I love the idea of soaring in a GA plane. Just never had the opportunity yet. You’re the only one that I have ever heard talking about it. I came to flying from paragliding so it appeals a lot.

The other outlier I always think of is Steve Henry’s dead stick takeoff. Kudos to both of you.

And it doesn't have to be dead stick. The extra energy is out there. Into the wind on takeoff, actually taught at the flight school, doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Level in low ground effect, zoom reserve, down drainage egress, energy management turn, vertical space available or gravity make me go faster, thermal, orograraphic, and wave are efficient energy management techniques.

We can go faster than book, higher than book, maneuver aggressively at 1g, etc, with any airplane from 65 hp trainers to military jet powered aircraft. We just have to become familiar with the God, or Newton, given energy and then actually use it. The Top Gun crowd do, and look at their engine thrust. Yes, the more powerful our engine, the more difficult it is to discern natural energy.

Buzzed around Fairbanks today to help a friend break in a new cylinder.

Lakes patrol...


departing Grand View Lodge

Weather was garbage to the north so we went back out over the Tanana Flats. Found the B-24 again! The vegetation has grown up around it, so it’s getting hard to spot until you’re almost on top of it.

CamTom12 wrote:Weather was garbage to the north so we went back out over the Tanana Flats. Found the B-24 again! The vegetation has grown up around it, so it’s getting hard to spot until you’re almost on top of it.

That's not the pacer...

patrol and afterwards the Chocolate OX for ice cream...




Javron 4 seat Super Cub

A1Skinner wrote:That's not the pacer...

My wife gave me a hard “no” on taking our plane this year. Something about hours on days in the small plane with a 17 month old... so we flew commercial.

I’ve got a buddy that just got a new cylinder on his 150. Been helping him break it in, low altitude and full throttle.

I received a call from a friend who was grounded in Hyampom, CA in the Trinity Alps due to a fuel pump failure on a C210.

I still had mine from my C205 (210-5) in the hangar and asked him to text me a pic of the failed pump. It just happened to be the same one I had, so I took it to him. He was back in the air within an hour after my arrival.

One of the locals invited us to do the exchange in his hangar that was a really well equipped man cave.

This video is of the last 6 minutes of the flight to Hyampon with a pattern preferred by the locals. Go figure.

It was a perfect day for the trip and was back at KCCR by lunchtime.

Last run to the island:

Across the valley from my place, to a 7500' high saddle, first in the plane.



Then after I still didn't have to go to work, later this morning I rode the fat e bike up to the same site, then further up to the 8600' high mountain summit. I'm beat.

I blew off a trip to Warren ID, where I was going to camp and do an epic bike ride, after hearing talk of a cold front moving in. So for the rest of the weekend I'm hoping for the WX to turn ugly to validate my decision

So I did something I do now and then, took off with full tanks, and with absolutely no idea where I was going. I discovered there is a wilderness area 50 miles from my place I never noticed before, this place: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/uwcnf/re ... sem_035454 I circumnavigated it and genrally just poked around at 65-70 mph the entire time, no where to go and at least several calm wind hours to get there. I could swear Naomi Peak was listed at an even 10,000' (which I found odd) on my sectional, but I see they are calling it 9980', whatever. I'll have to read up on the regs to see if a winter ski landing would get me thrown in jail or not. If I see snow machine tracks.......I fail to see the distinction between allowing their activities and a ski plane.

Then I started following rivers through canyons, there is nothing I like better then calm air cruising up a tight canyon, not knowing where it leads. The S-7S is excellent for this kind of flying, it's slow speed turning radius and power to weight ratio allows me to get away with this, and yeah I realize the hazards and am constantly ascertaining my 180 radius versus the canyon width, and never really push it, and for sure doing this in a heavier and faster plane would be folly. I then ended up doing shore patrol around Bear Lake, and then at some point on the way back saw this private water slide, pretty impressive. The kind of unexpected sight that makes these flights so much fun.

I have been trying to resist putting in a giant slip and slide on my 40 acres, with 147' of vertical fall in 1/4 mile, nice and consistent, it is calling out for one. I just had our area's Water Master here (they check up on farmer water rights, checking for water theft, proper permits etc.) to look at my hydro electric system (all properly permitted, it passed) and if I'd been thinking I'd asked about diverting the creek for a slide, that would given him something to talk about back at the office. After 3.6 hours, back in the hangar, I noticed this piece of wild grass that I picked up on the hor stab flying wires at a 9200' Montana landing is still hanging in there, with 23 hours TT flying time, I'll see how long it persists. Note the tubular trim tab taped to the rudder, very effective as it disturbs the airflow in a way that makes it act like a more traditional one but is less obtrusive and no holes need be drilled. 1/4", and the length adjusted as needed.

Hey CG, was that water slide in the area of Mink Creek? I just lead a motorcycle ride that had us travel thru Cub River and thru the Hills to Mink Creek where we dropped down to Oneida Narrows and followed it it the Hippy Hot Spring and back out to the pavement...

Seems like I saw this slide or one like it out the corner of my eye somewhere in that journey. S7 is such a great ship for what you do!

NOT the Mink Creek area. The day I spotted it I was polishing the east side of the valley, south of Grace, down where it get's hilly and the canyon (with the long skinny reservoir) that dumps you out to the east of Preston. Within 10 miles or so of Thatcher, I think. Not that I was paying attention, I do remember being surprised that was Preston, I hung a right instead of a left curve, towards Ovid, no matter!

I had driven that route a few days earlier, taking the short cut over to Ovid, and then the Paris Peak area for another bike ride that day, and the terrain struck me as needing to be flown. There is nothing better then driving an area I've flown before, and vice versa, and I couldn't believe that area had escaped my attention all these years, it sure is pretty country, and still nice and green.

Today I took off in dead calm air, and while climbing to clear the ridge behind my place before turning towards the Smoot/Afton area, it started getting bumpy. Then it got bumpier....and before turning towards the ridge, using the GPS and some turns to figure the wind direction and strength, I came up with about 40 MPH out of the west. NOT a good day to fly that route with it's numerous 8 and 9K+ north/south ridge lines, so I bagged it, still dead calm at my strip, a big sheer, (the forecast about high winds associated with a cold front WAS correct after all, why I had bagged my Warren trip Saturday morning, flying home this morning would have gotten me to my place, with a 30-40 mph tail wind on my one way strip, meaning no landing there and the hassle of borrowing a car at KPIH etc.) So once again, the PluginPrius- e fat bike combo scratched the itch to have an adventure, and I rode up to the Malad VOR installation, note the lenticular clouds, 40 mph + all day! I had done some crane work up on those mountains setting a cell phone tower a while back, and knew where it was (didn't have to use my GPS). The kind of flying the Rans is NOT much good for, not to have fun anyway, my best bike rides are in horrible flying conditions, when I'm real happy ON the ground,the bike riding serves to keep me from pushing the conditions flying wise, I have something else to do....and as usual while riding these mountains, I find more places to fly/land. The Prius (I can charge the bike while driving somewhere, and still get almost 60 MPG) bike, and plane all work together, it's all about seeing cool places, with great scenery, exploring, and getting some exercise (last on the list).

I found the water slide------about a mile N/NE of Lago ID.

To check out an upcoming crane job below the Tetons, which meant on the way I flew over the Palisades Reservoir/Alpine area, and also an area I worked at last week right on the Snake River below the dam, not to too far from Karl Malones "cabin", (nice seeing it from the air this time instead of being ground bound). Yeah, working on a Sunday morning, though real productive, as I saw that the excavation contractor, without the general contractor I'll be working for knowing in advance, dug a huge pit for an artificial lake on one side of the large home.This will vastly complicate (and lengthen) my crane work once on site.

I of course sent a picture to the contractor immediately, just to ruin his Sunday morning. Just another no extra cost feature when you deal with CourierGuyCrane Service. I won't post the picture, but the 6,000 sq. ft' vacation home is on a large chunk of land, and I figured to land it (didn't want to, but work demanded it) and had it all set up just right, when I noticed a car parked onsite, off to one side, and what turned out to be the homeowner standing outside it. Not knowing if he loved, tolerated, or absolutely hated airplanes, the landing turned into a low flyby. As I flew off I texted the framer to tell the owner the plane's pilot was the crane guy, and I was doing a close up site preview so we could all work more efficiently and would know in advance where to dump all the trusses etc.,, that I wasn't just out screwing around. Then I dropped by this classic one room school on the way back, the one room was smaller then the vacation home's garage, times have changed.

Out to the "West Desert", drop 800 gallons water, and return to Cedar City...

Susitna Flats, pretty dry.

Went to KY for the long weekend to visit friends.

Nothing puts’m to sleep faster than an airplane ride. Cool pics. And mount.