Desert185's airport comments

There's nothing there, so it's a great place to make an unlikely pit stop between Penticton and Prince George when the weather is down at Williams Lake and you've had too much coffee for breakfast.

Expensive fuel, but great hamburgers at the restaurant. The restaurant has a phone and contact number for FSS on the field while you wait for your hamburger to be cooked.

Stay at the airplane for customs. You can get out, but don't leave the immediate vicinity of your airplane. They can get cranky about that.

Land's End at the end of the spit has great food.

Stay at the Riu Funana all inclusive resort. All meals and booze are included in the room price. It's a beautiful place and only one of two places I would stay at Sal. The rest of the island is barren and primitive...like Mars.

Manley Hot Springs is at the end of the road and quite a trek from Fairbanks if driving, but only 38 minutes from Fairbanks by C-185. The Manley Roadhouse has great food and an interesting local clientele. Eat at the bar for maximum entertainment. Camping is available either at the airport (next to the Roadhouse) or at the Roadhouse.

The nearby hot spring is just a short walk away and only $5.00/hour per person for private use (no one else will use the facility when you do). The Roadhouse will have the info on the hot spring, which is at a private residence. If you fly north, Manley is a must see.

Reasonably priced airpark being developed here with fishing in nearby Silver Salmon Creek to the southeast. The airport is only a 30 minute drive to Homer.

Watch out for the deer when landing early in the morning, especially on runway 05.

Less expensive than McCall, but unreliable. Call first to verify that fuel is available.

Breakfast is back and good. Friendly folks with cabins available.

Cheap fuel. Dirt runway can be rough. Avoid overflying the homes if possible (very noise sensitive), but watch the wind for sinkers when landing south.

Try Ketch Joanne near the fishing boats past downtown from the airport. It's where the locals eat.

Dease Lake is a good fuel stop along the Cassiar Hwy with cheaper fuel than Whitehorse, Watson Lake or Smithers. Jim and Sharon of Pacific Western Helicopters run the only fuel concession at the northeast end of the field. They can help you get a room nearby, too.

deaselakebase@pwh.ca

250-771-5911

ASOS 128.7

MCC Jet Services is great and friendly to small aircraft and has crew cars. The hotel on the airport is the Lion's Gate Hotel, which was the BOQ when MCC was an AFB. Their restaurant has very good food.

The only restaurant on the field (Hangar Cafe) near the fuel pump has great food. The fuel prices is often cheaper than the nearest airports.

Be aware of non-standard traffic patterns due to terrain and the frequent Part 135 operators who cut corners on the pattern and often do a dogleg straight-in to runway 16 from over the beach. Aircraft frequently takeoff and/or land downwind. Transient parking is anywhere there are no red cones at the tiedown ropes.

It's private, but if you have a need to land, land south (uphill) and takeoff north (downhill). Don't overfly the neighbor's homes...make a long final over the dirt road (Desert Creek Road).