AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 69

lean toward vintage and sport aircraft, and there are currently nine Stearman biplanes based here, a fact that seems appropriate since thousands of the iconic biplanes that Kansas native Lloyd Stearman designed were built in Wichita. (The airfield itself has no official connection to the Stearman family, however.) There was no shortage of GA airports before Stearman Field came into being. Col. James Jabara Airport (AAO) is a scant five nautical miles away, and Wichita International Airport (ICT) is just 17 nm. But aviation businesses at those airports tend to focus on corporate clients, not hobbyists. Stearman Field draws and welcomes aviation enthusiasts, whether they are pilots or not. “There aren’t many airports where families can come and let their kids see airplanes taking off and landing close up,” Clemens said. “This place on a sunny weekend is really an airpark. People come to hang out and play with their toys.” Retired Cessna CEO Jack Pelton and his wife, Rose, own a Stearman Field condo hangar where they keep a vintage Cessna 195 and a 162 Skycatcher. A downfall of some residential airparks is acrimony among pilots who take issue with each other, the way their neighbors fly, or the kinds of homes and hangars

they build. Stearman Field avoids such pitfalls through its own form of benign dictatorship. There are no rule-making committees or complex bylaws. Restrictive covenants are posted on the website (www.stearmanestates.com), and Clemens says the rules for getting around at the airport are simple and easy to follow. “Don’t drive on the grass,” he said, “and stay off the runway unless you’re in an airplane. As long as people remember those two things, we get along just fine and everything’s OK.” Getting Stearman Field and its associated businesses to this point, however, has required a huge amount of sustained effort. Knocking down decrepit buildings and piles of junk meant hauling out 25 tractor-trailer loads of debris. Enlarging the runway and improving the taxiways and ramp cost about $1 million, and a large percentage of those funds came in the form of state aviation grants. Clemens says Stearman Field owners reinvest almost 100 percent of the proceeds from real estate sales and other airport ventures to improve the facility. The original airport was 34 acres, and the owners purchased an adjoining 160 acres and 35 home lots. About 90 percent of Stearman Field’s 39 condo lots and 40 percent of the home lots have been sold

to date. (Home lots are priced at $50,000 and hangar lots are $35,000.) Clemens and his family do everything from bookkeeping to cutting the grass on Stearman Field’s turf runway—and they hold down other jobs, too. Dwayne and Julie manage a Hawker 800 jet for a private owner and fly it together on domestic and international trips. “We’re going to fly it to Cabo [San Lucas] tomorrow for five days, and that’s going to seem like a vacation,” he said. “But what we do at Stearman Field usually doesn’t seem that much like work. There’s a lot to do, and most of it is thoroughly enjoyable.” The couple lives in a 4,000-square-foot home at midfield, with picture windows facing the paved north-south runway. Their son Alex lives in a condo/hangar on the other side of the strip and runs the flight school and scenic-ride business. Clemens likes to point out that while the couple flies for a living, making the airpark successful has become a central part of both their lives. “We make our money flying,” Clemens quips. “We spend it at Stearman Field.” E-mail the author at dave.hirschman@ aopa.org.

AOPA PILOT • 69 • JULY 2011


http://www.stearmanestates.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011
Contents
President’s Position
Hangar Talk
AOPA Media
AOPA Action
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Safety Pilot
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
Pilot Briefing
Rally GA: Walking the Walk
Crossover Classic Sweepstakes: The Ultimate Skylane
There’s No Place Like Home
Field of Dreams
Fleeting Beauty
Affair of the Heart
Timeshare for Aircraft Owners
Dogfight: Say It Right
Avionics: Reality Show
Pilot Products: Heavy Tugs, Cool Air
Never Again
Fly-Outs
Fly by wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Hangar Talk
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Media
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - AOPA Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Safety Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Briefing
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Rally GA: Walking the Walk
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Crossover Classic Sweepstakes: The Ultimate Skylane
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - There’s No Place Like Home
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Field of Dreams
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fleeting Beauty
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Affair of the Heart
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Timeshare for Aircraft Owners
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Dogfight: Say It Right
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Avionics: Reality Show
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilot Products: Heavy Tugs, Cool Air
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly-Outs
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Fly by wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2011 - Cover4
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