Requested a quote from Salmon/McCall Air to fly my wife into Shearer at the end of the month. Apparently they don't have any planes to fly into the backcountry because the leases expired so they are only doing city to city flights.

Anyone know of another outfit based out of Salmon? I'll call Pete at Middle Fork Air but looking for other options too.

I think they expired a few planes, pilots, and passengers too. I imagine times are tough for them. I delivered a rg182t to them last year, I wonder what happened to that? 739DC should be flying for someone up there.

Another 1.5 hours over the hill into Hamilton and Northstar Aviation will do it.

I thought about the MT outfits but I don't want my wife to have to drive that far. I launch on the Selway the 26th and she has a triathlon in Twin Falls the same day. After her race she will drive to either Salmon or Challis for her flight in and we will pick up her car on would way home.

Northstar can, and so can Arnold way up out of Cascade.

Arnold aviation. They can pick her up wherever. Doesn't have to go to their base.

MTV

mtv wrote:Arnold aviation. They can pick her up wherever. Doesn't have to go to their base.

This it true for any of them but they won't fly from McCall or Cascade to Salmon and back for free. Think I'll be better off just calling Pete and having him pick her up in Salmon.

try middle fork aviation http://www.middleforkair.com/Home.html

idair wrote:try middle fork aviation http://www.middleforkair.com/Home.html

That is Pete. Very good outfit to work with.

Tim

It's pretty hard to beat the backcountry service provided by Choice Aviation (North Star) in Hamilton, Montana. Like other flying services mentioned, they will gladly pick up from your airport.

Leland is an incredible pilot, with a work ethic hard to match. Ravalli County Airport is rapidly turning into a thriving backcountry hub.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--jZPtGqgBg (will not work on mobile due to music copyright issues)

Richard

Not sure if you have looked into this, SP aircraft out of Boise?

whee wrote:Requested a quote from Salmon/McCall Air to fly my wife into Shearer at the end of the month. Apparently they don't have any planes to fly into the backcountry because the leases expired so they are only doing city to city flights.

Anyone know of another outfit based out of Salmon? I'll call Pete at Middle Fork Air but looking for other options too.

Whee, where does she need to fly out of to get to Shearer and what day? I'm not sure yet if I'm going to be in Idaho at the end of the month, but I might be able to take a look at it...

Edit: DOH - just read all the way through the posts and saw Salmon or Challis to Shearer on the 26th. Sorry, just checked my schedule and I'm working that weekend - I would have done it for free! )c:

That is very generous of you Mike. Any excuse to fly the backcountry right.

It is looking like she will fly in from Idaho Falls on the 27th with a friend of mine. Will be nice for her to not have to drive anywhere.

whee wrote:That is very generous of you Mike. Any excuse to fly the backcountry right.

It is looking like she will fly in from Idaho Falls on the 27th with a friend of mine. Will be nice for her to not have to drive anywhere.

ANY excuse!

Don't want to make a new thread for this so I'll post here.

We all know that flying late in the day is not recommended but many of us probably have. My personal opinion is that arriving in the backcountry in the afternoon is doable but frequently uncomfortable because of rough air. Departing a place like Shearer late in the day is not a good idea but depending on the day can be done safely especially in a empty 206. While looking for a flight into Shearer a obstacle I had was that my wife won't be ready to leave till in the afternoon. All but one of the outfits I talked too wouldn't even consider flying in the afternoon or early evening. Pretty much told me they can do it Saturday morning or Sunday morning but no other time. I get it, no problem. They need to protect their investments and careers. I guess I just have a different perspective. It just surprised me that they turned down some work. If it were me I think I'd take the flight and fly her in. If I get stuck waiting at Shearer for the air to cool off no big deal, at least I got a flight in and made some money vs sitting in the hangar lounge not getting paid.

With respect, I would defer to the professionals. Many lives have been lost over the years due to dispatchers yielding to pushy customers (not saying you are one). Kudos to those that know when to say "no thanks".

Good point!!

gbflyer wrote:With respect, I would defer to the professionals. Many lives have been lost over the years due to dispatchers yielding to pushy customers (not saying you are one). Kudos to those that know when to say "no thanks".

I happened to be McCall with Lynn Clark several summers ago. Just after lunch, a call came into the air taxi office asking for evacuation of an injured rafter from lower loon. The dispatcher asked if Lynn would do it. She refused. It wasn't particularly windy outside at the time, but I was impressed.

A few years later, she died on a hot, windy afternoon at Root Ranch. http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001208X08519&key=1 I was at Chamberlain and Thomas Creek early morning on the same day. The wind came up at 9:00 and blew like hell--very unusual. There's no mention of wind in the NTSB report (the probable cause is listed as "failure to maintain clearance from trees. A factor was trees . . ." which would be funny if it wasn't so tragic). I'll never know what really happened, but I'll always wonder if the wind wasn't the fatal factor.

CAVU

You might ask about Moose instead. And Choice Aviation out of Hamilton can do it if nothing else. Ive run into him a few times in the evenings there with dropoffs.

I've been sucked into that afternoon thing before and I'm not even for hire. My friends always want a ride some place, then they're late getting to the hangar. I take them to THEIR event and hang out with THEIR friends while THEIR business takes too long. Then, I get to listen to them bitch about the bumpy ride, are we going to die? are you sure we're going to be able to get through that? what was that noise? Is that oil pressure gauge right? do we have enough gas? as I'm reaching for the pilot isolation switch. My favorite is "can we go after work?" Sure, I don't have a life- let's go after work, and come back before work, then I'll sleep instead of work. You couldn't run fast enough to give me a charter job.