I got the sense the Cub was feeling left out so I took it for a sunset patrol this evening.






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Here are some shots from a trip to Gunnison a couple of weekends ago with my wife and dogs. We lucked out with great weather, as you can see! I wish I could have made it down to La Garita last weekend, but that wasn't in the cards this year.

Early morning departure out of Boulder:



Fall colors northwest of Bailey:



Crossing South Park:



Mount Yale:



Dog taking in the view:



Taxiing out for the trip home:



Dogs bundled up (it got down into the 20's overnight):



The sagebrush hills east of Gunni in the morning light:




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Great pictures!

Outstanding pictures Matt! Thank you for sharing!!

Great pics Alex!

The flying conditions on the Front Range continue to be stellar this Fall! I know we need the moisture, but for now I'm just enjoying the clear calm weather. This morning was cool enough to feel a good boost in performance but warm enough to fly with the door open in the Cub. I really didn't want to call it a day.




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Congratulations Felix, she's a beauty!

handsrdirty wrote:Very nice plane, I got a close look at it this morning. Just moved my Highlander into the hangar space next to you.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Felix, was that you going into Metro yesterday? I was going over the top at the time. I took my boy down to the springs to visit the WWII aviation museum and we had a great morning.

We should get together and talk shop....

Felix wrote:The flying conditions on the Front Range continue to be stellar this Fall! I know we need the moisture, but for now I'm just enjoying the clear calm weather. This morning was cool enough to feel a good boost in performance but warm enough to fly with the door open in the Cub. I really didn't want to call it a day.




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Great photos, looks like your double pups enjoy the ride, too!

soyAnarchisto - wouldn't have been me going into Metro. That place is too busy for me!

I agree...let's get together. It will be good to catch up!

soyAnarchisto wrote:Felix, was that you going into Metro yesterday? I was going over the top at the time. I took my boy down to the springs to visit the WWII aviation museum and we had a great morning.

We should get together and talk shop....


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You should've seen me down at KCOS! It's pretty dead down there, but man they sure like to throw a lot of information at you to get out of there. I think I had to read back like 4 times and still screwed it up pretty good. I probably should start carrying a pencil and paper into Charlie airspace.

This weekend I put the toolbox away, re-cowled the 180 with the help of my hangar neighbor handsrdirty, and took a trip.

Aside from flying, my other passion is technical diving. My buddies and I make regular trips to a deep spring-fed lake in the high desert of Eastern New Mexico to train and keep our skills sharp over the winter months. Ordinarily the trip involves six hours of driving each way, and we typically take a three or four day weekend to make the drive worth it. Work doesn't always allow for that time off, and I end up skipping some trips. That would have been the case this past weekend were it not for a beautiful weather forecast and a 180 now out of mx! Buddies who were willing to drive the heaviest of my gear (tanks) while I made the 2-hour flight also helped.

So, with a nice goal in mind I loaded up my gear and the lighter, more compact of my two dogs for a pre-dawn departure on Saturday. The air was calm, the sky clear, and the MOAs cold, so I flew pretty much direct. This took me west of Pikes Peak, just east of the Spanish Peaks, and out over the grassy plains and mesas of northern New Mexico.

The Flatirons in the early morning light:



Northern reaches of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range as seen from the east:



La Veta Pass and the San Luis Valley under morning valley fog:



Passing by the steep talus slopes of East Spanish Peak:



Over the Colorado/New Mexico border looking out over the grasslands of Northeast New Mexico:



I descended into the Santa Rosa area and circled the lake. Everyone was suiting up for a dive, so I figured I'd have a little time to kill before I got an airport pickup.

The Lake:



I landed at the Santa Rosa Airport (KSXU) and taxied over to the t-hangars. I had called the airport manager earlier in the week, and he invited me to park overnight in any unlocked T-hangar free of charge, so long as I bought some fuel. So, I shut down and set about unpacking and pushed the plane into the first open hangar I found.

On the ground and unloaded:



Not totally comforted by what I found on the hangar door:



Another shot of the plane soaking in the New Mexico sun before getting pushed into the hangar:



With time to kill the dog and I walked to the nearby truck stop for a cup of coffee. With no traffic around I decided to walk the length of the runway to remove a few sticks and rocks that I saw on the runway surface during landing.



About this time my airport pickup arrived and we headed for the lake, which is about five miles from the airfield. Conditions on Saturday were incredible on the surface and in the water. Calm winds are a rarity in this part of the world, and the lake was mirror-flat. I felt a little rusty from not diving in a while and considering I was planning on flying home the following afternoon elected to dive shallow. One of my buddies, Jessy, was cool with that plan and we geared up for a dive to 150 feet (the lake is nearly 300 feet deep). Beautiful dive. In the afternoon we scootered the shallows looking for turtles and the lake's resident large bass.

The dog at the lake:



As the sun set we headed into town for dinner at a diner and a night in a motel. I was pretty beat after getting up at 4:30 that morning!

Sunday morning we got to the lake early so folks could get a dive in before heading home. Those who were diving did a 180' dive, but I sat that dive out. Keeping an eye on the weather I saw that winds along the front range were picking up. With the expectation that they would moderate later in the afternoon I planned for a mid-afternoon departure. I also elected to stay over lower terrain and pick up flight following once in the urban corridor.

Pretty mesas on climb out from Santa Rosa:



Weather obscuring Pikes Peak north of Pueblo:



Sun punching through the clouds over the Palmer Divide:



Back to the rat race for another workweek!



Winds in Boulder were blowing 15G23 out of the west when I landed. That made for a sporty landing and left me eager to get out one of these weekends to flog the pattern and really learn the nuances of this plane. Maybe I'll grab one of you local 180 guys to tell me what I'm doing wrong!

Looks like you are doing everything right to me! Nice work!

When the weather has been good, I haven't had time. When I have had time, the weather has been crummy. Finally got out after a month of no flying. With the cold weather and a Broncos game going on, I pretty much had the skies to myself. [emoji106]






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We sure had some good flying weather along the Front Range over the weekend, didn't we? With the unseasonably warm temperatures I threw on a mid-weight jacket and pulled the cub out for some open-door flying. I shot a little video with the GoPro and stitched a short film together on my phone with GoPro's app. Came out OK even with their canned music and effects.



If you prefer, here is the raw footage of a takeoff and landing with music by Continental:

It has been a while since I’ve made a log book entry (not that I haven’t been flying). My 180 has been in and out of service as I’ve worked towards balancing flying and resolving minor annoying squawks. Even so, I’ve put about 100 hours in the log between the 180 and the J-3 over the past six months. I’m tremendously thankful for the privilege to take to the sky regularly.

Thanksgiving week in Colorado was so pretty and I got to experience some truly amazing flying. I hope you all enjoyed some time off and had the chance to fly!

Against the scowls of my boss I ended my workweek on Tuesday in order to leave early on Wednesday to fly from Platte Valley to Gunnison. It was a great day to fly the Rockies - some wind over the passes but reasonably smooth. I followed a C-130 on a training mission across Monarch Pass and chatted with them as they set up for some touch-and-goes in Gunnison.


Fossil Ridge after crossing Monarch Pass

Thanksgiving morning I got up early with my brother to do some flying. I’d plugged the plane in, but the frost had fallen hard overnight and a high layer of cirrostratus blocked the sun until mid-morning. So, much time passed shivering before the wings melted clean.









Finally, we set off on the day’s adventure: a brief flight down to Quarter Circle-Circle Ranch, which is a great backcountry airstrip that sits atop a smooth plateau in a high and broad mountain valley. Upon landing we walked the strip. The wind was dead-calm, and there was positively no sound outside of our voices and footsteps. The sun was radiant by then, and the scenery incredible.







The next afternoon I tried to get my other brother in to QCC, but the winds aloft were mixing down to the ground which translated to a bumpy flight and a dancing windsock. I elected to not land and instead we took an aerial tour of Sawtooth Mountain and Blue Mesa Reservoir.


Afternoon flight over Powderhorn.

The next day (Saturday) the winds aloft were forecasted to lay down, making a trip into Utah feasible. Having learned the lesson about frost, I splurged for a night in the heated hangar. That enabled a pre-dawn departure.



We watched the sunrise play out before us as we crossed the CO/UT border and enjoyed the low light on the red rocks.



Overflying Mexican Mountain we observed two planes on the ground and calm winds. Midway through the rollout I felt the plane pulling hard left. A shot of power and right rudder and brake kept it straight. Once I parked and shut down I jumped out to see what I feared I would: a completely flat tail wheel tire. Thankfully, the other two planes at the strip belonged to none other than Grassstrippilot and amacbean, who not only lent technical expertise and tools but invited us over for pancakes. (Thanks Cory and Allen - I owe you breakfast and a can of fix-a-flat!)







After a visit to the petroglyphs and behind schedule due to the flat tire, we figured we should begin the trip back to Gunnison. Tailwinds made for a quick trip back to “base” and we were tied down by noon. Unfortunately, the fix-a-flat didn’t hold and we limped from the grass runway across the main runway across the stern glares of jet pilots lining up for takeoff. Fortunately, Avflight Gunnison had a spare tube and tire on the shelf, so I gathered some of my dad’s old tools from my mom’s place and set about changing out the tire on the ramp.

On Sunday afternoon it was time to return to the rat race. The mountain passes were again breezy and pireps along the foothills suggested I was in for a bumpy ride. As I bounced my way in over the metro area and whisked by downtown, I reflected on an amazing Thanksgiving spent with family and enhanced with flying.


The office awaiting my return.

Felix wrote:.... Once I parked and shut down I jumped out to see what I feared I would: a completely flat tail wheel tire. Thankfully, the other two planes at the strip belonged to none other than Grassstrippilot and amacbean, who not only lent technical expertise and tools but invited us over for pancakes. (Thanks Cory and Allen - I owe you breakfast and a can of fix-a-flat!).....
Unfortunately, the fix-a-flat didn’t hold and we limped from the grass runway across the main runway across the stern glares of jet pilots lining up for takeoff. Fortunately, Avflight Gunnison had a spare tube and tire on the shelf, so I gathered some of my dad’s old tools from my mom’s place and set about changing out the tire on the ramp. .....

FWIW I carry an old t/w tire and tube as spares.
Also a spare tube for my 850 mains.
I figure most airports won't have either on hand.
and they don't take up much room.
I also carry a tool kit (including a jack point), but would have to borrow or improvise a jack.

Good call, Hotrod. There hasn't been on-field maintenance at Gunnison for years and I assumed they wouldn't have anything resembling a parts department. I'd already thought through a sequence of events wherein I would ride back to Denver in the car with my wife, snag my spare tire and tube from the hangar, and jump an airliner or bum a ride with a friend back to Gunnison to do the work. FedEx and UPS also offer expedient services, but on a holiday weekend I thought I could beat them.

Asa asked me what I'd do or carry differently. I try optimize the weight and versatility of everything I put in the plane. I have basic tools (sockets, pliers, wrenches), so those are a given and were already onboard. A spare tailwheel tube is going in the kit. I suppose an 850 tube spare makes sense, too, since those might not be stocked by some maintenance departments. I carry a bike pump in the Cub to adjust the pressure of the Airstreaks. I think a bike pump goes in the 180 now, too. A spare valve stem seems like a wise addition. Finally, two cans of fix-a-flat (one for me, and one to give to Cory the next time I see him). I also like the ounce of prevention afforded by a prophylactic application of Stan's NoTubes. I had put some in my tailwheel to guard against the goat heads that plague the Front Range, but it had either dried out or been overwhelmed by whatever damage occurred to the tube on this trip.

Any other suggestions?

I'm glad you were able to get over to UT this fall. I enjoyed the pictures and write up. I keep a spare tube and patch kit in the plane, even used it at OSH this year due to this same situation.