Backcountry Pilot • Copalis Beach

Copalis Beach

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Tom, hi. I am persistent and I will get to Copalis with in two weeks.

How's the Maule coming along?

Rob
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Rob, was great having lunch with ya, good luck on the beach.8)
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We did it!

With very little help from the weather guessers Zane and I went to Roche Harbor for lunch.

The plan was to wait for low tide and clearing at Copalis beach.

After lunch right on time the weather cooperated. We got to Copalis at low tide. I did 4 landings 3 as Zane to pictures and Video.

Just as we got done with pictures the fog came racing back in. We just escaped in the nick of time.

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The Olympic mountains were shrouded in clouds.

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Zane having fun. He make a great voice activated auto pilot and he helps pay for gas.

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Had lunch here and Zane bought me lunch. Thanks Zane.

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Finally made Copalis beach.

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Nice going. I really like Copalis. I really like the picture over the mountains.

Something I want to try the next time I go there, when there are other folks around, is to taxi through some dry sand. I'm curious to know what my 800 tires will do in the soft stuff. My dune buggy experience says there is a good chance it won't get far, but since my plane is light enough, I can always lift and move it a little at a time. On the other hand, since the tires are not used for propulsion, they won't be trying to dig down like a normal vehicle. Inquiring minds want to know.
tom
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Great pics- Looks like a great time! What was your flight time?
Erick
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We had a great time today. Roche Harbor was like some sort of made-for-TV movie resort town...just a little too perfect. It was a really neat place though. The San Juans were beautiful from the air. Copalis Beach is really fun.

Here are a few shots. Tough to beat that one of Rob's with the sun blazing.

Crossing the Olympics:
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Those little striations in the sand are wind.
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Reflecty magic:
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Touch:
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And go...
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Time to go home.
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First, doknee I'm sorry I missed your PM you would have been a great wingman.

Tom if you air your tires down I think you'll go anywhere. Then you could camp there. You might get fogged in for the whole summer.

Erick, flight time. We stopped at Shelton, Wa. also, pee break. 3hr. We used 54 gallons. We were burning 11.8-12.5 gph at cruise. We climbed to 6500 msl twice and up to 8500 once. 4 take offs and landings at the beach. The wind was 360@10 most of the day.

I'll go again, any time just call, text, email, PM.

Cheers...Rob
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Tom,
If you can get down to 10 PSI, you will be OK, I think. You don't have a tailwheel, and I don't know how to predict what will happen to that nose wheel. I say that because as the thrust centerline is above the nose wheel, and the nose wheel in front of the mains, the more thrust you produce, the more the down force on the nosewheel, except what the elevator can counteract of course.
It's been a long time ago when I last visited this thought, but except for the sidewall stiffness, the ground pressure exerted by a vehicle is exactly what the PSI in the tires is, regardless of vehicle weight or tire size. IF you ignore sidewall stiffness, I think.
Bet Wup knows :D
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Very cool!

Awesome pictures, too. Thanks for sharing!

I'm going to have to make it over there some day.
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Jr.CubBuilder wrote:
Wait a minute, as a former tanker I have to argue that. Ground pressure is total weight divided my the square are of your footprint. Letting the air out of your tires does two things. First it lets the tires spread out, second it allows them to conform to the ground.


Agreed. However, in terms of ground pressure per square inch, then the tire pressure in psi X the footpring in sq inches, would have to equal that, or nearly so if you discount the support gained from sidewall stiffness. Going to a lower tire pressure increases the tire footprint while decreasing the ground force per square inch.

I think :?
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Beached!

I stopped by there last Sunday with the kiddies.
Funny though, my Copalis looked different than your Copalis Rob.
I did notice that my Garmin 296 put me about 1.3 miles SOUTH of the actual runway area. On the south side of the Copalis river outlet not the north side as it actually is.
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Ha! George, we wondered about that. We had 2 GPS receivers on board, the Garmin reported the official field just like you said-- south quite a ways compared to the other. I wondered why we saw no signage at all.

Cool pics. I have a video of Rob I'll post here in a few.
Last edited by Zzz on Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jr.CubBuilder wrote:
a64pilot wrote: It's been a long time ago when I last visited this thought, but except for the sidewall stiffness, the ground pressure exerted by a vehicle is exactly what the PSI in the tires is, regardless of vehicle weight or tire size. IF you ignore sidewall stiffness, I think.
Bet Wup knows :D


Wait a minute, as a former tanker I have to argue that. Ground pressure is total weight divided my the square are of your footprint. Letting the air out of your tires does two things. First it lets the tires spread out, second it allows them to conform to the ground. As you noted sidewall stiffness will make a huge difference. For sand it's best if the center of your tire is flexible enough to collapse inward with minimal air pressure so you have a sort of inverted rolling trough, it keeps the sand under the tire instead of letting the tire burrow down. If you ever get your car stuck in the sand rather than just spinning the wheels till you're really buried, just let the air out of the tire. Turns it into a nice squishy pad like a camel foot and off you go, of course you have another problem once you get back t hard ground.


I can run under 10, but I don't have a gauge that reads below 10 to tell how much lower.

tom
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Go to your local ATV dealer and pick up a low pressure gauge. Ten bucks or less. Think it goes down to one pound. I run three pounds on the Honda.

Gump
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Good tip on the pressure gauge. I'll have to get one.
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George,

How are you liking those wheels and tires? Did they come from Ak Bushwheel? And are they heavy compared to an 8.50-6?
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They have a grass area for landing now at Shelton, just north of the runway, east end.
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Re: Beached!

lowflyin'G3 wrote:I stopped by there last Sunday with the kiddies.
Funny though, my Copalis looked different than your Copalis Rob.
I did notice that my Garmin 296 put me about 1.3 miles SOUTH of the actual runway area. On the south side of the Copalis river outlet not the north side as it actually is.


That's funny, my memory said the right spot was north of the river. My $8000.00 Garmin 430 WAAS GPS with the Government satellites and FAA maps say something different. I figure my memory sucks.

I guess it is the government that sucks!

Rob
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The Washington State Department of Transportation, WSDOT, puts out a 'Pilot's Guide to Washington Airports' and it shows Copalis S16 to be on the north side of the river. I flew in in April on a low tide and the beach was at least a half mile wide with good firm sand. Lots of spectators too. All fun. Tom
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Triple seven,
They are AKBW's. I don't know about the weight but I'm sure they are a bit heavier. I don't ask those quetions, just move the levers. They do what I want them to though.

Rob,
You need to trust the force within! All them funky little boxes don't trump the old eye (that is unless you can't see, then they kick the shit out of the old eye!).
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