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SkyFest 2024

Aircraft Arrival/Departure Recommendations

Published July 8, 2024

Arlington Airport (KAWO) is a non-towered, general aviation airport located in northwest Washington state. Official arrival procedures to a non-towered airport like this one are detailed in the Airman’s Information Manual, the area Airport Facility Directory, sectional charts, and local airport regulations. The information provided here is only advisory in nature, based on our experience with arrivals and departures to and from significant aviation events.

We ask that prior to your departure you check for NOTAM’s. There will be some. When approaching the airport, please monitor both AWOS and the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) for traffic and for any unusual conditions. We ask that you pay particular attention to the primary runway in use.

Initial arrivals start Friday after 12:00 Noon when the aircraft campground opens. Friday evening camper activities are planned. Skyfest Parking remains open until late Sunday afternoon.

SkyFest activities start Saturday at 1:00 pm and go on until about 11:00pm on the west side of the Airport. See the schedule for details.

Arlington Airport Community Day is on Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00pm on east side of the airport. Transportation will be available between SkyFest and the Airport Day Activities on Sunday.

Aircraft arrivals are all welcome at SkyFest 2024, whether you’re staying for just the day, or for the entire weekend. You will be in an aircraft parking area where you can park and/or camp for as long as you wish during the weekend.

Teaming up with Arlington Airport Community Fun Day Sunday, Young Eagles flights are planned right after SkyFest Saturday.

You can arrive and camp out with your friends on Friday, enjoy the show on Saturday and then also make a positive impression for tomorrow’s pilots on Sunday. All of it together in one great weekend! If you want to participate in the EAA young Eagle’s program on Sunday, please contact LeAlyce Miller at the Arlington airport office @ 360-403-3478.

Arrivals

For west side operations on taxiway Bravo, Echo, and Delta, there will be direction signs and scooters/flaggers to coordinate aircraft traffic leading to parking areas.

Coordination of aircraft, scooters and CAP marshallers is done by the SkyFest Parking Tower on the assigned frequency displayed on the sign boards, so aircraft should come up on frequency as soon as possible. Do not taxi down Echo until assigned a scooter escort and then follow the scooter directions, keeping the scooter at your 10:30 position.

Runway 11/29 will be closed by notam and marked with lighted large X’s. See NOTAM for airshow times and any other operational data. Remain vigilant for pilots/personnel in the vicinity when starting and taxiing. A red flag above the orange parking tower means that the SkyFest grounds are closed to all aircraft operations. The red flag will normally appear in conjunction with the airshow; however, some emergency situations will also cause ground traffic on Skyfest grounds to be halted.

Have printed airshow ticket available in your cockpit to display on pilot’s side upon arriving at Echo. After landing, turn off to the west, onto taxiway Bravo. Follow arrows and signs to Echo taxiway. Once established on Echo, display your ticket to the scooters/flaggers who will escort you to Parking.

Once your prop has stopped turning, one of our hospitality volunteers will greet you with maps, programs, schedules and water. If you did not purchase a ticket on-line, we can arrange that at this time.

No printer? If you have a tablet that can show your ticket number large and visible that’s all we really need. But if you can’t display your ticket, we will meet you at your aircraft to sort things out.

Ramp Tower Radio

Immediately after exiting the runway, before turning onto Bravo, contact the Skyfest Parking Tower for taxiing and parking instructions. Frequencies are posted on large signs along Bravo taxiway.

Departures

In the interest of safety, we ask that before engine start for departure you contact the Parking tower so we can arrange crowd control and escort to Delta taxiway. Do not turn prop until indicated by the Marshaller or Scooter operator that the operation is safe for onlookers.

Aircraft may be directed to taxi on Echo or on a grass route to Delta where you will follow normal airport operations for departure while monitoring the CTAF frequency.

Five minutes before the airshow to the conclusion of the drone show the red flag will fly from the SkyFest Parking Tower. For safety reasons there will be no aircraft movements on SkyFest grounds during this time.

Pilots may depart on Saturday after the airshow and before the balloon glow – you must contact the parking tower during the airshow to advise your departure intentions.

Please be advised an airshow waiver is in effect for a five-mile radius between 1900 and 2300 hours on Saturday.

Thank you for participating in SkyFest 2024. We truly appreciate your being here with us. Have a safe flight home.