Low time pilot. 6,000 ft airfield. Hot summers.

Cessna 182, preferably as light as possible with the biggest engine possible and bigger than stock tires. Oh ya, and the best instruction you can find no matter the cost.

Kurt

Cessna 120/140 with a O-200 engine and a flight instructor who knows up from down, hot from cold, and north from south.

It'd help if they were skinny.

And cute...

Learn how to use natural energy and the wing. The bigger the engine, the harder it will be to learn low ground effect acceleration, wind energy, down drainage takeoff, energy management 1g turn, orograraphic lift, and thermal lift. With a big engine, perhaps you will never need this extra energy. Perhaps you will.

Learning about mountain flying is not about the plane.

The one you own.

MTV

Thanks for all the comments. Helpful

I'd recommend you take up radio control slope soaring. You'll learn a lot figuring out how to keep those gliders up in the air for as long as you like.

The features of the ground will slowly unlock the mysteries of the invisible air for you. You'll begin to understand it as if it was a fluid.

You don't need anything fancy...there are cheap ready to fly ones on the market now.

You can even buy a simulator for your computer and fly the exact airplane you are buying. You can learn to fly it without crashing (in real life) a single time!

Check out Realflight at Horizonhobby.com for the simulator and they also sell the disposable gliders too.

If RC isn't your thing, get in a Cub or Champ and go to the Sierra Nevada mountains with a competent instructor.

Whoever mentioned earlier that your instructor should be skinny and cute is very smart! [emoji16] (EDIT: Hammer...of course [emoji1360] )

mtv wrote:The one you own.

MTV

It would be nice if you had 200 hrs on it. Knowing how the plane feels is advisable.

Then go spend some time with Lori Mcnichols in McCall.

soaringhiggy wrote:Then go spend some time with Lori Mcnichols in McCall.

+1 (it's "MacNichol") I had probably 600 hours and had a couple of "mountain checkouts" before I stumbled into McCall in '96. That first lesson was life-changing. I finally learned how the airplane wanted to be flown, and it was radically different from what I'd been doing. That's when I really fell in love with flying.

Aryana wrote:The features of the ground will slowly unlock the mysteries of the invisible air for you. You'll begin to understand it as if it was a fluid. )

Ummmm, Air IS in fact a fluid.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

MTV

Ok. Got the idea across anyway. interesting how many ways are on the net, not the best source around.

However, the statement I stand by.

mtv wrote:

Aryana wrote:The features of the ground will slowly unlock the mysteries of the invisible air for you. You'll begin to understand it as if it was a fluid. )

Ummmm, Air IS in fact a fluid.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

MTV

Of course it is. But most people don't realize that until they get an opportunity to get intimate with how it interacts with terra firma. This is hampered by the fact that air is invisible.

Learning to fly a non powered RC glider with light wing loading drives this lesson home. You get to become familiar with the exact moment you cross the boundary layer from the windward side of the hill and fight to control the glider through the rotors and downdrafts on the backside. Then learning how to exploit the terrain and wind for lift and speed. The really good pilots can break the speed limit under the class B airspace local to me. Some get going as fast as 400+ mph using dynamic soaring techniques (unpowered flight).

The big planes fly just like the little ones.

When in turbulent conditions, especially in mountainous areas, I explain to folks it's like the rapids in white water rafting...the way air hits a mountain and churns on the downwind side is the same as water accelerating over some rocks in a riverbed to create a whitewater rapid.

I've found my hang gliding experience to be helpful not only for mountain flying, but when doing crane work, my day job. You wouldn't believe the number of times I have to tell some rube to put the damn tag line on the upwind end of the load, as you can't push on a rope! I'd say the lighter and more under powered the Aircraft the better, but with a big wing, something like a T-Craft.

Hang gliding must really teach you a thing or two! I've never done it but I bet you can really feel the air in a way unlike anything else. [emoji1360]

A powerful plane will only teach you bad habits.

First and foremost you want to learn, from a good instructor, how to manage energy and fly safely regardless of the aircraft.

Hang Gliding in the mountains is an incredible teacher.

Kurt

At Ag Flight in Georgia, my Arkansas students couldn't believe I would recommend pitching down in a strong downdraft. I turned to my Spanish student, a competition paraglider, and asked, "What do you do in downdrafts?" " Go fast, go fast," he answered.

A good instructor, low horsepower, and low wing loading. Taylorcraft, Cessna 120/140, and others like that fall in this category. Gliders too meet the criteria (lowest horsepower around!). "Ridge soaring" is what you are after. Mucho horsepower will teach you nothing; you can solve problems with horsepower, but a proper mountain flyer relies on many other tools as well. The RC Glider suggestion is fantastic and well worth playing with.

As others have said, it's about learning the flow of the fluid (air) over the terrain and how to interpret the situation you are in (lift, sink, rotor, nothing, etc.). How to find the lift, how to fly with an out, how to interpret the terrain before you get on it to make the conditions work for you as best as possible.

Oh and don't SSCBD (Stall, Spin, Crash, Burn, Die).