Not that I will ever atttempt this without prior instruction, but are these strips suitable for a 172 with wheel pants to get into? I would love a 170, but for now this is what I have. The runway at Johnson Creek looks like it is a farily smooth grass runway....

Also, who would you recommend in Idaho to get instruction from? My brother in-law lives in Boise. I was thinking I might have some time to rent a plane while I am up there and get some mountain instruction and instruction on flying into these strips.

Lose the "Panties" and it will not be a worry. We'll have a coming out party.

LMAO....

Only reason I have to stay in the closet right now is because the plane is not soley my own and the other partners like the 'pretty' wheel pants.....Trust me I would definitely rather go commando

Does anyone remember the name of the flight school in Mcall? I will do some diggingg as well when I get home from work tonight.

greenhorn wrote:LMAO....

Only reason I have to stay in the closet right now is because the plane is not soley my own and the other partners like the 'pretty' wheel pants.....Trust me I would definitely rather go commando

Does anyone remember the name of the flight school in Mcall? I will do some diggingg as well when I get home from work tonight.

Lori MacNichol
http://www.mountaincanyonflying.com/

McCall Mountain Canyon Flying, LLC
P.O. Box 1175
McCall, ID 83638
Phone: 208-634-1344

You wouldn't have any trouble at Johnson Creek, it is the closest thing to a golf course we have in Idaho. It is kept well mowed and irrigated, and has no surprises between the center of the runway and the tiedowns. (Well, almost none, you never know for sure some gopher hasn't been hard at work since last summer.)

Big Creek is mowed on a less regular schedule, and although the center of the runway is usually short grass, the grass at the edges sometimes get 6-8 inches high, which is quite enough to hide a gopher hole. (and there ARE gophers at Big Creek) This is not a problem if you have someone scout your route to the tiedowns, at worst you might turn the tip of your prop a little green. (Scouting the way to the tiedowns is a highly recommended procedure at ANY grass strip you haven't been to yesterday.) Big Creek usually gets mowed around the end of June.

The other problem at Big Creek is that there are a few egg sized rocks in the middle of the runway where prop blast keeps digging them up. Not much of a problem on landing, but if you keep 15-20 feet off centerline on takeoff, you will reduce that risk substantially. BTW, rocks like that are just as likely to ding your stabilizer as your wheel pants, and it is just part of the deal.

I have a habit of walking the takeoff path chucking rocks every single time I go into any of these strips , and in 1500 hours in my plane I have never dinged the prop even a little and have only one good ding in my elevator. It never fails to surprise me that at a strip 150 or more feet wide, 99% of the pilots will track right down the centerline where the grass is thin or non-existent from thousands of hours of prop erosion and the rock population is ten times that of the sides just 20 feet away. Even at narrower runways it is easy to start the roll to the side then edge over to the center when nearing lift-off speed.

At Chamberlain the problem became so severe that the Forest Service brought in a couple dozen huge white cones which they move every year or two so that alternate sides of the runway can recover. Since that runway is 150 feet wide they can do that. None of the strips that have no road access get any type of maintenance other than by volunteer pilots who come in with a pair of loppers and a shovel or two...it's amazing that these strips are in such good shape 50 or more years after being built.

OK, OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Rocky