Pilots Take Advantage Of Runway On Frozen Lake Winnipesaukee
ALTON, N.H. (CBS/AP) — Winter on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee means ice fishing, hockey tournaments and, if the ice is strong enough, airplanes.
After being grounded by bad ice and worse weather for most of the winter, the Alton Bay Seaplane Base and its ice runway were open on Saturday.
By mid-day, more than 50 pilots from all over the Northeast took advantage of a rare, sunny, storm-free Saturday to touch down on the frozen lake, the only ice runway in the lower 48 states approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
"How many times can a non-amphibian plane land on water," said pilot Ken Ortmann of Rochester, New Hampshire.
Angela Leedy flew three hours from Pittstown, New Jersey, landing on the ice runway.
In a Saturday Facebook post, the Alton Bay Seaplane Base joked that it was a "heat wave" with temperatures climbing over 30 degrees.
The post urged pilots to "please be patient" with so many planes on the runway.
The 3,000-foot airstrip is popular with pilots, said Airport Director Paul LaRochelle, who keeps it plowed when the ice is strong enough.
As he directs pilots to park he advises them not to use their brakes: "You'll just skid," he said.
Sometimes there are mishaps. Last March, an experimental plane clipped a snowbank and landed hard. The pilot was unhurt.
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