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Big Bend Ranch Fly In

WOW!!! I had no idea such neat geologic and man made features (RR Bed/Tunnel/Falls) were close to Valentine. It is such a flat/desolute area imediately around the town.

Chase and Larry -- I hope you have good weather this weekend and get some great video and stills. I have sent my Catto prop back to Craig for "tuning" (want an additonal 25 rpm on take off) or I would be out there with you guys.

BBRSP would be a great place from which to base to check features such as this--in addition to the numerous items already discussed (Solitario/the tanks/etc) please make note of new items and mention them in your posts. Janie and I are keeping a list of all the things we want to do next time we go to BBRSP!!!

Cheers,
db
 
Expanding the expeditionary RV envelope

Amigos: It was a distinct pleasure to meet the fine people at the BBRSP during the recent fly-in there. Mr. Dye must be commended for his initiative in what will surely become a signature RV event. The more recent threads about further exploration of nearby railroad tunnels and caves has been of great interest to me, and surely to a great number of RV'rs whose natural inquisitive nature makes them seekers of adventure and discovery.
Paul and Larry may recall our conversation about a ranch that I, along with my family, own in Mexico. An expedition into this area would be, although challenging, most rewarding, as there are a great number of fascinating things to be seen and explored. One can locate the ranch by taking the El Paso sectional and turning it to the south panel. Find El Paso, then look directly south to the Juarez VOR. Take the 220 radial and draw a line SW to Nuevo Casa Grandes. Find the RR, and follow it S to Th 30-30 ranch(at the edge of the sheet). From there, north to the settlement of "El Rusio" is where you will find ancient indian ruins, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and railroad tunnels. The ranch is part of the old Bavicora spread owned in the past by a Mr. Wm Randolph Hearst. World famous pottery can be found at the village of Mata Ortiz (this can be Googled).
Admittledly, the logistics of this are a magnitude greater than a trip to the Big Bend. However, it is, I believe, worth your consideration at some future time. Your comments are welcome.
 
Propeller Damage

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Propeller Repair​

I have been flying my RV for about 8 years now. It has an O-360 with fixed pitch Sensenich. During this time I have received one major propeller nick. It happened about five years ago while I was idling in the paved run-up area of my home airport. I heard something hit and later found a rather deep nick on the rear face of the propeller about mid-chord. I don't operate extensively off dirt and gravel but have done it probably 25 times or so, including quite unprepared fields like Terlingua Ranch.

Big Bend Ranch State Park Airport is in excellent condition. It is much smoother than most of the runways at my home airport. The surface is kind of a chip-seal so there are small loose stones on the surface. Some of these are what we used to call chat, sharp edged pebbles a few millimeters in diameter.

I believe a did four takeoffs at BBRSP. I never did a run-up and always used the minimum power to taxi and maneuver. A couple of times, while taxiing at low speed I heard something contact the propeller (ding). I ended up with about 8 small but very sharp edged nicks in the rear face of the propeller. Sharp aluminum jaggies were projecting out from the face.

I looked at Louise's propeller and she has similar damage but it doesn't seem as bad as mine. She has a constant speed and that makes me wonder if the lower ground pitch is an advantage when it comes to nicks. It seems like the blow would be more glancing and there would be less effective area for the stone to hit.

Dave and Janie, who had the only tri-gear RV at the airport (Catto three blade), had enough damage that they wanted to fix it, although they did not consider it significant enough to "have" to fix. If I remember correctly, their damage was more to the leading edges.

I didn't hear anyone else talk about damage, but I would recommend caution at this particular airport. Funny, I haven't run into this problem before.
 
Interesting Larry. It so happens I was looking at my prop this morning because I was showing some Scouts how to do a pre-flight. While I routinely check it before every flight, this time I REALLY looked, so it is fresh in my mind. I didn't find anything.

Pure speculation, but the -8's nose sits pretty high, since it is a bit longer than the other taildraggers - I wonder if that might make a difference?

Paul
 
I am convinced that the ding we received occurred when I "spun" the aircraft on the apron in prep to shut down and push it back for tie down. It was on the leading edge about 8" from the tip and easily repaired with the quick set epoxy our friend Chase brought from Presidio. I remember hearing a "click" as I turned the airplane. For this reason I actually pulled the airplane out of the tie down area and onto the runway prior to start up and departure (we left before the Cavalry returned)--no other damage occurred.

BTW, Diana and John told us that they routinely sweep the runway and tried to do this prior to our weekend. When they pulled the rw sweeper out they found it was inop and they had to order a new part. My guess is that future visits (which we intend to do!!) will show an operational sweeper. They are incredibly nice folks.

Larry, why aren't you taking pics of Capote Falls and the RR tunnels??

Best Wishes to All,

db
 
db1yg said:
...
Larry, why aren't you taking pics of Capote Falls and the RR tunnels??...
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I planned to do that today but it was windy at Marfa this morning with a forecast for 25 knots or so. I would rather have calmer conditions for sharper photos. I flew today at Carlsbad and it was pretty downright rough.

I'll make an attempt tomorrow, no matter what it is like at Carlsbad, and the forecast is better tomorrow. It looks like it will need to be later in the day to get some light down into the deep canyon at Capote.

For me it is easy to bop down to Valentine in 35 minutes then bop back up to Guadalupe Peak but Chase is going to try to take video tomorrow and it is more complicated for him. He has to arrange a tanker along the way for refueling. I suspect the tanker is a pickup truck with some 5 gallon cans. The tanker is scheduled at Candelaria, which is about an 1,800 foot dirt strip, at around noon. I doubt if I will land there, since the only reason would be to say hello to Chase. I might just talk to him by radio.

I like Chase's videos, but from one who tries to get a good still photograph through thick, unoptical, plexiglass at too high a speed, I wonder what he would get through NOTHING at a very comfortable low speed.

Wish us smooth conditions.
 
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Wow!!!

To paraphrase a famous phrase from a famous fish movie...."We're gonna need a longer trip!"

Great photos and report Larry. Now admit it - you're just so lonely out there in the wasteland that you're trying to entice everyone to come visit, right?! Truthfully, I think I could live in places that look like that...

Paul
 
Wonderful write up, Larry! Thanks again. Kicking myself for the fifth time for not going <g>.

Best,
Doug
 
Larry,

Another outstanding trip report---I was looking forward to it and you did not disappoint. Given your pic of Valentine it is hard to understand how a 175' water fall could be nearby. Now if we could just get the ranch owner to allow us to land near the falls---I think one of the previous posts mentioned a strip near by.

Nonetheless--another truely interesting report and it sounds as though you had a good time.!!!

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

db
 
Schedule a trip if you can!

A while back EAA Chapter 471 in Abilene scheduled a flyout to Carlsbad for a weekend to see the caverns.

Becky and I were fortunate enough to meet and travel with Larry on our first long trip in our RV back in 2001. (See the Tarantula Trek on his website ).

http://n5lp.net/Tarant1.htm

I called Larry to get some information about Carlsbad, where to stay, where to eat, etc, and he was great in helping us out. But now, for the rest of the story.

Larry and Louise Hose met all of us at the airport, made sure we had everything taken care of, and went to supper with us. Some of you have also met Louise. She was flying a Cherokee at the time, but am so glad she finally saw the light and has an RV :p

Larry and Louise gave us a tour of the Caverns that you absolutely cannot believe. They pointed out things in the Caverns that you would absolutely overlook if you were the average Joe Tourist like we were. It was totally amazing to listen to them share the knowledge they have.

Anyway, the point is, if you can schedule a trip to Carlsbad, you won't find a better host. If there is a rating higher than five stars, Larry gets it.

We had a great time!!!!! Thanks again!!!!!!

Wes Hays
Winters, TX
 
South Presidio County, Texas

n5lp said:
I've got some photos up of today's trip to Capote Falls at http://n5lp.net/Capote.htm
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Great report and photos, Larry. Sorry, my radio range was somewhat limited.

I can tell from my initial review of the video footage that I'm not done with either of these two great landmarks (Capote Falls or San Carlos Mine tunnel). I flew close enough to the falls to see water droplets bouncing off the rocks. It was incredible. Unfortunately my wide-angle lenses did not capture those details, so I must make some improvements to my camera platform. Later in the year after the vegetation blooms and the sun angle improves, I intend to return.

You kind of formulate a new standard for the words "remote" and "isolated" flying in these parts. It's beautiful in its own unique way, but trecherous from a survival standpoint. I think I have the right airplane for capturing images from the air, but I would feel better flying with a wingman.

I will be posting a preliminary video in the next few days, with revisions expected later in the year.

Chase Snodgrass
Presidio, Texas
http://flybigbend.com
 
Great Job Chase!!! I enjoyed the video. You and Larry really did a yoeman's job on this one. We appreicate your help. As soon as I get the plane back together (Condition Inspection) we are going to head down there for a look.

Thanks again guys!
Wes
 
Chase,

Another great job!! Janie and I really enjoyed it. You are quite the ambassador for the Big Bend area.

Best Wishes to you and the family!!

db1yg
 
That makes me want to fuel up the Val and head right back out there this weekend Chase!

Very cool stuff.

Paul
 
Very nice Chase. I especially like how you insert the historical notes.

Good job with the insertion of the old photo your father-in-law took but why no credit to the sturdy old PA22?

My first airplane was a PA22/20 and I miss it still.
 
Chase,

Great video, after your refueling stop I kept looking for the shadow of ICE on your tail...
 
c177tx said:
I kept looking for the shadow of ICE on your tail...
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HA! Assuming they could even find the Big Bend, they would have to come out several times per week if I?m the threat. Actually all DHS aircraft are under CBP Air now, and I?ve been working side-by-side with the local pilots for years.

n5lp said:
...why no credit to the sturdy old PA22? My first airplane was a PA22/20 and I miss it still.
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My mechanic friend used to call my second Tri-Pacer ?old faithful? because we took some pretty long adventures together and always came back on time. N6107D was a good old bird. But I was not satisfied with the small windows; I wanted, or rather needed, to see this country.

Ironflight said:
That makes me want to fuel up the Val and head right back out there this weekend Chase! Very cool stuff
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Let me know if you?re serious. I have a rancher friend that wants to buy a brand new Super Cub. I sure would like for him to experience an RV first! West of Rocksprings, and pretty much right on your line of travel.

Wes Hays said:
As soon as I get the plane back together we are going to head down there for a look
Click to expand...
Let's do lunch

db1yg said:
Chase, You are quite the ambassador for the Big Bend area
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I love it out here. Can you tell?

Chase Snodgrass
Presidio, Texas
http://flybigbend.com
 
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Coal Mine Ranch and rail, Coal Mine Road

westexflyboy said:
The approximate location for the tunnel is N30 27 45 W104 44 18.1

There is a ranch in that area known as the Coal Mine Ranch. There either was not enough coal to make it work or it was a scam to begin with and there never was any coal. ]
Click to expand...

There is coal in the hills out at Coal Mine Ranch. I spoke with an old miner at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute https://cdri.org/index.html outside of Fort Davis, Texas.

His explanation as to why nothing was ever done was the area is faulted up really bad. He said that the rail was laid as a spur out to the mine, but they were not able to get to the coal efficiently. Once hope was given up on the mines the local ranchers took it upon themselves to take care of the rail left behind.

In some of my trips out there I have seen a spot where there is still some wooden supports for a rail creek crossing but not much else is left behind.

Thanks
Derrick Perrin
 
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