Extreme aerial tourism is coming to an end. Time to land and have some liquified matter.
Am I taking somebody's spot? There are at least six ones like this some are greasier then the others.
It took me 5 minutes to secure my airplane and another 5 minutes to run to the pool via beer fridge. Cold beer, warm pool... I am surely missing something here... "Wish Upon a Pike" and a mighty roar came
An armada of V22s Ospreys flew in to refuel. Two, four then another one... six!!
These are quick suckers two fuel trucks were working hard with one on standby.
Man that was epic. Sitting by the pool with a cold beer watching and listening to the roar of turbines, with smell of burnt jet fuel and a cloud of dust!! Indescribable feelings of thoughtless youth! Thank YOU you know who you are for recommending a place like this. I owe you big time!
In couple hours I went to the restaurant I was hungry as a marathon runner. Ordered steak. And drink. Then more. The restaurant was surprisingly empty. When I asked for a bill the waitress said everything has been taken care of and she didn't disclose by whom. Have a good night. Tomorrow's route was already plotted.
What airport is this....Yuma?
Imperial CO (KIPL)
It does require some skill to take pictures while landing an airplane. Impressive ...
It does require some skill to take pictures while landing an airplane. Impressive ...
Curiosity question for you, Vlad. Used to land on very unimproved dirt roads, not paved ones. You've landed on a few paved roads. How does the airplane handle when you encounter a road that has the center higher than the edges so water will run off? I think many, if not most, modern paved roads have this kind of camber to them. I would naturally suspect the castoring nosewheel might want to wander pretty easily away from the center of the road.
What has your experience been?
Mark, the road camber is no factor there are so many other things to worry about i.e wingtip clearance from signs and poles, a pocket to clear the road etc. You can't just land on an empty paved road except in Alaska and Montana so my total paved roads count is less then a dozen. However couple years ago I noticed a overcambered surface but couldn't do full stop because of incoming traffic. Therefore no report or experience on free castering. I would guess it's negligible and wouldn't affect nose wheel steering
Imperial CO (KIPL)
Don,
The power and telephone lines are visible just avoid them. FAA publishes a very nice guide on off-airport landing how to determine where to land. We were handed a copy during our "mild ramp check" in Fairbanks. Although it's centered toward bush flyers I've found it quite interesting and useful.
Don,
The power and telephone lines are visible just avoid them. FAA publishes a very nice guide on off-airport landing how to determine where to land. We were handed a copy during our "mild ramp check" in Fairbanks. Although it's centered toward bush flyers I've found it quite interesting and useful.
FAA publishes a very nice guide on off-airport landing how to determine where to land. We were handed a copy in Fairbanks. Although it's centered toward bush flyers I've found it quite interesting and useful.
Tom, I think he means California, not Colorado. (CA & CO)
Vlad,
The various unpaved runways you used in AK all seem to have gravel surfaces with nothing looking bigger than an inch, smooth, and pretty flat. Would you say this is true for most of the "dirt" runways in AK, Yukon, and BC? (I'd inquiry locally, anyway.) This is good news for using my -7 more extensively in AK, having landed only at Beaver Creek for customs and being pleasantly surprised that the small aggregate makes it nearly paved. Here in Idaho, 2-3" rocks and varmit holes are expected and the reason RVs have little back country access.
John Siebold
Boise, ID
Last year when I flew over El Paso, the iPad that I use for navigation dinged at me. I glanced down and on my ForeFlight screen, it said "New Message". I ignored that and pressed on to Midland. That evening, I looked at the message. It was from Verizon and read, "Welcome to Mexico! Upgrade your cellular plan for international service." LOL!...you can't fly runway 03 pattern without clipping the border.
By 8 am it was already hot down low I climbed to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there till I reached Gila Bend (E63).
Local Sheriff was there on his business. I didn't stay long. The little terminal building didn't have an operational cooling system. Gila Bend has pretty intensive traffic both flight schools and the military.
Nearly 11 enjoyable hours of extreme aerial tourism.