Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the Arizona Pilots' Assn.


The Knife & Fork

Breakfast Club Tours Bagdad/Copper Mine



13 Mar 2010
by Warren McIlvoy

The March Breakfast Club fly-in event was to one our old favorites, Seligman, Arizona. This event was weathered-out last year so the event committee felt that Seligman deserved consideration on this year's itinerary. The weather was good although a tad chilly but very suitable for flying. The direct route from Deer Valley would take you directly over the highest parts of the Bradshaw Mountains and the city of Prescott, Arizona. Rather than climbing to more than 9,000', I chose to bend the route to the west of the Bradshaws and maintain 6,500'.

After leveling-off at 6,500', I used KARLO intersection for my turning point for the direct route to Seligman. For the most part, the air was quite smooth although there was some light jiggling when I was just to the west of mountains. We had the opportunity to view the tranquil mountain settlements of Wilhoit and Iron Springs. From there though, there is little evidence of civilization. One interesting curiosity was that every little wash and streambed had water in it which provided evidence that our wet winter snows were full of "gold".

Once past the high terrain around Prescott, I was able to talk to other Breakfast Club folks in route. Most all of them were to the east of the Bradshaws and Prescott which is a more direct route from the east valley airports. As we were now over what is more plateau like geography, the air took on a slightly rougher characteristic that is indicative of higher upper level winds. Just to the southeast of Seligman is very noticeable rock formation with the name of Picacho Butte. I was not aware of another geographic location in Arizona with the name of "Picacho".

Since the upper level winds were out of the southwest, I had planned on using runway 22 at Seligman. But after landing and parking the aircraft, it was apparent that the winds on the ground were calm. The temperature was likely in the mid to upper forty's so the jackets that we had brought with us were most valuable. Since we were the first to arrive, I had my choice of parking spaces. There was only one other aircraft on the ramp and that was a helicopter.

After the last of the Breakfast Club aircraft had arrived and tied down, we started our hike to Lilo's Westside Café. I had given Lilo's a heads-up about our fly-in so when we arrived at the café, they had arranged three rows of tables for our use. As our group was not as large as it normally is, two sets of tables were enough for our group. As usual, the food was good and the amount was more than enough to satisfy the most starving of aviators.

After breakfast, Mert Bean, James Abraham, and myself, took about a 3/4 mile hike south of the restaurant towards the center of town. We stopped at a store that seemed to specialize in souvenirs and memorabilia from the 50's and 60's. Outside the store were manikins of women dressed in clothing from the 30's and 40's. We took some photos of us smoozing with the "gals".

During the walk back to the restaurant, we noticed that the winds had picked-up considerably but were, for the most part, down the runway. Mert and Jim opted to continue their hike on to the airport but my wife and I decided to partake of the limo service provided by Lilo's. The enthusiastic headwinds down runway 22 provided for a very short take-off and the ensuing "elevator one" departure. Since the ride home was sure to be a little bumpy, I elected to fly direct to DVT via the "eastern" path around the Prescott area at 9,500'. Back at Deer Valley, the winds were now out of the west but were much more pleasant. Though we did not have our normal large turn-out at this fly-in event, it was still a great day for aviating and yielded another opportunity to share some quality flying time with other Breakfast Club people.

The Seligman Group


What's Next?

The April Breakfast Club event will see us traveling to Bagdad, Arizona with breakfast at the Circle Bar Steakhouse and a tour of the open pit copper mine. We last did this tour some time in the early to mid 1990's and it was attended by one of the larger Breakfast Club groups. In May, we will be enjoying one of our two annual overnight fly-ins with this one being somewhat of a repeat of last year's Safford fly-in. This time, not only will we be enjoy a great "cowboy cookout", we will also be doing a tour of the telescope on the top of Mount Graham. Accommodations have not yet be firmed-up but will be shortly. That's all for now, but remember, fly safe.


To see photos of the Seligman fly-in, just click on the link.