I will be heading out to West Yellowstone from the Oregon Coast to fish the Madison river in the middle of June. Looking for a good airport or backcountry strip to access the river. I will be flying my 160hp PA22/20 with a passenger and camping gear. Wondering if anyone has experience flying in this area.

Brent

Not far north and east of there is the Flying Y, a privately owned strip, which lies a mile or so from the Yellowstone. It's also just five or seven miles from Chico Hot Springs, a great old (and new) lodge, with reasonable rates, if you want a break from camping.

MTV

Which part of the Madison do you want to fish? Camping at WYS is great...bikes furnished to get to town, showers and firewood....pilot campgroung is owned/maintained by Montana Aeronautics....rental cars from terminal will get you into the park part of the Madison.....Ennis airport...ESK...used to be 5U3.. will allow access to lower sections. toilet and water but no showers there though.....airport is 7 miles from town but there are rental cars available in town that will deliver to airport....I fish the section below Ennis Lake dam regulaly....easy access and no boats....mostly nymphing but some good hatches sporatically during the day.....stop over at Twin Bridges...7S1....and fish the Ruby, Beaverhead, Jefferson and Bighole in one day.....for more info email me at [email protected]...

Thanks for the info.
I am meeting some friends out there and we are thinking of camping at 3 mile bridge. I can't seem to find this campground when I search google. I would like to find a strip as close to this area as I can. We will be fly fishing.

Also, Any good books or references/resources for mt. flying. I am a fairly low time pilot (200hrs). Although a lot of this has been off airport, I have not flown off of strips at this altitude. WYS field elevation is 6644ft.

Thanks again for any help or advice.

Brent

Brent,
That sounds like a fun trip. The best advice I can give you is to try and get the person you're meeting to bring all your camping gear, food, booze, waders, etc., even if that means mailing it to him in advance. Fly over with nothing but survival gear and a toothbrush and you'll be in MUCH better shape. I guess I'm assuming you'll be landing at a smaller strip. If you're landing at a large established airport, it's not as big a deal.

My numbers are just rough estimates, but at that altitude your engine will only be producing around 120hp at redline...much less during take off. Going light is probably your best insurance. Maybe you can plan it so you land and depart with minimal fuel, then gas up at a larger, lower airfield a short time after take off.

Density altitude is another factor which you might not deal with a lot on the Oregon coast. It probably will be a factor near the Park. Landing and taking off as early in the AM as possible will do a lot towards keeping the DA to a minimum.

There is a lot of info out there...the Mountain Flying Bible has some good numbers, but nothing will really make it clear until you experience the joys of using up 4500 feet of runway just to claw weakly into the air.

highroad wrote:Thanks for the info.
I am meeting some friends out there and we are thinking of camping at 3 mile bridge. I can't seem to find this campground when I search google. I would like to find a strip as close to this area as I can. We will be fly fishing.

Also, Any good books or references/resources for mt. flying. I am a fairly low time pilot (200hrs). Although a lot of this has been off airport, I have not flown off of strips at this altitude. WYS field elevation is 6644ft.

Thanks again for any help or advice.

Brent

You might mean Three Dollar Bridge. That's an access for the Madison.

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishing/guide/q_Madis ... 59269.aspx

Hammer,
Thanks for the reply. I need to get a sectional of the area to plan the trip but I was thinking of trying to have light fuel loads when landing at the high elevation strips and fueling up down lower if that is possible near by. I had not thought of sending my gear (minus survival etc.) along with friends or shipping it to them. Great idea.

Brent