Big Big News for anyone wanting to join the group fly-out to Orcas Island, Washington! Preliminary date has been set for Sept. 7, 8, 9, a Friday – Sunday. We already have a core group of gals and, now that the date is set, it’s time to spread the word. This is a perfect time of year to fly the San Juan Islands so let’s hear from you if you want to join the gaggle! Leave a comment and I’ll add your email to the group that’s communicating via email. Or…. visit the “new topic” in the FORUM for group discussions. Fly-out attendees will be working out the details for their big adventure!

Meet Victoria Bond who's plans on making the Orcas Island trip in her beautiful Super Cub.
Previous Dec, 29, 2011 info. posted about Orcas Island….
“Judy—
I think I should perhaps hire you to do some additional publicity for our airport; your gathering of photos and other items was quite well done. And I hope it will bring us some of your taildraggers up this way later in the spring or summer—or fall, after most of the tourists have returned to their homes and the island still basks in Indian Summer—September is generally a wonderful month to visit here.
We’d love to have you come and visit—and perhaps stay! That’s how a lot of current residents came to live here: they got off the ferry and suddenly decided they just had to live here . . .
I should mention that during our annual fly-in, which is the first full weekend of August every year, the pilots of the Blackjack Squadron from neighboring Island/Whatcom counties do some formation flying in their Vans RVs—usually 9-12 of they, and we all have stiff necks the next day. Great group!
Anyhow, keep us posted. Our only two major scheduled events are the Cascade Flyers on the last weekend of July and the OAA/EAA/PoO fly-in the first weekend of August. If you’re really interested in books, the library fair is the following weekend, and you’d have to refigure weight and balance if you went home with a bunch of ‘lightly-used books’. And, one of the resident orcas just had another calf, so we’re all out showing baby whale pictures . . .
Take care, and have a great new year!”
Bea vonTobel
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Posted 12/28/11
Here’s a special invitation to all our lady taildragger pilots from Bea vonTobel, Airport Manager at Orcas Island Airport. I pulled a few pictures together to include with Bea’s note and by the time I finished, I was so excited about Orcas Island I wanted to load up my Rans S7 and head northwest. It looks like a beautiful destination and Bea would be just as excited to see us as we would be to get there! It’s 1,910 statute miles for me so I’m not sure it’s going to fit on my dance card this year. But if any of you would like to do a trip together to Orcas Island, leave your comments.

"Goodbye" photo from the Orcas Island Airport Fly-in
From Bea: One of our 99s chapter members sent me a couple of your videos, and it was wonderful to see all those draggers piloted by women. I’m afraid the only draggers I’ve flown have been sailplanes—but they were towed aloft by taildraggers, albeit with male pilots at the stick. But, once in the air, it makes no difference!

Orcas Island, Washington, part of the San Juan Islands chain
At any rate, now that I’m where I am and doing what I’m doing, I feel a great urge to invite you all to come to the Orcas Island Airport off the northwest coast of Washington state, hard by Canada (I see it from my office window, which makes getting indoor work hard to get done).

Orcas Island Airport
We’ve got a great smaller airport here, paved with 2900’ of macadam, commercial service; if you see our upcoming ads in the GANews starting in January, you’ll see that both approaches to our runway put you over water on the narrowest part of the island.

We’d love to have a bunch of ladies in taildraggers come and camp out under their wings (we have a hot shower), with an ocean view guaranteed from your tent. For $6.00/night, it’s a great place to stay, and there are lots of nearby things to do.

Check out our website,www.portoforcas.com and you’ll see what we can offer—aside from great weather most of summer through October, our dry season.

If we can help you plan an event around some of the island happenings, we’d love to do that. Let us know how we can be your hosts on a very friendly island!

Bea vonTobel
Airport Manager
360.376.5285
