Trevdog sez:

All and all she liked it. Didn't even get sick but did say hear ears didn't clear. We only got up to 4500 I don't know. She got a stuffy nose on the flight too. I scuba dive too and I've heard of some pills that can help the swelling in the ears and help them clear. Has any on experience with this or have any suggestions?

That backcountry flying over Sky harbor can be a B****. Stuffy nose? Move the tire to the tail and the draft will tend to keep the nose clear. Also, landing on gravel will tend to shake the snot clear.

Desert185 wrote:

Trevdog sez:

All and all she liked it. Didn't even get sick but did say hear ears didn't clear. We only got up to 4500 I don't know. She got a stuffy nose on the flight too. I scuba dive too and I've heard of some pills that can help the swelling in the ears and help them clear. Has any on experience with this or have any suggestions?

That backcountry flying over Sky harbor can be a B****. Stuffy nose? Move the tire to the tail and the draft will tend to keep the nose clear. Also, landing on gravel will tend to shake the snot clear.

Problem is you took her way up to 4500 ft. She'd have been fine if you stayed down at a sane 50 to 100 ft and maybe landed at one of those clearings in the sage brush around Phoenix.... Oh and another thing, your wings are on the wrong side of the airplane...All that air rushing over the top of them causes a low pressure area in the cabin which will cause a stuffy nose. If, like all birds, your wings were on top, the normal flow of air under the wing would remedy that situation.....

I took my wife to Mineral Canyon in Utah this weekend. The strip is in pretty good shape - the north end is a little soft but no big deal. Here is the strip looking north from the middle:


And to the south:


Here it is from the air looking East:


We got there around 7:00pm on Friday night. It was already in the shadows at the bottom of the canyon, but it was still plenty light to see. There was one other airplane camping - they flew in from California. We took a quick flight in the morning around 8:00am and when we came back they were gone for the day. We decided to go take a swim in the Green River (surprisingly warm for this time of year) but as we were walking across the strip to the river, we spotted a couple of skydivers.




There ended up being about 20 of them. The first three were picked up in a 206, which then overflew the stip at about 50ft and buzzed everyone. The rest were bussed out in some crazy looking white 4wd custom bus.

The weather was perfect - mid 80's during the day, low 50's at night. The 170b performed great. Here's a shot of our campsite:



We're the plane on the right in the last picture.

On the way back to Spanish Fork (U77) we flew through Spanish Fork Canyon and the leaves are starting to change. The next week or so will be the best time to get some fall color pictures in Utah.

amacbean, great report. I'll go there some day. It looks pretty cool.

Rob

Mountain Flying on Pike's Peak West side

Flew to IBM today for the Kimball Kamakazee Klub R/R/C Flyers R/C Flyin ( 26 min flight time). A few other full sized planes flew in.
HC

More of Pike's peak back side.

Flying the Marquart Charger biplane today with Pike's Peak in the background.

Colt Creek Utah. Had a blast checking out some of the strips around Lake Powell, camped at Boulder and hiked to Calf Creek falls.


Waterpocket Fold, the geography in S. Utah is like being on another planet. Always amazing and fun..........well except for the wicked winds on Monday!
Dale

WOW! keep it coming.

Thanks...Rob

Been out to Grand Canyon -lake meade last two days.

Camped here over the weekend.

Trevdog, sorry for the late reply... The ear thing. SUDAFED given before during or after the flight. They make little gel strips that don't require the hassle of the pills for the meth dudes. Almost instant relief. Take it from me, my wife and 4 kids that grew up with small airplane travel. Never went without it. Learned about it scuba diving and a trip to the emergency room because my ear was going to explode.

Advice for living with a wife and an airplane. Have confidence and proficiency in both and they will both get along. 25 years and my wife still asks me when we are going flying. When in doubt about where to go in your plane, go where she wants to go.

Above all have fun and leave her with a smile (wink)

Good luck

Lizard,

What are the surface conditions at Colt Mesa and Boulder? I've wanted to stop at those strips but never had the time/chance.

AMacbean,

Boulder is a nice graded strip with some interesting hiking and Colt Springs looks seldom used with small brush and some washed out areas but no problem landing there.

Dale

Thanks! I'll try to stop at those in the next week or two.

Amacbean you have convinced me to try Mineral Canyon in a couple weeks because of those great pictures. I had asked earlier on "Where to fly from Afton" and it seems south should be the direction. Looks like an easy overnight. Any last minute advice? I have Galens book but yours is more current. I will probably be arriving in the evening are there any concerns.

Living this far away from the cool places is breaking my heart!

No real updates beyond what is in Galens book. I landed to the south the first time (wind allowing) because I think that approach is easier. You don't want to get there too late in the afternoon because it is the bottom of a canyon it can get dark at the strip before it's dark on top. We landed just about 7:15pm and it was ok, but any later would have required some landing by faith. The best place to get fuel is Canyonlands, Green River was out of service when we stopped by. Have fun!

Amacbean,

Thanks for the report. I might have to change my plans for the weekend. We were thinking of heading to Ibex, but I'd rather go to Mineral Canyon. The last time I was there it was soft on the north end with a pretty soft spot about 2/3 down from the north end. I have been curious as to the condition since the runway had maintanence on it last year. It looks fairly solid with perhaps a little powder on top. Is that a fair assessment?

Thanks for the pics and cool vid.