There’s a good chance that the state’s most unusual piece of transportation infrastructure will be in operation this month, luring pilots from hundreds of miles away who want to say they’ve landed on an ice runway.
It will also lure at least one fan from Concord.
“I’ve been there maybe 100 times,” said Paul Russo, who will use his experience when giving a talk about the Alton Bay ice runway on Thursday, Jan. 15, at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire.
Russo will give tips to pilots in the audience about navigating the unique conditions (“advance the throttle slowly”), and he’ll also reminisce about the evolution of the only FAA-approved ice landing strip in the lower 48 states.
“The first time I was landing there … I’m looking and said, ‘Is that a snowmobile?’ There was some nutcase sitting on a snowmobile right on the threshold of the runway. My tail wheel must have missed his helmet by a foot,” he said. “I touched down and both sides of runways were cars, bobhouses, right up against the runway.”
Over the years, the aeronautics division of the state Department of Transportation, which has operated the runway for more than a decade, has moved people farther away.
“It has become more organized with restrictions in place for risk management,” Russo said.
He expects to return to the runway in 2026 if the ice gets to be at least 12 inches thick, the depth needed to safely support snow plows. It’s roughly 8 inches thick already and things are looking good.
Alton Bay has been a seaplane base for many decades and has had an ice runway since the 1960s, open for a few weeks mid-winter when conditions are right. Last year was excellent, with the runway open for several weeks after two winters when ice never got thick enough. As many as 168 pilots used it on a single day, receiving a memorial chip and certificate that they can take back to their home airport for bragging rights.
Russo learned to fly in his 50s after he inherited a biplane from his dad and decided it shouldn’t go to waste. He is known in aviation circles for his aerobatic work, flying upside down and otherwise making people watching from the ground say “Ooooh!” in alarm.
He said pilots who don’t want to hear that alarmed “Ooooh!” from spectators at Alton Bay need to be a little careful, but landing or taking off on ice isn’t as difficult as you might think.
Russo admits that a shortage of ground friction can making stopping a little tricky on the relatively short runway, but piles of snow pushed off the ice and piled up around the runway makes landing forgiving.
“At airports the one thing you don’t want to do is overrun the runway. At Alton Bay it’s different,” he said.
The runway isn’t necessarily all that slippery, either; if there’s packed snow on the ice then you can get “pretty good traction.”
The big thing to avoid is standing water, which can happen in the afternoon when conditions warm up. Water can accumulate on the edges of the runway and snag unwary pilots because of all the snow plowed off the runway.
“The weight presses down on the lakes surface and forces the center of ice in the middle of the runway upward. It will pull you to the left; if your gear hits puddle of water, it’s like hitting a sandpit,” Russo said.
The crest in the middle of the runway makes it easier for pilots to drift off the center line during takeoff, especially since they can’t count on the wheels holding against the torque of a spinning propeller that pushes planes to the left.
But as long as you’re mindful of the differences, it’s just another small airport.
“I landed here shortly after I got my ticket (i.e., private pilot license). It’s an measure of your confidence and your skill level. You just need to lower that level of self-imposed anxiety,” he said.
Russo’s talk will be Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry. Admission is $10 per person; museum members get in free.
To keep track of the ice runway’s conditions, check its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AltonBaySeaplaneBaseandIceRunway.
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