Pleasant Valley, Young AZ (24AZ)
By Mark Spencer
Get ready for Veteran's day weekend, November 10 -12th, as we’ll be back in Young, at the Pleasant Valley, 24AZ airstrip. If you have a big tire plane, we’re working on a special fly over to our newest backcountry airstrip, Buzzard’s Roost that Saturday morning. Buzzard’s Roost is basically an open hilltop suited only for the skilled backcountry pilot with appropriate aircraft. Landing is uphill from either the north or south side of the hill, depending on winds, and density altitude; wildlife, rocks, and other debris are all possible. That being said, you can see from the photo below that it is a beautiful place! This view is from the southeast looking northwest towards Payson. The old windsock pole has been tied to this tree for about 50 years and your APA donated the new windsock to the USFS who installed it for us last year. See the flyer on the next page for more fly-in details!
As always, for the most up to date information on backcountry events, unexpected changes and such, visit the APA Facebook site. You do not need to be a Facebook user to benefit from this site. Also always read and understand our pilot briefs before visiting these airstrips. Lastly, you are responsible as pilot in command, under 91.3(a) for yours and the safety of your occupants.
APA’s last organized event for the spring went off without a hitch on the weekend of May 19th through 21st. The only challenge was keeping up with parking of the 30 aircraft! According to Kit ad Brad, our hosts for this weekend, there were a total 64 attendees throughout the weekend. Everyone pitched in with food dishes for the pot luck, and the weather could not have been better. There were many new faces this weekend and we expect several new members for the APA team. A good number of attendees made the hike down to the lake’s shore with only one rattlesnake sighting. We’ve heard that Kit and Brad’s supplied meals were to die for!
We’ll be putting off our organized events at Grapevine until it cools down again in September or October, so watch our calendar for the next date!
Again, Grapevine is now open full time to any non commercial non training flights, but expect fire restrictions to be in place until the monsoon is in full swing, and there will be no port-a-john until our next group event in the fall. If you do visit during the summer, please contact us to let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know how you enjoyed it.
Please also think about hosting an event in the fall as we are already looking for volunteers!