Website http://co-opa.com	February 2023, Vol. 23, Issue 2

President's Message:

2023 is well begun, and the interesting times just keep coming.
Let’s discuss in the Bend Builders Assist hanger, 63030 Powell Butte
Road, on the south west corner of KBDN, on February 16th (the Third
Thursday) at 6pm. Bring your own dinner, and we’ll eat right away
before food get cold. As always, many thanks go out to Mike Robertson,
and Mike Wissing, for letting us use their space.

Saturday, our Fly-out Day, is forecast Mostly Cloudy, high of 49F,
and winds 5 to 7 mph Should be nice Fly-out weather. Just like last
month’s forecast...

Fly-out:

The weather for our February Fly-out was fine, at least to start.
After several Fly-outs of trying, three airplanes took off for Christmas
Valley Airport (62S). Our initial guess for a restaurant, The Lakeside
Cafe, had recently closed. We instead headed for the new Ranch Hand. It
is just south of our previous favorite diner at Jackrabbit Junction.

Outwardly looking rustic, the inside is nice, well decorated, and
clean. The staff was pleasant and the food good and plentiful. A quick
check of the KBDN showed the forecast was still for 3,000 and 5,000
broken. So we took our time heading back to our planes. On take off,
we noticed a wall of clouds, almost down to the ground near China Hat.
One plane pressed on to KBDN, and with a little scud running, made it.
Another turned around and spent the night at 62S. I tried to cut south
of Paulina to fly over 97 back to Bend. But that was not to be, and I
ended up over-nighting in Chiloquin (2S7) at Melitta’s Motel.

That was some wild weather front. It snookered all that tried to
predict it.

Pilot Butte Airport:

An out-of-town contractor purchased about 35 acres on the south west
edge of the Pilot Butte (8OR5) runway. They are petitioning the city of
Bend to place almost 600 multi family units on this parcel. There will
be one, two, and three story buildings placed next to, and under, the
8OR5 runway protection zone. Since 8OR5 is a private airport it does not
have the protections it would have if it were a public airport. Time to
start sending your complaints to the Bend City Councilors.

New Garbage Dump:

The Knot Landfill is projected to be full in 2029, and Deschutes
County is looking for a replacement. Three of the proposed new
locations are within fives miles of the KRDM or KBDN airports. The
FAA heavily discourages landfills near airports as they attract a lot
of birds. Luckily for us, the case was presented to the Deschutes
County Commissioners on Feb 15, and they decided to remove those three
locations from further consideration.

Calendar:

16 February-- Monthly Meeting
18 February – Monthly Fly-out

16 March – Monthly Meeting
18 March – Monthly Fly-out

20 April – Monthly Meeting
22 April – Monthly Fly-out

Newsletter Inputs:

Current and past CO-OPA newsletters, are on our website at: 
    https://co-opa.com

Please send comments and story ideas to:
     gem@rellim.com