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Campbell
Field Airport
9VG
Located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia
2008 Updates from the airport
and "Soup-on-Sunday"
"Come Roll on the Grass"
"Grassroots Airport for
Grassroots Flying"
"Home
of the $100 Hotdog"
Taildragger Friendly!
Campbell Field Airport &
"Soup-on-Sunday" Updates 2008:
12/30/2008
HSC-2 "Fleet Angels": During the week it is sometimes slow
around
here so it is nice to have a visit from Naval Station Norfolk.
Today a MH60S "Knighthawk" from HSC-2 came in for a few
minutes
of practice (and to blow all the grass clippings off the runway!).
HSC-2 is short for the Helseacombatron Two
"Fleet Angels". They are the guys/gals that support our
Atlantic
Fleet with search and rescue, onboard delivery and executive transport.
The wing has six squadrons based at Naval Station Norfolk.
MH60S Photo, HSC-2 Logo.
"Fleet Angels"
(quality is poor because it is a frame from the webcam feed)
12/14/2008
Soup-on-Sunday:
I did not want it to be the last "SOS" of 2008 but mother
nature
had other things planned for the final two Sundays in 2008.
It
was a perfect day for flying and I guess that is why the arrivals
started off slow, by 12:30 there were only 5-6 aircraft on the field.
But the smell of hot dogs and chili was too much for those
still
in the air and by 1pm the regular crowd of 20+ aircraft were piling in.
We had quite a few aircraft that travelled an hour
plus to
get here. We had aircraft from North Carolina, the D.C.
area,
Philadelphia area and one couple from the upper west side of Manhattan.
Their travel time was by far the longest as they had to take
several modes of public transportation and then a long walk just to get
to their home airport in New Jersey (yes, I am spoiled, with
my
Grumman no more than 40 feet away at all times)! I guess it
is
worth it for a hot dog...where would you get one in New York City?
Enjoy the pictures:
ET enjoying his hot dog in the Pilot's Pub!
I was trying to get a shot of the brand new R44!
These kids did not eat any Christmas cookies (and I have a bridge to
sell you)!
A nice V-tail Bonanza departing.
A Piper Twin out of Norfolk.
11/23/2008
Soup-on-Sunday: It started out as a very chilly day on the
Eastern Shore with temps in the low 20's. So I wrongly
assumed
that the "SOS" crowd would be light. But with temps rising
into
the lower 40's and severe clear conditions aircraft from at least a
five state area started "rolling on the grass" at Campbell Field.
We ended up having, if not a record turnout, a near record
turnout of aircraft at the field with 50+ planes (including two
Robinson R44 Helo's) flying in. I was especially impressed to
see
a large turnout from North Carolina. We had several planes
from
Currituck, Manteo and the Raleigh-Durham area. Quite a few of
them were told of the event here by our good friend and hang gliding
guru, Jonny Thompson. From the north we had
aircraft from
as far away as Baltimore and New Jersey. I apologize for not
taking more photos. I normally am able to get out near the
runway
and take pictures of all the aircraft but today I was stuck in the
hangar most of the time making sure there were enough hot dogs in the
steamer.
Pair of RV-8's
Cessna 172 out of Newport News
1975 Pazmany PL-2
"AirShark" CGS Hawk with
intimidating graphics.
Don't
get caught in front of this aircraft on short final!
Beech P35 Bonanza with Aspen
Avionics EFD1000 Pro
newly installed. Not shown in the photo is a Garmin stack
including the Garmin 430. If my piggy bank is
big enough I would like to put the Aspen system in my Grumman Tiger.
Shiny 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D
11/21/2008
Wallops flight Facility Historical Marker Unveiling: I
attended
the unveiling ceremony today at the NASA visitor center at Wallops
Flight Facility. The Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society
was instrumental in organizing and preparing for the placement of this
marker. Funding for the marker was provided by the Virginia
Department of Aviation. Sposors of the ceremony
were BaySys
Technonlogies, Inc. and NASA Wallops Flight Facility.
10/21/2008:
Main hangar at Campbell Field turns 60 years old today.
The
airport was established in 75 years ago and the original hangars were
on the east side of the field. In 1948 a large wood t-hangar
was
erected on the NW side of the field. The hangar was built for
five aircraft, a t-hangar configuration for four aircraft and
the
additional main hangar.
Inscribed in the concrete floor of
hangar.
9/21/2008 Soup-on-Sunday:
Check out the photos HERE.
9/20/2008 NAS Oceana Air Show:
9/13/2008
WWI Fly-In: Day one of the Great War Aerodrome WWI Fly-In
&
Campout was a lot of fun! I will post a longer write up later
but
enjoy a couple of photos now! See more photos HERE
Great Lakes Biplane owned by Paul Ennis framed by the aerodrome gates.
The Thomas family poses for pictures in front of the gates.
9/4/2008 Trike Flying at Campbell Field: Terri, the owner of
Lynchburg, Virginia based Precision
Windsports, Inc. took a short break from selling the AirBorne Trikes
and headed east with his friend John for a few days of trike flying on
the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Terri brought along a brand
new AirBorne Outback powered by a Rotax
912.
For two days they flew in formation up and down the Eastern
Shore
following the seaside and bayside coastline, exploring all the
creeks and marsh areas. I also took a break from my busy task
of
managing the airport (oozing sarcasm) and flew my Phantom alongside of
Terri so I could get a few shots of the Outback in its true
element. Terri and John had a couple
of spectacular days of flying ahead of the upcoming tropical storm
"Hanna".
As you can tell from the photos below, the Eastern Shore of Virginia
offers some of the best views from the air. There is little
air
traffic, no restricted areas or MOA's, no mountains, no large buildings
or towers, in short, it is a pilot's paradise! Bring your
plane
and your tent and enjoy a couple days of true bliss!
8/17/2008
Soup-on-Sunday: A perfect summer day across the mid-atlantic
brought in a large crowd. Over the course of the afternoon
around
40 aircraft flew in for hot dogs, hamburgers, chili and steamed corn.
Usually one aircraft steals the show. Today we had
two
aircraft that competed for best in show! We all have our
favorite
aircraft but when a stunning 1944 Beech Staggerwing D17S arrived people
quickly abandoned their comfortable seats in the shade for an up close
inspection. The second aircraft that had people choking on
their
corn was a 1943 Boeing Stearman B75N1 300HP. What is it
about
the 1940's that led to so many cool aircraft being produced!
You
can have your Cirrus! I'll take a Staggerwing or a Stearman
any
day.
In reality all aircraft are cool (just some are a little cooler than
others!) and we had plenty on the field all day. I saw a
beautiful pair of yellow piper cubs, a Piper Super Cub, a
bunch
of Cessna 172's, a bunch of Grumman Tigers, at least on Mooney, a Piper
Warrior, a Cessna 206, and others.
We are offering hang gliding tandem intro flights this Sunday so no
"Soup-on-Sunday" but your are welcome to come in and watch or take a
tandem flight. If you can't make it check it out on the new RUNWAY CAM!
7/13/2008
Hang Gliding @ Campbell Field: History was made this past
Sunday
on the Eastern Shore of Virginia as Hang Gliders flew for the first
time over the shore. During the afternoon seven aerotow
flights
were made, each up to 2500 feet over the Eastern Shore. The
gliders released and soared over the shore and landed smoothly back at
Campbell Field. We were lucky to have an experienced
instructor
with us for the day; Jon Thompson from KittyHawk Kites in
North
Carolina. After that the Australian built
"Dragonfly"
aero tug was piloted by the Eastern Shores own Bill McCarter.
I
took three tandem tows with Jon while Brad soloed the Wills Wings 195
and
170 gliders. It was a perfect day and from 2500 feet you
could
see the entire Eastern Shore. Our tandem hang gliding
business
will be launching very soon so look for updates here and the launch of
the hang gliding website.
"Soar the Shore"
First Hang Gliding Flight at Campbell Field
Jon Thompson flying the Dragonfly Aero Tug
Jon giving Bill some tips while Christine looks on.
Discussing the first flight.
Getting ready for my flight.
The activities attracted a few spectators.
Here are a few neighborhood kids checking out the Dragonfly.
They still have a long way to get to the moon!
Brad launching the Wills Wing Falcon 3 off the cart.
Last flight of the day.
7/10/2008 New Patio and Furniture: The teak outdoor furniture
just arrived so we went to work building a small brick patio in front
of the "Pilots Pub". I think it looks great. Fly on
in to
the next "Soup-on-Sunday" and enjoy it.
6/14&15/2008 Virginia Festival of Flight: The 11th
Annual
Virginia Regional Festival of Flight was a big success! I had
a
great time and hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. A big thank
you
to the hundreds of volunteers, the Virginia Department of Aviation, the
City of Suffolk, the Suffolk Executive Airport and SFQ manager Kent
Marshall, the SFQ Airport Commission, the Delegates of the Virginia
Aviation Council, and especially all the pilots that flew in every type
of aircraft imaginable. Enjoy these great photos by Mike Likavec
and visit the Festival of Flight home page.
6/1/2008 Soup-on-Sunday: Mediocre weather meant a small crowd
today. We did have a large crowd from Pennsylvania camp out
the
night before despite the heavy downpours. They were very
brave
and even enjoyed the lighting show. We had a few regulars in
today including a 1979 Cessna 182 with a new paint job and interior, it
looked great!
1979 Cessna 182 (Looks like a 2008!)
Kids!
More Kids!
Cute Picture (and they did fly in)!
6/01/2008 MS Bike Tour: Campbell Field Airport sponsored the
local team that rode in the MS 150 Bike Tour around the Eastern Shore.
Team "Off the Map".
Looking happy before the event
and the inches of rain that will
flood their tent that night.
5/25/08 Soup-on-Sunday: After several weeks of rain outs the
weather finally cleared for a beautiful Soup-on-Sunday. The
30+
aircraft including everything from a Piper Cub to a Cessna 150 and 210
to a Beechcraft twin.
5/4/2008
Soup-on-Sunday & Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society
Presentation: A lousy weather forecast threatened to cancel
this
weeks "SOS" but the last minute change in the forecast brought
beautiful weather to Campbell Field. Over 30 aircraft flew in
and
a large local crowd drove in. I'm guessing that we had 150+
people in attendance.
This week was a special "SOS" as we had the Virginia Aeronautical
Hisorical Society (VAHS) and the Virginia
Department of Aviation joining us. Read the press release.
Four individuals gave presentations. First, Al
Orgain,
Chairman of the VAHS gave a talk about the Society and what it does to
preserve Virginia aviation history and honor Virginia aviators.
One program that the VAHS sponsors is the Historical Marker
Project, commemorating the sites of aviation firsts with roadside
historical markers. One such location to be commemorated soon
is
the Wallops Island Flight Facility (WAL),
here on the Eastern Shore. Van Crosby, President of the VAHS,
was
also in attendance to help with Mr. Orgain's presentation.
Next,
David Hahn, VAHS Historian, gave a presentation on the history of
aviation in Virginia.
Then a local perspective of aviation history was given by Jeffrey
Walker. Mr. Walker is a lifelong resident of the Eastern
Shore
and was an active duty pilot with the Navy, then flew for the Virginia
Marine Resource Commission
and Continental Airlines. He recollected several interesting
stories about the pilots and flights here at the old Kellam Field.
A couple of his interesting remarks included the Shoreflight
Pilots Club, who would have breakfast flights out to Hog Island where
they would land on the beach. Then he mentioned the aerial
goose
hunts and the bags of birds dropped at the end of the runway to evade
the law. These stories, of course, were second hand
knowledge!
For more history of the old Kellam Field see the History
section.
Lastly, Randy Burdette, Director of the Virginia Department of Aviation
gave a short talk on the department, its finances and the trend of
private and public use airports in the commonwealth. One
interesting remark was the high rate of closure of private use airports
in Virginia. In just that last ten years Virginia has lost a
high
percentage of its private use airports. In an attempt to slow
or
stop the rate of closures Randy is organizing an event to unite and
educate owners of private use airports. The Eastern Shore is
an
area with many private use airports and there were at least six owners
in attendance at the event. I will update this site when
Randy
releases more details about the event.
A special thanks to Morgan Harris, Aviation Operations Specialist,
Virginia Department of Aviation, for driving in the departments display
trailer. We usually find Morgan at the big events such as Sun
'n
Fun and the Virginia Regional Festival of Flight so it was a treat to
have him out on the Eastern Shore. I saw many pilots leaving
with
bags of information from the VADOA's trailer.
I hope everyone enjoyed the presentations, the hot dogs and chili.
I must admit that I am beginning to feel more like a hot dog
vendor than an airport owner. We served almost 200 hot dogs
this
Sunday and I served 200 hot dogs at last Saturdays event in Suffolk for
the Virginia
Aviation Council. That's a lot of dogs!
3/30/2008
Soup-on-Sunday: We have not had a "SOS" in a while so I was
hoping that that the conditions would be perfect this Sunday.
Well, they were not! While the field was VFR all
day just
to the south was heavy rain and IFR conditions. Suprisingly
about
10 aircraft ventured in, needless to say all were from the north.
It sort of caught me off gaurd because with the light drizzle
and
windy conditions I was sure that nobody was going to come in.
Fortunately I had everything ready to go and was able to throw on some
hot dogs and chili just in time! I had a great time and I
hope
the 20 or so people that braved the weather will come back on a nicer
day.
4/1/2008 PRESS RELEASE:
(Happy April Fool's Day!)
Campbell
Field Airport Awards Runway Paving Contract
Campbell Field Airport announced today that it had awarded the runway
paving contract to Branscome, Inc. and the engineering and
design
contract to Delta Airport Consultants. These signed contracts
come one month before a May 1st deadline set by the Virginia Department
of Aviation. As of May 1st the Virginia Department of
Aviation
has “outlawed” grass or turf landing
surfaces.
Claiming that “no aircraft was ever meant to land on
grass”
and that grass strips are a “thing of the
past” the
department moved quickly forward with a mandate effectively banning all
grass and turf landing surfaces. Campbell Field owner Gordon
Campbell commends the Department of Aviation for their progressive
stance; “The department has finally realized that
grass
runways are just silly. Finally we can get out of the dark
ages
and be like most other states that have banned grass landing
areas. Personally I am tired of seeing all that green grass
every
time I'm on final approach not to mention all the hours I spend
cleaning grass stains off my wheel pants, and I really miss the sounds
and smell of asphalt.”
The owner is also looking forward to the increased economic development
that a paved runway will generate. “Lets face it,
the guys
flying Piper Cubs and other small aircraft are not bringing any money
into the area. If a Cub and a GV roll up to the hangar at the same time
who do you think is getting the red carpet?” He
will also
contact Signature Flight Support in hopes that they will open an FBO at
the field.
The construction is schedule to begin in 90 days and will necessitate
closing the airport for 15 minutes every hour. Large
corporations
looking to build corporate hangars can contact the owner directly
regarding leasing information.
"Come Roll on the Asphalt"
UPDATE: If you were fooled by this April Fool's Day PR you were not
alone! Quite a few of you took the bait! It was fun
but
remember the slogan for the airport is "Come Roll on the GRASS".
There will never be asphalt here! Thanks to the
VA Department of Aviation for playing along. The department
and their director is the best in the
country! Happy April Fool's Day!
3/5/2008
Appalachia Volunteers of Boston College: Every year
a group
of Boston College students come to the Eastern Shore of Virginia to
volunteer during their spring break as part of the Appalachia Volunteers of Boston College.
This year 100 or so students worked in several communities on
the
Eastern Shore, including 19 that were hosted near Campbell Field
Airport in
Weirwood. For the third year in a row Campbell Field Airport
hosted a
party for all the groups on the Eastern Shore. This year
there was food,
a lot of dancing and then a huge bonfire.
See more Boston College photos here.
Boston College Students
participated in a roadside cleanup of Bayford Road.
A pickup truck filled with
garbage...and some students!
The group tours New Ravenna Mosaics
in Exmore Virginia. New Ravenna is a leading designer
and manufacturer of stone, glass and tile mosaics. Christine
Campbell (far left) hosted the tour.
Boston College students learning
the fine art of mosaic production.
See more Boston College photos here.
2/17/2008 Good old
airports can last forever but good old hangars eventually die!
The oldest hangar at Campbell Field, and most likely the
first, finally succombed to the high winds we had over the past few
days. The airport was established in 1933 and I suspect that
this hangar was built shortly thereafter to house Darryl M. Kellams Avro
Avian, an English made two place bi-plane. This
hangar has been on the verge of collapse since I purchased the airport
in 2003. When I first met the hangar I shoveled almost a foot
of composted leaves and debris off the roof. That work
probably gave a few extra years to the hangar. However, I
then took those years away when I pulled all the vines off the sides
which were probably supporting the structure. The hangar
remained productive and was used as an aircraft hangar right up until
the end. Ray Gefken stored his Fisher ultralight airplane
there for
several years and was continually shoring up the hangar with a few bits
of wood here and there. Fortunately the hangar showed a great
deal of compassion for the aircraft within and while one side of the
hangar buckled in the wind it remained upright just long enough for Ray
to gently remove his aircraft without a single scrap. If only
the goats could have shown some compassion for his aircraft...but thats
another story!
Inside of the hangar during the
airports busy years.
(click on image to open larger size)
Caption reads:
1947-1948 CAP (Civil Air Patrol) Meeting in hangar at airport Weirwood,
VA.
Seated l to r: Parks W. Ward, Harry McCann Sr., Lt. Dan Wilkens, Capt.
Harry W. McCann, Jr. "Capt. Mac", Lt. H. M. Terry "Buzzy"
View of hangar from the air
this past fall.
Hangar barely standing.
Fisher ultralight airplane undamaged.
Hangar after the fall.
11/17&18/2007
74th Anniversary of Campbell Field Fly-In & Campout:
I just posted a series of photos on Flickr, they look great
so check them out! Click here for PHOTOS. About
70 aircraft made the trip to Campbell Field over the weekend.
The
weather was great but cold! However, a few brave souls
pitched
there tents and enjoyed a great movie and bonfire. Thanks for
attending and I hope everyone had a great time!
The winners of the spot landing
contest were:
1st
Place Ralph Brumbley
N6969N Commanche
2nd Place Steve
Thomas
NC85286 7AC Champ
3rd Place Richard
Sears
N812RS RV7
Congratulations!
Home Page for Campbell Field Airport
Airport
Office: (757) 442-7519
Address:
Campbell Field Airport
9114 Bayford Road, PO Box 64
Weirwood, VA 23413-0064
We
are located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the Weirwood Hamlet. We
are near the towns of Exmore, Eastville and Nassawadox Virginia.
We are into grassroots aviation and are taildragger friendly.
Copyright Campbell Field Airport 2008