I had a great time flying below the trees today down the White river in Indiana, just like in the movies only at Mach 0.1 not 1.0. I finally got brave enough to land at a few gravel bars, all of which were around 5-600 feet long. I made about three approaches each time (about ten for the first one ) and dragged my wheels to see how soft they were. To my surprise they were all about like a normal gravel strip they just had exciting approaches.
Here are a few pics from my cell phone which makes the bars look huge, unlike they did on approach.

Nice to see you having fun.
A couple of cautionary advisories for you.
Make sure you're doing a recon run ABOVE the trees first on the stretches you'll be flying. You wouldn't be the first guy to go whipping through a set of wires doing what you're doing.
At least wait for your first ag seat to have a wire strike. The airplanes are equipped for it. Your little Citabria my flat crash (in the water no less) depending on how you hit them.
I'd watch those same bars later when things are thawed fully. You may be getting a false sense of solidity with the cold ground. Sometimes you don't break through until you stop as well. As in the case of parts of the Salt Lake bed! Don't ask me how I know but I didn't bend anything figuring it out either.
Be careful, you're starting to play in the big boy world now.

Yep for sure on the wires, just around that corner there is a set of High Tension lines I definitely don't want to test...
So I guess a wise move would be to do a test drag every time just in case...

Sweet.

Those pictures bring back memories of fishing in Southern Indiana. My parents are from Washington County.

looks like you are having fun!

WK

Yes, be careful out there. I would stay away from the sandy ( = muddy) ones. You'll have to come over to eastern Ohio this spring.

Hey Mongo! Did you bring along extra underwear?

Great going! Keep up the fun!

I have a funny story about underwear.
While on a flight the other day to go see about towing some gliders this spring I Sharted at 3000'...
I must say it was very hard to get them of while flying with a stick, maybe yokes are ok..
Once I got them off ( and cleaned up a bit ) I through them out the window,nothing like a good old crap bomb.

Mongo wrote:I have a funny story about underwear.
While on a flight the other day to go see about towing some gliders this spring I Sharted at 3000'...
I must say it was very hard to get them of while flying with a stick, maybe yokes are ok..
Once I got them off ( and cleaned up a bit ) I through them out the window,nothing like a good old crap bomb.

Hahaha! Trust me, it is no easier with a yoke!

Looks like a great time

Heck, all my gravel bars have 8" of snow on them now, glad I hit them when I did! That'd be a whole 'nother can of worms, and I'm not going there. Luckily the ski area above will be opening finally, any year I only have a day or two between end of flying and start of snowboarding is a good one. Mongo: were you happy with the result, in other words did you land and get off about where you planned to? No surprises in other words...thats what its all about.

courierguy wrote:Heck, all my gravel bars have 8" of snow on them now, glad I hit them when I did! That'd be a whole 'nother can of worms, and I'm not going there. Luckily the ski area above will be opening finally, any year I only have a day or two between end of flying and start of snowboarding is a good one. Mongo: were you happy with the result, in other words did you land and get off about where you planned to? No surprises in other words...thats what its all about.

Yeah, I was good on the first bar but on one of the others I slid on top of the snow too much and I would have been way long had I stuck with it, I would have been wet.
When I started to slide I just added power, I will leave that one for another day.
I think the coolest part is if you have to follow the river and have to turn on the approach, or when the tail is up on departure and you have to follow the curve of the waters edge to have a long enough run.

Man, I am all revd up and ready to go again.

To bad that Santa forgot my Bushwheels this year

Yeah, it's not the big high tension wires that'll get you. Although the nearly invisible static wires running on the top of them with less sag may when you pull up and over them thinking you're good. That got a buddy of mine in 2003 in a Turbine Thrush, pulled up over the wires, thought he had it made, rolled into a left bank and caught the leading edge of the wing about five feet in from the tip with the static wires. Cartwheeled him in inverted.
It's the little two strand set that have a pole in each tree line on each side of the river that'll get you. You won't even see them or any sign of them until they're about to come through the windshield and lob your head off.
You're not an ag pilot yet and they have this big thick rule book for a reason. Watch how edgy you get down in my world until you learn about all of the things that can kill you. You'll hate having skill at the stop, relying on luck. It's one thing to scout a mile long stretch to land a bar and another to fly down a river for five or ten miles in fairly uncharted territory.
At least make a run up the river above the trees before you come back down lower.
Those little cables strung across rivers that people have little personal ferries on are even thicker too, they really tear your world apart with no wire cutters or tail deflector cable on your airplane. Most are steel, not copper like some wires. Copper pulls apart easier, steel just kills you. Another family friend with two others in a 172 woke up in three feet of water with the guy that was in the back (there was no real "back" anymore, mostly large pieces) asking if anyone could find his eyeball about ten seconds after coming around a bend in a river THEY KNEW. Apparently not as well as they thought. They caught a vertical three-strand of copper in a left bank. They never found his eye by the way.
You usually not only pay the power company for fixing the wire but the loss of income too.
Oh, and if you don't have your seaplane rating and you get to some bigger bodies of water and are screwing around down low watch the glassy water. It's easy as pie to fly right into it if you don't know what to look for.
I rode through a helicopter crash in 1994 as a passenger with a guy that did just that. I knew what to look for (I had my commercial seaplane at the time) but wasn't sure what he was doing so I basically let him fly us right into the water, all the while he thought we were at 300' right until we impacted! Watch that one too when playin' grab ass around water.
Hate to be a Debbie downer but you seem to like this stuff, make sure you're making the right decisions so you'll be around to enjoy being better at it.

I don't claim to be that knowledgeable on this topic (read posts from guys like G3^^ with both eyes open) but I have dabbled in flying down rivers, although not in my Cessna.

I learned to fly in an open cockpit lawnchair called a Quicksilver MX. Before I got old and turned into a big wussy, I would fly it down this one section of the Illinois River below treetop level. It was a narrow river too so it was game on the entire time, Death Star run zeroing on the reactor vent style. In addition to watching closely for poles along the river edge (easier to see than wires) I either flew above treetop level, or right on the water-- no dicking around in between. I flew under wires many times. My heart rate was severely elevated the whole time, like I was in some sort of race. I don't like flying like that anymore.

Like I said, I'm a big wuss now and get the willies thinking about it, just like I do when thinking about my multi-pitch rock climbing on natural protection days. I don't do that anymore, but given a nice big wide river and several good recon passes, I might.

Glad you're having fun, that 7GCBC looks like a sweet ship.

G3
Good to know about the wires you speak of,when it comes to flying down narrow river below tree tops, I think I will leave that to the movies from know on.

Playing on rivers and gravel bars have been some of my most memorable trips in a plane. My biggest fear has been other planes doing the same thing.
I met the turbine Sherpa last summer over the Willamette river on a corner, we past within 100 or so feet going in opposite directions.
I have always thought if I met another plane at the same altitude I would not pull up, but go down if I had the room, hoping the other guy would pull up out of instinct.
I know there are a lot of people that fly the Willamette river, some with a lot faster planes than mine, makes me wonder if it worth the risk.
Something I have been wanting to do, but have not had the kahunas to do yet, is touching the tires on the water.

That looks like a great time. Heed G3s words... The wires I worry about most on the rivers around here have nothing to do with power. They are the cables that are strung across at the depth metering stations. There are no series of poles, and no wire past the river to tell on them. There usually is a concrete or block tower in each bank though. There is no doubt in my mind clipping one in a light airplane would spell game over... And usually they are low enough that you might not even get under them water skiing... They appear to be 3/8 cable and are not marked around these parts...
I agree that the gravel is going to be way different when it's not so cold out, sand is going to present a whole new set of learning curves more rubber is good...
BTW, anyone ever hear anymore from the cat that stuck his Maule in the sand out on the San Juan ? Seems like he quit posting shortly after that.

Take care, Rob

lowflyin'G3 wrote:Be careful, you're starting to play in the big boy world now.

Amen!!!!!!!

Gump

1SeventyZ wrote:I don't claim to be that knowledgeable on this topic (read posts from guys like G3^^ with both eyes open) but I have dabbled in flying down rivers, although not in my Cessna.

Like this guy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40_MzuKIGA

The Gauley River Low Pass By A Friend Of Mine

The Gauley River is in a canyon maybe 800 feet deep with a lot of sharp curves. He had paddled the previous day, but a group of his friends were padding this day also.

On his way home, he flew down stream above the canyon looking for these friends. He spotted them and thinking “clearly”, He flew on down stream about 3 or 4 miles looking for wire crossings. There were none, so he rolled over and dove into the canyon headed up stream just off the water. After a short while he sees them as he went around a bend. He was going about 120 MPH, and they are maybe 6 MPH and are basically in the same spot where he first saw them.

After the thrill of buzzing them his heart started racing when he realized that he hadn’t looked for wires up stream. All he saw was a rock wall as the river made a sharp left turn. He did a high G turn trying to climb. It took 2 -3 minutes of twisting and turning to get back above the rim line.

He learned another free lesson that day.

After reading some of these post's, I'm starting to rethink some of my low level opps (especially below tree lined rivers). I'd hate for something stupid to happen and then (if I live) trying to explain to my insurance company, FAA and who ever else why I was flying down that low. I'd hate to be the loser on the insurance claim and other law suits.

A few months ago, I went down to Murphy for breakfast with a couple of Cub friends. We flew up the Snake River afterwards and two of them were down on the water. I was going to follow suit, but when one of them said "Just keep an eye out for wires". I turned into a big bad wuss and stayed at 200-300 AGL.

But yeah, just need to pay strict attention to all hazards at all times. Most importantly, have good safe fun to the fullest!!