The Valdez Fly-In and STOL Drag: Where Alaska's Bush Pilots Land Shorter Than Anyone Thought Possible
The Valdez Fly-In and STOL Drag draws the world's best short-field pilots to Alaska each May, where modified bush planes stop in under 50 feet.
Ramp Check
Aviation events, destinations, and field reporting with Ramp. Airshow coverage, fly-in previews, airport restaurants, pilot destination guides, and the human stories behind the machines.
Gaston's White River Resort: The Grass Strip in the Ozarks Where Trophy Trout and a Runway Share the Same Property
Gaston's White River Resort in Lakeview, Arkansas is a legendary fly-in destination with a private turf strip, trophy trout fishing, and riverside dining in the Ozarks.
Jackson Hole Airport: The Only Commercial Airport Inside a National Park
Jackson Hole Airport (KJAC) is the only commercial airport inside a U.S. national park, combining stunning Teton approaches with serious high-altitude operational demands.
The FBO Crew Car: The Battered Keys That Open Small Town America
The FBO crew car - a loaner vehicle handed over on nothing but trust - is one of general aviation's most enduring and underappreciated traditions.
Moose Creek Ranger Station - Flying Into the Heart of the Selway-Bitterroot
Moose Creek Ranger Station in Idaho's Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness is one of the most remote and demanding backcountry GA airstrips in the continental United States.
The Saturday Morning Fly-In Breakfast - The Ritual That Keeps Small Airport Communities Alive
Saturday morning fly-in breakfasts are the social glue of general aviation - why pilots fly hundreds of miles for bad coffee, great eggs, and the community that keeps small airports alive.
Johnson Creek Airport - The Backcountry Strip That Built a Community in the Idaho Wilderness
Johnson Creek Airport (3U2) is a 2,800-foot grass strip in Idaho's Payette National Forest - a beloved backcountry destination that demands serious mountain flying preparation.
The EAA Young Eagles - How Volunteer Pilots Have Put Over Two Million Kids in the Right Seat
The EAA Young Eagles program has given free introductory flights to over 2.3 million children since 1992, powered entirely by volunteer pilots flying their own aircraft.
The Valdez STOL Competition - Alaska's Annual Festival Where the World's Best Backcountry Pilots Land in Under a Hundred Feet
The Valdez Fly-In and STOL Competition is North America's premier short-field landing event, where backcountry pilots stop aircraft in under 100 feet against a backdrop of glacier peaks and Prince William Sound.
The Ramp Rat - How Small Airports Grow Pilots Before They Ever Touch the Controls
Long before formal training begins, small airport culture quietly produces pilots through fence lines, hangar conversations, and the informal mentorship of ramp rats.
The North Forty at Oshkosh - Where Two Thousand Airplanes Become Your Neighborhood for a Week
The North Forty at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh lets pilots camp directly beside their aircraft for a week - here's what it's actually like on the ground.
Johnson Creek and the Idaho Wilderness Strips - The Backcountry Flying Mecca You Have to Earn
Johnson Creek Airport (1U2) is a 2,400-foot grass strip in Idaho's Boise National Forest - one of the most demanding and rewarding backcountry destinations in the lower 48 states.
Spruce Creek Fly-In - The Florida Neighborhood Where Your Driveway Is a Taxiway
Spruce Creek Fly-In in Port Orange, Florida is a gated community of 1,400+ homes where every house has an attached hangar and roughly 700 aircraft are based on-field.
The First Solo Shirt-Cut - the Ramp Ritual That Has Turned Students Into Pilots for a Hundred Years
The first solo shirt-cut is aviation's oldest student milestone ritual, tracing back over 100 years to WWI-era open-cockpit training and the moment an instructor no longer needed to hold on.
Spruce Creek - The Fly-In Community Where the Streets Are Taxiways
Spruce Creek in Port Orange, Florida is one of America's most iconic fly-in communities, where 400+ aircraft are based in a neighborhood where the streets are literally taxiways.
Chamberlain Basin and the Wilderness Airstrip at the Heart of Idaho's Backcountry Flying Universe
Chamberlain Basin airstrip sits inside America's largest wilderness area, reachable only by air or foot - here's what pilots need to know about flying there.
Catalina Island Airport - the Twenty-Two-Mile Pacific Crossing Every Southern California Pilot Owes Themselves
Catalina Island Airport (KAVX) sits on a 1,600-foot mesa 22 miles off the Southern California coast - one of general aviation's most rewarding day trips.
First Flight Airport at Kitty Hawk and the runway that ends where the Wright Brothers began
First Flight Airport (KFFA) at Kitty Hawk lets pilots land and walk to the exact spot where powered flight began in 1903.
The National Championship Air Races land at Roswell and the desert town betting it can be the new home of pylon racing
The National Championship Air Races are moving to Roswell, New Mexico, giving pylon racing a new home after Reno's 2023 closure.
Gaston's White River Resort and the grass strip in Arkansas where you taxi up to a trout dinner
Fly into Gaston's White River Resort in Arkansas, taxi up to a riverside trout dinner, and discover one of America's best grass strips.