Fellow BCPers

I’m starting this thread to generate some discussion about a video created by the Arizona Pilots Association. All of us have been somewhere, sometime when someone does something that makes you want to throttle them. You know what I’m talking about.

My goal is to be sure that we have captured the major things all of us should be thinking about to make our backcountry travels better and safer for the pilots in the air, the others on the ground and the areas we visit. Please think about this topic and add your comments. You never know, your ideas could be in the next release of the video.



The take away points from the video are grouped as follows:

In the Air
Arrival
Plan your approach to the area so you arrive at pattern altitude or circling altitude.
DO NOT spiral down over the airport
Plan your arrival to blend in with traffic. This is easier if you begin listening prior to arrival
Keep your head up and eyes outside the cockpit

Communication
Be sure you are on the correct frequency
Be sure you are on the correct radio
Check the volume
Clearly transmit your position and intentions

On the Ground
Communicate
Transmit your position and intentions and listen
Taxi
Use extreme caution
Keep your head up and your eyes outside the cockpit
Be cognizant of your surroundings and aware of prop wash
Make deliberate and gentle power adjustments while moving the aircraft
Be considerate of those on the ground
Your view as the pilot is different than the others outside of the aircraft
Tie Downs
Don’t take a tie down that could be occupied. A good indicator that someone is using the spot is a parking cone, chairs or a tent in the immediate vicinity

Common Sense
Courtesy
Judgement
Communication
Noise abatement
Consideration of others
Treat others as you want to be treated
Respect other pilots
Respect other users
Respect property on the ground
Preserve and protect the area
Leave no mark

I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Perhaps our collective experience can be shared among ourselves and others.

Thanks,

Rich

So far it sounds like you're talking about "backcountry" strips like Johnson Creek, where lots of people sometimes congregate.

How about even *more* backcountry strips? One etiquette rule I've heard is that if someone is already camped there, respect their solitude and don't land. Last year I was the only one at an Idaho strip. Had my tent set up already and heard an airplane. It comes in at pattern altitude and flies a down, cross, and upwind . . . all the while I'm waving my hat like an idiot trying to let him know it was okay by me if he stopped He didn't.

So, what do you all do - - land, move on, or do a bombing run with flour and toilet paper?

bumper

It depends on what I see. If it is my planned camping destination and a not so popular strip, I'll probably land and use a campsite at the other end. If I'm just out joy riding and it looks like I could disturb someones solitude, and they appear ok, I will just fly on without landing. If it is a group on the ground, I'll land hoping to join the party! I always try to bring at least one house warming gift along in the plane for such occasions .

bumper wrote:
How about even *more* backcountry strips? One etiquette rule I've heard is that if someone is already camped there, respect their solitude and don't land. bumper

I once landed at Owyhee Res and there was only one plane there. It was a 205 and I think it was rfinkle. There was two of them so I offered to fix crepes for breakfast if they supplied dinner. I had berries, powdered sugar, syrup and whip cream for the crepes and orange juice.

They had hot dogs. No buns, mustard, relish, onion, or ketchup. Just the dogs.

I say good etiquette is to have more than just the dogs.

The 205 was not to carry food but they had a fold up canoe and a 3 hp outboard. They did give me a ride to make up for the hot dog.

Tim

Out of Six criteria, "Commom Sense" was the last choice.
I'm confused.

Reference the other post, if I'm at a remote strip, I'm there for a reason.
If there is room for others, by all means help yourself, but please consider I'm there for a reason.

If you need to consider "backcountry etiquette" then you aren't in the backcountry yet!

Thanks for posting watched movie and Wilco . Some " cone heads earth firsters " put trash and logs across runway we use north of Grand Canyon to discourage airplanes from landing there . Took helicopter out and cleaned up the mess - strip is on private property - got a game camera to watch location and watchman armed . I believe in cleaning up camp site so NO one will ever know we were there. Like the videos from the 205 .

NimpoCub wrote:If you need to consider "backcountry etiquette" then you aren't in the backcountry yet!

You got that right!

NimpoCub wrote:If you need to consider "backcountry etiquette" then you aren't in the backcountry yet!

Haha... this is the truth!

Regardless, more often than not, we're operating in the "sidecountry." Rich's video has a lot of good points. I've blown over a few tents in my time, and it's always a major red face moment. Gotta think about this stuff! Excitement is a very poor copilot.

The last fly in I attended, I blew a chair into the fire!

Who would of thought I needed to think while operating an aeroplane!

Well done Rich!

highroad wrote:The last fly in I attended, I blew a chair into the fire!

Who would of thought I needed to think while operating an aeroplane!

bumper wrote:
One etiquette rule I've heard is that if someone is already camped there, respect their solitude and don't land. Last year I was the only one at an Idaho strip. Had my tent set up already and heard an airplane. It comes in at pattern altitude and flies a down, cross, and upwind . . . all the while I'm waving my hat like an idiot trying to let him know it was okay by me if he stopped He didn't.

bumper

Bumper:

To each his own, but not sure I agree with the "don't land" comment. Lot of times in the backcountry, people plan specific locations and specific activities (i.e. flyin to Marble and fish, flyin to Hidden Splendor and bike, etc.). If you are loaded down and planned for a specific location, I don't think it is reasonable to expect that someone would divert to a new location just because someone else is there.

I know everyone is different, but if I had folks that respected space, didn't camp right next door and didn't make a lot of noise, I actually enjoy having someone around to swap hangar stories with.

My two cents.

Larry

Airstrips in the backcountry are rarely the destination for me- they are merely a trailhead. A campground, or trailhead, or airstrip is never a place I would expect or feel entitled to solitude.

Strips on public land are there for everyone. If one wants solitude (and that's why I go, usually), I find the answer is easy: In more than a few decades of recreational and occupational enjoyment of our public lands by air, I have not encountered more than a few handfuls of folks more than a stone's throw from a trail, road, or river, and even far fewer pilots more than a short stroll's distance from an airstrip. The truth is that few venture farther, and they spread out. Camping on a strip is a social thing. I have landed at places with dozens of planes, and never seen a person for a week once I've started hoofing to where I'm headed.