WORTH THE READ: BILL MCGLYNN EDITORIAL

Our many RAF supporters have such vast and varied experience, and we’re capturing some of their words of wisdom to share with you. This guest editorial is by Bill McGlynn, President of the RAF.

Camping at an international airport?


Every once in a while, I have to pinch myself to appreciate what we in the RAF have accomplished in the past 23 years. 


Here I am, unpacking my camping gear for an overnight stay en route to Oshkosh, while a Southwest Airlines 737 roars down runway 12 on departure. What a juxtaposition camping at Bozeman’s Yellowstone International airport is, just yards from the hustle and bustle of departure gates.


This was to be night number one in a series of camping stops across the northern tier of the US. Night two was planned to be Spearfish, SD, nights three and four at Gillette’s Lakewood Lodge, WI finishing up at Green Bay, WI - (yes, too chicken to fly into OSH in a single pilot airplane). 


The trip had to be reconfigured, unfortunately, due to smoke in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but I at least got one good camping night at the Bozeman RAF shelter - I would hunch, one of the best-kept secrets in backcountry flying. 

Think about that for a moment. Twenty-one years ago, a group of RAF volunteers looked at a busy commercial airport and saw something nobody else did: a place where recreational pilots could land, pitch a tent and spend the night. They found the materials, supplied the labor and made it happen. What they left behind was a really nice sturdy brick and wood beam structure with two bathrooms, each with a walk-in shower, sinks, flush toilets, and even a kitchen sink. There are picnic tables, a BBQ, Adirondack chairs, 120v outlets, and plenty of room for tents and airplanes in the green grass tarmac in front of the shelter. You can’t want too much more in backcountry camping, other than a fire pit, which is maybe a bridge too far for this campsite. Arlin’s Aircraft Service is next door and Millionaire FBO will come fill you up with the fuel truck for the same price as self-serve. You start feeling pretty special while you fire up your JetBoil to make some coffee as the sun rises over the Bridger Mountains. 

Some might say the campsite is somewhat noisy, but I personally enjoy the sound of GE CFM 56’s all wound up ready for rotation. For even more entertainment you can tune your portable to the tower and keep up with everyone's coming and going while you lean back in your chair and sip your coffee. 


Absolutely positively, some of the enjoyment of this experience is the fact that you’re literally airplane camping at a very busy commercial airport, with more than 60 airline arrivals and departures everyday - complete with TSA and CBP officers cruising around and you are absolutely legal. I looked forward to the security guy stopping by but he just waved as he rolled past. 


The Airfield Guide now contains more than 400 places worth flying to. Some are remote strips beside rivers or tucked into mountain valleys. A few, improbably, sit alongside airline terminals. 


But behind so many of them is the same story: someone saw a place worth flying to and decided pilots ought to be able to experience it.


That, to me, is one of the most remarkable things about the RAF. We don’t just protect airstrips.


We create reasons to fly.


Oh, and next time you’re close to Bozeman, don’t forget to stop in and spend a night or two. 

Submitted August 25, 2026

Posted in Guest Editorial, News

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