Nosedragger wrote:So I think this means I can land on a county road in Montana if I first call the sheriff or county commissioner and explain how I intend to safely accomplish takeoff and landings. Having my relatives block the road on either end of the straight stretch should be enough, right? Has anyone done this? I'd be doing it 6-8 times per Summer so a standing agreement would be nice.

Yes. You can. I visit a couple of friends in the summer that way, then taxi up the driveway, and have never had issues aside from a curious neighbor or two. I'd have your friends who live there get the ok if possible from the constituent Sheriff office rather than ask them yourself...I don't think one of the places I go into would have been as nice if I had tried asking myself. Too easy to say 'no'. Powell and Beaverhead counties are fine at a minimum.

I've also taken their assent to be sort of permanent until otherwise informed...I don't know just how good an idea it is to look at it that way, but I don't call up for each time I drop in- the approvals didn't seem to come with any strings attached, and I don't want to give them any reason to add any.

The hardest part is that the wind *always* seems to be flattening the grass straight across the road...

Driving the crane through a ranch the other day, on the way up to the leased from the rancher cell site, I came upon said rancher walking up the road. He waved me down and asked for a ride up the hill another 1/2 mile to his tractor. About 15 seconds after we started driving up the hill, after introductions were made, I looked over at him and said "this ride is going to cost you." Now you guys who know me know where this was going..... he didn't, and just looked at me. I told him I had a little homemade airplane (sounds non threatening?) with big fat tires and like landing in odd places, and his rolling terrain leading up into the mountains had already caught my eye. He instantly told me I could land anywhere on his place I wanted, and I said of course never when the hay is up, and it was a done deal, simple as that. I'll get him a nice big aerial photo of the spread once it greens up (snowing there today) and take pains not to wear out my welcome. Probably just hit it once or twice this year. God, I love Idaho.....

Nevada gas station; single lane gravel road ...

Yup. That's what roads are for in Nevada.





Gump

Gump, what proceedure do you use to deal with the dogleg in that airstrip.(hehe)
Ken

and why do you walk through the mud at the compound,,,

Probably the kids and puddles thing.

175 magnum wrote:Gump, what proceedure do you use to deal with the dogleg in that airstrip.(hehe)
Ken

For those of us who knew the "old" runway at Shismaref, that's not much of a curve!

The Kompound is on the straightaway. As for the mud... Isn't playing in it the point of all of this?



Gump

What Gump said......Amen

lesuther wrote:

Nosedragger wrote:So I think this means I can land on a county road in Montana if I first call the sheriff or county commissioner and explain how I intend to safely accomplish takeoff and landings. Having my relatives block the road on either end of the straight stretch should be enough, right? Has anyone done this? I'd be doing it 6-8 times per Summer so a standing agreement would be nice.

Yes. You can. I visit a couple of friends in the summer that way, then taxi up the driveway, and have never had issues aside from a curious neighbor or two. I'd have your friends who live there get the ok if possible from the constituent Sheriff office rather than ask them yourself...I don't think one of the places I go into would have been as nice if I had tried asking myself. Too easy to say 'no'. Powell and Beaverhead counties are fine at a minimum.

I've also taken their assent to be sort of permanent until otherwise informed...I don't know just how good an idea it is to look at it that way, but I don't call up for each time I drop in- the approvals didn't seem to come with any strings attached, and I don't want to give them any reason to add any.

The hardest part is that the wind *always* seems to be flattening the grass straight across the road...

It is Beaverhead county. roads sure seem narrow when you set it down on one wheel.

The laws in Wisconsin that you can be cited for is operation of an un-lawful motorized vehicle on public roads. Same as riding your 4-wheeler down Main Street (in most cities/counties). No other Wisconsin laws related to aviation. Wisconsin defers to Federal Regulations. All waters are open to public use of any type except tribal waters, national park waters and other waters restricted by State Approved Local regulations. I take my Challenger II sport plane to work many times and land on the road and taxi to park on our used car lot.
John Nielsen

Used to land(on wheels) on the dirt road next to the airport in Laramie, when the ice on the runway was melted, wait 'til runway froze again, use runway 'til thawed, repeat.

Any Wyoming pilots ever been to the WyomingWhiskey distillery at Kirby Wyoming? It's on this years bucket list, and there is no strip anywhere close, not even in bike riding distance. I've google earthed it and I put a 95% probability I can find a spot to set down. May not be a road, may be a field. No big whiskey drinker, but I can choke some down every now and then, and I plan to do some flying in the neighborhood this summer anyway so thought I'd check it out and get the tour. NO tasting, not even a tiny sip, so don't give me any static about the concept! Done properly, no one will even know I flew in, I'll report on how it went, maybe. One of the things that make a landing like this interesting, besides the obvious challanges, is I don't like to spend a lot of time circling overhead severely eyeballing a road landing site, like I do at other first time off airport sites in the middle of no where. That can attract too much attention, (not that I feel like I'm doing anything wrong but it's better to keep things simple), so an added degree of potential difficulty. Kirby looks big enough to have a Post Office, so there's the wind indicator/AWOS, and I'll have the bike so anywhere within a mile or so is close enough, lots of options with it along.

You might contact our mutual friend in Douglas. People at WW know people within our airplane community, directly or indirectly. You might not even be the first plane that has landed there.

As for the whiskey itself, it still needs a few more years in the barrel.

Owner of WW is a pilot, a real good guy and his Bo is in the next hangar to mine.... My gut feeling is he has a private field picked out somewhere close to the plant... Driving in from Thermop would get old pretty quick and he is over there weekly..

If you can't get the whiskey down, there are others here that can... I sense a fly-in being born!

Courierguy,
Thermop has a pilot van. Kirby's just a few miles up the road. Thermop is a great place with hot springs and a very friendly and helpful airport.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

STOL; Good to know the WW owner is a pilot.

RP; If I make it back to Douglas to check on the progress of the Outlaw before the WW trip, I'll keep that in mind.

SKYSTEVE; Good to know they have a van, I may make arrangements to use it at the end of the day if I RON in Thermopolis. I've been there before, the cool little town with the hot name! But, I remember it joined the list I have of "airstrips close to small towns that look perfect on a sectional, perfect as in within bike range, but turn out to be on a big hill from town". Also on this list is Big Timber Montana and John Day Oregon. Those three top the list. Easy as hell getting down, a big PITA to get back up, especially hauling a few gallons of mogas like I was then, usually 5 gallons+ hanging from the handlebars. Nowadays I have much greater range, and a bit more cash, so I'll borrow the courtesey car if possible and make it worth their while, as I won't be buying any av gas for the Rotax. Using it to get to the WW place would be cheating though, I make a careful effort to not over plan these little trips, and just kinda see what happens as it happens. Back to the road landing thread.

OK. So you don't like the Thermop airport. My cousin owns the ranch that borders the East and North sides of the town of Kirby. At least he did own it. Something in the back of my mind says he may have sold it, possibly to the Wyo Whiskey owner. When you know when you're going I will gladly call him. There are hayfields on the north, east and south side of the whiskey guy. If the hay is cut I know there will be no problem landing there. I did a Google Earth search of the Wyo Whiskey and the place looks like it is either on or next to my cousin's ranch. Just let me know when you're going and I'll make the call. Might even join you. Haven't been there for a couple years.

I realize that this is an old, old thread, but I remain unsatisfied with the ambiguity of the "illegality" of off-airport landings, especially with reference to STOL or "bush" aircraft.

Even in the 21st century, non-aviators cling to outdated notions of what "aircraft" means, as if they were all the same. The kind of aircraft built for backcountry operations are able to land and take off where other airplanes can't--and perhaps shouldn't. Most sensible people would usually agree, in principle, that something with three wheels that is lighter in weight than a compact car and moves down the road at 35 or 40 miles an hour and then leaves the ground should, if operated sensibly, pose no threat to public safety.

But we do not live in a culture that is friendly to flying machines. It is long past the time when aviation organizations and the aviation industry (which should recognize that young, poor pilots in experimental flying machines may be the customers for "big iron" in the future) stepped up to the plate with not just meaningful public aviation education, but help our ground-bound cousins to UNDERSTAND what it is like to fly, and why all airplanes are not triple sevens.

I do feel compelled to add that every case of misconduct (buzzing, noise-making, whining, threatening, etc.) tears down the gains made by others. We could, for example, stop whining about "the environmentalists" and start showing them how backcountry avation can help preserve wildlife, spot forest fires, otherwise promote public safety, and help provide useful data for biological and ecological studies. Show them how lightly--how much more lightly--backcountry flying treads on the land than off-road vehicles, for example. We could spot people on the ground in trouble, and help with searches more than we do.

What we could do right here is to assemble the coordinates of legal and safe landing places for various kinds of aircraft in our areas of operation and assemble databases of those locations together with relevant information. Putting up a flag or a windsock might be a way of establishing such places.

Fly friendly!