![Amrat Chugani is one of Florida’s RAF represenatives. He enjoys flying and camping across the state. [Credit: Recreational Aviation Foundation]](https://planeandpilotmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-05-at-11.21.54-AM.jpg)
When most pilots think of Florida flying, they picture GPS approaches or pattern work over the beaches. But there’s another Florida out there, one measured in turf runways, campfire smoke, and the sound of a guitar under the stars.
The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) has been steadily cultivating that version of the Sunshine State for years.
The flagship of the RAF’s efforts in Florida, where I serve as the nonprofit organization’s state liaison, remains Arcadia Municipal Airport (X06), a turf gem tucked beside the small DeSoto County town famous for its 98 year-old professional rodeo.
As pilots all know, aviation is a lot more than just flying from point A to point B. That’s why I count Arcadia among the experiences that define what recreational flying is really about.
What makes Arcadia special isn’t just the shaded semicircular taxiway that lets you park your plane under an oak tree. It’s the community that has grown around it.
Friends of Arcadia Airport (FOAA) has spent years working to breathe life back into the field and into the town itself. The group, supported by the RAF and a generous donation from the Florida Sport Aviation Antique and Classic Association (FSAACA), recently completed a 20-feet-by 30-feet pilot shelter, creating a gathering space for seminars, fly-in dinners, and the kind of unhurried conversation that only happens around shared food at a small airport.
The annual Arcadia Rodeo Weekend Fly-In has become a marquee event on the Florida calendar—an event where three generations park wingtip to wingtip, share home-cooked meals, and remind each other why they fell in love with flying. Upcoming work parties are in the pipeline, and the goal remains unchanged—keep Arcadia open and thriving.
Florida Panhandle’s Blackwater Airfield (8FD3) in Munson continues to set the standard for what a recreational airstrip can be.
Nestled in the 210,000-acre Blackwater River State Forest about 33 nm northeast of Pensacola, the smooth 4,000-foot turf field edges one of the most beautiful forested ecosystems in the Southeast. Since the RAF first partnered with Florida Forest Service in 2013, a cooperative relationship has yielded steady improvements that volunteers show up to maintain year after year.
The 2024 annual work party drew 26 workers who refreshed runway markers with white paint, installed a new RAF windsock and support sign, serviced the barbecue grills, and cut encroaching vegetation growth around the common areas. In December, another crew arrived—21 aircraft strong—for a weekend of work and camaraderie that RAF Florida ambassador Shane Hartman described as a testament to what makes Blackwater so special.
“From shared meals and campfire conversations to new friendships and lasting memories, Blackwater Field once again proved why it is such a special place,” Hartman said.
![Florida’s RAF scene is alive and well. Here is one of the groups after a work party. [Credit: Recreational Aviation Foundation]](https://planeandpilotmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1-Blackwater-RAF-20th-Anniversary-Celebration-2023.jpg?w=1024)
Plans are in motion to install a lockable wood storage shed, adding one more amenity to an airfield that already offers picnic tables, fire rings, barbecue grills, spring-fed swimming lake, suspension bridge trails, and camping among the longleaf pines.
To the south, the RAF has assisted in the effort to save Everglades Airpark (X01) in Everglades City after Collier County considered its potential deactivation, citing an operating deficit, Hurricane Ian-damaged hangars from 2022, and an unreliable fueling station. The RAF joined the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and a coalition of pilots, residents, and local officials in pushing back—and the effort paid off. By September, the county stepped back from the closure plans, giving the airpark a reprieve.
Alongside those established projects, the RAF’s Florida volunteers are actively exploring new relationships.
A promising conversation has opened between the organization and a private airfield owner who is working through the regulatory questions involved in opening his property to recreational use. Navigating liability frameworks, landowner protections, and access agreements is never simple, but it’s exactly the kind of groundwork the RAF was built to handle. If a path forward can be found, it would represent a meaningful addition to the state’s recreational aviation landscape.
Right now, Florida’s RAF volunteer energy reflects both the work that has been done and the work still to come. Whether it’s renewing old friendships around a Blackwater campfire, landing at Arcadia for the rodeo, or advocating for a vulnerable airfield in the Everglades, the mission is the same as always: Keep the runways open. the pilots flying, and the campfires lit.
For more information on RAF Florida projects, upcoming work parties, and how to become involved, visit theraf.org.
This feature first appeared in the July/August 2026 Issue of Plane + Pilot magazine.
