Could someone please describe the Mentone experience to me. Things like:
how big is the airport, what kind of facilities, are hotels near by, can I
fly commercial airlines to mentone, how hard are to get there from here.
Would like to fly in early, see the sights, then fly out late that night.
Can this be done? Thanks for your opinions, Chief

I feel uniquely qualified to answer.

I chaired the first and second PRA convention at Mentone (96-97)

Mentone is a small but nice country airport with one runway, north/south, newly
repaved, no taxiways about 2500 feet long. with AVGAS sales.

Mentone airport houses the PRA world headquarters (a nicely maintained double
wide modular home with a large deck)

The Archimedes V/STOL museum (A decent collection of vertical/ short takeoff
flying machines and memoribilia) and a reasonably large shower/bathroom
facility.

A "control" tower (announcers stand)

Concession stand with covered dining area

and a row of open door T-hangars.

PRA owns acres of open land around the runway and has developed some near the
T-hangars as motorhome type campsites with water & electric.

The surrounding land is flat farmland with the occasional stand of trees. Ideal
to fly over.

The town of Mentone is a few miles away and is a typical small town. No lodging
facilities, but good restaurants.

10-15 miles East, West and Southwest are larger towns with ample motels,
stores, shopping and entertainment. They are 10-15 minutes away .

Mentone is not too far off of a major interstate (I-80) but is not convenient
to reach by scheduled airlines.

Airlines service South Bend, Fort Wayne, Chicago and Indianapolis in order of
increasing distance.
From Chicago's O'hare or Midway airports you are looking at a 2 1/2 to 3 hour
drive.

I don't think it would be practical to fly-in to a large airport, drive to
Mentone and back in a day. There will be at least a full days worth of things
you will want to do at Mentone anyway.

If you are into sport rotorcraft this is the place you'll want to be.
Bensen days is a very close second but is just as bad or worse from a lodging
and transportation standpoint.
I hope I've helped, Tom

You forgot to give the GPS coordinates.



(Gyroplanes) wrote:

> I feel uniquely qualified to answer.
>
> I chaired the first and second PRA convention at Mentone (96-97)
>
> Mentone is a small but nice country airport with one runway, north/south, newly
> repaved, no taxiways about 2500 feet long. with AVGAS sales.

Didn't committ them to memory>
>You forgot to give the GPS coordinates.
>

Forgot to mention The town of Mentone is the birthplace of Lawerence Bell of
Bell Aircraft fame. There is a small museum in town. They have several Bell
Helicopters in various stages of restoration

Here is a link to an amazing site for aerial photographs.
This should take you to Mentone airport.
http://www.acme.com/mapper/?lat=41.144213&long=-86.062292&scale=9&theme=Im
age&width=3&height=2&dot=No

Thanks, Tom. Just the kind of info I was looking for. Chief


"Gyroplanes" > wrote in message
...
> I feel uniquely qualified to answer.
>
> I chaired the first and second PRA convention at Mentone (96-97)
>
> Mentone is a small but nice country airport with one runway, north/south,
newly
> repaved, no taxiways about 2500 feet long. with AVGAS sales.
>
> Mentone airport houses the PRA world headquarters (a nicely maintained
double
> wide modular home with a large deck)
>
> The Archimedes V/STOL museum (A decent collection of vertical/ short
takeoff
> flying machines and memoribilia) and a reasonably large shower/bathroom
> facility.
>
> A "control" tower (announcers stand)
>
> Concession stand with covered dining area
>
> and a row of open door T-hangars.
>
> PRA owns acres of open land around the runway and has developed some near
the
> T-hangars as motorhome type campsites with water & electric.
>
> The surrounding land is flat farmland with the occasional stand of trees.
Ideal
> to fly over.
>
> The town of Mentone is a few miles away and is a typical small town. No
lodging
> facilities, but good restaurants.
>
> 10-15 miles East, West and Southwest are larger towns with ample motels,
> stores, shopping and entertainment. They are 10-15 minutes away .
>
> Mentone is not too far off of a major interstate (I-80) but is not
convenient
> to reach by scheduled airlines.
>
> Airlines service South Bend, Fort Wayne, Chicago and Indianapolis in order
of
> increasing distance.
> From Chicago's O'hare or Midway airports you are looking at a 2 1/2 to 3
hour
> drive.
>
> I don't think it would be practical to fly-in to a large airport, drive to
> Mentone and back in a day. There will be at least a full days worth of
things
> you will want to do at Mentone anyway.
>
> If you are into sport rotorcraft this is the place you'll want to be.
> Bensen days is a very close second but is just as bad or worse from a
lodging
> and transportation standpoint.
> I hope I've helped, Tom

If you've not been to Mentone, it's well worth going at least once, more if
you're "really" into rotorcraft. Anyway, they've got a very nice airport
that the convention is held at. People fly into and out for the convention
all the time by private aviation. Mentone airport is a small uncontrolled
field so there's no commercial service there although I wouldn't mind
watching a 737 "try" to land there! :-o ;-) The times I've been there
(4), it was geared mainly toward gyroplanes but helicopters are always
welcome and there were usually several examples of Rotorways, Safari's, and
the occasional certified model like a Jet Ranger or Bell 47. Most of the
major gyro kit manufacturers show up and demo rides are available as well as
a long list of seminars throughout the week on just about any subject
related to rotorcraft and experimental aircraft in general. Mentone itself,
doesn't have a lot in the way of hotel/motel facilities that I know of. I
always stayed in Warsaw, IN. which is about a 20 minute drive away. There
are other towns around the area that have hotel/motels available, just check
the map.

Hope this helps!
Fly Safe,
Steve R.


"Chief McGee" > wrote in message
news:yWtnc.58183$Ik.4473488@attbi_s53...
> Could someone please describe the Mentone experience to me. Things like:
> how big is the airport, what kind of facilities, are hotels near by, can I
> fly commercial airlines to mentone, how hard are to get there from here.
> Would like to fly in early, see the sights, then fly out late that night.
> Can this be done? Thanks for your opinions, Chief
>
>