Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd throw this out there in case anyone wanted to meet up. I'll be flying down to 2AZ1 on Tuesday the 14th to drop off some family, then plan on camping at a strip just north of there. If anyone wants to join, let me know.

Then on the 20th I plan on camping at Grand Gulch Mine on the way down to pick them up.

GSP

Suggest you Camp at L25 rather than Grand Gulch . or you could stop at AZ50 for a Bamberger experience at Roseies .

Thanks for the suggestions. What's the story on L25? The AFD says that there are tires marking an X for an abandoned runway, yet it is in the AFD and doesn't say it is closed.

Grassstrippilot wrote:Thanks for the suggestions. What's the story on L25? The AFD says that there are tires marking an X for an abandoned runway, yet it is in the AFD and doesn't say it is closed.

L25 is Meadview,Az. 2 runways one is "XED" off Other is open. North /south runway has tie downs on north end. North end has sharp dropoff into canyon ., windsock is near intersection of 2 runways. There's a road going back to "town" about mile or so. There are several other airstrip's in area.

L25 is Pierce Ferry, ( http://www.airnav.com/airport/L25 ) Is a dirt airstrip that sits up on a Mesa looking down on the Colorado river, nothing there except dirt and desert shrubs.

Grand Gulch is an old abandon mine sits under BEERZ intersection, that's how I find it it is a bit more interesting than L25. Just my opinion.

Thanks for the info guys. I had a great trip down on Tuesday and came back yesterday. 10.1 hours of flying, 5 new strips and 1 new airport. On the way down, I had 30-40 knots on the tail and 170-180mph ground speeds. I met up with Rob yesterday morning after initially missing each other due to the time zone issue! I was on time...but an hour late! Anyway, the breakfast place is closed on Wednesdays, so we just caught up for a bit and then launched our separate ways.

After dropping off family at Indian Hills, I camped at Rotten Wood, then flew over to R3 before meeting up with Rob at Alamo Lake. Then flew up to Pearce Ferry and Grand Gulch Mine before heading for home. It was a great trip and I'm looking forward to going back down next week for some more flying! If anyone wants to meet up to camp or for breakfast, let me know.

Here are some pics.

Crossing the western end of the Grand Canyon over Bar Ten.


Rotton Wood where I spent the night. Got to make sure to be on centerline!


Moonrise over the desert.




Camp at Rotten Wood.


Rob and I at Alamo Lake.



Pearce Ferry



Grand Gulch Mine

Glad you had a good safe trip, did you land at Grand gulch? And how did your oil temperature run?

Sounds like fun! How are those VG's treating you? I hear rumors they were expertly attached...

Yes, landed at Gran Gulch. It is in great shape. The NE/SW strip looked good too. Didn't get out since I needed to get home.

Oil ran 140-160...160 being down where it was warmer. And that is with half of it taped off. I'm planning on pulling the vernatherm next week after I get done with these trips I have planned.

Allen, you must have known what you were doing! None have come off yet!!! It was a kick flying down at a lower altitude with just me in there. I'm still getting used to the different feel but I did get the stall warning horn adjusted and am liking using the shortfield approach technique that was discussed recently on here. You should come down with me next week!

Here is a little video of some of the flying from the trip. I found a good use for the plate that covers the BAS shoulder harness: a great suction cup mount for my Drift! I thought that the prop would be a bit more distorted, but you can hardly see it. I really like how it turned out.

Enjoy!

Launching in the morning with Adam for Grand Gulch Mine to spend the night. Then down to retrieve family the next morning with a lunch stop at CDC again on the way home. If anyone is around, stop on by!

We made it back from another AZ trip and had a great time. We flew down to Cedar City for a fuel stop and lunch, then on over to Grand Gulch Mine where we explored the mine, checked out the canyon to the south, threw a Frisbee, gave Adam his first shooting lesson with a BB gun, and had a great time camping. The stars were spectacular! The wind picked up that night and come morning there was no way I was going to get it packed up, so I rolled it into a ball and waited to put it away when we reached Indian Hills. After picking up family at Indian Hills, we had another nice flight over the Grand Canyon on the way home.

All in all, just over 2,100 miles flown in 20.7 hours of flying. A quarter of what I flew all of last year!

Adam and I headed south.


Lunch and fuel stop in Cedar City.


Adam inflating his mattress.


Adam helping to tie down the plane. Good thing because they got blowing 15-20 knots during the night!


Frisbee time!


Hiking down to explore the old mine.


Abandoned trucks.


Grand Gulch Mine


One really deep hole.


Adam depth testing the hole. Took 6-8 seconds for the rock to hit bottom.


Spending time with Adam.


Checking out canyon at the end of the strips. Adam thought the echoes were pretty cool.


Adam's first shooting lesson.


Adam checking out the Grand Canyon.

Adam is loving it! What a lucky kid to have that experience.

Lucky kid and a lucky dad, nice pictures Cory!