Flying-M Ranch
Coordinates: 38°36′13″N 119°00′11″W / 38.60361°N 119.00306°W
The Flying-M Ranch is owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton in unincorporated Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located about 60 mi (100 km) south of Reno, Nevada, it contains an airfield which is the base for many gliding competitions including the biennial Barron Hilton Cup invitational soaring encampment. The surrounding desert offers good thermal soaring conditions. A hangar on the airfield contains about a dozen historical airplanes, which are still airworthy. The runway is 5,500 by 50 feet (1,700 × 15 m). The Ranch covers about 850 square miles (2,200 km2) of surface area in Nevada and California.
The ranch was named the Flying-M by its previous owner, Stanfield Murphy. Mr. Hilton said he did not change the name because his wife, who died in 2004, was named Marilyn.[1]
On September 3, 2007, aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett took off alone from the Flying-M Ranch in a Bellanca Super Decathlon, a single-engine two-seater. He never returned. On February 15, 2008 a Cook County (Illinois) judge granted his wife's petition and declared him legally dead.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Friess, Steve (2007-08-07). "Aviator Was Visiting Haven for Fliers and Celebrities". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/us/08aviator.html. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (2008-02-15). "Steve Fossett, Missing Adventurer, Declared Dead". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/us/16fossett.html. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
