Back to Idaho - Summer 2006

I flew the Husky from Ottawa to Wyoming in two days in 2005 and I now admit that it must have been beginners luck. In 2006, nature threw up all of her General Aviation obstacles to ensure I did not get complacent. Low ceilings, forest fires, heavy rain, thunderstorms, and SNOW. Every leg was a learning experience. I spent an afternoon on the ramp of the Medicine Hat flight school Bar XH waiting for thunderstorms along the Montana border and a snowstorm (!) in Montana to dissipate.


Packed, Ready

I originally planned to leave on Thursday, 20 July 06, but there was lots of convective activity (ie thunderstorms) across Western Ontario and Michigan. I tried leaving Ottawa again on Friday, along with several homebuilt RVs from Carp that were going to Oshkosh for AirVenture. We all got turned around by low ceilings near Peterborough.


Lower Ceilings and Rising Terrain North of Peterborough

I could work around the weather in the Husky, but that is not fun and this was supposed to be a vacation. The prudent thing to do was to return home and try again later.

22 July 06 - Early Saturday morning, I re-packed, re-fuelled and re-filed. I used the route North of Superior again, flying over North Bay, Sudbury and Wawa.


Departing North West out of Ottawa, Skirting the Rain (Green Blobs on the Garmin)


Self Serve Fuel at Marathon

I used the self-serve fuel at Marathon, the cheapest fuel so far this trip. There was lots of smoke near Dryden, and firefighting helos transiting at 500 AGL. Ceilings no higher than 2,500 AGL between Marathon and Dryden.

I had a sore neck when I arrived in Dryden from map reading and constantly looking for traffic. I departed Dryden Sunday morning under a Special VFR clearance, the ceilings were much lower than Saturday and the flying was hard work. I met a gentleman ferrying a Bell Ranger from Marathon to Alberta while refueling at Saint Andrews (CYAV, Winnipeg). We had been travelling together between Dryden and Winnipeg, listening to each other's radio calls. Saint Andrews (Winnipeg) is not the same since the last Winnipeg Flying Club went bankrupt. Harv's Air is now operating the facility, but the restaurant is closed on the weekends, believe it or not. The vending machines at Shell were out of order. I survived by scarfing the granola bars and water from my camping supplies.

The further West I travel, the higher the Avgas prices. In Medicine Hat Alberta, literally within sight of the oil wells, 100LL is $1.67 litre.

For anyone sitting on the fence about buying a new GPS with satellite weather (the Garmin 396, 496 etc), I can tell you that having the weather in front of you in flight really helps flying cross-country. I bought a Garmin 396 when the 496 was announced, taking advantage of the drop in prices on the 396. This has been my first cross-country trip with it. It gives you a strategic overview of the weather, and allows you to understand what Flight Service is talking about while in flight. There are bigger screens and more complex GPS' and PDAs available, but they are too complicated for use in flight in the Husky. I should have bought stock in Garmin, I have bought almost everything they have produced since I got my PPL.


Snow in Montana

Pilot geeks will find many ways to amuse themselves with satellite weather. I looked up the METAR and TAF for Cut Bank Montana, where I planned to clear customs. 2 mile visibility with SNOW - in July. Time to call customs and change the plan.

Montana, "Where the Prairie meets the Mountains"

24 July - I got to Montana just before sunset, after waiting all afternoon in Medicine Hat for thunderstorms to pass. I crossed the border at a little place called Coutts Alberta (CEP4). There is a little grass runway that runs East-West right along the border, the US side of the border is called Sweetgrass Montana (7S8). The highway border crossing is only 100 yards away, so the agent just walks over, like at Piney in Manitoba. I think THY was parked with the tailwheel in Canada and the front tires in the US. The border runs along the side of the runway.

There are several little air strips like this between Chilliwack BC and Piney in Manitoba. Because they are only yards from a customs office, they only require one hour advance notice (to avoid that $5000US fine) and since you land on the Canadian side and take off from the US side after clearing customs, there is no requirement to call Flight Service for a transponder code. Check the AOPA International Operations website or the AOPA Airport Guide for the latest advance notice requirements for the specific airport. Just squawk 1200 and call on their Unicom (CTAF) frequency.

When I phoned to give my one-hour notice, the border agent asked me to confirm I was flying a taildragger and suggested I should not land here if it was wet, since it can be very rough. It took two low overhead passes to identify the strip, check the wind (gusting 20 knots from the North) and set up to land. Remember those precautionary landing practices? I positively identified the strip when I saw the Border Patrol pickup truck parked in the field waiting for me.


CEP4 Coutts Alberta is also serves as K7S8 Sweetgrass Montana


Coutts Alberta - Sweetgrass Montana Grass Strip at Sunset

I landed before sunset, and took off as the sun set. There are no lights at this runway, so if I had been delayed, I would have had to camp at the little grass strip. I flew for another two hours after dark, watching the lightening as the huge thunderstorms moved East into North Dakota. Beautiful flight, followed by a squeaker of a landing in Great Falls. Always a great landing when there are no witnesses.

I spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express in Great Falls Montana, within sight of the Rockies.

Into the Mountains
25 July 06 - I left early in the morning to fly into the Idaho mountains. No wireless internet out there, there are not even any roads into the campsites.


Heading West out of Great Falls Montana

I spent four days in Idaho - I flew from Great Falls (KGTF) to Johnson Creek (3U2) in Idaho. This airport is at the bottom of a mountain valley, but there is over 3,000 feet of immaculate grass runway, 300 feet wide. The caretaker waters this runway daily with water from the creek running beside the camping area. This airstrip caters exclusively to fly-in campers, no other tourists are allowed to camp here. The facilities are provided by the State of Idaho, and are very nice indeed. The facilities include hot showers, firewood and two courtesy vans for driving into the hamlet of Yellow Pine for groceries or a burger. I set up camp in the shade, since the strip is at 5,000 feet and the temperature had been 101F each afternoon for a week.


Tied Down at Johnson Creek


Camping at 3U2 Johnson Creek, Idaho

Check out the local web-cam
http://www.ruralnetwork.net/%7Eyellowpinecm/
The resolution is not great, but you can see the grass strip is always being watered. It looks like a nice long and wide runway, but the field elevation is 5,000 feet and those mountains are 8,000 feet high. There is no specific circuit, since the valley is very tight. I use a dramatic slipping turn to bring the Husky in from 7,500 feet overhead to final in a 270 degree turn. Do NOT try this in the afternoons, when the density altitude can be over 9,000 feet on the field and the winds unpredictable in the valley.

There were a number of lightening strike fires burning in the area this year, and two firefighting TFRs to fly around. Johnson Creek exists to support the fire fighters. There are presently 50 firefighters from Washington State camped at the other end of the field, brought in to fight these fires in Oregon and Idaho. They are supported by up to six helos that drop in to pick up supplies. Everyone talks on the same CTAF frequency in this area of Idaho, so there are no conflicts. The bulk of the firefighting traffic occurs during the afternoon, when sensible pilots are snoozing in the grass or watching the helicopter activity.

There are many small backcountry strips in the area, all described in the "Fly Idaho" series of books by Galen Hanselman www.flyidaho.com . It is possible to fly into these strips, with the appropriate instruction and lots of practise in SLOW FLIGHT at altitude. There are Cessna 170s and 172s here, as well as lots of 180s, SuperCubs and one very nice Husky. It is best to fly at dawn or dusk, when the cooler temperatures and stable air make the winds down the canyons more predictable. I leave the afternoon flying to the professionals in their Cessna 206 sightseeing flights and the firefighting helos.


Cessna Turbo 206 Departing Johnson Creek

26 July - Surprise! The FBO at McCall Idaho (KMYL) had wireless. An opportunity to update my e-mail and ignore all the work-related ones. Fuel at McCall was $4.06 a gallon. The local pilots are complaining. I just pump the gas (half-tanks only at these density altitudes) and think of the price at home. Density altitude at McCall is 9,000 feet this afternoon, I am going for a walk to the lake and I will fly back to the campsite after things cool down.

VINES
28 July - I left Johnson Creek at dawn. I intended to land at Soldier Bar or Cabin Creek, two small strips on the Salmon River. There was a large forest fire burning 60 miles east of Johnson Creek and the smoke had built up in the mountain valleys. There was not a cloud in the sky, but the valleys were IMC with smoke. Flying further East was not possible.


Smoke in the Valleys

I had overflown Vines airstrip on the way out, so I doubled back to examine it closely. It is a very small strip (1100 ft x 30 ft wide) at an elevation of 4,110 feet. It is at the bottom of a winding river canyon with 200 ft tall trees on both sides of the river. I could make an approach from downstream, landing upstream. The visibility was fine, and the sun would be behind me on the approach. I flew a mile further down the canyon, dropped 20 flaps and did a tight turn (a real "canyon turn") to set up.


Vines High Pass


Vines Approach - Heading Upstream

Obviously this is not a regular circuit, it is a long, winding final following the bends in the river to stay between the trees as you descend. Stay on speed all the way down. I was thanking Simon Garrett at Rockliffe for all the slow flight practise we did in June. Because the approach is blind, you have to maintain a steady speed (1.2 Vso) just above the trees, ready to cut the power and drop down when the airstrip comes into sight. Because the strip is short, you want to touchdown within the first 50 feet of runway.

I overflew the strip twice before descending into the canyon (remember the precautionary procedure for an unfamiliar strip) and noted some rock formations to give me clues how far I had to go to the threshold. I also had my GPS counting down the distance, but I wasn't really going to place all my trust in the GPS. The book states that this is a "no go-round" strip, but I knew that if I was too high at the threshold, I could overshoot and climb out along the river at full power. Just follow the river, and avoid the canyon walls while climbing out.

I made the landing, stopping in less than 500 feet from the threshold (I paced it out). I shut down and sat in the plane for a few minutes, listening to the engine cool down and my heart rate decrease. The adrenaline rush from landing for the first time at an extremely challenging strip cannot be described. Better than chocolate.


Vines, Idaho


Landing Spot


Vines - Facing Downstream for Departure

The strip was extremely narrow and partly overgrown. The runway threshold was overgrown, there were many small trees growing on the riverbank and lots of rocks on the runway. The runway is maintained by the Idaho Aviation Association, but they cannot send in a volunteer workparty to all of these strips every year. Since this is in a national wilderness area, there are no roads into the site and the maintenance is all done by manual labour. I did my part, moving a few of the larger stones back under the trees and clearing some fallen branches.

The takeoff should have been anti-climatic, climbing out as steeply as possible to get back up to 7,500 ft. Acceleration was good but the runway was uneven and I was bounced into the air before normal rotation speed. The aircraft does not respond as crisply at 4,000 feet, so my corrections were slow and I felt a little wobbly, but I avoided the trees and quickly settled into a Best Angle (Vx) climb until I was above the canyon walls. I learned a lot and had a truly memorable flight.

DIXIE TOWN
29 July 06 - The town of Dixie is a small Idaho mountain community with a year-round population of 16. It was originally a gold mining community founded in 1862. I was given a tour by the lady who owns and operates the local outfitting lodge. She caters to hunters during the fall, snowmobilers during the winter and pilots, hikers and horseback riders during the spring and summer.


Dixie Town

Dixie Town (no airport ID) has a graciously curved runway that runs through town. The Dixie Town runway is nominally at 5,618 feet elevation, although it dips as it curves. The 3,000 foot runway is 80 feet wide but it also doubles as the main street, so have a good look for ATVs, motorcycles and pedestrians before commencing your approach.

Dixie Town has it all, high elevation, a narrow, curved and uneven runway, high density altitudes and surrounded by tall trees. Verify the condition of the strip, have a careful look for vehicles and set up with a nice long final. Have a good look at the strip, and let the vehicle traffic on the ground see that you are coming in to land. Be prepared to overshoot if things are not perfect.


There is a sign telling people not to drive on the runway, but it is the only road through town!


Looking Back Down the Runway, Dixie Town


Dixie Town, Idaho


The Outfitters Lodge and Restaurant, Dixie Town


Line Up for Departure, Dixie Town