Elaine McPlane, a white Piper Cherokee Archer with a navy stripe, on short final over snow-covered lakefront houses at Alton Bay.

Elaine McPlane

N56970 · Piper PA-28-180 · 1974

The aircraft

She is a 1974 Piper Cherokee Archer — four seats, one propeller, and a cruise speed a determined car could argue with. Ed and Todd bought her together in 2023 and have split her between Lawrence and Laconia ever since.

Her name is not an accident. It is, however, the only unserious thing about her.

Data plate

Manufacturer
Piper Aircraft Corporation
Model
PA-28-180 Cherokee Archer
Year
1974
Engine
Lycoming O-360-A4A  ·  180 hp
Registration
N56970
Seats
4
Based
KLWM  ·  KLCI
Co-owned since
2023
Elaine McPlane taxiing on the plowed ice runway, her pilot visible in the left seat wearing a headset.

B18 Alton Bay, New Hampshire

The runway melts in April

Each winter, once the ice on Lake Winnipesaukee is thick enough to trust, a runway gets plowed onto it. Alton Bay is the only FAA-recognized ice runway in the lower 48 — open for a few weeks a year, and closed the moment it stops being a good idea.

Every photograph on this page was taken there.

The landing

View from inside the cockpit on approach to the ice runway, the pilot at the controls in a red flannel shirt.

Alton Bay Ice Runway  ·  14 February 2026

Elaine McPlane on approach above the snowy shoreline with her landing gear down.