October 8th, 2022, Cheat River
3rd Dec 2022
October 8th, 2022 Cheat River fly-in
I had planned to organize a fly-out to Cheat River in West Virginia for quite some time. This year was finally the time where I could make it, but unfortunately none of our Chapter members were able to join. However, I did meet some of our non-Chapter fly-out friends. I would have liked to leave already on Friday the 7th, but the weather permitted to fly over the mountains of West Virginia, so I had to wait till Saturday. Even Saturday morning was still a little sketchy with low clouds, but by mid-morning it cleared up enough to take a run for it. Cheat River is not on any map. I got the coordinates from an invitation for the fly-in and I believe they are also on the RAF website. So, I programmed my GPS and took off from Winchester. Staying below the clouds in VFR conditions was no problem with just an occasional very light rain shower. Soon I was close to the field and started my approach. To fly into the main runway, it is necessary to decent into a valley and follow the river until the field is inside. Then it is a quick 20 to 25 degree left dogleg to touch down on the very smooth grass runway. There were already quite a few airplanes and more coming in since the weather was improving. The owner of the airfield does a fantastic job organizing the fly-in. He pays everything out of his own pocket to have the field ready, provide lunch for anyone who flies or drives in (!!!!) and even gives T-shirts to the pilots. And the lunch was extensive with Burgers, hot dogs, smoked venison, scalloped potatoes, beans, pies, fruit and even homemade ice-cream! My initial plan was to stay overnight camping, but the locals talked about the temperatures dropping below freezing at night. So, I chickened out and left late afternoon to fly home. A really great event and I hope some of our Chapter members will join next year.
Fly safe, Tailwind and enjoy the ride,
Juergen
Here is a link to my YouTube Video: Cheat River
Airplane on short final
Airplane parking area
People just having fun
Homemadeice cream
River taxi for people who drove in