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Montezuma Air Park, Arizona
By Ron KilberRon Kilber's April 15, 1999 day-trip to Montezuma Air Park with Rick Koril to visit fellow aviator, Ron Melmon, who owns a home at one of the most premiere and prestigious air parks in all the world. Located 100 miles north of Phoenix within minutes of Montezuma Castle in the Verde Valley, Montezuma Air Park is a gated community sporting some of the finest and most exclusive aviation real estate in the world. This is where you die and go to heaven -- on earth!
April 15, 1999
Montezuma Air Park looking NETax-filing season really got to me this year. It depressed me so much that the only thing that was going to pull me out of a mental tail-spin was a little fun and excitement, as in airplanes and flying. With excuse in hand, I decided to fly up to Montezuma Air Park to visit a friend with a fabulous Southwestern-style home in Arizona's beautiful Verde Valley, less than 100 air miles north of Phoenix. I invited fellow pilot, Rick Koril, to join me, who said he could use a little fun and excitement, too. As any good pilot with aviation as his mistress, he accepted in a heart beat.
Flying over the Verde River I key the Cessna 182 microphone and announce, "Montezuma Traffic, Cessna 92755, 10 miles southeast, landing".
A home owner (presumably) responds, "Cessna 755, Montezuma Air Park, winds out of the east; take your pick: Runway 17 or 35."
So Rick and I decide it would be better to cross over the airport mid-field for left traffic using Runway 35, which slopes slightly uphill at Montezuma Air Park (3370 MSL).
"Ron", is that you?", a voice on the frequency asks.
"Affirmative", I say as I recognize Melmon's voice.
"Ron, the winds are out of the south now, so switch to Runway 17", advises Melmon.
"Affirmative", I respond.
So we abort landing on 35 and veer to the down-wind leg for 17, instead.
Only problem now, after we turn base leg and then final, our ground speed is not only way too fast, even though our airspeed is only 80 miles per hour (MPH), but we find ourselves too high. So we abort landing on 17, too, and execute another go-around.
Now another Montezuma homeowner advises us that the winds are out of the north. By now, both Rick and I have figured this fact out already -- our ground speed is too high. So we position for ANOTHER mid-field crossing for left traffic on runway 35.
Finally things are going perfectly. We're setup beautifully now on Runway 35's final leg (for the second time now). And I can see Ron Melmon waiting for us in front of his hangar on the east side of the runway, about mid-field.
The wind is coming right down the runway at 20 knots, so our ground roll is minimal. The landing is perfect.
The Rons, hangar flyingAfter we taxi to the house, Melmon invites us to park our airplane in his hangar. No argument there. In Arizona, only a mental midget would turn down an offer for free shade.
Ron Melmon with his 1985 Mooney 231 RocketIt's always a good feeling to plant one's feet in a place like this. Who among us can't imagine what it would feel like to land at your own air park, taxi into your own hangar and then say, "Honey, I'm home"?
No pilot, I bet!
I first dreamt of this lifestyle when I was still a teenager back in South Dakota. Ever since, I've never given up my dream, and if I could afford one-third of a million dollars for a home today, this is precisely the community I'd want to be living in. As it is, I may have to wait a little while before it'll become my reality -- or find something a tad cheaper. Meantime, I'm lucky to be here with Ron who is gracious to share his home with Rick and me.
This is air-park heaven, folks! Montezuma Air Park is a gated aviation community sporting some of the finest and most exclusive real estate on earth.
Fellow aviator, Ron Melmon has been a bachelor-in-paradise resident here for more than five years, but now that marriage is on the horizon again, he and his fiancé have decided to move into larger quarters. His home is on the market, and he wanted me to pay a visit and see it before it's too late.
Ron says we arrived just in time for community coffee, which is always served at 10 AM each day in the pilot lounge of a 10,000 square-foot, private hangar a few doors south of Ron's home. I don't ask, but the place might well double as the unofficial town hall. But who's interested in just coffee? The huge hangar is full of airplanes, and one especially catches my eye. It's a vintage 1947 Bellanca with a 165-HP Franklin engine. What a beauty.
1947 BellancaFor anyone who gets bored with the on-field coffee here, there's always Sedona'a airport restaurant where pilots from surrounding air parks fly to meet each morning.
Afterwards, we trek the short distance back to the house.
Ron's home is a beautiful, custom adobe structure with matching hangar. Inside, the living room features a Brahmasthan fountain with a circular sky light centered directly overhead. Matching leather furniture is everywhere, and the colors flow perfectly to blend the adjacent areas and rooms, Frank Lloyd Wright style.
A plaque on the wall reads:
Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man.
Landing is the 1st
Ron's office is complete with a 270-degree view, computer, built-in bookshelves, and naturally, a flight-planning nook. I fall in love with a huge, aerial wall picture of Moorea and its airport right on the beach.On the way to lunch, Ron drives us through the air park via streets named Piper Avenue, Mooney Row, Beech Boulevard, Commander Court and Cessna Circle.
Pietenpol AircamperOne owner has what appears to be his own museum inside his hangar, complete with several airplanes, one of which is a Pietenpol Aircamper. And just to make sure he always has fuel on hand, there's an on-site avgas pump.
Montezuma Air Park is home to about thirty aviation families. Adjacent to Interstate 17 connecting Phoenix and Flagstaff, the community sits atop a mesa straddling a north-south runway.
The views are incredible. Looking south, there are birds-eye views of Camp Verde, and with a good pair of binoculars one can see people entering business establishments right off the freeway exit three or so miles away.
Looking west is beautiful Mingus Mountain with its "world's largest ghost town", Jerome, high above the valley. Prescott is just over the Mountain. At the base of Mingus is Cottonwood, which is a bustling little community where you can buy virtually anything found in a large city. And if you absolutely must use your airplane to get there, it's only about 16 air miles to a great little municipal airport, complete with nice folks who'll run you into town.
Looking north is near-by Sedona, home to one of the most visually stunning red-rock areas in the world. If you're not checked out for night flight, Sedona is only 30 to 40 minutes by road to dining, entertainment, galleries and even an annual film festival. Continuing up Oak Creek Canyon above the Mogollon Rim on the Colorado Plateau is 7,000-foot-high Flagstaff. The Grand Canyon is just beyond.
Going east is Clear Creek, a beautiful outdoor hideaway and oasis. Payson is a little farther along sitting below the Mogollon Rim deep within the Tonto National Forest.
We end up having lunch in a nearby Chinese restaurant, The Ming House, which is in the Fort Verde Plaza a short distance away. The food is really quite excellent, the variety is superb (buffet style), and the price can't be beat -- $4.25 all you can eat! The pace is relaxing, and Ron entertains Rick and I with so many interesting facts about the area and its people.
No Chinese restaurant will let you out the door without a fortune cookie. Ron reads his: "You are among fortune hunters today."
None of us can figure out what this means, but if adventure is fortune, Rick and I certainly have found it today.
The drive back to the air park is relaxing as we take the long way on meandering roads in and around hills in rising and descending terrain. Each time we crest a hill, we get birds-eye views of the many 5-acre home sites, many of which have a horse or two blissfully grazing away. These sights are plentiful in the Verde Valley.
The only down side to living at Montezuma Air Park is that once your out-of-town company arrives, they might not leave until they've seen and done everything. That could take forever.
For those times when you get bored with airplanes, you can hike down the hill to the Cliff Castle Casino or drive out to the Beaver Creek Golf Resort. There's canoeing in the Verde River and hiking with limitless opportunity in the many nearby national forests. Trout fishing in area streams is popular as is hunting for deer, elk, antelope, bear, quail, duck and geese. And of course sight-seeing possibilities are endless. Montezuma Castle, for example, is only minutes away. It's a 12th century, five-story cliff dwelling 100 feet above the valley floor, complete with 20 rooms.
Not many air-park dwellers are content with just one airplane in the hangar. After all, it's a long haul to adjacent states -- even by airplane -- so many prefer a cross-country ship such as a Bonanza, Mooney, Cessna 182/210, Glassair or RV-4/6.
For short hauls and spinning holes in the sky, there are plenty of fun toys: Cessna 150/172, Hornet, Piper L-10, Avid Flyer, Shortwing Piper Tri-Pacer, Piper 170, Champ 7AC, Starduster II, Thorp T-18, Fly Baby, Citabria, Piper Super Cub, Bellanca and a few others.
Many home onwers are members of the local EAA chapter. Current projects include a Starduster II (2), Thorp T-18, Mooney Mite (4), Cessna 140, Miller Special, Celebrity, Hatz Biplane and a Baking Duce!
There are 3 FAA inspectors and 2 airframe and engine mechanics who live on the air park, so the community is quite self-contained from an aviation standpoint. No need to bother with taking your airplane to your favorite (or worst) FBO. Here, you just invite your neighbor over to do the annual inspection in your hangar, which is always close to the comforts of home, like food and beverage in the kitchen -- and beer when the job is done.
Rick and I have pretty much chewed up the better part of a day, so we say farewell to Ron and depart on Runway 35. It isn't long before we're tracking the Verde River towards the Mazatzal (pronounced 'mad as hell') Mountains climbing over some of the most mazatzal terrain. Altitude is man's best friend over these parts, and you'll need all you can get if something goes wrong. About the only place to set down is in the river or on a short sandbar.
Coming from Chicago in 1996, Rick is a commercial and instrument pilot who has previously owned a Cessna 172-RG and a straight-leg C-182. He doesn't have as much mountain-flying experience as I have, so I give him some tips, like don't give away your altitude over hellish terrain until sure you can make the airport. As I am, he's eager to always learn more, and likes my suggestion to fly the Verde Valley, not a bee-line home over peaks and higher terrain. With the wind blowing like it is, there are plenty of up- and down-drafts, so it's best to steer clear, especially on any lee side of a mountain, of which there are no shortage of around here.
At the confluence with the East Verde River, we head south towards Horsehoe Reservoir and Dam. I was just over this lake a few weeks ago, and given all the rain Arizona has seen since, I'm surprised the water level is still so low.
Farther along is Bartlett Reservoir and Dam. It, too, needs a good drink.
We finally enter the pattern downwind at Mesa's Falcon Field, and we're number two for landing on Runway 4-R. We can't see our traffic ahead, so Rick and I both agree to continue our down-wind leg until we hear from the Tower.
Sure enough, just as they always do, the controller advises us to turn base and that our traffic is on a short final. Finally, we see the traffic, and after Rick makes a beautiful landing, we taxi to the ramp.
What a great day. Flying made me forget about the distastefullness of income-tax returns. Now if I just had that money back that I paid in, I could do more of what we just did today. A lot more.
Rick agrees, and suggests we plan another outing real soon. I don't argue there.
Ron Kilber (rpknet@aztecfreenet.org) is a private pilot with a passion for adventure, flying and airplanes.Rick Koril (rickk@sherwood.com) is a commercial/instrument pilot who lives and works in the Phoenix area. Most of the photography in this story is his.
Ron Melmon (meldevco@kachina.net) is a private pilot, Developmental Consultant, SCORE counselor, mediator and musician who enjoys backpacking in the mountains of Idaho.