In May of 2002 the Last Bear Creek Bash was held at bear Creek Airport. The Bear Creek Bash began innocently enough in 1997 when a few skydivers got together to jump from ultralights at an altitude of 3000 feet. Jumping from an ultralight is much different than jumping from a regular aircraft. When you exit an ultralight it is much like jumping off of a cliff because of the lack of airspeed. It's a much bigger thrill because you actually feel yourself falling when you leave. The air is quiet and for the first 500 feet you feel like you are falling.

It was so much fun that others wanted to try it. So Keith Lamb, the manager of the airport decided we should do it all in one day and make a party out of it. Hence the first anual Bear Creek Bash was born and has been going on each year since. The aircraft of choice was the Trike because of the ease with which you can exit. The Trike is basically a large hang glider with a two seat motorized three wheeled frame underneath.

The Bash would start at 8am with a pilot/jumper safety meeting. The jumpers would learn how to exit the aircraft safely while still on the ground. Such things would be discussed as what to do in an emergency, how to keep your gear from going through the prop and how to exit the aircraft. Other topics would be where to land under canopy and how to spot. Average cost of each jump was $15.00. More if you wanted to jump from a higher altitude. After the safety meeting the jumping began.

A "Notam" (notice to airmen) was filed with Flight Service so the activities were completely legal under FAA rules. The pilot was a licensed BFI, and all participants are current FAA licensed skydivers with current reserve pack jobs. In case of an accident we did not want to be doing something illegal.

Because of the recent construction of massive track homes in the area, the Bear Creek Airport is being closed so we decided to do it one more time. This is a photo essay of the Last Trash Bash at Bear Ass Creek! Air Trash had a great time! We jumped all day out of the trike untill the winds came up making landings very difficult for the small aircraft. Then we started jumping from a Cessna 172 from an altitude of 5500 feet. Finally the day came to a close and we all drank beer and sat by the fire telling lies and talking about how much fun we had.

For the first time in Bash history we had two injuries. One broken nose when Dave Pyle hit the rear landing gear of the trike with his face, and one broken foot when Bill Montague was rotored behind a building on landing. Other than that everyone else came through unscathed...