Carroll County has a new grass airstrip under development on Pension Mountain near Berryville and the Kings River, just off Hwy. 221 in the Trigger Gap area that is expected to draw outdoor recreation tourists, according to a pilot who lives nearby.
“The airfield is on The Nature Conservancy (TNC) property, built and managed through a license agreement with the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF),” Harper Goodwin said. “Focus of the airfield will be to attract fly-ins where pilots and their guests will be able to camp and enjoy fishing, canoeing, hiking and such in the Kings River area. This will attract more people to the area who like to fly and enjoy the outdoors.” Last year Goodwin flew to Montana on a fishing trip and camped with friends at three different back country airstrips.
The Trigger Gap airfield will be somewhat different from a typical landing strip in that it is being developed by RAF, a national non-profit organization that focuses on identifying private and public land for development of new landing sites and assisting in funding the building of new airstrips on public land. Goodwin, who is a member, said the RAF has targeted the Ozarks for additional airstrips of this nature with the Trigger Gap Airfield being the first.
It won’t be possible to walk from the airstrip to the Kings River, but visitors can make arrangements with someone like Ernie Kilman at Kings River Outfitter to provide shuttle service to canoe or kayak the river. Or they can fly over to the Carroll County Airport in Berryville, which has loaner cars.
“People who fly in, once they have access to transportation, would certainly like to come into Eureka Springs and Berryville to visit,” Goodwin said. “Hopefully, Eureka Springs and the area can become more and more of an outdoor destination. And this works for TNC because it is trying to focus on low-impact access to their property.”
TNC is a worldwide, non-profit organization that owns about 5,000 acres along the Kings River. Goodwin said TNC’s primary focus in the area is stream bank stabilization, natural channel design, and reducing sediment in the Kings River. The second of three bank stabilization projects is now underway.
“They have been very generous in allowing this type of low-impact use of their land, as well as exploring other types of low-impact usage,” Goodwin said, adding that the same kind of people who enjoy nature, camping and paddling can also be attracted to getting back to a simpler version of flying.
“There are all sorts of airplanes,” he said. “There are corporate jets like Trump flies around in, and small airplanes like I fly around in. Then there are the fabric-covered small airplanes like the Piper Club that goes slow and is kind of loud, not so much for those on the ground. But if you have been flying one of these for an hour or so, your ears know it. It is getting back to the original idea of aviation, more like flying used to be seventy-five years ago. Often times people bring their camping and fishing gear. It gives people with these types of airplanes access to recreation they happen to enjoy.”
Goodwin said landing on a grass strip is safe as long as you are flying an airplane suitable for a slightly rougher surface than asphalt.
“People are very careful about what they do,” he said. “There is always the option to not land if it looks unsafe. You also have pilot reports from others who have landed there. So you have a pretty good idea of what the surface is like before you go in there. Like any other hobby, there is a group of participants who network with each other as to conditions. One advantage of RAF is the networking among members about airfields of this nature.”
Goodwin said that, generally, insurance costs aren’t higher. “There are some insurance policies that restrict where you land, but I looked at my insurance very carefully, and it doesn’t mention anything about grass strips.”
Some airplanes have large balloon tires and fly so slowly that they can take off and land on a football field. “They could land on a gravel bar on the Kings River,” he said. “One of the challenges I have in my airplane, a Cessna 210, is it has small tires. So it isn’t quite easy to land on grass strips as an airplane with large tires.”
Goodwin, who built a home near Trigger Gap in 2008, is excited about the new venture.
“I was at a fly-in at the Carroll County Airport, which they have once a month,” Goodwin said. “A representative of RAF talked about this airport. I got excited because I enjoy the outdoors, have an airplane and am four miles away. I want to do whatever I can to advance this airport concept.”
On Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2 there will be a work party to prepare the airfield for its grand opening. For more information, email harpergoodwin@yahoo.com.