With less than a week out, I figured I would make another post regarding the small gathering planned for next weekend.
The airport identifier is 23M - Clarke County, in Quitman MS. I will be getting there around 9-10am cleaning up the plane and my hangar and getting everything ready for you fine gentlemen. You are all welcome to come at whatever time you please, but let’s plan on kicking everything off around 11am. Food and drinks will be provided; hope you all like chicken fajitas and burgers! Mogas and AVGas are available at 23M. Jet-A is not available, but is available at KMEI just 15 NM North. If you can haul a folding lawn chair in your KR, please bring it. I only have about 3-4 of them to use. Be aware that there is another small airport just 15 NW with the identifier of M23, which is Newton (James Easom field). This is not the correct airport: 23M is. I guess somebody ran out of numbers and letters when naming these two airports. There are plenty of MOAs surrounding the Meridian area, however the only one that I am aware of being open (and therefore used) on Saturday is the Pinehill and Camden Ridge MOAs. If flying through it, exercise extreme caution as there is no shortage of T-45Cs and other military training aircraft with student pilots (like myself) who have the situational awareness about the size of a pea. Flight following is recommended, and the Memphis/Atlanta/Houston ARTCC are generally happy to provide it. Meridian Approach control on 120.5 (269.325 UHF) is closed on Saturday, so you will probably get handed off to Memphis Center on 125.975 or Atlanta Center (can’t remember the frequency off the top of my head) when within 30-40 NM of Meridian. If coming in from the North, make sure to avoid the R4404 Restricted area. While unlikely, it is possible that the bombing range will be open and Military aircraft are conducting practice bombing operations. However, KNJW and KNMM (both Navy fields) are closed Saturday, so feel free to give them a low flyover if you want, as you might see some T-45Cs on the ground. Dalewood Lake (just SE of KNMM) is also a nice sight from 2000-3000 AGL. If coming in from the south, the airspace is pretty calm, however check the ATIS at KMEI (15 NM north of 23M) on 126.475 before arriving. If the ILS RWY 1 is in use, 23M is essentially at the IAF, and I would at least monitor 125.975 (Memphis ARTCC) to see if they clear anybody for that approach. The KMEI HI-TACAN VOR/DME B IAF is also around Quitman, but more importantly the Final Approach Course is essentially slightly North East of 23M, with an initial altitude of 3000’ then a step down of 1600’, then finally the MDA of 1080’ MSL. Again, typically student pilots (more focused on the instruments rather than looking outside for other traffic) are flying this approach, so please keep your eyes open if In this area. I promise it’s not that much of a fire breathing dragon coming into the Meridian area, but the VFR sectional I feel is a little misleading: it “can” be a fairly busy area. Other (useless) knowledge: “Shad” “Carp” “Bobcat” “Talon” “Navy” “Tiger” “Tuna” “Brim” and “Gator” are all T-45C callsigns, so if you hear one on the radio, you’ll know it’s a student pilot in one of the Goshawks. With all that in mind, if you plan on showing up, would you please shoot me a quick email (or reply to this thread), as I’m trying to get a quick head count on how many are showing up. In the event poor forecasted weather, I’ll post back here and come up with a new date or plan (check back Thursday for an update). Done Ranting! If you got this far, thank you for reading this and I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday the 11th! V/R Sam Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
