Flying to a secluded spot in the Bahamian Out Islands is always a fun way to spend a vacation. But it's even more fun when the stay's on the house. That was the case for the five lucky AOPA members who won an essay contest conducted by AOPA and sponsored by Hal Shevers, chairman and CEO of Sporty's Pilot Shop and part owner of the Pittstown Point Landings resort. Another week's stay was also purchased by a member in the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's online Silent Auction.
The essay competition asked that contestants submit stories about the most memorable places they've flown to. Winners were chosen just prior to this year's AOPA Expo and were offered a week's free room and board at the Pittstown Point Landings resort on Crooked Island — a remote, unspoiled stretch of sand and pine trees in the Crooked and Acklins island group.
The emphasis is on remote. Located almost 400 nautical miles from the Florida coast, a trip to Crooked Island is no hop-skip-and-jump affair. It's a long cross-country over vast stetches of ocean. That posed no problem for our intrepid winners, however. They gladly made the trek from Expo's Orlando, Florida, site to Bahamian airports of entry at Georgetown in the Exuma chain, or Stella Maris on Long Island, then 60-odd miles farther to Pittstown Point.
Pittstown Point is billed as a pilot's resort, and it's easy to see why. The resort's private airport is spitting distance from the dining room and bar, and even closer to a "judging stand" where vacationers can watch and assess the day's takeoffs and landings. At 2,070 feet long (with what's called a 400-foot "cleared overrun" on the east end) landings can pose a challenge for pilots of larger airplanes with faster landing speeds. Even so, photos on a bulletin board in Ozzie's Lounge attest to safe arrivals by the likes of Aerostars and King Airs, to name but a few of the heavier iron that have planted — indeed, that must plant — their wheels right on the numbers.
The same holds true for pilots of smaller airplanes. Don't come to Pittstown Point unless your short-field technique is up to par.
Winner Raymond Randolph and his wife, Billie Sue, flew in to Pittstown in their turbocharged Beech Bonanza. Randolph, a financial analyst in the oil business, wrote his essay about a trip to Alaska's Kennecott-McCarthy Airport, where eco-tourism and a turn-of-the-century mining town merge atmospheres. "What's the use of having an airplane if you can't use it to fly to outrageous places?" Randolph opined. The Randolphs are veteran visitors to the Bahamas, having been to Abaco and Long Island in the past. For this trip, they found a babysitter willing to handle their four children back home in Lago Vista, Texas, while they spent some quality time of their own at Pittstown Point.
Texas is a long way from Crooked Island, but the prize for greatest distance traveled went to John Archer and Sylvia Schneider, who hail from Grenoble, France. John, who works at a nuclear research institute, is an avid aerobatic pilot who flies CAP 10s when home. Sylvia, who works at a nearby particle accelerator, seems to like flying, but likes arriving even better. The Archer/Schneider team arrived via Cessna Conquest I with AOPA President Phil Boyer and his wife, Lois, landing at nearby Colonel Hill Airport, where there's a 3,500-foot-long runway.
When John and Sylvia come to the United States for vacations, they invariably rent airplanes and do some exploring. One trip took them on a tour of New England. Another was a voyage from Los Angeles to Arizona's Marble Canyon Airport, and it was this trip that inspired John to write down his impressions and send them in for a shot at the Bahamian prize. "Actually," John said, "I wrote down all the technical details…."
"And I changed it all to make it more readable," Sylvia added. First-time visitors to the Bahamas, they pronounced the resort as "fantastic, until the sun goes down," a reference to the mosquitos that seem to come alive precisely at sunset.
Bugs didn't bother winner Mike Eltz of Mary Esther, Florida. "This place is awesome. You couldn't ask for better," said Eltz, who came in his Cessna 172 and who plans to enter U.S. Air Force pilot training in May at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training School in Wichita Falls, Texas. Eltz's essay was about the Cedar Key, Florida, airport. Eltz brought along his brother Matt, a budding golf professional who soon hopes to join the tour.
Winner Brian Corliss and his wife, Janet, of Derry, New Hampshire, came to Pittstown Point in their Cessna Cardinal RG, N77177. Corliss, a government consultant, wrote about the special attractions of flying to New Hampshire's Lake Winnepesaukee. "Instead of writing about one place, I decided to talk about the whole lake," he said. A past president of the Aviation Association of New Hampshire, Corliss declared his Bahamas trip "one great adventure." Janet pronounced the Cardinal's GPS as her favorite instrument. "I just like to watch the ETE wind down," she said over dinner one night.
Ken and Lori Kellner, of Neenah, Wisconsin, also were prizewinners, and they made the trek to Pittstown Point in their Piper Arrow, N200NT. Ken's a sales representative for UPS; Lori is a medical technician. The Kellners wrote about their trip to the Killarney Mountain Lodge Airport in Ontario, Canada.
Al and Sandi Kepler, who bought their stay at Pittstown Point with a bid in the Air Safety Foundation's silent auction, made the trip all the way from their home in Tujunga, California. Al's a retired fire captain, and he and Sandi like to fly in their Cessna 182RG to all sorts of destinations. Las Vegas is a popular destination for the Keplers, but so are Acapulco and Mazatlan. As for the bid on the stay at Pittstown Point, Al said it was "an impulse shopping trip."
In addition to AOPA President Boyer et uxor, Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg and his wife, Jan, flew in to Pittstown Point in AOPA's A36 Bonanza, to thank the Keplers for their participation in the auction. Later in the week, Shevers arrived in his Cessna Citation S/II. No, not at Pittstown Point. Like Boyer, Shevers needed the longer runway at Colonel Hill. And then there was your author, sent to Pittstown to cover the goings-on. Hey, somebody had to do it.
Within a few hours of arrival, time began to lose its grip and meaning. The day after landing, some in the group found themselves asking what time it was. As if it mattered. The following day, there were doubts about the day of the week. The week slid by this way, consumed with snorkeling in the crystal-clear waters just outside the 12 oceanfront hotel rooms, the easy camaraderie so typical of pilot gatherings everywhere, and animated conversation over dinner and drinks. Many of us gravitated to the "judging stand," where we simply vegetated in anticipation of the next takeoff, landing, or low pass.
According to Pittstown Point Landings' manager, Cindy Lee Bates, we fell into the typical pilot pattern. "Most pilots just sit under the judging stand and flake out. Or they flake out on the hammock. We don't see them all day, and at the end of the day they haven't done anything," Bates said. (Anticipating the inevitable wisecrack, Bates introduces herself upon your arrival with the qualification that, no, this isn't the Bates Motel.)
Bates says that about 2,000 pilots a year come to Pittstown Point Landings; 95 percent are repeat customers. Another 250 guests a year come for the excellent tarpon, tuna, and dolphin fishing.
By all measures, the Favorite Fly-Out essay contest was a hit. Will we do it again? I don't know, but the winners would certainly endorse the idea, and so would your hard-working author. Maybe it's not too early to start putting the arm on Hal and Phil to keep the ball rolling. I'll back you up every step of the way.
For more information or to make reservations, call Pittstown Point Landings at 800/PLACE-2-B (752-2322).
E-mail the author at [email protected].
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