Breakfast Club

An Affiliate of the Arizona Pilots Assn

 

 


The Knife & Fork

 

 

 


Breakfast Club Drops-in on Lake Havasu/Makai Café

 

 

 

10 Oct 12

By Warren McIlvoy

 

 

What started-out as just a Breakfast Club fly-in event to Lake Havasu and the Makai Café has now turned into an annual event.  Last year, the weather, location, and dinning facility were such a great event, a number of folks felt that we should make this an annual thing so, that is just what the Breakfast Club Event Committee has done.

 

From Deer Valley, it is a northwesterly course over mostly wide valleys with numerous washes and occasional ridge lines with one exception, that being Alamo Lake State Park.  You could easily make this trip at about 4500’ but I choose 6500’ mostly for the view.  The only high pile of rocks is just to the east of Lake Havasu and that is Crossman Peak at 5100’.  But by the time that you reach that point, you are letting-down anyway for landing at HII. 

 

I did contact Luke Approach for the transition in the northern portion of their Alert Area and upon reaching Wickenburg, I switched-over to our “group flight following” frequency.  As usual, I was about in the middle of the pack with some folks already at Alamo Lake.  By the time that we reached Lake Havasu, there was a lull in the traffic which I took advantage of with a mid-field crossover for left traffic for runway 14.  After turning to the ramp from the taxi-way, the folks from Desert Skies were marshaling the traffic to the parking spaces. 

 

I had made prior arrangements with Desert Skies Aviation to reserve their two 8-passenger vans for our trip into town so when all had arrived, it was just a case of filling-out the paperwork and getting the keys.  The drive into town is about 6-miles or so with a couple of turns at the end to get us to the “Island Mall” where the Makai Café is located.  After exiting the vans, the group descended the stairs to the lower level of the mall that faces the channel that flows beneath the adjacent, World famous, London Bridge. 

 

I can think of few cities that are so defined by a single landmark.  The London Bridge is often mistaken as the “only” bridge that London had.  Quite the contrary, our London Bridge was one of a slew of bridges that spanned the Thames River.  Our London Bridge was slated for demolition as it was too small to handle the heavier flow of traffic generated by the ever growing City of London.  In steps a man by the name of Robert McCulloch best known for his chain saws and Jet Ski engines.  His company assisted in the dismantling of the bridge and systematically numbered each and every stone and shipped them to the Arizona desert and the town that his company helped to develop, Lake Havasu, Arizona.  The London Bridge is only second to the Grand Canyon in the number of tourist visits.

 

To facilitate the construction of the bridge, it was built over dry land and, when finished, a channel was dug from Lake Havasu that was formed by the construction of Parker Dam.  What was once a promontory jutting into Lake Havasu, it now became an island.  The original Lake Havasu Airport was on that island.  I would guess that with this famous attraction, the land on the island became too valuable to support such a frivolous endeavor as an airport.  From the air, you can still make-out the remnants of the old airport. 

 

I had reserved the patio seating that gave a gorgeous view of the river channel, boat docks, and of course, the London Bridge.  The “fixed in place” seating of the patio tables do not allow for group seating but the shear scenic beauty of this setting more than made-up for this slight inconvenience.  After my breakfast of steak and eggs, I walked around the area to get photos of this event.

 

After the photo op session, it back to the vans for the return trip to the Lake Havasu Airport.  The folks at Desert Skies Aviation have always been very accommodating to our needs and deserve some the credit in making this event possible.  Their graciousness and warm hospitality is one factor in make this event so popular.

 

The Lake Havasu Gang

 

  • Warren & Jeri-Ann McIlvoy in 93MB, BC-1 & 1.5
  • Richard Azimov and Paul Fortune in 6864Q, BC-2 & 201
  • Roger Whittier, Barry Allen, and Iris West in 706CD, BC-122
  • Larry & Sandy Jensen in 14LJ, BC-65
  • John and Nick Rynearson in 3501S, BC-117
  • Trent Heidtke, BC-112
  • Jim Carter in 9586R
  • Greg Coomans, Richard Kupiec, and Michael & Janet Piche in 669M, BC-48 & 47

 

What’s Next?

 

The November Breakfast Club event will see us traveling south to Tucson, Ryan and Todd’s Restaurant and in December, we will be going northwest to a fan favorite, Seligman and Lilo’s West Side Café.  That all for now but remember, fly safe.

To view photos of the Lake Havasu event, just click on the link below.

 

Havasu Photos