The Breakfast Club

An Affiliate of the Arizona Pilots Assn

 

The Knife & Fork

 

 

Breakfast Club Short-Hops to Wickenburg, Willows Cafe

 

 


By Warren McIlvoy
22 February 2002

 

Well, the Breakfast Club finally made it to Wickenburg.  It took two weeks to do it, but we eventually got there-talk about a slow bunch of aircraft.  Well, not really slow, it is just that bad weather played a major roll in our schedule.  You see, we were originally slated to arrive on the 8th of February but desperately needed rains put a damper on the morning's festivities and this resulted in a two week postponement.  When the reschedule date arrived, the weather could not have been more beautiful.  Though there was not a cloud to be had from horizon to horizon, there was an ample supply of residual moisture that bestowed an opaque appearance to the distant skyline.

We departed Scottsdale to the northwest for the half hour flight to Wickenburg at an altitude of 6500'.  We did evade a number of hot air balloons ascending just north of Deer Valley Airport, that were enjoying the cool morning air.  The air was smooth as silk but there was a 10-15 knot head-wind that slowed our ground speed a bit, but since it was such a short flight, it had little consequence.  I choose to shun the Luke Alert Area and parallel it to the east and then at a point about 18 miles due east of E25, we went direct to a point where we could cross over the runway for a right down-wind for runway 23.  The head winds that we had experienced at altitude, were not evident on the ground.  I believe that we were the last to arrive even though we nailed our arrival time of 0830 and the transportation supplied by Vip Airport Express and Bob Wolff, had already departed with the first wave of Breakfast Club attendees. 

The second wave arrived at the Willows Restaurant at about 0915.  The Willows is part of the Americinn, a quasi New England style establishment on the far east side of Wickenburg.  The Willows Restaurant maintains the Inn type atmosphere with wooden tables, spindly chairs, and wooden blinds on all of the windows.  Though not aviation orientated, it was still a very pleasant place for our groups needs.  The food as very good with the portions ample enough to satisfy our needs and the prices were on line with most any other eatery of this caliber.  Near the end of our breakfast, I addressed the group to bring them up to speed regarding our plans for the September weekend trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  Arv Schultz, editor and publisher of "American's Flyways" also informed everyone about APA's (Arizona Pilots Association) efforts to form "chapters" around the state and that the Breakfast Club could qualify as an independent chapter.  The move would not alter in any way what the Breakfast Club does or how we conduct our activities but would give us, as well as all General Aviation in the state, more clout when APA has to deal with the State regulatory agencies.  

Earlier in the morning, I had arranged with Bob to return to the Willows at about 1030 for the return trip to the airport.  When I arrived at the airport, I had the folks at the FBO, Flying M Air, LLC,  top-off the fuel tanks as the price for fuel was essentially the same as that at Scottsdale and it would further support the small airport FBO's.  Our trip back to the valley was all to short because the weather was exceptional but there were chores to do at home this afternoon so it was a straight course back to Scottsdale.


The Wickenburg Group

  • Warren & Jeri-Ann McIlvoy in 4544X, BC-1
  • Al & Adele Feldner in 6127Q, BC-33
  • Michael & Suzanne Harris in 5921Y
  • Roger Pries and Vance Taylor in 13806
  • Larry Berger, Yader Aram, and Fred LaPorte in 8086K, BC-66
  • Allan & Patricia Wallace in 9002V, BC-39
  • Nancy Rogers and Vic Hannig in 34086, BC-177
  • Arv Schultz and Steve Bass in 739GJ, BC-51

 

What's Next?

In March, the Breakfast Club will be drawing a bead on historic Tombstone, Arizona " the town to tough to die".  We will be dinning at the Top of the Hill Restaurant that is right across the street from "Boot Hill".  The April Breakfast Club event will see us traveling west to Apple Valley, the home of legendary cowboy, Roy Rogers.  That's all for now but remember, fly safe.



Click on the Wickenburg link to view photos of this fly-in event.