Things are drying out nicely and the ground will be firm by Sat. Looks like it'll be a bit windy, so please stay within your personal minimums. Probably a good idea to bring wheel chocks and tie downs just in case.

We'll keep 17/35 the primary runway unless wind gets dictates otherwise. Left traffic pattern and try to avoid low overflight over the houses within reason (livestock / horses). No "airshows" please.

Fly safe and we'll see you there! I'll check this thread often if anyone has questions or a change of plans.

MM

Sorry Matt. The SLV guys will be a no show. 12K wind forecast is +40kts. Surface wind 20G35 for our return time.
Tom

Will decide Sat morning when we see what winds are doing. Several folks coming from 18V if winds ok.

Thanks for the updates guys. Latest KDEN TAF is showing:
Text: FM081400 23014KT P6SM FEW150 SCT220
Forecast period: 1400 to 1900 UTC 08 April 2017
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the SW (230 degrees) at 16 MPH (14 knots; 7.3 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Clouds: few clouds at 15000 feet AGL
scattered clouds at 22000 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

Fly safe all and we hope to see you tomorrow.

Already blowing @ 6CO6. Forecast LLWS makes me think the return trip would not be fun. 50/50 if this keeps up.

I'm out. I got my son today as my wife is working. It's already blowing 56kts up on Berthoud pass. No fun for him when it's blowing 30kts out of the west on the ground and rocking in the air, plus I'm still breaking in a new cylinder so I really shouldn't be doing any short flights or T&Gs. Gotta pick my battles. I hope to see you all at LaGarita if I can.

We are out. Wind has been building and now blowing about 30 up here. Rain date?

There's 4 of us here now. Wind about 10kts right down the runway (170ish). Calm skies above.

asa

It was reminiscent to see a gathering of planes, especially Skywagons, in prospect for Colorado. Oddly, when I owned a couple of them, we never did that but for Pete Vinton's organizational skills. I have no doubt the winds are howling down there. The trip back to your home airport would be miserable, but the landing might be death defying. I cannot begin to think of all the times I spent the night in a shaggy rug motel enroute back to my home base in Santa Fe, NM, at 6300 ft, especially when it was windy and 95 degrees. A DA over 10,000 ft and strong gusting winds is a prescription for losing control on rollout once you lose the rudder authority and you are still rolling about 40 mph across the ground. When Cessna made these things I don't think Clyde was thinking about such.
I took my eye off the airspeed needle scouting steelhead in an Idaho canyon, but the most fearsome threat I always faced was a high DA with strong gusting winds. Places like Santa Fe, Ruidoso, Flagstaff, Amarillo, Pagosa Springs, Cedar City, St. George, Casper, Jeffco,, all are past taildragger traps for high DAs and winds.
I enjoy looking at the rebuilds on this website. There are some very talented people doing the posting. Keep up the pics. It is entertaining for a past owner. And know when to check into that shaggy rug motel.
Reagan

Never too old to come back and join us Cooter. We miss the old days camping.

The ride down from Greeley was smooth. Landing was easy--slight crosswind from the right landing on 17, the first part of which is uphill, so taxiing required more power than I expected until cresting the hill that the runway is built on.

The camaraderie was great. Thanks, Matt, for organizing this. What did we have, 15-16 airplanes? It's a gem of an airstrip, with the facilities that the owner has added. Good fun, to start the fly-in season.

Taking off by starting uphill was a new experience for me, but the wind clearly made it necessary. Still pretty much lined up with the runway, I'd guess it was blowing around 12-15 knots. As soon as I crested the hill, the airplane left the ground with 10 flaps extended, so after gaining speed in low ground effect, I started the climb and was a few hundred feet in the air by the end of the runway, retracted the flaps, and easily climbed on up to my cruise altitude of 7500'. Not bad, considering that the DA at the airstrip's 5900' elevation was around 8700' or so.

The ride back to Greeley was pretty lumpy, though. Trying to stay at 7500' to keep from bumping into the next layer of the Class B at 8000' took a little work, as suddenly the airplane was climbing while pointed down. It's not a very long flight, 35-40 minutes once in the air, but all that turbulence is tiring for this ol' fart.

All in all, though, it was a fun fly-in.

Cary

It was a great turnout and a good time for sure! appreciate being part of it! Nice strip!

Sorry to have missed out. Looks like a great turnout! Our forecast gust of 35 turned out to be gust of 50. When I got home the porch furniture and grill had been blown off the end in a big pile! Looking forward to LGCR.
Tom

My friend Tobias who rode along with me took some nice pictures..

Great time at a beautiful place. Thank you to Matt for organizing and Orlo for building a great airstrip.

My only complaint was somebody parked a box of donuts right under my nose and they were too good.

Gravity Knight, please make sure your Helio friend makes the LCGR fly in!
Tom

I appreciate everyone coming and I had a great time on Saturday. I believe we had 16 as a final count, lots of new faces too.

I personally wanted to thank Orlo and his family for hosting this, they put in countless hours of work in at CO18 and it shows. His daughter even cooked the hot dogs so I could walk around and meet pilots! Cary, thanks for the donuts, that was a nice touch.

For those that couldn't make it due to winds, Orlo mentioned having a late fall gathering.

Fast Eddie is wife were troopers coming all the way from TX in a Carbon Cub!!! I'm not sure hot dog was worth it, but it was great to meet you. Hope to see you two at La Garita the first weekend of June!

Here's a few pictures I snapped.

handsrdirty wrote:Great time at a beautiful place. Thank you to Matt for organizing and Orlo for building a great airstrip.

My only complaint was somebody parked a box of donuts right under my nose and they were too good.

Please accept my humble apologies!

Cary

It was great seeing everyone at Chaparral on Saturday! I took a few photos that I will get around to posting at some point.

Thanks to Matt for organizing and for lunch. Thanks to Orlo for generously opening your strip to the community (and for the coffee and bagels!). CO18 is one of my favorite local destinations!


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