Decided on the spur of the moment to attend the Mack Mesa Fly-In this weekend. First time for me down there, and very glad I went. Good turnout and amazing variety of beautiful planes. Flour bombing, spot landing, and lots of great flying. I can't say enough good things about Steve and Ladd and everyone associated with Mack Mesa. What a gem of an airport.

(I didn't have my camera, so cell phone pics will have to suffice.)


Bush Hawk, Bearhawk, and Husky



Neat variety of planes showed up, including a Carbon Cub, two RV-7s, a Champ, a Luscombe, a T-Craft, a Super Decathalon, an S-12, a Zenair, an Arctic Tern, a Pilatus Porter (!), and a gorgeous Stearman based on the field at Mack (plus several others I'm sure I'm forgetting).



Most perfectly restored Stearman I've ever seen.



First Pilatus Porter I've ever gotten to see up close. Incredible.



Shelby Cobra (I've owned several airplanes that couldn't possibly keep up with this thing)



They put on a great BBQ dinner.



Many great stories were shared around the fire (some of which may even have been true!)



Capped off by getting to visit Caveman Ranch for the first time. Rod and Hunter fed me breakfast and gave me the full tour. Words and pictures don't do that place justice! If you've never been, make sure to put it on your list.


Thanks, Gary, for letting us know about the fly-in on BCP. I plan to be a regular at Mack events in the future.

Another fun fly-in at Mack. Met some great people. How many fly-ins have a PC-6 drop in?



Ranch Pilot headed out.

I couldn't resist posting a few more photos.


Ed's Super D from Sydney. Listening to Ed's night freight stories around the campfire was one of the highlights of the fly-in.



One of the nicer Arctic Terns I've ever seen.



The original Carbon Cub. As a testament to what a great guy he is, Ladd spent all day measuring spot landing distances instead of coming out and beating all of us in this beauty.


I kind of liked this picture of the Stearman and the Porter, since they were the two coolest planes at the fly-in.

Great pics
I enjoyed meeting u.
Wish i Could of made it back for the afternoon. My caburater had other plans though.
Blu

Very sorry I didn't make the trip over with Ed. Came down with a head cold figured 12.5 was not something I should do. Got the story from ED...looks like youse guys had a good time. We had cold wx and about 8" of snow.
Ernie

Wonderful pictures! Any more pictures of the tern?

Unfortunately, no but I spent a long time ogling it. The plane is based in Steamboat, and the owner has two Alaska hulls he plans to combine into a Tern he says will be even nicer than this one. I love the plane, but I've heard parts have gotten really hard to find. Having a spare hull for parts may be the best answer.

RanchPilot wrote:Unfortunately, no but I spent a long time ogling it. The plane is based in Steamboat, and the owner has two Alaska hulls he plans to combine into a Tern he says will be even nicer than this one. I love the plane, but I've heard parts have gotten really hard to find. Having a spare hull for parts may be the best answer.

He took the overall trophy with it. He must know the bird pretty well. Nice work.

The only downside of the whole fly-in was that I was slopping my landings in right ahead of Rod in the pattern--meaning I didn't get the pleasure of watching him spot-land the Tern.

That's ok...watching Blu handle his Cub was plenty enough to make me realize how far I was out of my league!

Ha! I tried to get Ladd to award me points for highest bounce landing but he wouldn't go for it. Also peeked in the back of that bush hawk and couldn't believe the hole behind the seats. Guess you don't need a tent that way. Nice looking bird.

Man, I hate I missed this...

RanchPilot wrote:The only downside of the whole fly-in was that I was slopping my landings in right ahead of Rod in the pattern--meaning I didn't get the pleasure of watching him spot-land the Tern.

That's ok...watching Blu handle his Cub was plenty enough to make me realize how far I was out of my league!

It's really too bad that you did not get to see Ladd in action either. That Carbon Cub just seems to hang there a foot above the runway until he sets it down. He pretty much nails it every time. He and Blu can put on quite a show. You also missed Lexi up getting aerobatic training in the Decathlon. That was quite entertaining too. She really had a blast and I would not be surprised to see Steve add one to his stable.
Always a good time at the Mack fly-ins.

Meat Servo wrote:Also peeked in the back of that bush hawk and couldn't believe the hole behind the seats. Guess you don't need a tent that way. Nice looking bird.

Thanks. It's not mine, but I'm lucky enough to get to fly it for the non-pilot owner. First time I've taken the sling seat out to sleep in the back. All quick-pins into recessed fittings into the floor, so the entire cargo area is completely flat. I laid my Thermarest down and slept like a baby. I'm 6'2" and I could stretch my toes out without touching anything. Plenty of room for another person to fit back there too. I knew from previous experience that you can fit three bone-in caribou in the back, but I had no idea it would make such a nice sleeping platform as well.

Makes me want to go spend about a month living out of the plane, if I could just figure out how to pay for the gas!

RanchPilot wrote:

Meat Servo wrote:Also peeked in the back of that bush hawk and couldn't believe the hole behind the seats. Guess you don't need a tent that way. Nice looking bird.

Thanks. It's not mine, but I'm lucky enough to get to fly it for the non-pilot owner. First time I've taken the sling seat out to sleep in the back. All quick-pins into recessed fittings into the floor, so the entire cargo area is completely flat. I laid my Thermarest down and slept like a baby. I'm 6'2" and I could stretch my toes out without touching anything. Plenty of room for another person to fit back there too. I knew from previous experience that you can fit three bone-in caribou in the back, but I had no idea it would make such a nice sleeping platform as well.

Makes me want to go spend about a month living out of the plane, if I could just figure out how to pay for the gas!

Sounds like a nice gig. Wish I would have caught you to get a closer look. Next year. Whats empty and gross, and how does it do? I was totally thinking it would make a perfect camping bird, no struts to run into middle of the night.

Meat Servo wrote: Whats empty and gross, and how does it do? I was totally thinking it would make a perfect camping bird, no struts to run into middle of the night.

Empty is 1800,gross is 3200, so 1400 useful. On floats, I think it adds another few hundred to gross, but don't quote me on that. Practically speaking, at sea level on floats I hear it is an "if you can close the doors" type of plane.

I don't pretend to be any kind of expert in this type--I only have about 50 hours in 185, about 50 in the Bush Hawk, and maybe 30 in 206, but of the three I personally like the Bush Hawk the best. Easy to fly, no noticeable bad habits, good vis over the nose, big doors, huge cargo, can outrun a 185, but feels more like a 206 inside. This one is an earlier model, so it is much more pickup truck than Cadillac--which suits me just fine. With the full swing doors, you can roll four 55 gallon drums inside, or a small 4 wheeler.

Also makes a really good tent!