dogpilot wrote: BTW, for all you kayakers out there, "If you fly in, kayak down the river, how do you get back to the plane?"

When did aeropod buy a 206?


River shuttle with 2 planes.

A proper one should be able to fit 2 mountain bikes and or 2 creek boats.

BazzLow wrote:

dogpilot wrote: BTW, for all you kayakers out there, "If you fly in, kayak down the river, how do you get back to the plane?"

River shuttle with 2 planes.

A proper one should be able to fit 2 mountain bikes and or 2 creek boats.

Or have a shuttle bunny that’s a good pilot. My wife refuses to learn to fly, but she also insists on boating rather than shuttle, so I need a friend with a plane and a creek boat.

Who’s up for Loon Creek come spring? [emoji12]

I gotta say, after owning two Maules, a 206, a C180, two Pawnee’s and some other stuff, the only one that flew worth much of anything was the 145hp 172 that I put 250 hours a year on. Ever since I traded flying time for money, the rest of those airplanes have sucked.

whee wrote:

BazzLow wrote:

dogpilot wrote: BTW, for all you kayakers out there, "If you fly in, kayak down the river, how do you get back to the plane?"

River shuttle with 2 planes.

A proper one should be able to fit 2 mountain bikes and or 2 creek boats.

Or have a shuttle bunny that’s a good pilot. My wife refuses to learn to fly, but she also insists on boating rather than shuttle, so I need a friend with a plane and a creek boat.

Who’s up for Loon Creek come spring? [emoji12]

Alpaca Raft. Land at the bottom, hike up with your boat in a pack and then boat down.

Or... five people can put in on the S. Salmon and only need one charter flight to get them all out from the Main, vs two or three charter flights for five hard-shells. Anyone hauling hard-shells in an airplane better be boating the Grand Canyon of the Stikine or similar...otherwise they're wasting space and weight. Alpaca Rafts will do pretty much everything else and roll up small enough to sit in your lap on the flight out.

Whee...as of a couple years ago Loon Creek is a freaking portage-fest with more sweepers, strainers, and full on log-sieves than I could keep track of, plus a healthy dose of "bonus logs" interspersed in just about every major, minor and incidental rapid on the run. As a kayak run it's very marginalized...you portage damn near as many hours as you paddle, and some of the obstructions come up on you rather sudden like. It's arguably worse than the Deadwood was in the 90's. I'd recommend avoiding it unless you really like hiking with a boat on your shoulder, and even then there are better runs in the Frank.

If you had a unimog you would be so cool that airplane owners would want to be your friend and fly you places free. BUUUt cooler yet would be your own Hercules on skis with a unimog and a Nodwell in its belly. Exponentially cooler!

Dogpilot, the DHC-5 does indeed rock. We worked alongside some Buffalos in Eritrea, enjoyed the show!

The L-382 (civilian Herk) also makes for an outstanding backcountry airplane. Unimogs can also tow their own campers, boats, etc.

niente qui

You likely operated some of the same airframes, there were only about 100 ever built.
The Herk picture was taken in Leer, Sudan. We used a curved section of “dry” river bed for our famine relief flights there.

Back to GA airplanes. To the original poster...Cessna 180!

If I only had one? Cessna 180, hands down.

Flying a turbine Caribou or a Buffalo (and using its STOL performance) is a dream of mine, likely never to happen. Where I am now Caravans are king, even if the number of them overwhelms the major airports and some of the radio frequencies! The lack of multi-PIC and ATPL do not help either...

Super Cubs and Maules have their niches, but overall I think a Cessna 180/2/5/205/206 would be ideal. Big enough to haul a family of three or four with camping gear for a weekend; decent speed; good range; and well-known to mechanics for when things break.

The one you have. I'm partial to these two
AKT


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Huskytracks wrote:It's a true multi-mission bird. You can buy one to get your private ticket in........Lastly the Tripacer is cheap....

These two conditions do not qualify a plane as the “ best backcountry plane”. With the additions of being a good trainer and cheap to buy, you eliminate all of the really good backcountry planes from the mix.

Super cubs, Huskies, Maules, Cessna 180/185, 206, beavers, otters, twotters... are the most favored planes for working the bush for a reason. These models aren’t cheap and they typically aren’t great trainers.

I’ve heard the Cessna skywagon referred to as “the only plane that you can’t upgrade from”. I have one, and tend to agree with that assertion.

That said, the Supercub will outperform it out in the sticks by a significant margin. For pure backcountry, a light PA-18 160 with a long flat prop is about impossible to beat. They are pretty limited when you need to cover some distance with some payload while dodging storms.

Like others have said: understand your mission... know your budget... get the plane that best suits you and focus more on your skills than the ride, and you are in the best backcountry plane for you.

Scolopax wrote: …..I’ve heard the Cessna skywagon referred to as “the only plane that you can’t upgrade from”. I have one, and tend to agree with that assertion. ....

Where's that like button?

I might argue that one if I could afford a Pilatus PC6 though!

I do feel its all about defining your realm of operations, and thereafter suitable wings for the task at hand. No two people share the same definition of "backcountry". For me it's floats through the Spring, Summer, Fall and moving onto wheel skis for the Winter season. If I had places to go I'd most certainly mount up the tundras but in Canada Eastern Ontario is all lakes and trees. The important thing is to get out, enjoy and report back on your adventures often for the rest of us to enjoy as well, we all enjoy a great story.

Scolopax is without a doubt correct about the 180/185. I mean I sold mine so I could upgrade and ended up buying another 185.

I think Mapleflt is on to something about separating the best backcountry planes into wheel planes and float planes.

So on that note, the best backcountry wheel plane is of course this one. Pretty sure you can't get any more "backcountry" on wheels than this.

Oh oh Barnstormer this is going to get interesting, I'm going to get some popcorn and a beer

Mapleflt wrote:Oh oh Barnstormer this is going to get interesting, I'm going to get some popcorn and a beer

Anyone trash talking had better have photos or videos, otherwise you know...it never really happened. Hee hee hee

I'll fire the first salvo, the local 180/185 guys let me hang out with them sometimes

Nice. So do you think I should put the 185 or the SQ2 on floats? I still need to get exploring the other half of Alaska.

Both have a great lineage for float ops, MTV is likely a better resource for "operational suitability" then I. If it comes down to volume and capacity for gear I suspect the 185 is the prefered ride and it may be the better choice for "open or big water". If "carrying capacity" isn't an issue and its smaller lakes, puddles and sheltered areas your frequenting the Super Duper Cub will serve you well.

For reference one of the 185's pictured carries regularly an inflatable boat, motor, small propane generator, all required camping essentials, comfy camp chairs, two dogs, plenty of food and refreshments