EAA Chapter 430Life and Little Airports: Members Share Their Airstrip Stories
As one gets to know better the members of our local EAA chapter it’s not hard to become aware of overlaps and intertwining of lives and places, meshed with the fabric of the surrounding area and the magic that thrives at little airstrips.
Flying machines have a way of intersecting some of the nicest things in life. They are perhaps bit like unicorns, extraordinarily wondrous and rare, and yet, an aircraft can be accessible. Pursuit of flight is worthwhile. It’s an open door. Where we fly and who we encounter can’t help but be influenced by the airports themselves.
Every airport is a gem, a treasure. Each has it’s own character and situation. How we weave them together is what makes them all so special.
Let’s visit upon a few of the places where several our members have some interesting history and a good number of our members have experienced meaningful contact. Many of us probably have familiarity with airports like Sequim Valley, Port Angeles-Fairchild and Port Townsend. But, what about Diamond Point, Blue Ribbon, Rakes Glen, Big Andy, Olympic Field, Orcas Island, Crest Air Park and Friday Harbor? Beyond those are dozens of other gems scattered about: Concrete, Darrington, Forks, Sekiu, Roche Harbor, Whidbey Airpark and Blakely Island, to name just a few, all wonderfully unique. There are many more such places, pretty much within a stone’s throw of where most of us are sitting right now. No matter how you get there, you can take in some of the magic.
This month’s newsletter will share a few thoughts and stories about people, planes, airports and life, in our neck of the woods. If we touch on connections between Alaska and Sequim, we’ll find EAA 430 members who’ve lived here and there and have known one another for many years. Flying, and the places flown to, is what stitches the tales together. Whether we’re a pilot or not, as EAA Chapter members, we’re all part of it in some way.
Let aviation inspire you!
A Tale by Dave Woodcock
The Seafire Amphibian, designed by David Thurston of Lake Amphibian fame, was initially set to be a certificated four place aircraft. Times were tough for general aviation back in the mid 1980s, and the design never achieved this goal. The tractor configuration was based on his success with the Teal Amphibian. Thurston sold a number of sets of plans to home builders but to my knowledge only 5 or 6 were ever completed. Bob Hammer and I built two these over an 18 year period and won Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Seaplane at Oshkosh in 1998. My aircraft had a Continental IO-520 with 300 hp and was IFR equipped. I had also flown it twice to California and three trips above the Arctic Circle in Alaska and the Yukon.
In 1993 Margie and I along with Bob and Lynn Hammer purchased a runway home on Blakely Island in the San Juans. Margie and I have had an aircraft as part of our family for our entire married life of 55 years. We had always dreamed of living on a private airport. The vacation home on Blakely was perfect for flying an amphib into. It spurred us along to complete the projects and, in the meantime, we flew there in our flying club C-182.
We spent many great seasons there. However, it was not a great place to live full time due to its isolation. Everything had to be brought in by boat or aircraft. We used to fly the whole family in, including two dogs and a cat. Seeing retirement down the road, this led to the discovery of property available on Blue Ribbon Farms in 2005. The amphib was right at home here as well. I have moved on to other aircraft but the enjoyment of living in a residential airpark community can’t be beat.
A Tale by Tim Alentiev
Too much to say…Many interesting people and airplanes.
I will tell one story:
One of the most interesting characters on the field at Crest Air Park was Jim Perry. I am an A&P and asked to use his Cable tool to replace a fraying rudder cable on my Luscombe. This was a $3,000 tool 35 years ago. He did not know me from Adam and let me borrow it!
He operated Turboprop Couriers and also a Mustang here. I was impressed that he always did full stall, rather than more typical wheel landings. I have a lot of tailwheel time. Talking to old Mustang pilots, they told me that either was easy, but, I never saw any done at shows. He always did great approaches and I complimented him. Then I asked why he did them when nobody else did. Answer?
Brake Pads were very expensive and he did them to save money!
[Editor: Tim’s home at Crest Air Park just happens to be where another chapter member John Meyers once lived, in the early 1970s. John also lived at Rakes Glen for some years, before downsizing a couple of years ago.]
A Tale by David Miller: Airplanes and Romance
I was recently asked if airplanes can foster romance? What a silly question, because flying exists in a mythical realm (man defying gravity) and all mythical realms include romance.
But don’t just take my word for it, I can provide specifics. In 1994 I placed an ad in the Seattle Weekly Newspaper (for you younger readers online dates didn’t exist at this time). Interestingly enough it was my ex-wife that encouraged me to place the ad because she had remarried and found happiness and thought I should do the same. In that ad I mentioned that my outside interests included flying.
Joan never saw the ad first hand, but her friend Amy did, and “flying” caught her attention because Joan had just earned a private pilot certificate. So, Amy forwarded the ad (by snail mail, remember this is 1994) to Joan and she responded with a written reply to my mailbox at the Seattle Weekly. Joan thought she was pretty hot stuff being a woman with a pilot certificate and would be irresistible to a man interested in “flying”. So obviously flying, which usually involves “airplanes”, was the romantic spark.
Joan’s reply was dutifully forwarded to me by the Seattle Weekly and what I read piqued my interest (it was mostly true but that’s a separate story) so I replied. After some land line phone calls, we decided to meet, at her place.
At the time she lived in Friday Harbor and I lived in Renton which presents a travel challenge. By land it’s a long drive to Anacortes, followed by a long ride on a ferry boat, to reach Friday Harbor. The alternative for a me, a pilot with an airplane, even one as humble as a Cherokee 140, was a flight of about an hour with great scenery and no traffic.
Long story short the Cherokee 140, based at Crest Air Park, made many trips to Friday Harbor over the next several months, the romance blossomed, and we’ve been together ever since. So, the obvious answer to the question is YES, airplanes can foster romance.
Dave Miller, smitten pilot
The Story goes On and On…
In future additions of this newsletter, we’ll hopefully capture more tales of chapter members that we know and are getting to know. In the mean time, at a chapter gathering, go ahead and talk up Mark Long or Doug Medema, Tom Roorda or Ray and Lisa Ballantyne, John Meyers, Barry and Tracy Halsted, Ernie and Jeanne Hansen, Bill and Dot Shepard, Keith and Adine Kretschmer, Dave and Karen Gardner, just about anyone and everyone you see. Let them to tell you how their flying and airport stories tie in with others in the chapter. It’s really quite amazing. By being part of EAA Chapter 430 we almost can’t help but be looped in.
Editor’s note: Keith Kretschmer passed away on April 30, 2026, after this newsletter was published. We remember him fondly.
[Editor: I discovered an amazing link from a good friend and 430 chapter member who is pretty much best friends with someone I once knew and worked with, way back in the mid 1980s. A casual discussion about Santa Paula Airport (KSZP) and then my mention of this fellow I once knew who lived there and built an RV-4, ended up revealing the tie between the three of us, and led to us all getting together several times since then.]
From the April 2026 newsletter
Written by EAA 430 Flyer staff, with tales by Dave Woodcock, Tim Alentiev, and David Miller.
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