November 29, 2011 The B-17 Flying Experience

The Liberty Gazette

November 29, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Over the East Texas landscape while deviating around, over and under clouds I studied the layout of the cockpit and the view out along the massive wings. The control inputs required a little heavy-handedness to roll the big airplane right and left but overall not too heavy. Just a little pressure to maintain or change altitude. Though this airplane never actually saw wartime service, I thought about the history of airplanes like it that had been so thick in the skies over Europe during WW II that they cast an Aluminum Overcast, the name of this Boeing B-17G I was given the privilege to fly.

Linda: The Experimental Aircraft Association owns and operates Aluminum Overcast on a very busy tour schedule around the country. This is one of about 30 B-17s remaining in the world and one of eleven still flying. Our EAA Chapter 12 hosted her this year as she toured through Houston, and worked as ground crew for the event. I took a flight earlier in the week; Mike joined the crew in this piece of flying history to her next venue, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Mike: I crawled around inside the beast, carefully twisting though passageways into the nose compartment, where the navigator/bombardier sat at a small desk on the left side of the compartment. There, they’d plot their course, maybe using a sextant to “shoot the stars” for navigation. Did the men ever get used to looking out the windows mere feet forward of spinning propellers? Here I was, where they once were, sitting out way over the front-most part of the aircraft in the massive Plexiglas bubble nose. They’d have to hunch over to look down through the Norden bombsight. Acrophobics will likely pass on this opportunity as it feels like being on a plank in front of the aircraft with your feet dangling in space five thousand feet above the ground. I could sit there for hours and watch the world go by at 150 knots.

Working my way back to the radio room and the rear waist gunner position I squeezed through the narrow catwalk through the bomb-bay, where payload was carried to Europe in war time. The catwalk, suspended in the crux of two “V” shaped beams extending from the top of the bomb-bay, is attached to one of the wing spars that crosses through the aircraft above the compartment. I was once as agile as the 18-21 year old kids who were flying these machines during the war. Working my way around the lower ball-turret, I took in the view from the waist-gunner windows, decommissioned 50-caliber machine guns still attached. Plexiglas encloses the window now, but in wartime it was open for a vast view of the horizon on either side of the aircraft. The tail-gunner position was closed to visitors, but that’s okay, it would almost require a shoehorn to get into anyway.

Some of the few remaining veterans who manned these magnificent machines came out to tour and fly in the aircraft one more time, and to remember and mourn, as we all must, those who didn’t return. This is something I thought about on the one and a half hour flight from Sugarland to Shreveport. The cost of freedom isn’t free.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 22, 2011

The Liberty Gazette

November 22, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: In a recent conversation with an Executive of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, we discussed some of the challenges facing the aviation industry. One of the biggest is just getting to a place where the actual issues can be discussed. The obstacle to that is that too often industry advocates must spend a lot of time just educating elected officials on the importance of aviation to their constituents. The phrase, “airports are for people who don’t fly,” came about because industry participants realize that aviation affects all people, yet people who don’t fly often don’t realize how much of the products and services on which they rely are dependent upon aviation.

The FAA published a 52-page report in August this year regarding the economic impact of civil aviation on the U.S. economy. Their opening statement reads, “In today’s ever-changing and innovative world, aviation provides a vital link to economic opportunities at home and abroad. In the wake of global economic and financial uncertainties, runways have become the new main streets for cities and towns to get down to business and soar once more.” Runways are the new main streets for cities that want a stable economy. That includes towns like Liberty, Texas.

Here are a few statistics: in 2009, civil aviation supported over 10 million jobs, contributed $1.3 trillion total economic activity and accounted for 5.2 percent of total U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Civilian aircraft engines, equipment and parts have been the top net export for the past decade. Our economic success clearly depends on the success of aviation, and aviation in part depends on the health of community airports like Liberty’s.

The report recognized aviation as a catalyst for commerce, and more specifically that General Aviation (all aviation that is not airlines or military) provides a vital service to all in times of need as well as leisure activities and agricultural services. With 5,200 public-use community airports (airlines serve fewer than 600 airports nationwide),“From law enforcement, medical transportation, border control, and search and rescue missions to disaster relief and emergency evacuation, GA is there to provide a direct link and a helping hand to those in need and the most vulnerable.”

Mike: The industry is a unique engine for innovation and technological progress, providing infrastructure that keeps our nation competitive. It’s an industry that provides economic benefits for the United States and the world, and that’s why the Liberty Municipal Airport is so important. It’s one vital part of the whole, contributing to economic growth and stronger ties to local and global markets for every region in the nation. For example, air cargo, one area of General Aviation, has contributed to more effective networking and collaboration between companies far and wide.

From those 10 million jobs previously mentioned, earnings were nearly $394.4 billion. This is one industry that contributes positively to the U.S. trade balance. Aviation in this country creates high-paying jobs, helps keep just-in-time business models viable and connects friends, family and commercial opportunities. General Aviation and airports such as ours here in Liberty will continue to be an essential component of a strong and healthy American economy.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 15, 2011 Amish Country

The Liberty Gazette

November 15, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: In most places it would seem out of place, a novelty, to see a black horse-drawn buggy at a traffic light with a line of cars behind it. But there it is an everyday occurrence. My daughter posted a mobile upload picture on Facebook of horses crossing FM 1960 with the caption “Only in Texas.” I had to counter that with a picture of the buggy and a statement of my own, “It’s pretty common in Amish country, too.” She came back with “but this is on a busy street,” and I replied, “this is too.”

Amish horse-drawn buggy, Holmes County, Ohio

We were in Berlin, in the rolling hills of eastern Ohio for the weekend for a speaking engagement. Our hosts for the weekend, Bob and Georgie live less than a mile from the Holmes County airport.

Mike: Georgie took us to see the town, still dressed in Autumn colors, and to learn more about the Amish and the Mennonite communities there; the Anabaptists. They are Protestant Christians whose beginnings are rooted in the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe. The Roman Catholic Church had become unspeakably corrupt and a
fellowship of believers was formed to give men and women the opportunity to follow the Lord Jesus Christ according to the whole Word of God, the Bible. The group was hunted and savagely persecuted around the world for centuries.

Pennsylvania is usually thought of as Amish country, but in this area of Ohio is the largest concentration of Amish in the United States. We visited the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center with its Behalt Cyclorama, a 10 foot tall by 265 foot long mural-in-the-round. Behalt means “to keep" or "to remember.” The presentation was so interesting that I was surprised when we got to the end, which was actually the beginning: Jesus, the Alpha and Omega. http://behalt.com/

Linda: An old one-room school house on the Heritage Center property once served grades one through eight and was warmed by a simple coal furnace. A barn was built (without nails) next to the school to house a Conestoga wagon and a “modern” Amish buggy made by local craftsmen. Our guide explained that their buggies are built with an automatic breakaway system, to provide protection in the event of a crash – technology I had previously been led to believe was brought to the Indy racing scene from helicopters. Turns out it had been around a lot longer than that! The Amish do not judge others’ way of life, but feel that if they keep their life and work simple there is less to interfere with their relationships with family and their worship of God.

Mike: They do not have electricity in their homes and the horse-drawn buggies are a constant reminder of their simple life. Ironically, during the ice storm six years ago in which many people lost electricity, nobody mentioned the 45,000 Amish who never even noticed there was none.

Linda: Our weekend was a quick introduction to the Amish and this area with its picturesque rolling fields tended by people in simple clothes using simple machines. We also learned from the son of our hosts about a missionary aircraft maintenance school just a thirty minute drive to the south, so I don’t think it will be our last trip to the Amish country of Ohio.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 8, 2011 Aluminum Overcast

The Liberty Gazette

November 8, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: From U.S. bases in Europe they launched, sometimes staying airborne for more than eight hours striking targets deep within enemy territory. Large V-shaped formations of the heavy bombers cast their ominous shadows as tons of aluminum darkened the skies and the future of those who would do the world harm. These were the Boeing B-17s – the Flying Fortress.

The end of World War II and the dawn of the jet age sent many of these defenders of freedom to scrap yards. Of the 12,732 of Boeing's famous bombers produced, fewer than 100 airframes exist today, and fewer than 15 can still take to the air. One of those is Aluminum Overcast, now owned and operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association. Aluminum Overcast was lovingly restored to flying condition from 1983-1994. Thousands of hours of labor were poured into her restoration. Although this particular B-17 did not see combat (being delivered right at the end of World War II), Aluminum Overcast commemorates B-17G serial #42-102515 which was shot down on its 34th combat mission over Le Manior, France, on August 13, 1944. Veterans of the 398th Bomb Group of World War II, who flew hundreds of missions over Nazi-held territory during the war, helped finance the bomber's restoration, and she proudly carries their colors.

Restoration of this Flying Fortress has included original equipment: the Navigator’s position and Norden bombsight, both located in the airplane’s nose, waist guns on each side of the bomber, and a complete re-build of the radio compartment including original communications equipment. There’s been a full restoration of the tail turret assembly. The top turret, just behind the pilot and co-pilot seats, has been replicated and the floor has been returned to original specifications. The history associated with this airplane gives us so much to appreciate and helps us understand the technology of the times, and the era in which the aircraft was developed. As one of the airplanes that helped bring victory in World War II, the B-17 is a reminder of the sacrifices which make today's freedoms possible.

Linda: Our Houston-based EAA Chapter 12, is proud to host Aluminum Overcast on this year’s national tour. She will arrive at the Sugarland airport November 17 and will be available for tours and rides through November 20. Come on out to Sugarland and feel the legacy of the thousands who heroically flew World War II bombing missions. Take a walk through Aluminum Overcast, and experience the role of bombardier, navigator, and waist gunner. You can even book a flight for the ultimate flight experience. There are 10 seats available for each flight, and it’s first-come, first-served. Ground tours are from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18-20 and cost $5 per person, or $15 per family. Children under 8, Veterans and Active Duty Military personnel will not be charged for the ground tours. Mission flights will be conducted from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. If you’d like to take a 35-minute mission flight in Aluminum Overcast, call 1-800-FLY-NB17 (1-800-359-6217) or online at http://b17.org/. Walk-ups are welcome provided space is available. You can also call the Tour Coordinator directly at (920) 379-4244.

It’s more than just an airplane. It’s a living tribute to the brave men who served, sacrificed, and, in many cases, gave their lives defending our freedom.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 1, 2011 Tango Seventy-Eight

The Liberty Gazette

November 1, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The gent giving our airplane a make-over will take hundreds of photos during the strip down and re-paint process. He says he’ll produce a cool video for us when it’s all finished, which led to a discussion about the video we made a few years ago in support of the Liberty Municipal Airport.

In the fall of 2007 Mike uploaded the final version of “Tango Seventy-Eight” to YouTube (T78 is the FAA’s identifier for the airport). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wMuNy08xQQ. The “hit counter” now registers about 12,000. Our goal was to promote our local airport, which seemed to have little support. We hoped to generate positive attention on the publicly owned asset, the little country airport with enormous potential to give back to the community many times over. While our position on the value of airports is known, what may not be is the story behind the video, more specifically, the story behind the song.

Mike: In the process of collecting video we filmed trains passing by, parades through town, and scenes that give the flavor of our community. We recorded air-to-air scenes of Steve Johnson’s RV-6A over the top of the city, fly-bys over the runway, and local pilots and airplanes, capturing raw images to create the video. But what to do for background music? We could either get permission to use a published, copyrighted song or we could have something original written.

Linda: I thought the latter would be easier as I have a cousin who is a very talented musician. Mark was willing to create the music, but said he didn’t know much about airplanes, so I’d have to write the words.

About that time we were having lunch in a Boston Market in Tucson, a quiet atmosphere where the music was played low enough we could actually have a conversation, when I heard some words to a song playing over the restaurant’s speakers that caught my attention. I said to Mike, “Did you hear that? They said Learjet!” The low volume made us strain to make out the words. I searched the Internet but came up with nothing that resembled the song we heard. Calling Boston Market later proved fruitless as the young employee, bless his soul, didn’t know where the music came from. I had a hunch it was received via satellite. That would direct my next investigative step. Surely, there are Internet “fan sites” for people listening to satellite radio. They would have message boards. Bingo! I found one.

My question posted on the message board brought a few wrong answers at first – Moody Blues and others were mentioned. But this song wasn’t that old. Within hours I had my answer. Someone named the band, the song, and posted the lyrics. With that I located the songwriter for permission to use the very fitting song, “If I was a Learjet.” Sean Kelly, song writer and lead singer of the Vermont group The Samples was thrilled with the idea of his music being used in such a video and quickly gave his blessing.

Mike spent about 50 hours editing, and Sean’s song was perfect for the message, leading AvWeb, the world’s most widely read online aviation magazine, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to call it a “template” for all future airport promotional videos. That’s all good, but what really matters is that the community knows what an asset we have.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 25, 2011 A Fly-In Weekend part 2

The Liberty Gazette

October 25, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The U.S. National aerobatic competition had just wrapped up its week-long activities north of Dallas on a recent Saturday and three-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion Debby Rihn-Harvey would make Critters Lodge her weekend stopover on her way home to LaPorte. While Debby treated the Lodge guests to an impromptu show in her high performance CAP 232 named “Hurricane,” we were at another fly-in 50 miles away. This was part of our anniversary weekend and we had put two fly-ins on our agenda.

Since the fly-in at Critters Lodge spanned the whole weekend, we planned to take part of our Saturday to visit the airstrip right next to Old Fort Parker in Groesbeck. Friday night while socializing with fellow flyers we spread the word about the other fly-in, “Old Planes at the Old Fort.” The Fort was the homestead of the Parker family, whose nine-year old daughter Cynthia Ann was captured by Indians in 1836, adopted by Comanches and married Chief Peta Nocona. Their son, Quanah Parker, became one of the last great Warrior Chiefs of the Comanches, and later became a judge, a businessman and friends with three U.S. Presidents. The Fort’s old cabins and blockhouses are open for exploring, the atmosphere enhanced by the cowboy shooting range, home of the Old Fort Parker Patriots who host a monthly western style shooting competition.

“Old Planes at the Old Fort” would only last a few hours and would give folks another destination, another reason to spin those props, and then return to the Lodge for more fly-in/camp-out fun. Many of the guests from the Lodge met us at the Fort.

Mike: It was a perfect morning to step back in time and welcome vintage aircraft to the newly completed 2,000 foot grass airstrip christened Fort Parker Flying Field, also the home of the International Bi-plane Association. Men and women Patriots dressed in Western period clothing strolled over from their shooting range about a hundred feet away across the road to join others from the community and the gathering of 17 airplanes at the inaugural fly-in.

This year’s drought has abused grass runways in Texas. For weeks Airfield Manager Darius Farmer kept the field watered, rolling up and down the runway with a tractor towing a trailer with a big water tank. After watering, he used a roller to knock down gopher holes and then filled in some of the low spots with more dirt making it smoother for airplanes to land. Darius and some volunteers labored all week long getting the field into condition for vintage aircraft.

As it turned out, while Debby was wowing the crowd at the Lodge, our friends Jim and Rex, in a Steen Skybolt and Pitts respectively, two open cockpit bi-planes, arrived at Fort Parker in flying formation, with one giving the folks an impromptu airshow of loops and rolls and Cuban Eights.

We returned to Critters Lodge in the afternoon, in time for a big dinner in the dining hangar, sunset fly-bys, plenty of great fellowship with fellow aviators, and camped out like everyone else in the tents that spotted the hide-away coves along the runway’s edge. They say New York City has a beat – a heartbeat all its own. These airfields are the kinds of places that are soothing, a salve for the aviator’s soul; hard to leave when the weekend is over.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 18, 2011 A Fly-In Weekend

The Liberty Gazette

October 18, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Having our Cheetah in the paint shop did not dampen our anniversary weekend. Five years of marriage was celebrated at two fly-ins on grass strips. There are many fly-in choices this time of year, but being ground-bound we had to keep the distance short, and it turned out to be one of the best weekends ever.

First was the gathering at Critters Lodge near Centerville. Wendell and Beverly Dillard have done a great job of maintaining their 3,100 foot-long turf runway in spite of the severe drought. Unlike many grass strips, theirs wasn’t marked by gaping cracks where one might break a wheel fairing, or worse. That happened recently at the home strip of our friends who rebuilt our engine. Linda was first to notice the front half of the wheel fairing on the left main gear was missing. Turns out, we bumped it on the rough ground on take-off during one of our many test flights testing the timing and engine temperatures. There are a couple of new, more aerodynamic wheel fairings available for our airplane, and given Linda’s need for speed, she almost celebrated upon seeing that one of the old ones was destroyed. Prior to that, our friends’ only concern had been the possibility of losing one of their Chihuahuas in those cracks. But back to Critters Lodge.

The Dillards are developing an aviation community. This isn't an airpark in the usual sense. Wendell envisions a place where plane-minded folks can come and enjoy a weekend camping out or staying in one of many cabins he plans to build scattered in the woods about the property.

Joined by helpful friends who work like crazy they serve three meals a day during the weekend-long fly-in. Upon our arrival Friday evening we enjoyed a great barbeque dinner while socializing with fellow aviators from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Breakfast in the big dining hangar was a smorgasbord of every option you could think of – even fresh fruit.

Linda: They’re building a really neat place. Saturday evening we hopped aboard one of the many “Mules,” toured the 300-plus acres and found the locations for a future fishing hole, cabin spots tucked away and generously spaced for privacy, and even an area to hit some golf balls. A friend was staying in the first luxury cabin which isn’t quite finished yet. Together the three of us meandered and explored the grounds, imagining how it will look when all that’s planned has been built.

Another friend, Jim, recently finished his 13-year project building a beautiful Steen Skybolt, an open cockpit bi-wing. We first saw it at the New Year’s fly-in up in Waco this year, and what a pleasant surprise it was when Jim and his friend Rex, a former fighter pilot flying a Pitts, arrived at Critters Lodge flying in formation and treated us to a couple of low passes. Approaching the grass runway, you can’t tell that all along both sides are areas where the trees have been cut out, making perfect runway campsites with room to park two or three small planes and tents. Campers set up chairs and judge the low passes and landings. Lots of fun to be had and plenty more to tell so check back next week. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com.

October 11, 2011 In the Pitts part 2

The Liberty Gazette

October 11, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Last week I started to tell about my recent encounter with making a Pitts S2B biplane dance through the air. Being my first time in this airplane I had to learn how the plane handled and the only way to do so was by wringing it out under the tutelage of my instructor, world record holder Bruce Bohannon. To perform an aileron roll to the left, first establish airspeed –140 knots is good – then pitch the nose up ten degrees above the horizon. Push the stick to the left and as the airplane rolls about halfway through the maneuver, when you’re upside down, push the stick a little forward to keep the nose on the horizon. Continuing the roll through the last half, begin putting in lots of left rudder while pulling the stick back a little. Really step on that left rudder hard through the last 90 degrees of rotation while pulling the nose up, gradually releasing the left rudder as you roll around to wings level flight. It takes a lot of practice to end up pointing the way you intended to. The loops, the half-Cubans, and even the hammerhead turned out more smoothly than most of my rolls, hence, an incentive to return.

Mike: Getting into the cockpit of the Pitts requires one to have performed as a contortionist at some point in life. Strapping into the parachute, then the five point harness and the lap belt requires feats of super-human strength. If you don’t get it right it can make for a very uncomfortable feeling, especially when you are upside down, dangling from a loose harness, looking at the earth over your head.

The takeoff was a bit bumpy on the drought-stricken grass strip. If this persists, Bruce will have to make arrangements to take his airplanes to a paved airport. The Pitts has tough landing gear but some of those cracks in the ground could cause a prop strike, meaning the potential for a costly engine tear-down.

Once we were airborne the Pitts’ powerful engine whisked us skyward to over 3,000 feet where we began maneuvers. I last flew a Pitts over 30 years ago when I was taking aerobatic lessons and somehow my instructor and I ended up in a dogfight with another Pitts out over the Pacific. I’d long since forgotten how light the controls were and how easy it was to over-control and pull a lot of “G’s.” One “G” is equivalent to the gravitational pull we are subjected to while on the earth’s surface. Roller coasters typically subject a body to two or three “G’s” and an aerobatic airplane like the Pitts can subject its occupants to so many G’s they can black out. I didn’t pull that many but the G-meter read nearly six positive and a bit over one negative. My very first roll was so quick and over controlled that we practically slammed our heads against the canopy; oops!

After several maneuvers we descended back toward Bruce’s strip. He rolled into a bank with enough rudder to make it feel like we were flying sideways in a steep slipping approach past the power lines on one side and the trees and ditch on the other and deftly touched down on the grass. Our teeth rattled as the plane decelerated and came to a stop right in front of his hangar. I’ll be back.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 4, 2011 In the Pitts part 1

The Liberty Gazette

October 4, 2011

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The FAA Safety Seminar scheduled for October 29 must be one of the most popular offered through “WINGS,” a voluntary continuing education program for pilots. Credits are accumulated by attending approved programs and logging certain types of training. Hot off the press came the invitation to join aerobatic champions and world record holders Debby Rihn-Harvey, Joy Bowden, Bruce Bohannon and John Dunbar for a day of spin training. The seminar would be held at “Flyin’ Tiger,” Bruce’s airport south of Houston. Lunch provided. Seminar free. Arrange flights individually with one of the host instructor pilots.

A spin is a stalled aircraft spiraling down. With proper training pilots learn to recognize when they are about to enter a spin, and procedures to recover from this abnormal situation. It is required training for all flight instructors and many believe it should be required of all pilots.

I hadn’t flown with Bruce before but several of our friends have, although I’d flown right over his turf strips–a turn point in the Galveston Air Rally earlier this year. I’d seen his highly modified RV-4 about five years ago at the Reklaw fly-in – the RV that holds all altitude and “time-to-climb” records save one. Bruce holds 35 speed and altitude world records, and his experience includes many races won at Reno.

For this spin training seminar he was offering time in a Pitts S2B, a two-place tandem bi-wing airplane. It had been too long since my last acro fix so I quickly shot Bruce an email: “Put me down for one of those slots!” But the next morning I had one of those “OY!” moments, the kind where you’d kick yourself in the head if you could. What was I thinking! The fourth annual Tennessee Valley air race, speed dash, and punkin’ chunkin’ contest is October 29th! Even if we weren’t racing, competing with other race nuts to see who can splat a pumpkin on a port-a-potty is totally worth the trip! As quickly as the realization about the scheduling conflict had set in, the Plan “B” solution came just as fast. I would just call Bruce and re-schedule – tomorrow! Why wait till October 29?

I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the basics the last time I did any aerobatic maneuvers, but the last couple of times was in a Super Decathlon, a very different airplane than the Pitts. Still, recovery from a spin is basically the same: full rudder deflection in the opposite direction of the spin, push the nose down, and reduce the power.

Parachute strapped on, me strapped in we cinched every belt until they wouldn’t cinch anymore. Bruce hopped in, closed the canopy, and we taxied down the dry ground to the end of the runway. A little “systems check” we call a run-up, and off we went. This runway is 2,300’, the longer of the two, and we were in the air about halfway down. All 260 horses galloped the little red and white bi-wing up over the trees and up, up, up to the blue sky. The few puffy cumulus were well above us so we climbed to 3,000’ and I began to become familiar with the flying characteristics of the Pitts. Check in next week for the roll-by-roll of my inaugural Pitts flight, and Mike’s long awaited return to a Pitts. Till then, blue skies.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 27, 2011 Flying the Idaho Back Country

The Liberty Gazette

September 27, 2011

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: I watched, fascinated as ancient volcanic rock and dirt dotted by an occasional tree passed by my window and the Cessna T206 Turbo Stationaire that was my chariot was now soaring down in the canyon well below the ridges. The sun glistened off the rippling and often white swirling water of the river below us. We bounced around a bit in the bumpy air and suddenly the pilot announced, “We’re on base now.” I’d been looking out the window but saw no airstrip, not even see a patch of open flat ground; nothing but a “V” shaped canyon that seemed to dead-end.

The pilot eased off on the power a bit and my seat shifted as he began to lower the flaps. I still couldn’t see a place to land. Flaps down a little more, the airplane slowed and we descended further into the canyon. I was too young and too excited to be nervous or scared. As we rolled into a bank toward the rock wall, its jagged edge dropped behind us as the river made a large sweeping curve as though it were leading our way. Trees swept by our wingtips and instantly there was a small clearing in front of us. Thump! Thump! Thump! We bumped over the rough field, my teeth rattling in my head, as we came to a stop at the end of the clearing. The pilot made the airplane pirouette on its left tire and stopped facing the direction we came. To our right were heavy, green bear-proof boxes.

We quickly unloaded the airplane of packages and mail and climbed back in. The pilot cranked up the engine, pushed the throttle forward while standing on the brakes, releasing them once we had full power. My teeth repeated the rattling and those trees at the end of the runway looked awfully tall. I wondered, would we clear them? We did, and with a bit more clearance than we had upon landing. Retracing our route down river we found a junction that made the canyon wide enough for a U-turn, continuing on what the local pilots in McCall, Idaho call the “Salmon River Run.”

Linda: A friend of ours recently made a trip to Idaho in his Beechcraft Bonanza with a group of people who were learning the techniques of back country flying. A big part of that training is developing good judgment, including which strips are safe for landing in whatever particular airplane one is flying.

The State of Idaho Department of Aeronautics and the U.S. Forest Service maintain several back country airstrips for the purpose of getting support personnel into the isolated areas and most are open for recreational use as well. Additionally there are a number of private strips where a pilot can land with prior permission. Idaho is such a great place to learn these skills that Mission Aviation Fellowship, an aerial support ministry does much of their training on these back country strips. MAF was handing out DVDs at Oshkosh this year with lots of video clips of landings in tight places that make pilots go “ooo” and “ahhh”.

Mike: I’ve returned many times since that first experience over 35 years ago to learn from those old hands at back country flying – quite useful skills they’ve given me.

www.ElyAirLines.blogspot.com