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W10 NOTAM and October Update

10/19/2018

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​NOTAM first - 
We will be working on the grass on the West side mid-field in front of the trail to the roasters over the weekend.  We will be monitoring CTAF for aircraft traffic, but it best that everyone is aware of the additional activity near the runway.  After grass is planted, that 100' of the grass will be off limits to traffic while the grass takes hold.

On a related note...If anyone wants to come out Saturday (20 October 2018) to help push some dirt around, come on down. We will be there from ~9:00 - 4:00.  Bring a shovel, rake, wheelbarrow, handheld airband radio, or roto-tiller if you have them =).  If you have a tractor and PTO driven tiller let us know.

In other news, the FAA has re-launched their ADS-B rebate program.  If you are note yet ADS-B equipped, read the press release at the bottom.

The next Saturday Social will be Saturday November 3, 2018 at 10:00 am at the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters.  Come hang out and talk airplanes.
 
We hope everyone has been enjoying the blue skies recently, and is taking every opportunity to squeeze in some flying before the clouds return.
 
Short and sweet this month.
 
Blue Skies,
-Sky & Tara
phone: (360) 321-0510
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W10 September Update

9/30/2018

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We are excited to have a little weather station up at W10 now.  You can check out the live data at www.WhidbeyAirpark.com under the "weather" menu (it is a Flash Widget, so may not appear on iDevices), or on Weather Underground at https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KWALANGL28.  The weather station is currently on a 20' pole strapped to the red shipping container at the NW corner of the field.  This is not an "FAA Approved" weather station, and it is shielded a bit by trees, but can give you an idea of surface conditions.  Now that we have it working, we will be planning for a better location for it in the future.

Speaking of weather...If the weather holds up we are hoping to do another fly-out for our Saturday Social, this Saturday (October 6th) to Friday Harbor.  (Last month's fly-out to Orcas was great fun!)  As usual we will meet at the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters at 10am.  If weather does not cooperate, we will hang out and talk airplanes at the Roasters.  You do not need to have an airplane to participate.  We are only limited by how many seats are available.  We will discuss the particulars of flying to Friday Harbor and then head down to the field and hop in the planes.  Please RSVP to [email protected] or call 360-321-0510 if you would like to participate.  If you are a pilot please let us know if you have any seats you are willing to share if you are comfortable with having passengers.  Disclaimer:  Each individual is responsible for their own participation, safety, and of course, insurance.

WSDOT Aviation will be launching their "Fly Washington Passport Program" in February of 2019.  WSDOT will be handing out pilot "passports" through various venues, and participating airports will provide a "passport stamp" in a mailbox on the field to encourage exploration of the states many wonderful airports.  Prizes will be available.  We did some polling through Facebook and Twitter, on the following designs, and can now officially announce "B" as the winner.  (If you haven't already, please like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/W10Airport/)
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Thanks to everyone who participated and gave their input. It was a fun process, and we look forward to kicking off "Fly Washington" next year, and will provide more information when we have it.
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W10 August Update

8/24/2018

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​Greetings friends of W10!
 
We hope your summer has been going well and that you have been having many new adventures (while staying safe from the smoke).  Looking forward to bluer skies, for sure, and a few more flying adventures before fall sets in.
 
Mark your calendars.  The first Saturday of the month (September 1st) is coming up and a Fly-out to Orcas Island is on the agenda.  
As a quick reminder:  You don't have to have an airplane to participate.  We can do a ride match to extend the fun (to the extent that seats are available).  Plan on meeting at 10am at the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters on September 1.  We'll wait a few minutes for stragglers but try not to be late.  We will briefly discuss the particulars of flying to Orcas Island including directions, safety, weather, etc.  We will then head down to field and hop in to the airplanes and fly out.  In order to help with the orchestration and ride matching, an RSVP to this email or call to 360-321-0510 for both pilots and passengers is greatly appreciated.  Pilots, please state the number of seats available to share if you are comfortable in doing so.
Disclaimer:  Each individual is responsible for their own participation, safety, and of course, insurance.

Since we last checked in the Roaming Radish had their music festival and it was fantastic.  We look forward to next years event and we will see if we can get even more people to fly in for the festivities.

Come fly without any risk!!!! Our office currently has an X-Plane 11 Consumer Flight Simulator set-up in the back room.  You can't log the flight time but it has a full instrument panel and radio stack, and it's available if anyone wants to come in and brush up on their skills or just play around.  Just let us know if you are interested.
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​This month, we have something of a 'Classifieds' section, as there have been a few requests for us to mention the following - 
 
Available for purchase:
Glen has found a new home for his Cessna 172.  The one-of-kind, built by Glen himself,  "nose cozy" is now available for purchase.  It's not quite a hangar but it helps protect the expensive parts from the elements.  Please let us know if you are interested and we will share Glen's contact information with you:)  The photo below shows it with the front door open.  Glen is hoping to get the cost of materials out of it at $800.  He says it would be easy to relocate to anywhere else on the field if someone is looking for an 'enhanced tie-down' while they wait for a hangar on the field.
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Paul Tschetter, who owns the gray buildings just north of the runway has the A-frame coming available for rent.  If you wish to live out your dream of looking out the window to see airplanes taking off and landing (like we do), now is your chance. You can find the details on Zillow here. ​
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Get out and enjoy the rest of the summer before it's over, and we will see you around the field!

​Blue Skies,
-Sky & Tara
 phone: 360-321-0510
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Amelia In the News

8/6/2018

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Amelia Earhart has been in the news a lot lately, including our Amelia at W10:
South Whidbey Record
Everett Herald

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W10 July Update

8/1/2018

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We hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far, and finding lots of opportunities/excuses to go flying.
If you have been out to the field lately, you may have noticed a new addition near the fire pit.  Artist Alexei Kazantsev has graciously loaned us a concrete sculpture titled "Amelia Earhart", pictured below.  This piece was originally commissioned for display in Everett, but now calls Whidbey Island home.  As aviators, we understand the debt of gratitude owed to the pioneers of flight, and Amelia Earhart is certainly one of these great pioneers.  We are happy to provide this small tribute, and are grateful to Alexei for this piece.
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This Saturday at 10am will be the monthly First Saturday Social at "The Muk".  Feel free to drop on in.  We know some of you have been to Oshkosh, and look forward to hearing your stories.
Blue Skies,
-Sky & Tara Rudolph
 W10
 (360) 321-0510
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W10 June Upate (a few days late)

7/6/2018

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We hope that everyone enjoyed their 4th of July, and made it through with all their fingers.
We have learned over the years in the NW to expect some rain on the 4th, and then consider the unofficial start of summer on the 5th of July.  So, welcome to summer!  We look forward to many days of clear blue skies and great flying.
We will be at the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters again tomorrow, July 6 at 10am, for our First Saturday Social, and hope to see you there.
We had a special guest last month with Rowen Stephens stopping in to announce his new venture.  Rowen is 15, and is doing his flight training here at the airport.  To help pay for flight time he will be offering aircraft cleaning and detailing services at $15/hr.  Rowen is on the east coast for 2 more weeks, but will be looking to book work after his return.  Rowen said that he is willing to do polishing of unpainted aircraft, and wash/detail cars as well.  If you would like to get and keep your aircraft shiny for the summer, drop Rowen a text or voicemail (if he doesn't answer you will be treated to a great voicemail greeting!) at 360-632-3396, or an email to [email protected].  His service brochure can be viewed at the following link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1caaF_OnyYOJgfCPufIeXVW2QPR0yzfTzP662BGQoKE8 
Speaking of flight training, we congratulate Fred Lundahl on the major milestone of soloing two student pilots on the same day this June.  Very cool!  The little red C-150 "Scarlett" has been flying a lot after coming back from annual, and is providing many new students of all ages the opportunity to pursue their pilot's certificate.  Thanks for your dedication Fred!
See you around,
-Sky & Tara
[email protected]
360-321-0510
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W10 May News & Memorial Day Fly-out

5/21/2018

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Welcome to 'flying season' (aka 'mowing season' for airport owners)!
We have seen lots of airplanes coming and going as the weather continues to improve, and it is great to see folks out enjoying themselves. 
Short and sweet this month:
To start, we would like to announce a planned fly-out on Memorial Day to Harvey Field (S43).  It is a brief walk from parking at Harvey to the Buzz Inn for coffee and breakfast.  We would like to get an earlier start this time, to keep the rest of the day free for your other holiday and Memorial Day observance plans, so let's meet at the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters parking lot at 9am.  Note that the roaster will be closed that day, so byoc if you need some caffeine to tide you over until we hit Harvey.
Again, we will try to ride-match for people that want to join but don't have a plane.  If you plan to join us, an RSVP for both pilots and passengers is greatly appreciated (e-mail to [email protected] is best).  Pilots, please state number of seats available to share (only if you are comfortable doing so).
As a reminder, the next Saturday social will be June 2 at 10am at the Muk.
All for now.  We hope to see you all soon.
Blue Skies!
-Sky & Tara
[email protected]
360-321-051
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W10 Saturday Social (And Fly-Out?), May 5

4/22/2018

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Come fly with us!  As part of next month's W10 Saturday get together (May 5th), let’s try a fly-out! 
We hope to make this a monthly event through the summer, weather (and about a dozen other factors) permitting. We will pick a destination to fly into, have another cup of coffee, lunch, malt or whatever.  There is usually food involved, but not a requirement, just an opportunity for a W10 group to fly somewhere off the Island for a bit of fun.  If things don’t work out on any given day to go flying, we will hang at The Muk for a bit, do a little ‘hangar flying’, chat, have coffee.

Some possible destinations could be Bremerton for carrot cake, Jefferson County for malts or pie, Friday harbor for ice cream or lunch, Orcas for the Brown Bear Bakery (plus many other options), Darrington for some “simulated mountain flying” or whatever. 
 
Dave Bennet has volunteered to organize things this month (thanks Dave!), and has picked Friday Harbor is a good destination this time as the farmer's market is up and running.  It is a short walk into town, about 10 to 15 minutes from the airport.  The market is a happening place with great food off the grill. 
 
You don’t have to have an airplane to participate.  We can do a ride match to extend the fun (to the extent that seats are available).  So, we will plan to meet at 10:00 AM at Mukilteo Coffee, wait a few minutes for stragglers (but please don't straggle), then briefly discuss the particulars of Friday Harbor airport and getting there, safety, the days weather, safety, etc.  We should be leaving The Muk, and walking to the aircraft ~10:30 AM.   
 
In order to help with the orchestration, and ride matching, an RSVP for both pilots and passengers is greatly appreciated.  Pilots, please state number of seats available to share (only if you are comfortable doing so).  Please contact Dave Bennett at <hidden>. 
 
Disclaimer: W10 is suggesting this activity, and Dave is helping to coordinate, but this is not a 'sanctioned' event.  Each person is responsible for their individual participation.
 
Some highlights from the April Saturday Social (as recalled from Sky several weeks after the fact – to be taken as rumors and gossip only) include:
  • One of our neighbors here on the field is about 90% complete with his Sonex, that he is building at home.  We look forward to seeing that on the field soon.
  • Aaron, one if the airport regulars, often seen building time in Scarlette, has been absent for a while.  We learned that he has left the state to pursue his commercial pilot career.  We will miss him and his enthusiasm, but wish him well.  Please come back and visit!
  • Scarlette (the red Cessna 150) was also absent for a while, but is back from an annual and an engine rebuild (did they call it an annual because it took nearly a year to complete?), and has been working double time with Fred, getting people airborne.  In order to support this activity, Fred has decided to convert start a Flying Club with the aircraft.  This will provide more people with access.  I know that there have been a few people on the field (ourselves included) that have been interested in starting a flying club, so we will all be watching how it’s done.
 
And some other random items of note:
  • You may have noticed a car driving up and down the runway this afternoon.  This was a DOT contractor performing their periodic runway condition evaluation.  The final report will be out later in the summer, but the initial comment is that the runway is doing well, although the cracks that were patched last year continue expanding. We will continue to fill them periodically, but there were no other significant items noted.  The final report will provide a recommended maintenance schedule, and some long term maintenance projections, that will help our planning and maintenance budgeting.
  • The Crawford Road Association has been working hard to get on top of some significant road maintenance items.  Expect to see significant portions of the paved road between 525 and Lake Leo re-paved in the coming weeks.  There will also be grading of the dirt section north of Venturi, as well as some ditch/culvert work to hopefully fix some of the underlying water issues that are at the heart of the problem with that stretch of road.  There should also be a commitment coming for some regular upkeep to prevent things from deteriorating as they had in the past.  Many thanks to the Crawford Road Association for their hard work on this issue.
  • Gary put a great new ‘Welcome Pilots’ sign up at the top of the trail from the field to the roaster.  If you don’t usually take that route, I suggest wandering out of your way to check it out.
  • Jerry coaxed the Whidbey Island Conservation District to come out and help us evaluate the grass.  We learned a lot, and will be doing soil samples to help tailor our turf maintenance regime.  Appropriate grass seed has been selected that does what airports need grass to do (including tasting bad to deer), and we should be ‘shovel ready’ soon to rehab the sections below the roaster, and in the NE corner.  Please watch for signage or areas that are cordoned off as we do this work.
 
  Blue skies!
  -Sky & Tara
   [email protected]
   360-321-0510
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W10 News, March 2018

3/22/2018

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A couple quick notes.
First, we expect to see a Blackhawk helicopter from JBLM on the field for a short exercise around 11am this morning.  It is recommended that any light aircraft outside at this time be tied down.

Secondly, we would like to carry on the long aviation tradition of the pancake breakfast at some point, but until we have a little more room to host this ourselves, we will rely on the convenience of the Mukilteo Coffee Roasters and suggest a first Saturday of each month gathering at 'The Muk' at 10am.  This will be incredibly informal with no agenda, just a designated time and place for local aviators to gather, get to know each other, and do a little hangar flying.  I do hope that this can become a launching point for some organized activities in the future, but for now just plan to come, have coffee or breakfast, and hang out.  We look forward to seeing you on April 7 to kick this off.

All for now.

Blue skies!
-Sky & Tara
 [email protected]
 360-321-0510
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W10 News, January 2018

1/23/2018

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Well, we promised not to spam you with too many e-mails, and have held true to that even more than we would like.
Sorry for the long silence.

I will start with unfortunate early departures, as the airport lost two important women this winter.

Nancy Porter, who is responsible for the creation of the airport along with her husband Bob, has passed away after a long battle with cancer.  The influence that Bob and Nancy had can not be overstated, and we hope to honor their memory and legacy by carrying the airport forward in a way that would please them.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Porter family.

We also lost our sister Niki quite suddenly in December to complications with an aggressive lymphoma.  Niki is the one who found the property listing for this little airport, and forwarded it along to us as a joke.  That joke is now our life. Her kindness, sense of adventure, and encouragement will be dearly missed.

As much as new years are opportunities for reflection and remembrance of the past, they are also of course new beginnings.  And so, as the weather warms, and days get longer, we begin thinking more about the coming flying season, and the priorities and goals for the year.

Last year, we put our limited resources into the runway.  And while there is always more moss to be cleaned, the important items of cracks, holes, and loose rocks have been patched, filled, and sealed, so the runway should be in a stable condition for the foreseeable future.  This year then, we are taking the next step outward from the runway, and will be trying hard to get the grass in shape.  (You can make your own jokes about crack, grass, and weed.)  The highest priority is the barren and bumpy section at the NE corner, then getting the camp sight prepared, followed by general grass health and weed mitigation.  We have two new weapons in this fight.  One is a new mower, which we hope will reduce mowing times so that mowing can be done more often.  The other is some much needed help from Jerry Lloyd, who has volunteered to help us formulate and execute a grass plan.  As you come and go, be aware of the added grounds crew and watch for areas that will be roped off for rehab.  If you are interested in helping Jerry and us with mowing or other grounds-keeping duties, please let us know!

We continue push slowly forward on other projects as well, and hope to have more news soon, and will also attempt to host an event or two in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Until then, blue skies!
-Sky & Tara
 [email protected]
 360-321-0510
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