So....anyway, once at the site where I wanted to take a picture, I realized the lighting was so bad, and there had been so little construction progress due to harvest time I didn't even bother. This was the very remote house I worked at (and landed at) a few weeks ago, where the guy's young wife offered up that she had told her husband that if they were going to build out in the boonies, let's build WAY out, so she could run around naked. What a good woman
So, with that out of the way, I decided to cruise down the valley a few miles to the site of the largest solar array in Idaho, a 1,000 KW system a farmer put in to run some pivots lines, this was good timing as I was due later that day to meet with the Idaho Power inspector to sign off on my new 3 KW grid tie system at home, (in addition to my micro-hydro, wind and existing solar, all grid tied) and I figured he'd like to see this huge setup (in another utility area, so new to him). Pretty shameless brown nosing, but it worked, I got signed off!
I had noticed some likely looking possible landing sites on the way, at the 6500' level of the 8k+ mountains that line both sides of the valley, and after the usual multiple low level passes, committed to landing. It went like I planned, except I got a bit slow before turning around, and it was too steep to let that happen. I had gotten distracted after landing by some obstacles on the sides, nothing major but I had to avoid them in the turn around and that's when I let her get too slow before getting aimed fully back down the hill. Full throttle wouldn't move it, and I wasn't straight uphill but already partially turned around, so it was one of the steeper ones for sure. Only one thing to do:lock the uphill brake, get out, and horse the tail around just far enough to make it possible, once back in and fired up, to complete the turn around. Not TOO far down hill or it may get away from me, but I have done this before and have never lost it yet. In times like this it's real nice to have a 85 lb tail weight with the entire plane around 750 lbs, I wouldn't want to do this by myself in a Maule or 180.
So, one brake locked up via the Matco parking brake, I start to get out, and that's when I notice that I'm venting fuel out the downhill wing like a SOB. No surprise there, I had filled the tanks to the max a few days before, in anticipation of flying to Sheridan Wy., but the WX made that not happen. And I'd be damned if I was going to screw around and drain fuel before my earlier takeoff. So here I was with almost max fuel, and the vent system, which at least is under the wing, was dribbling fuel out at a rate as fast as a 1/4" line can gravity feed, and at almost 4 bucks a gallon this inspired me to hurry the hell out of the plane to get that tail around.
Just as I stepped out, I felt something squishy, and then the downhill wing slowly lowered until the wingtip gently contacted the ground. I looked down, and the 29" Airstreak was FOLDED OVER.....I was sitting right on the rim! This was not good, and I immediately pushed up on the LE and the tire somewhat recovered, long enough for me to grab the tail and get her turned enough to take some the side hill pressure off the sidewall, just enough so it didn't collapse again but it was twitchy, real twitchy. I had my small bike tire pump on board, but decided it'd take too long too add some air. Meanwhile, I'm still venting fuel, so time to go. I opened my rarely used right door, and awkward as it was, managed to climb in the uphill side, real gingerly, as it still felt like that tire could roll over and play dead again. Strapped in, I fired it up and immediately goosed the throttle, giving it a little left rudder, and that pointed it down hill enough to where everything felt normal. The takeoff took maybe 40 to 50', and I was confident enough to land it again (the getting back on the horse that threw you scenario, plus it eyeballed OK) and this time didn't lollygag the turnaround and it went as it should. Another few landings on other ridge sides (had to burn off that excess fuel) and I headed home. The tire had rebounded to it's normal shape, and no signs of distress were evident. This was a quick pic I took after I got it mostly turned, and I had in the past past considered this normal for this degree of side slope, in other words I have seen this before, but not with full fuel, and it turns out, less then 2 PSI.
Since I used some of that NOFLAT goop in my tires, it has eliminated the need to check the pressure as often, as in almost never. I had last checked it around 2 months ago, and since then just eyeballed them, they always look squishy, that's how I have learned to like them. The "good" tire was at 2.75 lbs., and the "bad" one was at 1.75, I have no way of knowing if the trauma forced some air out, or if the already too low pressure then caused the roll over. Needless to say, I will keep a closer eye on my tire pressure in the future, and may bump it up to an even 3, the really good news is even in this extreme the Airstreak bounced back, and most importantly didn't come off the wheel. BTW, For those who don't know, the Airstreaks are clearly labeled "MIN PRESSURE 6 LBS PSI".
So, in no way is this meant as dissing the tire, let's get that straight, rather, an illustration on how much abuse it can take and still recover, No pictures of it folded over (4 bucks a gallon remember), but I did snap one quick one after I get it mostly turned around, here it is mostly recovered.
I thought I might check out a canyon 40 miles away that had some interesting caves and rock formations, but before I could head out I got a call for a crane job the next day for a contractor who's brother was building a home that I had done some crane work on a few weeks earlier, so just like that, the days mission changed to flying the opposite direction, a few valleys over, to take some aerials of the the new house to give to my contractor customer to give to his brother. I had just taken off when I saw a neighboring landowner in the field below me watering his trees and checking on his horses, and after an interrogative wing waggle and a corresponding wave back (meaning " I see you. got time to BS?" And "Yeah, come on down") I whipped her around and plopped into the horse's pasture. The long field right above the pickup, my place up above a ways.
Then we were able to finally get down to some good neighborhood gossip, which involved another guy in the area stealing water (6" line stuck in the small creek, stealing it from my buddy who has the official water rights) and how the same character is grazing his cattle on land not his, unbeknownst to the out of town owners, and is also starting a trench line across another piece of ground also not his and no permission. The same guy cuts across my property.....enough of that, back to flying! A sweet little horse pasture/airstrip eh?? 
I was headed straight out from here, across a couple of those ridge lines in the distance, where I had an adventure concerning one of my 29" Airstreaks. That'll be part 2 I guess, got to get to work.
