I apologize for the lateness of this post – I was tied up with repairing my wing wheel, and replacing leaky air tubing on my glider :-(. Anyway, here is my (personal, biased, and more than likely insane) take of the airports/airstrips in the Mifflin contest area. As always, if an airport/airstrip isn’t mentioned, that means I think I could put my 18m wondership into it without too much problem. Also, this entire analysis is done using Google Earth imagery, which can be a year or more out of date. Therefore, an airstrip that looks perfectly reasonable in GE may have been turned into a potato farm between the imagery date and the present (this actually happened in the Perry flying area when the ‘Catos’ airstrip was converted to a huge potato operation just before the Perry contest started. However, in a twist you wouldn’t even find in a Hitchcock movie, the potato farming operation actually put in a brand new airstrip right next to the old one – go figure!). What you generally can take to the bank is that if an airstrip looks abandoned in the GE imagery, it doesn’t get any better with age ;-)
And, one last caveat. I noticed that the GE imagery for this area is woefully out of date. I saw many images dated 2005, almost a decade old. A decade is a loonnnnnggggg time for an airstrip, so beware!
The Mifflin soaring area is HUGE! It extends from well north and east of Williamsport, all the way down into Maryland, almost all the way to Frederick. Although the contest database, (51 numbered waypoints including 15 airports/airstrips, all of which are usable) is quite stable and has been for years, it appears that the auxiliary airstrip portion of the database could use some TLC. Of the 125 or so waypoints in the non-contest control point section, fully 45 were no longer suitable for one reason or another. As it stands, a pilot would have a 1 out of 3 chance of arriving at an airstrip waypoint in the database and not finding anything! In addition, several of the waypoints are significantly displaced from the actual landing spot (echoes of the old photo days?), one or two my more than a mile. Pilots beware!
Aux Airports/Airstrips
Homan Airstrip: As far as I can tell, there’s nothing that looks even remotely like an airstrip. There *might* have been something about 0.5 mi southwest of the airport symbol, but… Nothing close by either, but at least the fields in this area are generally flat and (at the time of the contest anyway) the crops are low/non-existent.
RoadCap Airstrip: May have been an airstrip here at one time or another, but it looks abandoned now (and even it isn’t abandoned, it’s too narrow for an 18m ship). Better off in one of the many nearby fields, or at Gilfert Airstip 5 miles west.
Buzzards Field: There *might* be a 130 x 1800′ airstrip here, and there might not :-(. It looks mowed in a 2005 image, and it is well-situated with respect to a very large mansion, but I can’t see a hangar or any other structures or markings associated with an airstrip. My guess is — not.
Shulls: There is an airstrip, but it is about 1.5 miles to the east of the airport symbol – beware!
Chestnut Hill: I really can’t tell about this one. There was obviously an airstrip here at one time (the access road is named ‘Piper Cub Drive’), and it may still be serviceable. I’m going to leave this one in my personal database, but….
Gusler Airstrip: OK for 15m, but too narrow for 18m. However, the crops should be low/non-existent at the normal contest time in May, so I’m going to leave this one in.
Sheepshead Airstrip: Long since abandoned. Much better off at Harman about 6 mi WSW
Blue Knob Airstrip: Looks like it has been abandoned, or it is a new airport still under construction in this October 2011 image. Would be nice if it was the latter, as it is just 3.6 mi west of the Dunning Mtn section of the Bald Eagle ridge, northwest of Blair County. I’ll leave this one in for now, pending confirmation.
Alberter Farm Airstrip: Looks abandoned (assuming I even have the right field)
Bierly Airstrip: Looks like this field has been returned to cropland.
Broadt Airstrip: Looks abandoned.
Dee Jay Airstrip: There may have been something about 0.5 mi west of the airport symbol at one time, but it doesn’t look like there is anything there now.
Deitch Airstrip: Nothing there that I can see
Dutch Country: Nothing there that I can see
Ecko Field: Now a housing development
Egolf Airstrip: Way too narrow for even a 15m ship, and pretty short too (about 1300′). Better off at Shulls 1.3 miles SSE.
Flying R Airstrip: Nothing there that I can see.
Gerstell Farms Airstrip: Airport symbol is 1mi NE of the airstrip. Correct strip coordinates are (39.4743, -78.9428)
Hackenburg-Penny Airstrip. Airport symbol is located about 0.6 mi SW of strip. Correct coordinates are (41.1590,-76.8966)
Hamilton Hill Airstrip: Nothing there as far as I can see….
Indian Lake Airstrip: Looks abandoned (X’s on runway) and too narrow for even 15m ships.
Lamberson Airstrip: Nothing there that I can see…
Neiderer Airstrip: Nothing there that I can see….
Sankey Airstrip: Looks abandoned
Schadels Airstrip: Nothing there
Shimerfield Airstrip: Nothing there
Spud View Airstrip: Nothing there
Sutliff Airstrip: Nothing there
Tallman West Airstrip: Airport symbol is about 0.6 mi NNE of the strip. Correct coordinates are (40.3964, -76.9417)
Vicars Airstrip: Looks abandoned, which is too bad as it is located just to the north of Altoona (and NW of the old Altoona Intown airstrip)
Vogelsong Airstrip: Nothing there
Waltz Airstrip: Too narrow for even 15m ships when crops are high.
Berwick Airstrip: Nothing there
Buzzard’s Gap Airstrip: Nothing there
Fauser Landing Site: Nothing therere
Hartman Airstrip: Under heavy (re?)construction as of 9/2013. Should be considered unusable until confirmed otherwise.
Krill Use Airstrip: WAY too narrow for even 15m ships (or even 1-26’s for that matter!)
Lake Airstrip: Nothing there
Raystown Dam LF: This is not a landing strip per se, but it is not only vital to have in one’s database, it is also world-famous due to its inclusion in the Condor Soaring Simulator database for the Miffling flying area. This is a farmer’s field located in a bend in the Raystown Dam reservoir, right on the line from Blair County Airport’s runway 30 to the traditional southwest entry point to the Raystown Dam ridge. It is within easy gliding distance of the ridge at this point, and it is the last (and only) bailout option other than the water when running the Raystown Dam ridge home from the Cumberland area. As noted in KS’s many articles, it is important to go directly from Blair County to the Raystown Dam ridge and determine immediately if it is going to work, before getting out of glide range of this field!
Sauers Haven Airstrip: Nothing there
The Old Commonwealth Airstrip: Nothing there
Thomas Airstrip: Nothing there
Wildcat Airstrip: Nothing there
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