RAF FEATURED SUPPORTER: TOM JENSEN

A few moments with Tom Jensen of Evergreen Sky Ranch, 51WA near Auburn, Washington, and you learn he’s had a vast amount of aviation, aeronautical, volunteer, and life experience.



“I caught the aviation ‘disease’ very early. I was hand cranking a Navy N3N open cockpit biplane. You put the crank through the side of the cowl. You spin the flywheel, and engage the clutch. When that radial belched smoke and stink and spun to life, I got it,” Tom says. “The N3N was built out of leftover dirigible parts, and was certified for wheels and floats,” he added.


By 1973, Tom had his private license, and by 1980, a dream home on a grass airstrip. His hangar now shelters his 1956 Cessna 180 and his wife Marian’s 1976 Citabria, along with their 1941 N3N-3, one of the four originally given to the Coast Guard. “Flying in that open cockpit in a t-shirt is wonderful,” he said, referring to a recent flight in balmy Pacific Northwest weather. Tom helped organize Washington Air Search and Rescue, and has “lots of hours” flying search and rescue.


Tom, now in his eighth decade, has engaged himself from Circle, Alaska to Australia, not all of it a result of flight. Sit down around a campfire and ask him about re-powering a Bucyrus-Erie 750-ton dragline for a gold mine near Alaska’s Ester loop highway. Or about some of his Search and Rescue flights, one of which was for a lost hiker near Mount Adams. Tom’s search was confounded by an all-out search unfolding at the same time for a sheriff’s deputy who’d gotten himself lost on a hunt for a marijuana patch. The county helicopters and ground vehicles jammed Tom’s radio frequency. Ask him about the Dornier seized during a narcotics raid that he ferried to the state auction. His wife held his arm down so he couldn’t bid on it. But he did end up with a Dornier Do27 for two years. Get comfortable and ask him about the airplanes from the Israeli Air Force. Or hunting wild pigs on David Packard’s ranch in California.


Throughout all, Tom’s passion to give back emerges. His father graduated from law school in the depth of the Great Depression. As a country lawyer in Santa Ynez, California, he often got paid in-kind. Bales of hay and other commodities were good as cash to him. The senior Jensen wrestled in the 1932 Olympic Preliminaries, and wished to join the military. But the Army wouldn’t take him because of his flat feet. So Mr. Jensen fought his own war, and challenged America’s internment of Japanese on Constitutional grounds. His sentiments were not popular in the day, and triggered a local newspaper to dub him a member of the “Kiss A Jap A Day” club. “He was seventy years ahead of his time,” Tom reflects, adding, “Dad did a lot of ‘give-back’, which may be where I got it.”


His dad helped establish the Santa Ynez airport (KIZA) in its present location where Tom remembers his first plane ride in a Cub. The strip was initially gravel, and Tom witnessed a Cub ground loop. “It dragged a wingtip and came to a stop in a cloud of dust with two fools laughing like idiots,” Tom recalls.


Tom’s first wife, Nancy, was treated at the University of Washington by an oncologist who Tom calls “a caring physician,” who motivated Tom to support her research there, generally for ovarian cancer, “to do the most good for the most women,” he says.


Professionally, Tom completed a 46 year career with the Boeing Company. “I was fortunate to work on three different commercial airplanes from preliminary design to first flight,” he says, along with flying boats – hydrofoils where he was an “industrial diver”, electrically powered flight controls, a spacecraft, and missiles.


Since 1965, Tom has watched as ten airports were closed in Western Washington. He met the RAF and its mission really inspired him to provide support and get involved. He was part of the work party during last fall’s fence project at the USFS airfield at Moose Creek, Idaho. “I was healing up from a hernia operation, but did my best to keep up with the other volunteers, especially Lisa Ballantyne. The whole operation was wonderfully organized. I was lucky to be part of that event,” he added.


Now Tom has his eye on getting Rogersburg (D69) reopened near the confluence of the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers along the Oregon-Washington border. Volunteer pilots from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington have been involved, and Tom hopes that together with the RAF, recreational access can be restored.

By Carmine Mowbray

Submitted March 14, 2024

By Carmine Mowbray

    Recent Posts

RAF OUTFITTER AUGUST FEATURED COLLECTION

August 5, 2026
FEATURING: TOOL ROLLS Whether you’re heading to the hangar, the backcountry, or your next work party, staying organized matters. The RAF Tool Roll keeps your essential tools secure, accessible, and ready when you need them most. Designed to fit conveniently in your airplane or vehicle, it features multiple zippered pouches, labeled compartments, and a durable roll-up design with built-in handles for easy transport. No more digging through a loose toolbox or searching for that one tool you need. Keep your gear organized to spend less time looking and more time flying!

FEATURED AIRSTRIP: TAYLOR FLAT, UT

By Carmine Mowbray • July 31, 2026
Landing and camping at Taylor Flat airstrip puts your tent only a stone’s throw from the wild and scenic Green River, as it carves through spectacular Utah canyons. You can tie down and camp under your wing along the north side of the airstrip, or walk to the river and camp. Just 34 nm northeast of Vernal, you can now land at this high, remote BLM airstrip and enjoy its world-class fly fishing, but be sure to get your license before you arrive. If you packed your kayak or inflatable, there’s a boat ramp just west of the public campground. An easy 1.8-mile walk from the airstrip takes you to the historic 1880 John Jarvie Ranch, an open-air museum with hands-on exhibits showing pioneer ranch life in this remote northeast corner of Utah. This airstrip had lain dormant for thirty years, and is now open for public non-commercial use, thanks to pilots who recognized its special recreational value. The RAF worked through the steps to see that the BLM reopened it. One restoration work weekend brought twenty-five volunteers from both Utah Back Country Pilots (UBCP) and the RAF who hand-picked rocks from the airstrip, painted them, and used them to mark the runway corners and thresholds. UBCP provided a new windsock pole for the new RAF windsock. RAF Utah Liaison Wendy Lessig said, “It was another demonstration of working together toward the same goal.” There are no other amenities, so be prepared with what you need, and as always, please pack everything out. Those using the airstrip are asked to be mindful of the sensitive environmental area, marked with 16-ft X’s, creating a displaced threshold on the east end of the dirt runway. The useable runway length is 2,500 feet, and the field elevation is 5,630. The area east of the runway is hazardous to aircraft operations. In addition to being a sensitive environmental area, it. is cross-crossed with ditches, and is not safe for aircraft use. Taylor Flat is another special recreational destination for pilots to visit as RAF works across the country on Expanding The Map! Find more on Taylor Flat in the Airfield Guide . You may also find user reports here on the UBCP website . Submitted July 31, 2026 By Carmine Mowbray

RAF GRANT ADDS CAMPGROUND AMENITIES AT ESTCOURT STATION

July 30, 2026
RAF Maine Liaison Andy Rowe and former Maine Liaison/now Ambassador Steve Mason have long been advocating for and organizing improvements at several airfields in North Maine, in cooperation with North Maine Woods (NMW). Rowe was awarded an RAF grant for materials to add a shelter, picnic table, and outhouse at Estcourt Airfield (19ME) and organized RAF and NMW volunteers to provide labor.

RAF EXPANDS THE MAP WITH "FLY ROCKY TOP" AIRSTRIP NETWORK

July 29, 2026
The new Fly Rocky Top airstrip network, developed by the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF), is now open to backcountry aviation enthusiasts. Located in East Tennessee, Fly Rocky Top is a "basecamp and outpost" concept for regional aviation exploration, adding the Southeast to a growing collection of well-recognized recreational airstrip networks across the country, including Fly Oz in Arkansas and others in the West and Southwest. Fly Rocky Top is the most significant achievement to date of the RAF's Expanding the Map initiative, a nationwide effort focused on opening, improving, and restoring access to airstrips, helping connect aviators to more of the places they love to explore. Named and inspired by local culture, each Fly Rocky Top airstrip has unique features, amenities, and recreational options that embody the mission and spirit of the RAF. The new network is in the heart of a region nationally recognized for its unique topography that includes the Obed Wild and Scenic River, Big South Fork National Recreation Area, Cumberland Plateau, and Great Smoky Mountains… altogether a landscape uniquely suited to backcountry aviation. Rockwood Municipal Airport, RKW, anchors the network with its 2,400-ft manicured turf landing area and is designed with backcountry flyers in mind. Rockwood Aviation, which operates RKW, offers products and services for pilots to engage in tailwheel, backcountry, and recreational flying, including training, service, and support. City of Rockwood Mayor Jason Jolly highlighted the significance of Rockwood Airport to the community and East Tennessee. Mayor Jolly said, "We are a national recreation destination and the progress at Rockwood Airport and the surrounding network of airstrips is just the latest step in our region's growth and development for adventurers and enthusiasts." The Fly Rocky Top network is unique in that the initial collection of airstrips – with more planned – are a combination of both public lands and privately owned property with the common desire to welcome the flying public. Specific new airstrips in the Fly Rocky Top network include Smuggler's Landing, a grass landing area at RKW (with tent camping and a welcoming pavilion planned), McGraw's Backyard (5TN4), Robbin's Farm, and Tellico Plains (85TN). An additional outpost, Sawbriar, will be ready in August 2026. More airstrips are in the process of being added and will appear on the Fly Rocky Top webpage . Plans continue to add amenities to each RAF Fly Rocky Top airstrip, including accessible flush toilets and timber-framed shelters where camping is available. Other attractions include access to world-class upland bird hunting, hiking, some of the nation’s best trout fishing, kayaking/canoeing on the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers, and a 44-mile Water Trail on Beaver Creek. Select airstrips have access to meals and accommodations. RAF Co-founder and Chairman John McKenna highlighted what makes this opening so important. “Fly Rocky Top is not just a new airstrip network; it’s also a group of pilots who are passionate about aviation, stewardship, and the great outdoors,” he said. “Fly Rocky Top will connect Southeast pilots, landowners, and outdoor enthusiasts alike with the shared mission to preserve access to the region's wild beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities.”

VOLUNTEERS FLY IN FOR ANNUAL WORK AT SCHAFER MEADOWS

July 29, 2026
RAF Montana Liaison Scott Newpower organizes the annual Montana Pilots Association and RAF cooperative work party at Schafer Meadows USFS airstrip, and on Saturday, July 18, nearly two dozen volunteers flew in to help. The airstrip lies in the Great Bear Wilderness, so work is limited to hand tools. A special thanks to Montana Aeronautics Aviation Support Officer Stephen Torske and the team at MT Aeronautics for their support.