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Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 2013

boom3

Well Known Member
All these great trip write ups lately have got me thinking about my summer flying plans. I sold my street bike (Honda :rolleyes:) years ago but Sturgis has always been on my bucket list. A friend and I are thinking about putting it on the calendar this year for probably just a couple of days.

Anybody flown into 49B during bike week? It appears you can camp (which I'm good with) at the airport but I suspect there wouldn't be much more than a bathroom there. Take a taxi to town everday?

Any locals with any insider information for someone flying in? Any RV hotels around?

Not too familiar with the area although we refueled at Rapid City on the way back from Oshkosh 2012.

Thanks!
 
or SPF

I rode my Harley to Sturgis a couple years ago, and wished I could have had the RV4 there as well. Spearfish SPF is a nice airport just NW of Sturgis also. The airport you are looking at is closer to the camping areas just east of "town". Either way, you will need transportation to main St., but will have awesome scenery...Just do it!
 
Sturgis

I flew to Sturgis in 08. Camped on the airport, no charge. They had a van and driver that took us to town and picked us up. Very nice people. Give them a call.
 
We flew into Cheyenne on our way to Yellowstone a few years ago. It happened to be a few days before Sturgis weekend. Forget about getting a hotel.
Fortunately, the FBO manager called his ex wife to put us up at her refurbished hotel not yet opened. He said we owed him big time. We were very grateful.
 
Well we did make it to Sturgis this year and had a blast! After picking up my friend Jayson in Newberg, OR (2S6) we flew to Townsend, MT (8U8) and called it a day. If you've never been to Townsend, stop by sometime. Free camping, $5.15 / gal 100LL, a courtesy van, great people, and spectacular scenery.

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The next morning we headed out just after 6AM and had a very nice cruise at 9500 with around a 10 knot tailwind. We checked in with Flight watch near Sheridan, WY and they recommended stopping for a bit as it had not quite burned off east of Gillette to Rapid City. We took their advice at stopped at Sheridan for about 45 minutes.

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The famous Buffalo Chip Campground. Holy moly look at all the campers! You can also just see the runway at the top left of the picture.

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Short final to Sturgis Municipal Airport (49B) Quick shout out to the Airport Manager Jerry Burnham at CB Aviation. They made everyone feel right at home and even gave van rides to the campgrounds and downtown. We, and several others camped right at the airport.

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Once into town or at any of the major camp grounds you can just buy a day "DaBus" pass for $20. They'll take you to all the popular places in style with Beer, Shots, and Rock and Roll blaring.

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Amazing where these little planes can take you in just 6 hours. :)
 
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Flew in several years ago. Great day trip fro me. Van takes to there and back for a few bucks, wonder around for a few hours, fly home.
 
Thinking about trips for the summer.

For those that camped at 49B were there showers available at the airport? Or do you get yourself to a campground and use their facilities?

Any helpful info? The vans rides sound easy.

Thanks
Mark
 
sturgis

ive rode my motorcycle there 16 times but now you got me thinking I might just fly this year.
 
Thinking about trips for the summer.

For those that camped at 49B were there showers available at the airport? Or do you get yourself to a campground and use their facilities?

Any helpful info? The vans rides sound easy.

Thanks
Mark

There is no shower at 49B that I know of. Jerry the airport manager was very accommodating and there is a bathroom and pilot lounge to use. We showered the the morning before we arrived and were only there one more day. You could probably not shower for the whole week and fit right in. :D

FYI if I didn't mention it before...

Jerry has a van and will usually give rides to get you to the Buffalo Chip where you can pick up and ride "Da Bus" anywhere. The airport isn't officially on "Da Bus" route but we didn't have any problem talking them into a quick trip to drop us off at the airport when we'd had enough.

If you have any interest in Sturgis at all, I'd highly recommend it. I'm not a "Harley Dude" by any means but we fit right in and had a blast. I think airplane building and bike building is pretty similar and I was amazed by all the talent.

Maybe we'll see you there. I'm still debating on whether to do Sturgis or Oshkosh again.
 
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