Airport Still Recovering From 2012 Tornado

Lee Bottom Flying Field will not be holding its annual fly-in this year, as the airport in southern Indiana continues to recover from a series of tornadoes that hit the area in March of 2012.

Lee Bottom owner Rich Davidson posted in his blog NORDO on July 4 that his focus needs to be on rebuilding the airport's infrastructure, and that despite all the good that comes from the annual "Wood, Fabric, and Tailwheels" event, it "is such a mental and physical drain ... we just weren't able to do both."

Davidson said that the lack of infrastructure at the airport has also made it more difficult to hold the "Sinful Sundays" ice cream socials popular at the airport. "What we are capable of doing is holding a simplified version that offers prepackaged ice cream instead of the homemade shakes and sundaes we’ve had in the past," he wrote.

Davidson's wife Ginger is currently working on an event that would be called "The Buzz", which would be based around a honey ice cream made in cooperation with some local beekeepers. Davidson said he is hoping that the first of those events can be held in September. He also said that he has every intention of bringing back the "Wood, Fabric, and  Tailwheels" fly-in next year, and called for people to volunteer now to help get the event back on track.

But as to the overall future of the airport, Davidson said that "Holding events for the sake of holding events accomplishes nothing.  Doing so is nothing more than what aviation has done in the past.  Although the fly-ins are great fun, what have they done to ensure our type of aviation is around for many more years to come?  Like one night stands or a day of heavy drinking, they’re a thrilling display of hedonism and living for the moment.  Yet, when all is said and done, you have nothing left to show for it.  At the most, depending on who you are, you’re either left with a story to tell or a lot of regret.  Both of which have done nothing for the greater good."

So, he said, he is planning to put a lot of effort into a living airfield museum that he conceived "a few years back." While he said he is not in a position to offer a lot of details, "from here on out, that will be our primary focus," he wrote.

Davis said the airport is open and operating. There are still picnic tables available for a lunch, and the grass strip tucked into the valley near the Ohio River still offers "a refuge that allows you to escape the sterile concrete madness of fenced impound lots masquerading a general aviation airports."

"And really," he writes," isn't that what everyone wants?"

FMI: http://nordonews.leebottom.com/