PORT ANGELES – There’s a new effort getting started to establish Port Angeles Harbor as a destination for float plane pilots.
There’s never been any law that said you couldn’t land a float plane in the harbor. In fact, the city used to have a dock that float planes could taxi up to until it was damaged and removed, but our harbor has never been recognized by the FAA as having an official landing site, meaning we’ve literally never been on anyone’s map as a destination.
Dan Gase, Airport Development Manager for the Port of Port Angeles, changed that recently by applying for and receiving official recognition from the FAA as float plane landing site W-6-6, or “Whiskey-66”.
“Yeah, because people that have seaplanes usually have really good disposable income and they like to fly places that are fun. And Port Angeles would be a fabulous destination for these guys.”
But getting us on the map and having a catchy name are just the beginning. There’s now an effort by the Chamber of Commerce, the city, the Port, and a group of downtown developers and business owners loosely known as the Renaissance Group to market the idea, with the goal of attracting a whole new wave of interest from the float plane community.
Chamber of Commerce Director Marc Abshire described the current process as still being in the “dreaming stage”. He told us that getting a new dock near the city pier involves working with Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, a process that might take a while to navigate.
In the meantime, stay tuned for more on Whiskey 66.
Above: View of landing area from the cockpit.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gase.