Got to spend some time on Easter goofing around in my local playground. Had so much fun I thought I'd do a little video. Quality ain't great--messing around with ND filters, exposure settings, and different camera angles right now--but you get the idea.

Saw a herd of 12 nice bull elk on the desert, dodged a pair of thermaling hawks on short final, and had 15 antelope run across my runway right in front of me at the exact moment when I was too fast to stop but too slow to go around. Regular Wyoming traffic jams!

Very nice...I particularly like the camera location that uses the landing gear to frame the field of view. What part of the state?

Thanks. I'm gonna buy a suction cup to expand my range of camera angle options, but for now I'm just hooking it to every protrusion I can find to see how it turns out. The underbelly shots were hooked to my step attachment, with the rear shots coming from my grab handle.

All of this was shot within 20 miles of our ranch, in the Red Desert in SW Wyoming. Pretty much have it to myself for flying, along with a couple buddies.

I've never seen that vast of a desert before. It's mesmerizing--and must keep the cows close to home? Your ND filters are working great, huh? You can have my suction cup camera mount if I can find it, but I wouldn't trust them. I lost one right before takeoff. It was on my wing tip (plastic).

Love it RP!!
Fly over this area on our way to and from ID but never this low.
When the camera is mounted on the belly, I see a rock formation that looks like Chimney Rock here in western Nebraska. Does that rock have a name? I've seen it form the air when we fly over.
HC

HC, the big rock is called Boar's Tusk. It sits north of Rock Springs about 20 miles, and is apparently considered a "volcanic neck" (at least if your geologic knowledge is limited solely to the internet, like mine). Just like your modern day trips to Idaho, the wagon trains used to use it as a landmark when passing through the Red Desert. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of it (I didn't take them):





The Kilpecker dunes sit to the north and east a few miles, and it is the largest active dune field in North America and apparently the second largest active field in the world. The actual dunes are a lot more vast than they appear in the videos, since many of them have sage growing up through them but are still sand dunes underneath. In terms of cattle, you'd be amazed at how productive these desert lands can be. Ranchers have run cows out here for a hundred years or more, and I have friends and family who still do today in this exact area. It never ceases to amaze me that you can fly over several miles of nothing but sand, and then see a water hole sitting right in the middle of the dunes. Lots of natural springs in this area.


The dunes are an ever-changing wonder, and they continue to move and evolve out across the desert with each passing year.

Hey RP did I see not 1 not 2 but 3 yes 3 planes in that hanger.....

Nice vid need to come visit someday

BH, we actually squeeze four in our hangar, with one more tied down outside! I own the PA-12, and get to fly the Bush Hawk too. I also occasionally "ride shotgun" in the PA-18 .

In addition to our little mess, there are two other local birds with their own strips as well. Not a bad little group of planes for a tiny ranch town where we still have to drive 40 miles for groceries. I feel like a little kid every time I walk into the hangar full of planes, and I just try to fly often enough to make sure mine stays closest to the door!

Great video and flying!

I saw a lot of fun places to land with BW's..........

I've spent some time beating around out there in a couple of different planes with 26's. They do ok, but a lot of that brush is bigger than it looks.

Patrol Guy was teasing me about how many places I could be landing if I had 35's. I might be able to scrape together enough for the tires, but then I wouldn't have anything left to pay for the bent metal that might follow!

I never got stuck till I got a 4-wheel drive...

RanchPilot wrote:I've spent some time beating around out there in a couple of different planes with 26's. They do ok, but a lot of that brush is bigger than it looks.

Patrol Guy was teasing me about how many places I could be landing if I had 35's. I might be able to scrape together enough for the tires, but then I wouldn't have anything left to pay for the bent metal that might follow!

I never got stuck till I got a 4-wheel drive...

X2
GT

Well done, just what my day needed.

My Easter was spent throwing nearly 100 folks out of the Caravan. Complain about my flying will you… I have never done any Jump flying, but these guys needed some training and time built with an insurable pilot, so my meaty bottom was available. Besides, I kind of sold them the Caravan, so in the interest of getting paid… It was good clean fun, out of Penrose, Colorado, up to 17,500', Roll over and dive for the ground, do it again, hot load. That load was actually a whole coven of Wiccan's doing their Easter thing. I like the long scream out the door.

RanchPilot wrote:HC, the big rock is called Boar's Tusk. It sits north of Rock Springs about 20 miles, and is apparently considered a "volcanic neck" (at least if your geologic knowledge is limited solely to the internet, like mine). Just like your modern day trips to Idaho, the wagon trains used to use it as a landmark when passing through the Red Desert. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of it (I didn't take them):





The Kilpecker dunes sit to the north and east a few miles, and it is the largest active dune field in North America and apparently the second largest active field in the world. The actual dunes are a lot more vast than they appear in the videos, since many of them have sage growing up through them but are still sand dunes underneath. In terms of cattle, you'd be amazed at how productive these desert lands can be. Ranchers have run cows out here for a hundred years or more, and I have friends and family who still do today in this exact area. It never ceases to amaze me that you can fly over several miles of nothing but sand, and then see a water hole sitting right in the middle of the dunes. Lots of natural springs in this area.


The dunes are an ever-changing wonder, and they continue to move and evolve out across the desert with each passing year.

Thanks RP..figured something that prominent had some kind of name and was at least semi-famous.
Those sandunes can be seen for miles at 9k and I use them as a landmark when flyin west-to-east toward Rawlins.
I would really have to be hard up for something to do to take a drive out in that country..looks pretty sparse from the air. I'll betcha the rattlesnkaes have to pack a lunch when they take a trip..hahaha!
Someday when I don't have to be somewhere I'll get down and dusty and do a little bit of low altitude in that country.
Ernie

Awesome!

I love how the shadows of both the plane and camera make it in the frame for a while. Great contrast sand/shadow.