Over the years, BCP has waxed and wained.  Characters have come and gone, vitality nurtured, hubris frowned on, and supposed “influencers” born.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to stick with it, you’ve seen the same cycles ebb, flow, and re-ebb.

Here on the cusp of 2023, it feels we are yet again on the edge of one of those tidal changes.

As someone who had contributed (for good or ill) exuberantly in the past, and then retreated into the wings based on some real (or perceived) stagnated slack tide,  I found myself kvetching to my close aviation friends (most of whom born from this platform) about the sad state of affairs: staleness, the same tone droning on ad nauseam… I, we missed the “old” BCP (whatever that was)

For whatever reason; maybe normal changes in life, maybe fAweful-book, maybe lack of general magic in folks fingers, who knows… but all I was seeing was very little participation.  I knew most of the old folks were still hanging on… still there, reading from the sidelines, but very few of them were actively participating. It seemed as if the same folks were constantly distilling thought (correct or not) with unabashed frequency.

After much rumination, I came to the conclusion that these contributors weren’t posting more, but the lack of others contributions had increased the attenuation of the few that were actually “willing” to contribute.

The problem seemed to lie with what I like to call the “takers.”  Those folks who drop in 2-3 times a week, sometimes 4-5 times a day, quietly nibble about, and then sneak away… like a Santa who slides in, eats the cookies, and splits with out dispensing any prezzies.

After more thought, I realized that we/I couldn’t lay the blame on the feet of others, we/I have to look at ourselves.

I think a common misconception is that BCP is a hard and fast system. A place with a “vibe” and a “feel.” You either fit in, or you don’t. It resonates, or it doesn’t.

On the contrary, a thing like BCP isn’t a “thing” at all… it’s a community. A living breathing community, and as such, it is, or can be whatever “we” want it to be.

Of course Zane has laid down some basic guard rails, but in general, one can wax poetic or respond to whatever he/she wants to. If it’s too far off the path, Zane or the community will generally (and kindly) guide the discussion back to topical waters.

So what’s my point???

I for one still love this community, and would love to see it thrive… evolve again, move into yet another iteration. Flow…

To this end, I have spent the last month talking to, leaning on, and pressuring friends and clients alike to step up and start participating more… Don’t just read; contribute!



Contribution is not hard. It can mean a simple attaboy, a riff on something concerning us, some info on a cool related topic that one might have a bit of experience with, a trip report, or even an inspirational story on how one overcame some obstacle to get closer to their aviation dream… even just a hello, I’m Ted, and I have an aviation problem.

When I lean in on these folks, the common refrain seems to be: “but I really don’t have anything to share…. I’m not a backcountry pilot… I just got my TW, or am only flying a 172 into long grass fields…”

To this I say horsepucky. (Or as MTV says, “horse hockey”. LOL)

There isn’t a fellow pilot I have met over these last 12 years on BCP that doesn’t have some interesting angle to them; some cool perspective they could share…

I say why not give a swallow, muster a sliver of courage and contribute? Reinvigorate BCP for 2023? I know there is a s-ton of cool stuff to contribute, so how about throwing a log on the fire?

… and to put some of my “lurker” friends on the spot and call them out… those close to me of whom I have all heard murmur: “I really don’t have anything to contribute.”

So how about you WH: (who is finally starting to post a bit) BTW is a retired Swiss/German physicist. Currently living in Patagonia. A world class soaring competitor. His boyhood dream is was to fly a 170B around the US… he is now making that dream come true. Let’s hear that story?

Or you LL, an umpteen thousand hr 777 captain who flew Beech 18s back in the day down to mins on misty steamers, now is sneaking away from her long haul trips to play with her kick ass early model 180.

Or you GF, who spent a career as a Nat Park LE ranger (including as a single resource deep in the AK wilderness) who has now been hired to fly for Uncle Sam. From his humble 150, to a floated Maule, to now getting the keys to both a turbine twin AND a Blackhawk!

HR... how about your story?? A gawky orange hatted surfer and freshly minted TW pilot who overcame the odds to score a new bird... hurdle after hurdle, but now he's crushing it in his 52’ 170B. Learning learning learning…

FF, a cow-punchin' TW veteran from down south, has been flying his amazing late model 180 all around the Bob from his one in-a-million property in the MT wilderness. (please let me visit again...)

RM, an amazing craftsman, who has been quietly helping with the fight to save the Great Barrington Aerodrome from the NYC eco-natzis... who in 2018 ditched his clap-trap Stinson and is now on the cusp of obtaining his AP after a 4 year odyssey building what will probably be the nicest, most well thought out high HP 170B on the planet. Ride please???

BP, had his Husky dialed in, sold it to buy what I think (know) to be one of the cleanest H model 180's I’ve seen. He’s spent the last year and a half dialing it in and making it better and better and better, and now he's made his dream a reality by just finishing his own private strip in the NY wilderness.

LL, well, Larry… he’s just Larry. LOL Will he EVER post???

I could go on and on, but I cheekily call them out because they all don’t think that what they have to say is interesting enough to share. I’ll let you folks be the judge, but I’m sure you all can list your own characters that fit this bill. Maybe it’s you?

Perhaps this post is a bit cheesy, slightly plasticine, and most definitely overly saccharine, but the hell with it… If your out there lurking, or are an old veteran BCP wanker-curmudgeon, it might be fun to see you sharing.

How about it? If your new, say hello here: https://backcountrypilot.org/community/forum/latest/lurkers-2023-its-your-time-15131

If you've been around... pop up again.

This post had a lot of words I had to look up but I still love it.

Great post! I didn’t get out the dictionary. I just skipped the multi syllable words…

I was kinda thinking the same thing. I've been here and Supercub.org for over 15 years. Funny how some are on both and some one or the other. I always wonder why everyone isn't on both and the longtimers almost seem like family by now. I think I'll write about my first trip to Idaho in the PA 12 one of these days since it was a pretty good experience over thirty years ago..

I guess I am guilty. I am very active on Bearhawk, but click SuperCub.org, FlyHusky.com, VansAirforce.net and yes BCP all multiple times a day. I am not actively flying as I am working and actively building every single day. I mainly come for knowledge, so maybe in the lurker category. But soon will be an active flying participant.



It is a Bearhawk Companion, 2 place side by side covered in Oratex, Dynon panel and a Lycoming O-360 200hp angle valve turning a Sensenich GA 82” prop.

I have done a nearly daily build post on BH forums, @asa has a nice build thread there and I just did not think I needed one on BCP in addition to my EAA buildlog and BH.

I will do a lot more than lurk when it is done in the next few months I hope.

Keep the vibe going here in the meantime as I live vicariously through others while I can’t fly.

I saw this right after I read this post and chuckled.

Well-written, Greg. I can’t really add anything other than to say I am grateful for everyone who contributes and reads BCP. I, too, hope to become more than a lurker before long.

However, I will say this: if I am anything, I am someone who can take a very small adventure and turns the memory of it into something grander. It’s been a necessity for living as I’ve never really had the funds to go big.

This effect can be seen in some of my past trip reports where I was smart enough to take a lot of photos, then just glued them together with an over-glorified description and account of it. Sometimes it’s all in the presentation, and I admit that as one of the biggest posers in the entirety of general aviation.

Also, if your contribution is just critical, to correct or question someone else’s post, maybe think twice about how that influences all future posting. We’re all tough guys but sharing your experience and exposing part of your life is a big deal even for the proudest among us. I’m not immune. I hid that thread about not having the money to have an airplane because I started feeling like I was sharing too much, even though 99% of responses were supportive.

And finally, camaraderie and positivity rule here. Sharing, no matter how altruistic (is that the right word?) is motivated a lot by the dopamine of admiring responses and “atta-boy”’s. Please remember that and encourage the work people take to share.

As a BCP community member I usually come seeking knowledge with not much to add other than another silly ass question. What I will contribute is that the BCP community is the most welcoming, helpful collective of well meaning aviators I've ever had the pleasure too interact with and that is GOLD this day in age. The digital World can often be hurtful but BCP has proven itself to be just to opposite many; many times over, it is the only online forum I've ever felt comfortable with using my own name.

Well said. I'm for sure in nearly 100% lurker mode. Sold my last project, not flying actively, and even longer since I've been backcountry-ing. Actively working in aviation still, single dad full time now, and recently relocated... enough to keep me from making time for personal aviation.. for now. I still wear my custom embroidered BCP jacket often, and one of the long sleeve T's that is well worn out and in need of replacement. I stay to see what all my friends are up to, miss hanging at the fire and flying along with many of you. I have great memories created from this community and look forward to more in the future.

I just joined BCP and this is the first post/topic I've read.

While on one hand, I'm hesitant to share what could be construed as a "not so valuable contribution", but that's pretty dysfunctional and likely a symptom of what's wrong with "online communications" on a global scale. The majority of the world has been unwittingly herded into a mindset that dreads lack of affirmation for whatever we might decide to "share" of ourselves - No "likes" means no precious dopamine-hit...
Anyway, before I go gettin' too wu-wu...

I'm a "wtf?! -I-might-just-be-getting-old" 57 year old who is just (re)discovering how much I love flying. I love its adventure, challenges, its utility, and the opportunity, company and community it can bring. With 600 hours I guess I'm not exactly "green", but at the same time I'm humble and count the lessons I've learned along the way as gifts, along with the stories I can tell.

Most of those hours have been in my 61' Piper Comanche 250, a lot of which were "adventures" in their own right with trips to Halifax Nova Scotia, the Pacific Northwest, and lots of trips in and around the Sierra Nevadas including regular shuttles to Taos NM for greedy/privileged ski-trips that would have been impossible without access to our our own airplane. Oh, and the big(ger) than usual for a retractable, nose wheel and fairly stout gear on the Comanche rolled me on and off of more than my fair share of grass strips - which I really miss.

I'm shifting gears though and the utility of a 157 kt cruise with autopilot and full IFR capabilities just doesn't fit my "mission profile" as I enter into this stage of my life. Lots of things have changed for me over the past few years and I find myself dreaming about dropping into more remote places with maybe just a tent and some good coffee to brew up over the next morning's campfire. I'm also not in that big of a hurry anymore. And that "mission" of getting where we wanted to go, and getting back on-schedule just isn't as critical. That whole lifestyle is in my rearview mirror in more ways than I can share here without much rambling... (or more rambling! haha)

I more or less took a long break from flying and have just recently fired this old Comanche back up and started flying her again. I love it dearly, and I do love this plane - we've been through some serious and endearing times together, including unscheduled glider time and some less-than prudent pilot decisions... but I think it's time to turn the page.

I'm hopeful that I've found a community that will enrich me as a pilot, a person, and that I can give something back to in some way. BCP, while not quite that mountain small-town bar where folks can get oiled-up enough to "share and bare their souls" , maybe I'll start building a good list of those places and have the chance to raise a glass and talk about adventures...

BTW: I got my TW endorsement this past year and, and while the 140 and 170 I've flown haven't quite worked every last one of my "trike faults" out of me, I'm plotting and scheming on how I can unload this (quite nice) Comanche and get something more suitable for adventures that don't require a runway necessarily.
The used-to-have-mo-money part of me wants to run out and just buy a Sportsman 2+2, but the "got plane instead of money" guy is looking at a Maule M7... For whatever that's worth for critique and commentary...

Thanks to all who make this a community and I look forward to a long relationship... -Riff

I will add one more thing, a reason for posting.

I moved halfway across the country to an area that seemed familiar after visiting for 15 years, but I soon realized that I actually was a stranger in a strange land.

Something that really made it easier to handle was knowing locals via BCP! Ross is my next-lake-over neighbor and has become a good friend. Not good enough to let me borrow his plane but good enough to frequently ask me to ride along and for beers on the dock.

A local kid commented on Youtube after I posted the Beaver video earlier this week that he was excited to see KEVM show up in his feed. New connection made...

I don't really qualify as a lurker with my handprints in the concrete here but as the trees grow up around us and other forms of social media dominate the consciousness, it does pay to pop your head up now and then to make these connections. Or maybe you enjoy being like Hunter S. Thompson and running under the radar...

Tadpole wrote:Well said. I'm for sure in nearly 100% lurker mode. Sold my last project, not flying actively, and even longer since I've been backcountry-ing. Actively working in aviation still, single dad full time now, and recently relocated... enough to keep me from making time for personal aviation.. for now. I still wear my custom embroidered BCP jacket often, and one of the long sleeve T's that is well worn out and in need of replacement. I stay to see what all my friends are up to, miss hanging at the fire and flying along with many of you. I have great memories created from this community and look forward to more in the future.

We'll always have that day at Daybreak in the CC's...

I've been visiting this site since about 2011. I was ready to quit flying until I stumbled on this site. I thought I had done all the interesting things in airplanes that were reasonably available to me. I'd flown go-fast piston singles (a Mooney M20E), I'd done aerobatics in my Pitts S2A, I'd chased $100 hamburgers in my Grumman Traveler and my Cessna 182 (all of these planes were owned in series, I could never afford more than one at a time and even that was often pushing my financial limits). I didn't know of any additional flying boxes that I had an interest in checking. Then I stumbled on this site one evening. I didn't have any idea there was such a thing as airplane camping and had always assumed the only landing that wasn't at an airport was considered a crash. After reading of amazing stories of off airport landings and camping with planes under clear skies full of stars I was excited about what flying could offer me again. I started my search for an affordable backcountry plane and bought my Maule 2 years later. This plane and the kind of flying I was introduced to here brought aviation joy back into my life. I used to relish each new trip report that was posted and marveled at the stunning locations pilots on this site visited. I even moved from Virginia to Washington State to have better access to this kind of flying.

I still fly to backcountry locations and still enjoy airplane camping, but have made peace with the fact that I'll never be a cutting edge pilot or extreme landing site pioneer. I fly to tame grass strips in the back-country and to dry lake beds, but nothing more challenging. I tried gravel bar landings a couple of times, but a rock thrown through the fabric of my elevator put an end to that. Duct tape got me home, but not damaging the plane is now a guiding principle of my retirement flying. I still post pics of some of the places I visit, but they are on the tame side of the backcountry spectrum. More "side" than "back" country. I still like seeing posts of other flights by pilots that aren't as risk adverse as I am, and even posts from folks that pursue tame adventures similar to mine, but in different locations I haven't been to. Sadly, trip reports and good stories about enjoyable flights off the beaten path make up a very small portion of the site these days. Hardware and other non-flying topics use up most of the words posted and I find that less satisfying. I really enjoy threads like Ted's trips to Alaska, and others that post images and words about a good night under the stars next to their planes, but it seems there is less of that each time I log in. Hopefully Bigrenna's post will lead to more of that type content.

In the meantime, I keep supporting the site because it prevented me from prematurely walking away from aviation. I've enjoyed some absolutely magical moments with my plane because of what I was exposed to here. I hope to find more inspiration here in the future.

That got things going.

Utah-Jay wrote:I have done a nearly daily build post on BH forums, @asa has a nice build thread there and I just did not think I needed one on BCP in addition to my EAA buildlog and BH.

All my posts are copied both here and on the maule pilots website word for word. I for one loving seeing projects of all types and would be interested in seeing yours here if you ever feel like copy/pasting.

-Asa

Flyhound wrote:
In the meantime, I keep supporting the site

Gary, I really appreciate the moral and financial support. Until you posted the above, I wasn't aware of your background and story. Glad to hear it.

That was a great day of flying Zane

I am really liking all the maule talk

Guilty as charged. I’ve been lurking for a couple years now, and most of the time think I really don’t have much to contribute. I frequent some farming forums where it’s much easier to come up with relevant replies or the occasional original topic. Over there I have decades of diverse experience, on this forum I’m a 55 hour student that’s flown only to places my instructor signed off on in a whopping two different planes (edit: three planes, I forgot about my unloggable flight over Oahu). Not very exciting or insightful stuff. Nothing that even qualifies as backcountry, unless you count some of the ground I’ve flown over.

I would like to land on dirt eventually though, so I come here, read some, and dream. I think I can make 2,100’ of dirt airstrip near my house. That would be fun and maybe give me something to post about.

Your 175 should do fine there. The paved road by the pivot should do well until then. The 175 wing sits up a bit higher and goes over road signs well.