||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR |||
The Port of Orcas airport currently has 2200 gallons of fuel remaining in their tanks. That’s just enough to make Port of Orcas Manager Jeannie Sharpe a bit concerned about whether the supply of Avgas 100L — a gasoline specially designed for piston engine aircraft — will last until a new delivery is scheduled to arrive on opening day of the scheduled Orcas Fly-in on August 6 – 8.
The reason for the fuel delay/shortage has a three- or four-prong reason. It could be a supply issue, a trucking issue, a barge issue, or the fact that there are lots of planes in the air fighting wildland fires on the West coast that require priority supply chains. Or could there be some connection to the Colonial Pipeline hack of that took down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S. and led to shortages across the East Coast that was the result of a single compromised password?
Hackers had gained entry into the networks of Colonial Pipeline Co. on April 29 through a virtual private network account, which allowed employees to remotely access the company’s computer network.
Weekends have been pretty busy at the airport, and fuel sales have been very strong. Many other places have smoke in the air that pilots would normally visit, and pilots may be trying to escape it. Fuel will arrive on Friday morning, the first day of the fly-in, We might run out the last few days before that though. It is all a guessing game for fuel sales.
FLY-IN 2021
The Fly-In is held every year on the first FULL weekend in August at the Eastsound Airport. Guests arriving by airplane are welcome to camp ‘under the wing’ in the grass tie-down area. There is a shower and toilets nearby. For those who would like a more refined stay, our quaint village is within walking distance and has many fine dining and lodging establishments.
August 6-8 2021 is going to be a smaller fly-in due to staffing, unlike in 2014 when there were more than 120 airplanes on the ground at one time. The EAA will have a BBQ available for visitors to use but will not be cooking meals.
The EAA 937 builds a complete agenda, with arrangements for food and entertainment. Tie-down fees are waived during the Fly-In.
For further information on the Fly-In, contact OrcasChapterEAA@gmail.com or Dwight Guss at 317-5970 or Gil Blinn at 376-6579.
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We talk of climate change but put no restriction on these polluting and noisy aircraft which disrupt daily life in Eastsound. Why is that?
Even as we encourage people to switch to electric vehicles, avoid polluting travel options, and install any number of electricity-saving gadgets in our homes, the well-heeled avian class comes and goes to and from the islands as they please, with only an event such as a fuel shortage to disrupt their convenience. The article even mentions that the supply chain for fuel has been disrupted by fire-fighting efforts across the west.
Until such time as airplanes are powered solely by electricity, it is sheer madness to promote the usage of private luxury aircraft while acknowledging and encouraging the use of heavily polluting aircraft fuels for non-emergency transport to and from the islands.