The
Breakfast Club
Affilate of the Arizona Pilot's Assn.
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits Prescott, Arizona
9 June 2007
by Warren McIlvoy
In keeping with the Breakfast
Club tradition of scheduling shorter flying
times in consideration of summer time flying conditions, the Breakfast Club Event
Committee chose Prescott,
Arizona for our June
fly-in destination. Prescott is a
mere 60-70 miles flight, depending on where you live in the Phoenix area, and promises a shorter
duration for the bumpy flight home.
The Prescott
airport is one of the old favorites amongst the pilot community as it is known
for its quintessential airport café. Susie's Skyway
Café is located in the terminal building located at the north end of
the transient parking ramp. After entering the café from the small lobby
of the terminal building, you immediately recognize that you are now in
"aviation land". The dinning area is divided into two seating areas.
There are a few booths opposite the business counter and then after making a
right turn, you enter a larger seating area with three rows of free-standing
tables, one along the outer wall, one along the room divider, and the center
row that is more accommodating to larger groups. The ceiling is dotted by
countless airplane models suspended by fine strings and the walls have an ample
supply of aviation photos.
The café is sort of an anomaly in the restaurant industry by being a
"cash only" operation, no credit cards or checks. I can't say that I
have come across another restaurant that operates in this manor. The only down
side to the Prescott
scene as I see it, is that the terminal building is old and cramped. The
building appears to be of 1950's vintage and was
probably adequate for a number of years. But today's volume of traffic has
swamped the facility. The airport is a training hub of Embry Riddle
Aeronautical University as well as a stop for the commuter airline
business. The restaurant could surely use more space as well as the commuter
airline and security facilities. The TSA office and the City fueling offices
are located in adjoining modular units attached at the south end of the
building. It would appear that the City of Prescott needs to step-up and replace these
antiquated facilities.
Even with all its "warts and rough spots", Prescott still attracts pilots from all over
who are searching for the ever popular "$100 hamburger".
In this instance, the Breakfast Club is no different. About 25 of our
folks squeezed into the larger dinning area to share tall tales and lies
with other hungry aviators. The Breakfast
Club was joined by several folks from the Phoenix
Pilot Group
( http://aviation.meetup.com/76/).
The Phoenix Pilot Group is one of several "meet-up" groups
organized by Julia Ryan. Julia lives full-time in Connecticut
but commutes regularly to Phoenix as
she has family in Phoenix and Scottsdale area. On this fly-in, Julia
rode along with Ken Calman (BC-6) to partake in the festivities.
I will insert a few lines regarding Prescott's
rich history for those who are familiar with this area:
Prescott, pronounced locally as "press-kit" instead of
"press-caught," is a city in Yavapai
County, Arizona, USA. According to 2005 Census
Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 40,360. The city is the county
seat of Yavapai County,
and in 1863 this then remote and lightly populated town was designated as the
original capital of the Arizona
Territory in order to
keep the seat of government far from Confederate sympathizers prevalent in the
southern part of the state. The Territorial Capital was moved to Tucson in 1867. Prescott again became the Territorial Capital in 1877,
until the capital was changed to Phoenix
in 1889.
The towns of Prescott Valley (7 miles east) and Chino
Valley (16 miles north), and Prescott, together make
up the area known locally as the "Tri-City". The Yavapai-Prescott
Indian Tribe reservation is located next to, and partially within, the borders
of Prescott.
These four government entities sometimes work together on projects of mutual
interest; At other times, however, they come into
conflict. An example is the ongoing fight over Prescott
buying the water rights of Chino Valley's rich Verde River
watershed. The area is growing rapidly, and lately (2005) one begins to hear
the term "Quad-City" for the area. The villages of Dewey and Humboldt
voted to incorporate as a town, known as Dewey-Humboldt. This area is getting a
lot of moderate and upper-level housing developments, because it is close to Prescott and has land
area. The weather conditions are favorable owing to the altitude of 5354 ft,
being significantly cooler than the lower southern areas of the state and yet
without the harsh winters found at higher altitudes.
Prescott began
as a mining town with the discovery of gold on nearby Lynx Creek in 1863.
During the nineteenth century, Prescott
experienced far fewer anti-Mexican and anti-Chinese sentiments than other
communities. In fact, when the mining district enacted its laws in 1863, the officers
specifically mentioned that "Senorians" and
"Asiatics" meaning Mexicans and Chinese, were free to mine and work in the region. In 1863 Arizona became a territory and Prescott was the Territorial Capital between
then and 1867, and again from 1877 until 1889. The Sharlot Hall
Museum houses much of Prescott's territorial history, and the Smoki and Phippen museums also
maintain local collections. Whiskey Row in Downtown boasts many historic
buildings, including the Palace, Arizona's
oldest restaurant and bar (establishment) bar, and many other buildings that
have been converted to boutiques, art galleries, bookstores, and restaurants.
The City is named after author William H. Prescott, whose writings were popular
during the Civil War.
After major fires in the early part of the century, downtown Prescott was rebuilt with brick. The central
courthouse plaza, a lawn under huge old elm trees, is a good gathering and
meeting place. Cultural events and performances take place on many nights in
the summer on the plaza. Prescott
features the famous old Western Whiskey Row and many Victorian homes. It has
been remarked to be the most Midwestern-appearing city in the Southwest, and it
has 525 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
After breakfast, it was back out
to the ramp for the bumpy ride home but that is summer-time flying in Arizona. The best thing
about it is that it was only a short ride back to the heat of the Valley.
The Prescott Gang
- Warren & Jeri-Ann McIlvoy in 93MB, BC-1 &
1.5
- Jerry & Diane Kapp in 5658K
- Rob Mooers and John Hall in 428DW, BC-27
- Al & Adele Feldner and Karl Kauv
in 33RX
- Paul Fortune in 31870, BC-201
- Walter & Kathy Schultz in 9305W
- Trent Heidtke, Tim & Ramona Yoder in 703CD,
BC-112
- Glen & Judy Yoder in 31TC, BC-7
- Larry Jensen in 14LJ, BC-65
- Dave & Donna Khingensmith in 2236E
- Chuck Garvey in 5354K
- Lance Thomas in 3180R, BC-80
- Ken Calman and Julia Ryan in 686US, BC-6
- Tony Decastro and Barry ?,
in 9276T
What's Next?
The July Breakfast Club event
will be to an old favorite haunt of Sedona,
Arizona. It has been more
than a year since our last visit and we are looking forward to this event. In
August, we will be going to another old favorite of Payson, Arizona.
I hope to see you all at the next two fly-ins to these very attractive
locations. That's all for now, but remember, fly safe.
Click on the Prescott
link to view photos of this fly-in event.