The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the
The Knife & Fork
14 Feb 2004
by Warren McIlvoy
If you were to mention the place "Temple Bar"
to the unknowing or uninitiated, they might believe that it is a Buddhist disco
bar where everyone dances in circles and hums tunes. On the other hand, to the
avid aviator, it is a unique place that mixes the fun of flying with various
water sports. Temple Bar is about 50 miles east of
The morning's route out of
Since I had expected a sizable turn-out for the day's event, I had sent-out a
Notam requesting that we all cross over the departure end of runway 18 to
spread-out the pattern if need be since there is no real taxiway at this
airstrip. The 3500' runway has a very pronounced uphill slope to the south that
affords rather short landings even if you do not hit the numbers. For those who
land in the first 500' or so, they are rewarded with a mid-field turnoff to the
paved ramp parking without having to back taxi on the runway.
Since we were in the first third of our group to arrive by the appointed 0900
arrival time, it provided my an opportunity to get some photos of the Breakfast Club gang
as we assembled on the ramp. It also gave us a chance to rate the landings of
the late arrivals. One of the highest ratings was an 8.5 but unfortunately, it
was on the Richter Scale. This aviator later explained
that as a former Navy aviator, that was the way that you were supposed to
arrive. Not so sure that this explanation will fly.
The Temple Bar Restaurant and Resort (928-767-3211) monitors the unicom
frequency and about the time that the last of our group had arrived, the van
was approaching us for the first wave of folks to go to the restaurant. Since
we had about 21 folks in attendance, it would take three trips to get all of us
to the Resort. The dominant theme of the Temple Bar Resort is...........if you
haven't guessed, is water sports and activities. The
rental office offers, boat rentals, all sorts of water ski equipment, cottage
rentals, and spaces for motor homes. The Resort restaurant is the last building
before you encounter the long downhill ramp to the waters edge. The view out
the windows of the restaurant is spectacular as they afford a panoramic vista
the lake and the mountain terrain on the other side of the bay. The breakfast
menu offers the usual items and the prices are not unreasonable considering
that the nearest anything is 40 miles away. The restaurant also serves the roll
of a mini 7-11 as there is a place to purchase snacks and other essential
supplies for the leisure time crowd. The decor in not fancy and is about what
you would expect for an establishment that caters to the transient nature of a
recreational area (not to mention aviators).
After breakfast, most of us decided to make the long hike down the boat ramp to
the waters edge. Since the water level is quite low, the ramp appears to be
much longer than it would be if the water were at a more normal level. As this
was not the height of the boating season, almost all of the boats were in a
storage condition and there were no vehicles in the parking lot with boat trailers.
As a matter of fact, the large parking area that was along the boat ramp, was completely devoid of any vehicles at all. I took
some more photos before embarking on the loooooooong
hike back up the boat ramp.
The rental office is where you ask for the van to take us back to the airport.
Some folks opted to take a hike back but with all the twist and turns of the
road, I would guess that it would be the better part of two miles back to the
airport and, worse yet, all uphill. With a bad ankle, that was definitely not
for me. After getting secured in the Bold Warrior, we taxied-out to the runway
for the back-taxi for departure on runway 36. At the approach end of the
runway, there is a tear-drop addition to the runway so as to allow as many as 4
or 5 aircraft to make the back-taxi. When I reached the end of the teardrop, I
looked back and saw Allen Wallace (BC-39) and Paul Fortune (BC-201)
waiting to make the back-taxi. I got on the radio and told them that I was not
yet ready to go and to go ahead and taxi up here. Allen taxied in behind me and
Paul was ready for take-off so he did a 180 on the runway put the
"petal-to-the-metal". When Paul was well clear of the runway, it was
our turn. With the predominately down-hill slope of the runway, acceleration was
very rapid and lift-off still left 2/3's of the pavement unused. When we were
well out over the lake, I made our turn south towards Kingman.
Kingman! You say. Why Kingman? Well, it seems that the FBO at
The
What's Next?
On the 13th of March,
the Breakfast Club will be making an encore visit the Borrego Springs
and the La Casa del Zorro Resort. I have reserved the Rose Garden for our get
together. For those whom have never visited this Resort, you are really in for
a treat. In April, the Breakfast Club will be making its first visit to
For the last four years or so, there has been a few
people in our membership, that have volunteered their service to act as the
"Crack(ed) Event Committee"
for the Breakfast Club. Paul Fortune, Richard Azimov, and Allen Wallace
have been the driving force behind our annual schedule of events. Paul has
taken on the additional task of researching locations for our twice a year,
overnight events to some really interesting locations. Their work has made my
job of guiding the Breakfast Club much easier and, in as much as their efforts have been
behind the scenes, I am forthwith, doubling their pay. I know from personal
experience that they would be the first to say that this increase in pay is not
needed, but being the "big Cahuna" as
well as BC-1, I insist that they take it (preferably, lying down). The
next time that you see them at one of our events, you might thank them for
their efforts. That's all for now but remember, fly safe.
Click on the Temple Bar link to view photos of this fly-in event.