It’s not that I didn’t have permission to land at the private grass strip. It’s that the person who granted me permission to land there wasn’t technically the owner.
While marked private on the chart, an idyllic grass strip proved to be friendly and welcoming in person. [Courtesy: Jason McDowell]
Key Takeaways:
The author flew to a private grass strip, Der Schwarzwald Airport, with informal permission from a friend of the owner, feeling anxious about potentially being an unwelcome intruder.
Despite initial worries, the author was warmly greeted by the airfield owners upon landing, one of whom he had previously met years prior for an aircraft photo shoot.
The visit turned into a pleasant reunion and tour, dispelling the author's fears of needing "bail money" and concluding with an open invitation for future visits.
Bail money isn’t something that I typically include on my before-landing checklist. Of all the variables with which one might have to contend upon landing at a new airport, incarceration generally isn’t one of them.
But on a late-afternoon flight through the Wisconsin countryside last week, it did cross my mind.
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Jason McDowell is a private pilot and Cessna 170 owner based in Madison, Wisconsin. He enjoys researching obscure aviation history and serves as a judge for the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. He can be found on Instagram as @cessnateur.
