O.K.,

I am turning to the pros here once again. Three years ago I bought the book FLY IDAHO: got very excited,spent a lot of time on this forum getting excellent advice. Went flying/camping/hiking for two weeks in Idaho and Montana.... had a ball...thanks to FLY IDAHO and the guys on BCP.

Now it's time for a new adventure. During Sept and Oct of this year I will be working once again as a volunteer at Natural Bridges National Monument down near the 4-Corners area. My wife and I volunteered there in March and April of 2010. We loved the park and absolutly fell passionately in love with southern Utah. So much so that we have taken two camping/hiking vacations there in the last 8 months. By the way....it is 1,300 miles one way from our home in Missouri. So you know that we love the place to travel that far as often as we have.

Anyhow my wife is back flying with the airline now(a flight attendant) and cannot come with me this time. So I will be solo in Utah for two months....with a couple of Honeymoon visits from the wife. I am planning to bring the Maule out with me this time. The nearest airport is at Blanding, UT. which is 37 miles from the park. My hope is to hanger it there for two months. There is a dirt stip ...Fry Canyon... near the park but not a secure location or even tiedowns. I will have three days free each week and plan to do some backcountry flying. Now here is the problem.

I purchased Hanselman's FLY UTAH book expecting the same kind of exciting backcounty flying that Idaho offered. What a disappointment!! Virtually all of the backcountry strips listed are described as "overgrown with sagebrush, covered with broken glass and sofball sized rocks, rutted, soft, deteriorated, 50% unusable, private ranches, dangerous, unmaintained or located on tribal lands and suitable ONLY for BIG TIRED CUB TYPE aircraft with 31 inch tires!! You know.... 1,100 ft. of soft, rutted dirt , with sage brush and rocks....at an elevation of 6,000 ft. with dangerous canyon winds from every direction. Sounds like places that GUMP would enjoy. But maybe some poor boy with a Maule M-5-210-C needs to just stay home. The Maule is a great performer but this may be more than she or I need to attempt. You may be thinking....what did he expect? Fair enough if you are. I plead ignorance. Sounds to me like these airstrips are mostly impossible and the book/airstrips are usless for 90% of us who like to do some adventurous flying into isolated areas.

So what say you guys. Should I just leave the Maule at home? Honesty I don't think that there were more than 6 or 7 strips that sounded usable or interesting to me and they only marginally so. Maybe those of you familiar with the area would have some thoughts. Appreciate all the comments and help you are willing to offer.

Thanks,

bob

I think you would be a fool to leave the Maule at home. Southern Utah is a true gem to fly around, nothing like it elsewhere. Also, it's not just for the big tire club, there are many strips in the area that would be suitable to your needs. I do recommend getting very familiar to your Maule and density altitude before pushing your limits.

I just uploaded 7 videos of takeoff and landings from our Caveman trip. http://www.youtube.com/user/flyingpoochprod That'll give you an idea of what you're getting into. BUT, it isn't Idaho, it's somewhat similar, but flying the canyon country isn't the same as the mountains. The sand is soft and with any rain will become a muddy mess.

As you know, the hiking is superb. I personally LOVE the slot canyons of the San Rafael Swell. Ding and Dang, Bell, Little Wild Horse, Crack, etc. They are all fantastic hikes. Not very accessible by plane, but worth looking into.

Another reason to bring the Maule is SW Colorado. That area is simply beautiful to fly around. If your pilot capabilities are up to it, I would check that out as well.

If you leave your plane home you will regret it. Even if you don't land, there is a whole bunch of beautiful scenery to be seen. Plus, there is anything from mountains to desert and everything in between within an hour of where your going.

My opinion generally tends to run way astray of the BackcountryPilot.org mainstream and clearly I am a clueless hamfist who needs 49" bushwheels to get by, simply landing on a 9000' paved metropolis but....





The southwest rocks.... Just do it
any questions?

Rob wrote: clearly I am a clueless hamfist

nah, you're clearly talented and experienced, it's just your ego that's a little tender. Don't worry, you're in good company.

I'll add a few as well...

If you read the books this is another bad wind, bad surface, bad go around deals.... I have seen stock C150s in there.


And where outside of the four corners area are you going to find these?

You are going to love it.

O.K. guys,

Thanks so much for the info so far. I know the countryside is stunning ....having driven Jeep trails, camped and hiked among the red rocks for many days. In fact one of Rob's pictures looks for all the world like Valley of the Gods. But then lots of rocks look alike.

One thing that doesn't encourage me though.....both of you guys are wearing those gigantic Bushwheels. I have 8.50-6 on the Maule and don't plan on anything bigger. Now I know why Matt's touchdowns were so smooth. Seeing those big tires makes me wonder if Galen Hanselman is right. Matt....did you need the tires for the place that you went in the video you uploaded? Or was that just overkill for those strips?

I've flown the Maule 600 hours: at high altitude and into tight spots, including a 15,000 mile, 4 week trip around the nation's borders. Maule does not publish performance charts but I extablished a base line many years ago. At gross weight, near standard day ...I was off in 600 ft. and cleared a 50 ft. obstacle in 1,000 ft. Stopped on the first 300 ft. on a hard surface runway. I use a KOCH chart for density altitude computations. Over the years I've basically learned what it will do from experience. The aircraft constantly outperforms the chart but it is no SuperCub. As for your Stinson Matt....it is a great performer. My hangar mate has one and calls it the "Original Maule." Indeed it may be a superior backcountry plane . My Maule gets off the ground quickly even at gross...but doesn't climb well once above the first couple hundred feet.

I believe that I will take the airplane with me....if for no other reason than the scenery and to pick my wife up at either SLC or ABQ when she comes out on the airline to visit. Still want to find some backcountry strips though...where I can camp and be isolated.

Thanks guys,

bob

Bob, I've landed with 8.50's at Dolores Point, Mexican Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Hidden Splendor, Mineral Canyon, Happy Canyon, Angel Point, Dirty Devil, Hubbard, and Caveman Ranch (permission required). The only strip that I felt the 8.50s were a little "small" for was dirty devil. They did fine, but you could tell it was pretty sandy there. If you get off the main strip, the sand could overwhelm a 8.50 quickly. Air down and hit your mark. Shortfielder lives in Durango and has landing at far more strips in the area than I have on 8.50s. You might want to send him a PM.

Sure I have 31" bushwheels now, but I don't need them for a good chunk of the strips out there. Some of those strips far exceed my piloting and aircraft skills anyway.

Sounds like you know your M5 well. that's the important thing. Another thing is to bring proper survival gear and lots of water with you at all times. During the summer, SE Utah could be a very unforgiving place if something were to go wrong.

I've Jeeped/hiked the area many times prior to flying there, and flying there will far surpass any hiking/Jeeping one could ever do.

Non Bushwheel planes at this years Caveman fly-in (near Moab, UT):

Hubbard (Gateway, Co)


Hubbard (Gateway, Co)


Hubbard (Gateway, Co)


Happy Canyon


Ibex (Tule Valley Hardpan)


Bushwheels are nice and I'm guessing we would all like to have them . However there are lots of places mere mortals like us can land. We were also at Horseshoe Canyon, Dolores Point, Angel Point, and others. Once you get there and obtain some local knowledge, I believe you'll be really happy to have the Maul with you.

You should take the Maul, have a great time. There are a lot of places to land with the 8.50X6.
Have fun with it.

akflyer2001 wrote:You should take the Maul, have a great time.

Totally agree. A man needs a fire. You'll need a saw too.

Hey Z3,

I had the same reaction when read Fly Utah for the first time. It sounds like there are a lot of strips that could be open to more aircraft with a little maintenance. That being said, I'd definitely take the plane. One of my biggest concerns for flying down there is the soft sand, both on the runway itself and the shoulders. At the fly-in this year, I landed at Happy Canyon and Angel Point with no problem. I also landed at Horseshoe Canyon. It was pretty soft, but we got in and out ok. It is softer than I like and I have no plans on going back before I get bigger tires. I am currently running plain Jane 6.00s. I have also been into Fry Canyon, Mineral Canyon, Cedar Mountain, and Nokai Dome with no problems. I would think that you would be good on 8.50s for most places, but I haven't ever flown of pavement with them.

Hope you have a great trip!

Zane wrote:

akflyer2001 wrote:You should take the Maul, have a great time.

Totally agree. A man needs a fire. You'll need a saw too.

Zane,

You are just too clever! Now come on out to the boonies in Missouri. I have about 10 cords of firewood cut but not split. And..... I do it all with a Maul. But not one with those those wimpy, city slicker, fiberglass handles. The damned things vibrate like hell when splitting wood. So I use a good ole Arkansas, hickory handle in mine.

I could use some help if you are bored.

And...thanks to all the guys who have responded to my Utah concerns. Keep it coming. I am learning....learning....learning.

bob

You will have fun with the Maule. Go early when it is cool. You can go lots of places!!

Cheers...Rob

Lots of good answer here, mostly positive. I *will* suggest getting some back-country instruction from the guys at Red Tail Aviation at Canyonlands Field (CNY) or from LaVar Wells at Hanksville (HVE), not because you need the stick-and-rudder skills but because these guys know the airstrips and their special issues. I fly a Cherokee into these strips twice a year http://the-adam.com/adam/airports/#U660 and I even take
videos with a camera on my wing. I found out four years ago that this part of the country is why I learned to fly!

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery ... C_0198.JPG
That's my red & white Citabria we are pushing off the runway at Hubbard. I would recommend most of the strips mentioned here with the exception of Horseshoe Canyon..a little soft but still doable. Mineral Canyon is easy to land with your kind of plane..Ed did it with a Super Decathalon with two people..it has a relative high stall speed compared to our Citabrias. Just practice your short/soft field landings to hit your spot on the runway. I always do this prior to hitting the back country..just in case I forgot how.
After we left Caveman we went down to Monument Valley, Shiprock, and Durango just to take a look at the country.....beautiful!! I have been wanting to get back to Monument Valley for 10 years after flying through it on the way back from Phoenix 10 years ago.
BTW..I just put 850's on my plane, the other two planes have 800's.
Ernie

Monument Valley..a little SW of Four Corners

Thanks Earnie,

Great photos. I am bringing the airplane for sure after all these good suggestions. Now I have to figure how to get from Blanding, UT. where I intend to base the airplane back to either SLC or ABQ to catch the airline home. It will be a double trip. One to take the airplane then return back home to get the Jeep for the drive out to the park. There are no rental cars, bus service, train or anything between Blanding and civilization. That is why I love the area. But haven't got it figured out yet.

Natural Bridges is located in the heart of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. I will be volunteering 4 days a week at the park and have 3 consectutive days off each week. The intention is to take advantage of every day off. It will only be a 15/20 minute flight down to Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods and endless canyon country. I intend to camp overnight at these backcountry strips that I go into. My goal in retirement has been to spend as much time among silence and dark night skies as possible. That is more and more difficult to do with the "electrification" and constant "noise" of our world.

One other question. I want to land and spend the night on a dry lake bed, having never done that. Beyond checking the weather and dragging the lake bed....how is one sure that the base is dry and hard?

Questions from a flatlander!

Bob

z3skybolt wrote:
One other question. I want to land and spend the night on a dry lake bed, having never done that. Beyond checking the weather and dragging the lake bed....how is one sure that the base is dry and hard?

One important clue is to look for variations in color across the whole surface of the lake bed. Any moisture will accumulate in the lowest areas, and those areas will appear darker. So, as a general rule, land on the lighter colored areas.

z3skybolt wrote:One other question. I want to land and spend the night on a dry lake bed, having never done that. Beyond checking the weather and dragging the lake bed....how is one sure that the base is dry and hard?

Questions from a flatlander!

Bob

I'll drag you a spot. Come up, dry mud is easy to find.

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