CHANDLER/GILA RIVER MEMORIAL (PRIVATE)

[cpasley]

PV-2 "Harpoon" N7251C

[FelipeG]

Anyone has current information about access to this? I'm thinking about heading down this weekend to check it out.

[Joe Copalman]

John Ford threw some more recent shots up on Flickr a few months back, he might be a good guy to contact.  His photostream is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmford/.

[FelipeG]

Oh I had already talked to him on flickr, he said he just drove in but I wasn't that sure about it. It was his photo of the Harpoon that made me think about heading down there.

[Matt Ottosen]

I think I would like to get out there one of these days too.

[Joe Copalman]

Well then, I've got nothing.  Is it tribally-owned, or does it have a private owner?

[Jay Beckman]

Last I had heard it is on Tribal land and they have some kind of jurisdiction over it.  I think I recall reading that there was a developer trying to work a deal to turn it into "KSDL South" and make it an attractive alternative so people might fly in to go to Harrah's, Wild Horse Pass, Firebird Raceway and other South/East Valley stuff.

I have no idea though whatever became of that project.

[FelipeG]

From what I've seen it's been on hold for some time, except most of the airplanes have been moved away. I'm trying to catch the two Harpoons and one Howard 500 that remain there. I think there's a couple of C-54s too.

[Joe Copalman]

Are those T&G/IAR aircraft that just never made the exodus to Coolidge?

[Bubak]

[Bubak]

[phxtoad]

Four or five years ago we were headed down to Rocky Point.  We were about to make the turn off I-10 to head down to Maricopa when I spotted a TBM at low altitude chugging thick black smoke trying to make Memorial.  Turns out it was Sam Korth and he barely got it down and shut down before the engine seized.  From what I heard, it was a bureaucratic nightmare trying to get the aircraft off the field afterwards.  Not sure which TBM it was...

Todd