Protecting the Backcountry:
The RAF Commemorates 20 Years

Stanley, Idaho. | Photo Courtesy of William Lipscomb

Centerline, aimpoint, power for 65. That was the mantra drilled into my head when training for my private pilot’s license many ages ago. As I was developing those skills necessary for my professional aeronautics degree program, the thing I loved most was fine-tuning the art of landing. I loved it above all the other skills we practiced in the hot and humid Florida troposphere. I learned the sweet spot of a Piper Cherokee during descent, power to idle, flare and just squeaking the mains on as the stall warning begins to stutter.

I accomplished all of my initial, advanced and even professional training on neatly maintained asphalt runways. Still, something always seemed to pull at me – something to this day I have yet to really truly experience for myself – backcountry operations.

“The RAF is dedicated to preserving existing airstrips and creating new public-use recreational airstrips “The RAF is dedicated to preserving existing airstrips and creating new public-use recreational airstrips throughout the United States.”

Quite possibly, many pilots are like me and never get to experience the thrill of operating the way pilots did before huge federal investment and infrastructure were built into our national airspace system (NAS). The NAS created this incredible landscape of manicured strips of pavement in almost every city and town that generates enough commerce to support air traffic. Many of us lock into our trajectory of finishing a degree, looking for that perfect flying or aviation management job, then we settle in for the ride of life and don’t really look around to see what else might be out there. But if we do stop to look around, we’ll find a lot of interesting stuff. Stuff that requires new skills and aircraft that have capabilities beyond what we may be used to.

I knew that lots of airports had grass strips alongside their asphalt runway counterparts. And I knew there were private grass strips out there on personal properties. But I didn’t know until recently that there is a group dedicated to supporting the maintenance and longevity of many of our country’s off-airport landing strips, many of which are remote and not well known except to a special few. It’s a group sort of supporting a final frontier.

Nowadays, we can scour social media or just google “backcountry flying.” The stuff that pops up in those searches is more than likely filled with twenty- and thirty-somethings coordinating drone shots of riverbed touchdowns and spot landings on treacherous terrain, followed by one-wheelers and mountain bikers cruising around whatever area they’re filming at the time. There is indeed lots of fun to be had, but all the Internet imagery that abounds is more focused on sensationalizing, not on building valuable long-term relationships and preserving a part of our aviation environment that has been forgotten to some.

Late last year, it was brought to my attention that there is an association of like-minded pilots and enthusiasts who, unlike our aforementioned thrill-seekers, are more focused on preserving and maintaining backcountry landing sites than, say, getting that sunset drone shot of the latest Carbon Cub demonstrating its 10-foot landing roll (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This association, or rather foundation, has its tenets firmly seated in the preservation and maintenance of landing sites that otherwise would often be forgotten and unusable. The thrills are still there, but the goals are different.

The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) preserves, improves and creates airstrips for recreational access – that’s what it says on the front page of its website. It goes on to say that it was “founded by a group of Montana pilots who realized that the threat of recreational airstrip closure was of national concern. They also recognized that there was the need for a unified effort by pilots everywhere to protect public recreational opportunities. The RAF is dedicated to preserving existing airstrips and creating new public-use recreational airstrips throughout the United States.”

The website highlights places I had never heard of, like Ryan Barn, Montana and Trigger Gap, Arkansas. Ryan Field in Montana near Glacier National Park is an incredible story of people coming together with a common goal of preserving and enhancing a remote landing area that can now be enjoyed for many years to come. Ben and Butchie Ryan bought this virtually inaccessible tract of forested, mountainous land in Montana in 1967. They proceeded to improve the access road and build a house, a sawmill and even a little hangar. But Ben, a World War II veteran and P-38 pilot, didn’t have a plane, and there wasn’t anywhere to land his plane if he did have one. So, he cleared some of the land and made a grass strip to land on. Next, he needed a plane, so he built that too. Chuck Jarecki, founder and former director of the RAF, describes how he was invited to come out to the property and help preserve it. He and Ben built the original pilot shelter there. Chuck says that Ben just wanted to pass along the airstrip to people who are going to enjoy it, and at this point in time, the RAF owns the entirety of Ryan Field and has built a fully enclosed gathering place at the little landing strip. Originally envisioned as a small 23’ x 30’ garage for tractors and equipment, the structure morphed into a much bigger project. The RAF leaders were led to the Amish builders of Townsend, Montana, nearby, who came in to help design and build what has become a much larger gathering place for pilots that will last for generations to come.

John McKenna Jr. is the Chairman of the RAF. John and his family grew up next door to his dad’s best friend, a businessman who happened to be a Beechcraft Bonanza owner and pilot. Aviation became a part of their lives because of the close relationship, and John had the opportunity to fly almost any time he was able. “I became the kid who flew all over the northwest region of the country, and I discovered that this was a pretty cool way to see things and to make large stretches of land much smaller.” By 1974, John had earned his private pilot license and was entering the life insurance business. As the 1980s rolled around, he bought his first airplane, a Cessna 182, and later acquired a Cessna 185. He and his wife still fly the 185 to this day for business and recreation.

John became successful specializing in estate planning by honing his ability to cultivate and grow relationships. He has the gift of providing his clients the opportunity and comfort level to open up and discuss things most people don’t necessarily enjoy discussing – like death. “I’m not the greatest technical expert in things like the latest legislation or rules affecting estate planning, but I know where to go for that kind of information. I have become really good at understanding what people need and how to encourage communication. And I have been able to use my strengths in business to help the RAF.” John treats his clients like family, and it was similar with the newly formed RAF and Ryan’s 20 years ago.

“We want to partner with public and private owners and help advocate to keep their unique airstrips open,” John said. “[The RAF] is in the business of trying to save legitimate fun places for people to go. We have developed and worked in concert with public agencies and private owners.” The Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Department of Natural Resources, and US Forest Service all consider themselves partners of the RAF. State agencies are also partners. “We recently set up an agreement with the Texas Parks Department,” he said.

John concluded our conversation saying that RAF membership is about seeking privilege. A pilot’s license does not give you the right to land whenever or wherever you like. It’s a privilege to be able to build the relationships necessary to land somewhere. “We are to airplanes what Ducks Unlimited is to ducks – we’re here to preserve and protect our backcountry aviation habitats.”
As John and I ended our call, I asked about how we could tie-in the RAF’s mission to owners and operators of cabin-class aircraft – the Twin & Turbine readership. He said, “The RAF membership includes a long list of owners and operators of twin-engine, cabin-class, turbine-powered aircraft. Whether solely for recreation or as a supplemental lift for business, our members also love to fly aircraft with the unique capabilities needed to access the remote and hard-to-reach strips that the RAF supports.”

One of those members is Tim Sheehy. Tim is a young entrepreneur and aviator whose time as a United States Navy SEAL has shaped his business and approach to aviation. His company, Bridger Aerospace, based in Belgrade, Montana, is an aerial firefighting company named after the Bridger Mountain Range, a subrange of the Rockies. Bridger Aerospace was founded in 2014 to support front-line firefighters with aerial fire suppression systems and has grown from operating a single plane to now having the largest super scooper fleet in the U.S. in less than eight years. “Our company is intrinsically linked to what the RAF does. We’re an aviation company that operates a lot out west and in Alaska. There’s a backcountry aspect to everything we do. Our job and our mission is also my passion. I love aviation, and I don’t have to manage a passion that I don’t do every day. It’s literally my job.”

The Montana aviation community is a small one. When discussing how Tim became acquainted with the RAF, he said, “Back in 2014, when I started Bridger, I got to know John [McKenna], and we struck up a friendship. And since my business has an intrinsic tie with backcountry flying, it made sense to learn more about the RAF.” Tim described some of the main reasons for taking part in the RAF: “Airport development goes one way, and that’s often unfortunately down. Once an airport is closed, especially a backcountry grass strip, it most likely will never open again. We want to help take part in the preservation and building of new infrastructure that helps support what we love to do, for both business and recreation.”

The RAF membership includes a long list of owners and operators of twin-engine, cabin-class, turbine-powered aircraft. Whether solely for recreation or as a supplemental lift for business, our members also love to fly aircraft with the unique capabilities needed to access the remote and hard-to-reach strips that the RAF supports.

Bill McGlynn is the president of the RAF. He retired from a career in the computer industry in 2013 after working for Hewlett-Packard for 24 years. He became a pilot in 1995 and currently flies a backcountry 182. We discussed a few of the perceptions surrounding backcountry flying and how those perceptions inform people not fully immersed in it. Bill said, “You see on social media a lot of times aircraft with 31-inch tires and no cowling or skin, which makes for shorter landing distances. And people watching that kind of stuff begin to think that type of equipment is required to access backcountry strips. But that can’t be farther from the truth.” He laughed, proclaiming, “We’re pushing back on that saying no, no, no – a Cessna 172 with 6-inch tires will do just fine on a large percentage of our backcountry airstrips.”

Bill spoke in depth about the opportunities that landowners have who built landing sites on their properties at one time or another. Many of these folks have been former commercial pilots or private pilots who bought a getaway space they could fly to for escape on weekends or holidays. For those who have stopped flying or no longer need the airstrip, there are great tax benefits to donating the landing site to an organization like RAF. “We’re out there telling people that if they want their airstrip to go on thriving beyond their and their children’s lifetimes, RAF can maintain the strip for all to enjoy in perpetuity, keeping it open at no cost to the landowner – even while the owner is still alive.”

If there was anything I could pull together and distill as a common thread from my discussions with John, Tim and Bill, it was that fun and camaraderie are focal points to the overarching goals of preserving and maintaining access to our country’s often overlooked recreational aviation resources. The relationships built within the RAF and with their partners are all strong due to the common thrill of backcountry aviation and the open communication provided by RAF’s leadership.

Certainly, for me, learning about the RAF and knowing there is a well-led organization out there protecting and preserving these great resources was encouraging. But getting to know a few of the RAF’s leaders and members was exciting because it fed my own aviation passion. My mantra on approach might be a little different these days, but the goal is the same – a safe, efficient landing at a place that brings excitement and joy. You can visit www.theraf.org to learn even more about this great organization and its benefits. Maybe you have one of those hard-to-find landing sites that could bring enjoyment to countless enthusiasts for generations to come.