to meet many of your counter parts with wings on their chests.

[NoBozo]

There used to be a NICE WebCam overlooking the lower end of Alton Bay. You could PAN the camera. What happened to that... NB

PS: The "Mount Cam": Has been OUT for Five weeks. Whats up with that.....Just wonderin...NB

[RLW]

It has gone down the tubes as has the business that had it. The real state company is seeing some hard times and many of the sales people have left and gone to Wolfeboro and they said upon leaving many months ago that the system was down and most likely would be the very last thing that got repaired and/or continued to operate at all.

[thistleb]

Topic has me thinking of something very stupid that I did as a kid. Been coming to to Alton since 1976 when my grandparents built the house I have recently been so fortunate to buy. In the late 80's I was up for New Years with friends and we thought it would be fun to drive out on the ice. At that time I guess I didn't know about the run way, which was strange, but I ended up with my dads truck on its side in the middle of the run way! You can imagine my mindset as me and my buddies are trying to roll the truck back on its wheels when a guy yells from an ice house , "do you know you are on a runway"!! We got the truck up and out of there quick!! Thank god there was no cell phone cameras and you tube back then.

[Slickcraft]

Nice to see it open. Looks like good conditions.

[upthesaukee]

Paul has plowed out a taxiway on the east side of the runway. Runway itself is a little rough in spots from use of the area when it was soft from rain and warm weather, but not real bad. Also, a few ice holes were drilled, but they seemed to freeze over ok.

It is great to see it open, and hopefully the weather will cooperate through President's Day weekend. Fingers are crossed here.

[joann721]

My Dad is in his 90's and he loves coming up to see the planes. Are there specific weeks that it is open, I know it depends on ice conditions, but now that it is open does it stay open or is it only open at specific times.

We want to drive him up for the day to see it again so we want to make sure we come at the right time..

[upthesaukee]

Right now the ice is just that: ice. It would be very slippery to try to walk on, unless you have grippers that go on over your shoes (boots).

With that being said, the runway is open daylight hours. You can park in the parking lot by Shibley's at the pier and the bandstand, and if you are lucky, get a spot on the water side of the parking lot.

Warm temps that soften the ice, rain, wet snow, etc can all create a problem where they may find the need to close the runway, either for a short term, or for the rest of the season.

Looking at the long range forecast, tomorrow is forecasted to be around 30 for a high, with scattered snow showers. May not be a great day to see planes. Sunday is supposed to be windy, with the forecasted winds from the west southwest at around 20 MPH. This would make for almost a direct crosswind, and again, may not be conducive to good landing conditions at the airport. Long range ends up being pretty nice through next Sunday. Of course, this being New England, it is all subject to change.

[riverat]

Originally Posted by joann721

My Dad is in his 90's and he loves coming up to see the planes. Are there specific weeks that it is open, I know it depends on ice conditions, but now that it is open does it stay open or is it only open at specific times.

We want to drive him up for the day to see it again so we want to make sure we come at the right time..

Feb 16th is the Alton Winter Carnival and there is also a fly-in on the same day and normally lots of planes and helicopters. see this link - http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ad.php?t=16983

[webmaster]

Buckle up:

[Slickcraft]

Umm Rochester, New Hampshire? The pilot was lucky to find the lake.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by webmaster

Buckle up:

That was an exceptionally good landing...thanks for posting.

[riverat]

Originally Posted by webmaster

Buckle up:

Don when was that taken? Hopefully not today I hope, because if so my bobhouses are gone.

[Brad Z]

Originally Posted by Brad Z

I hope to fly up from Virginia and spend the weekend. Landing on a frozen lake is an experience we don't get to enjoy down this way. I've been hearing tales of Alton Bay Ice Runway for years from NE flyers and simply must check it out for myself.

Brad

After a three hour flight, I finally made it up on Saturday. What a great time I had! Everyone was so friendly. I never felt so welcomed to pop in somewhere on a Saturday afternoon. Lunch at Shibley's was very good too.

Here's my obligatory video:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=RMKuUb3lO0k

And a better quality video from a guy who landed literally right after me...


http://youtu.be/_OPuM7Q2M4M

Now I'm really wanting to get a hold of some floats so I can come back up in the summer. Alton Bay is a neat little spot.

Brad N182V

[upthesaukee]

In the shorter video, when you rolled out on downwind, you were just about over my house, just a little south of it.

Nice videos.

[Rusty]

When they finally got parked the pilot said: "Don't worry Dude we're not the usual".

I wonder what he meant by that? Are there some unusual planes that fly into Alton Bay?

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by Rusty

When they finally got parked the pilot said: "Don't worry Dude we're not the usual".

I wonder what he meant by that? Are there some unusual planes that fly into Alton Bay?

IF that Cirrus Aircraft that he's flying is an SR22, it's valued at quite a bit more than the average plane landing at Alton..@ $765,000. NB

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_SR22

PS: Actually I think it might be an SR20 @ only $320,000.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by NoBozo

IF that Cirrus Aircraft that he's flying is an SR22, it's valued at quite a bit more than the average plane landing at Alton..@ $765,000. NB

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_SR22

The plane is more valuable so they aren't the usual cheap plane that lands there. Nice.

Just before they parked their plane this is what the conversation was about between (I assume) the pilot and passenger:

Pilot: “You F**king smoking crack”

Passanger: “There going to push us around”

Pilot: “I get F**king tired of that”

Pilot: “Don't worry Dude we're not the usual”

[upthesaukee]

No injuries, 3 persons on board. no other info at this time.

[Steveo]

IF that Cirrus Aircraft that he's flying is an SR22, it's valued at quite a bit more than the average plane landing at Alton..@ $765,000. NB




This one crashed in Burlington, MA. Had and deployed on board parachute:

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion..._in_burlington

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by Brad Z

Now I'm really wanting to get a hold of some floats so I can come back up in the summer. Alton Bay is a neat little spot.

Brad N182V

Hi Brad: Great Video: I'm guessing that Floats are not an option for the Cirrus.....but I'll bet they would work on say..a Cessna 182..... NB

[Lakeboater]

MUR just had tease for the story coming up on 6 pm news

[Cindido]

Hi Brad -

Excellent video! Nice meeting you and your furry friend (Baxter?) on Saturday. My husband and I have some great photos of you two (if the ones I took on your iPhone are insufficient). If you'd like them PM us with your email and we'll forward them. Glad you enjoyed your visit to Alton Bay !!

[upthesaukee]

It said he was landing. I would guess he was landing on rwy 19, heading toward Gillan's, and from the skid marks at the end of the runway, looks like he skidded off the end of the runway into the snow bank.

A Cirrus' wings cannot be easily removed, so it will be interesting to see how they remove it and transport it.

Glad no one was hurt.

[NoBozo]

Apparently the Cirrus Aircraft Corporation is one of the best selling general aviation aircraft in the world in recent years. Started in America....and now owned by the "Government Of The Peoples Republic of China" NB


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Aircraft

[RailroadJoe]

Isn't that just ducky?

[SunsetPointWentworth]

Not to be a smartass. (OK, it is to be a smartass) But, at the very end of the second video of the planes landing and taking off. It's not "Yee haw Chesters dead". His call sign was Jester.

[NoBozo]

Google WMUR News/Plane Crash for a video report of the Cirrus SR-22 crash at Alton. I tried linking to the report but it was not successful. NB

Try Again: http://www.wmur.com/news/plane-crash...n-bay/24910512

[upthesaukee]

We passed the experimental aircraft being hauled away on a flatbed truck. Then we went by the end of the bay and saw the Cirrus had been removed from the snowbank at the end of the runway. It is now parked in the parking area of the airport. So the runway should be open now, and that's a good thing. In fact, we just heard a plane, sounding like it had just taken off.

Second good thing is the planes have been removed before the bad weather comes in Wednesday into Thursday, and that is a second good thing. Would hate to try to move the airplanes after 6-14 inches or whatever amount we are getting.

[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

We passed the experimental aircraft being hauled away on a flatbed truck. Then we went by the end of the bay and saw the Cirrus had been removed from the snowbank at the end of the runway. It is now parked in the parking area of the airport. So the runway should be open now, and that's a good thing. In fact, we just heard a plane, sounding like it had just taken off.

Second good thing is the planes have been removed before the bad weather comes in Wednesday into Thursday, and that is a second good thing. Would hate to try to move the airplanes after 6-14 inches or whatever amount we are getting.

Are you suggesting that the Cirrus wasn't damaged, and has now flown away..? If true that is Great News. I wonder if the FAA NTSB ever showed up to have a look. I'm going to guess that if there was no damage affecting airworthiness, there would be "No Incident." NB

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by NoBozo

Are you suggesting that the Cirrus wasn't damaged, and has now flown away..? If true that is Great News. I wonder if the FAA NTSB ever showed up to have a look. I'm going to guess that if there was no damage affecting airworthiness, there would be "No Incident." NB

the plane was removed from the snow bank at the approach end of runway 01 and moved over into the parking area. With the other plane also removed, there should be no reason to keep the runway (which was not damaged in either accident) closed.

And then as I was typing, I heard a plane take off. I am pretty sure it is not the Cirrus. I'm sure it will have to be inspected to make sure there is no problem, having skidded sideways into the snow bank. Only saying that the runway appears to be open.

[Slickcraft]

The NOTAM still shows as closed but that may change.


!BGR 03/047 B18 RWY 1/19 CLSD 1403102201-1403152359EST

[riverat]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

Hopefully those who are snowmobiling in Alton Bay will stay to the west side of the bandstand and avoid the runway that runs due north and south from the band stand to a point west of Sandy Point (or to a point 3000 feet out from the bandstand.

Ditto to those with bobhouses...keep them to the left of a north south line going out from the bandstand.

The runway designation is rwy 1/19, which means the runway heading (direction) is 010 degrees heading out, and 190 degrees. Lets all share the lake, and give the planes some space who give our Alton Bay businesses much needed business.

And Riverrat, I qualify for a free fishing license, and my wife bought me a hand auger for Christmas, and a tip up. Gotta go to Amilynne's and let Brian get me my license, and then I will see you on the lake.

Thats Great! Was hoping to get out today but my back still won't allow me the pleasure. and by the looks of the weather I probably cannot make it until sunday or monday. but sounds great.