Helena MT to Grand Forks ND

DAY NINE (Continued) 30 July 2005:


Heading East from Helena

Departing Helena, the weather ahead was clear all the way through to Minnesota. I didn’t want to miss the scenery, I was flying about 1,000 ft AGL. I had a friendly tailwind, so I pulled the power way back but was making good time. At times, I was enjoying a 120-knot ground speed and a smooth ride. With the Oregon Aero seats and a good headset, the Husky is very comfortable going cross-country. Fifty gallons of fuel onboard, and the engine sips less than 6 gallons per hour when leaned out.


Approaching the Missouri Breaks National Monument

I made Grand Forks North Dakota that evening, over 620nm from Helena, including a couple of small diversions to take photos of interesting ranches and rivers. I could have gone further but I was catching up with some weather and it was getting dark.

Johnson Creek Idaho – Grand Forks North Dakota with a fuel stop in Helena Montana – 820nm total, 8.6 hr Flight Time

KHLN Helena Montana

DAY NINE (Continued) 30 July 2005:

Climbing out of Elk City, I set a course for Helena. There were several mountain ranges to cross leaving Idaho, but the winds were light and the air was clear. I had much more confidence in selecting a route through the valleys and following the highways into Montana. It seems like a step back, with two or three GPS in the aircraft, to be planning a cross-country flight following the highway, but it really is the safer way to traverse the mountains and foothills.


En-route Helena - that is 1U1 Moose Creek below my wing


Simulated Engine Failure - Where Will You Land?

Helena was a curious place. It has regional airline service, huge runways and a tower, but I was there for 90 minutes and did not see a soul. The FBO “Mustang Mickeys” is an institution amongst pilots who pass through. A local dentist owns and operates this FBO, but everything is based on the honour system.


Helena - Mustang Mickey's

The fuel is self serve, and you cannot miss the pump – there is a P51 Mustang providing top-cover! There is a kitchenette and bunk facilities inside the FBO, a stocked refrigerator, and one or two cars with keys sitting outside.


Fuel Pumps - Helena

There was no-one around, but as long as pilots respect the owner and follow the few simple rules posted in the kitchen, everything runs smoothly. The fuel was cheap, too!

S90 Elk City, Idaho

DAY NINE, 30 July 2005:

After several days of camping and flying around Johnson Creek, I loaded up my gear and prepared to fly home. The morning of my departure, we all flew up to Elk City (S90) for breakfast.


S90 Elk City, Idaho

There is one narrow, curved grass runway at Elk City, designated as 14 and 35. Yes, it has a kink in the middle. It is shaped like a hockey stick, and it is narrow, with trees and brush on both sides.

I could see Darryl’s Cessna 206 already parked, so I figured there was room for the Husky.


The Curved Runway, Elk City


Transient Parking

We walked about 100 metres into town, a sleepy but friendly little place that probably sees lots more activity during the hunting season. We found most of the local population was having breakfast at the general store. As we walked in, someone asked who was the Canadian and how I liked my Husky. Everyone had been watching when we flew over the town on final.


The General Store

The couple at the next table leaned over and introduced themselves, it was John and Trish McKenna from Bozeman, Montana. I had read some of John's writing on the Recreational Aviation Foundation. John and Trish were travelling through the area in their Jeep after having flown into the area many times. John told me “if you are Canadian and you fly a Husky, then you know Paul”. Of course, he was talking about Paul Nopper, who wrote the articles that got me interested in this kind of flying. John told me that I was now part of the "Husky Cult".

Following breakfast, it was time to say goodbye to the guys and start heading home. We promised to do something similar next year. Dave told me about a couple of good fuel stops in Montana and North Dakota with self-serve fuel pumps and overnight facilities for transients. Dave recommended Helena Montana for my first fuel stop. “It’s more than just a fuel stop, you’ll see”, he said.

Johnson Creek - Elk City (S90) Idaho, 30 Jul 05 (officially listed as Runway 14-35, runway curves like a Bobby Hull hockey stick)

Breakfast at Big Creek

DAY SEVEN:
On our second day at Johnson Creek, we decided to fly out to Big Creek (U60) for breakfast. This could easily become my favourite place to fly for breakfast in Idaho. This is a beautiful spot in the mountains, about 18nm from Johnson Creek. Big Creek airstrip has a 3500 x 110 foot turf runway, located in a mountain valley at 5740 foot elevation. The surrounding mountains are 8800 to 9300 feet high.


Flying Downwind U60 Big Creek

The Big Creek airstrip serves a local Forest Ranger station and several outfitting lodges. The Big Creek lodge is only steps away from the end of the runway, and serves a large breakfast to guests and fly-in visitors. You can rent a cabin, stay at the lodge or camp beside the airstrip. I chose to fly there from Johnson Creek for breakfast, and then spend the rest of the morning flying around and visiting smaller strips. By 1PM, the air is too hot and unstable for safe flying in the canyons.


Short final Big Creek

Pilots at Big Creek are advised to be alert for moose, deer and elk on or near the strip. It is also a one-way strip, landings on Rwy 19, take offs on Rwy 01 when wind permits. If the wind does not permit a comfortable take off on Rwy 01, do NOT take off!

We arrived early in the day and departed by 11AM. The Husky has lots of power for this kind of strip, as long as you don't try anything foolish. I noticed as I flew the downwind leg that half of the runway was being watered, with a line of orange pylons marking the irrigation hose. I flew a mile downstream before I let down into the valley and reversed course to fly final. The approach is blind, once you descend into the valley, you do not see the runway until short final, like most of these mountain strips.

The runway is not flat. You have a choise of landing downhill, on the flat or uphill. The runway is shaped a little like a ski jump, with the low spot just before mid-field. In the spring, this area can be very soft and muddy, and you can bog down. In July and August it is very dry and firm. Here is the ramp area - at the top of the hill.


Mike Taxis Uphill in the Stinson


It is a short walk to the lodge, where the caretaker and his wife will greet you and sit you at a large table to serve you a hearty breakfast. During this camping trip, breakfast was often my only meal of the day, I simply could not eat anything else. After breakfast, you can sit and watch the hummingbirds at the feeder outside, or watch the deer in the meadow.


The lodge. The hummingbird feeders hanging outside drew a crowd of birds in the mornings.


Departure procedure. Plan to depart before noon, and never with a tailwind. The takeoff roll is downhill, and you have to follow the valley downstream for a couple of miles to gain enough altitude to cross the ridges. Remember to check the density altitude, and calculate the aircraft performance accordingly. It is usually at least 90F by noon in July and August, so the takeoff roll could be at least twice what you are used to, and your climb rate will really suffer while you climb out of the valley.

Camping at Johnson Creek

DAY SIX - EIGHT:


Tied Down at Johnson Creek


Camp under the trees or under your wing

At Johnson Creek, the State of Idaho has provided facilities including showers, toilets and a telephone. Just bring a tent, sleeping bag and food. You must arrive by airplane, you are not allowed to camp if you arrive by road. There are several vans available to drive into Yellow Pine. There is even a webcam on the field (http://www.ruralnetwork.net/johnsoncreek/) to check conditions.


Johnson Creek - Extreme Camping for Pilots

It is a good idea to phone ahead and confirm that there isn’t a fly-in scheduled at the same time you plan to visit if you want peace and quiet. Each year type clubs including the Cessna Stationairs, Maules, Supercubs and others organize fly-ins at Johnson Creek. During the weekend of the annual International Harmonica Festival at Yellow Pine, there could be 80 aircraft parked on the field and the camping sites around the perimeter will be full. If you want a quiet time sitting under the trees, you will not find it at Johnson Creek during those fly-in weekends.


The Airstrip at Johnson Creek

Dave goes to Idaho when everyone else in North America goes to some fly-in near Oshkosh. We had Johnson Creek practically to ourselves. We settled into our camp sites. Darryl had a Turbo Cessna 206, an airplane ideally suited for backcountry camping. Darryl had removed the back seats and outfitted the back as sleeping quarters. He could haul several hundred pounds of camping gear. He had more stuff in the back than that Canadian Tire guy. He pulled a camp fridge, reclining chairs and power tools out of his airplane.

I met Mike from Arizona. Mike is a coffee consultant – he makes his living showing people how to run coffee franchises. Mike had a beautiful Stinson, and it was his first trip into these mountains.


Mike Lands the Stinson

Finally, I met Ward, a friend of Dave’s from his Navy P3 days. He had flown up to Idaho in his Cessna 310. Ward lives in Austin Texas where his wife runs a large company and Michael Dell is his next-door neighbour. Ward brought his twin Cessna in with great style on his first approach.

Our plan for the next few days was to wake up early, pick a destination to fly to for breakfast, fly out, walk around the new strip, eat a great breakfast and fly back to Johnson Creek before noon. In the afternoon, we washed and polished our airplanes and then went hiking around Johnson Creek. We either cooked supper over the grill at the campsite, or drove into Yellow Pine in the van for a healthy burger and ale at the local general store/tavern. This is pilot heaven.


Yellow Pine, Idaho


The International Harmonica Festival is held in Yellow Pine

There were several airstrips nearby that serve outfitting camps. I don’t hunt, but elk hunting is very popular here in the Fall. The local outfitting camps all have their own back-country airstrips and will serve breakfast or lunch to anyone who flies in. Big Creek and Sulpher Creek are two popular resorts, both within 20 minutes flying time of JC.


Hiking Above Johnson Creek

Day Six through Day Eight: Camped at Johnson Creek (3U2) Idaho, 27 Jul

Idaho Falls to Johnson Creek

DAY FIVE, 27 July 2005:

After my de-brief and new signatures in my logbook, I took off from Idaho Falls for McCall (KMYL), Idaho. I had arranged to meet my friend Dave at McCall. Dave was flying up from Phoenix Arizona, and we would rendezvous at McCall before heading into the mountains for a few days of camping.

I was about an hour late when I landed at McCall. I taxied to the self-serve pumps, but there was no sign of Dave. I checked with the FBO, but they assured me that they had not seen a Piper Dakota nor a Cessna 206 arrive from Arizona that morning. They suggested that my friends had probably stopped somewhere for lunch en-route.

While I was standing beside the Husky, Tim Clifford walked over to introduce himself. Tim is a Husky owner from Florida. He had flown up to Idaho to take mountain flying lessons. Tim introduced me to Lori McNichol, who runs the Mountain Flying School at McCall. The school is housed in a log cabin right on the ramp at McCall. The Mountain Flying School is one of several flying schools that aim their curriculum at pilots who are preparing to fly into mountain or back-country strips such as those in Idaho.

Lori described how pilots get into situations that they are not prepared for when flying in the mountains and canyons. She explained how she flies with each pilot in his own aircraft, or one of the Super Cubs available through the school. The program is extremely popular, the courses are normally sold out at least six months in advance and many pilots come back for recurrent or advanced training. I felt that a mountain flying program would be a sensible and worthwhile investment before my next adventure.


C-GTHY at the Mountain Flying School (background) McCall Idaho

I was sitting in front of the school when Dave taxied in. He knew he had found me when he saw a bright yellow airplane with a funny registration. He and Darryl had stopped in King City, Nevada for some cheap fuel and a free lunch. A casino with it’s own airstrip can be a real bargain if you don’t stay to gamble.

We walked across the road to buy groceries. The stores in McCall sell everything from baked beans to beer and camping gear. This would be a guys-only camping trip, so we bought everything that we needed, which was mostly canned beans and beer.

We loaded up Dave’s Dakota. He had removed the back seats and left them in his hangar to leave lots of room. Dave gave me a briefing on the approach into Johnson Creek, told me to follow him, and we took off in our separate aircraft. Dave is a retired Naval Aviator, a former instructor, currently a South-West Airlines pilot and he has a gazillion flight hours.

I was able to follow Dave’s Dakota until we were overhead Johnson Creek. The strip is relatively long and wide for a mountain strip, but the approach that Dave preferred was to descend over the town of Yellow Pine, downriver from Johnson Creek, and follow the right side of the river upstream to the airstrip.


Following the River to the Airstrip at Johnson Creek

This is not a straight line, Dave warned me that I would not see the strip until short final and that I would have to commit to landing or go-around at that point. Dave’s friend Darryl was on the ground, and described the conditions as “easy, winds calm, no problems”. Darryl is also a South West airline pilot, with a ton of experience in the mountains and a wicked sense of humour.

Dave landed and taxied clear, then I flew over Yellow Pine and descended into the river canyon. I seemed awfully close to the trees, and my ground speed seemed very high. As I rounded the last corner, I was thinking I was low but fast.


Final at Johnson Creek

Actually, I was actually both much higher and faster than I thought I was. I had the throttle at idle, the prop at fine pitch, the flaps out full, and I was looking for an anchor to throw out. A Husky absolutely refuses to land gracefully if too fast on final. I glided on, far past the point where Dave and Darryl assumed I would touch down. Finally, somewhere near the second half of the runway, she settled onto the grass and rolled to a stop. From flying to stopped on the grass only took 200 feet, but I was well past the midway point of the runway when I touched down. I looked at the windsock. There was a seven-knot tailwind at the North end of the field when I landed, and the wind down the canyon took me along for the ride. Why didn’t I notice that when I overflew the field? There were so many things to look for, the conditions that Darryl assumed were benign were obviously quite challenging for me.


Short Final - Come Around the Last Corner, Slow Flight and Configured to Land


The Gang Tied Down at Johnson Creek - Stinson, Husky, Piper Dakota, Cessna T206

Day Five: Departed KIDA Idaho Falls; Fuel at KMYL McCall Idaho; Arrived 3U2 Johnson Creek Idaho

Visit to the Aviat Factory and More Tailwheel Instruction

DAY FOUR:

Early next morning I met Bob Jones at the Idaho Falls airport. Our first flight would be a short hop over to Afton Wyoming to visit the Aviat factory. There was a small problem with the rigging of my Husky, and Aviat had offered to straighten things out.


The Aviat Aircraft Factory – a new Husky being built

Crossing over a 9,500 foot ridge from Idaho Falls, the town of Afton Wyoming lies in a valley at 6,200 feet elevation. The Aviat Aircraft factory builds certified aircraft, including the Husky and the Pitts aerobatic biplane. Aviat will also re-cover, repair or refurbish older Pitts or Huskies. I was given a tour of the factory, including the hangar where damaged or tired Huskies and Pits were being rebuilt to new specs. I met the factory pilot, Mark Heiner, who showed me the Husky prototype, now a test-bed with a new wing. The 2006 Husky has redesigned ailerons, and no spades on the wings. This is an improvement, since this new Husky will have fewer things hanging off the wings. It also makes the Husky more responsive in roll and the new flaps allow a much steeper descent rate.

Mark gave me a set of rubber bumpers to cover the flap hinges on my aircraft. I usually remember to warn people about those hinges, but I was embarrassed when someone at Rockliffe hurt himself looking at my airplane. I now call these rubber bumpers “Chris Hobbs Head Protectors”.

It was noon when Bob Jones and I left Afton. Jonesy had me practice canyon turns and stalls at 9,500 feet. This looked different to me, since we were only 1,000 ft AGL. We flew over to Rainbow Ranch and did several stop ‘n goes at Bob Hoff’s grass strip. I learned that I had not been aggressive enough with my Husky; I was used to flying nice square circuits in Ottawa, and I was flying the speeds recommended in the POH – speeds that Jonesy assured me were too high for landing a Husky without drama. Instead of using 1.3 VSO, Jonesy had me find the actual stall speed and then use 1.1 of that stall speed on final. The Husky looks like a Super Cub, but it is much cleaner and does not lose speed like a Cub. Too much speed in the flare means that the Husky will float the entire length of a short strip – not a good thing at one-way strips in the mountains.


Rainbow Ranch - Bob Hoff's Grass Strip

After putting a few divots in Bob Hoff’s beautiful grass strip, we flew back to Idaho Falls for more circuits. It was 95’ Fahrenheit and Idaho Falls airport density altitude was over 10,000 feet. Since I normally fly from an airport that is basically at sea-level, I was pretty tired and falling behind the airplane. I was very humble by the time we called it quits and went out for dinner with Bob Hoff.

The next morning, Bob Jones and I met at 0700 and went for a short flight in the cool morning air. What was different? Everything! The airplane responded the way I remembered it should. The landings were nice, three pointers or wheelies with no bounces. No grumbles from Jonesy in the back seat. It was time to quit while everything was working. We talked over what I had learnt during the previous days. I had managed to learn the right way to fly the Husky and corrected several bad habits.