AK Bush Pilot

[wypaul 448]

A friend picked up a pilot in Billings a few days ago that had came down to look at a Super Cub with 35" bush tires.  They landed on every hilltop and lake bank between Billings and Buffalo, WY. My friend , a CFI, said it was quite an education for him and that he had no idea what the Super Cub could do before the ride down to Buffalo with the AK pilot.  When asked if he had totaled one he said "only three, so far".  Must be something in the water up there that makes a different level of pilot!

[wolves200 31]

I guess; is a everyday bread and butter to crash in that harsh environment, but you know what the say, any landing you can walk away is a good landing, I guess he is a living proof of that concept...

 

besides what´s the point of having a STOL if you are only doing asphalt??

 

regards

Dimi3

Edited 11 May 2014 by Wolverine

[akflyer 1427]

You would be shocked at some of the places some people go into day in and day out hauling hunters etc.  There are places that I would hesitate taking a helicopter into yet you will find a cub going in and out of there   Believe me, not all AK pilots are of this breed!  But it is simply amazing some of the places that we do go to that others would never dream of. 

 

I too give guys some crap on other forums that live in the middle of pavement land yet have 35s and never land on anything other than a manicured grass fairway.   The guys that do it just to "look cool" crack me up.  Kind of like the guys that go out and buy new bad ass snowmachines, all new top of the mine gear, then trailer out to the parking lot at the base of a mountain and ride around the parking lot bliping the throttle making lots of noise but never venture off onto the mountain and cant ride for shit... they are PLP's  or Parking Lot Posers.

 

All that said, even if a guy does not normally land in the rough stuff, if he has big tires on his plane in the event of an engine out, his chances of walking away from a forced landing are much improved in a lot of situations.  I would bet that if Lowell would have had some big tires on his KF, the outcome of his forced landing would have been much different! 

 

[EDMO 1078]

Leni,

      Now you give the big tire advice, and I am using 600x6 for faster cruise across the flatlands, and just so you wouldn't make fun of me as a pavement flyer with big tires!  

      Now, where did I store those wheelpants? 

EdMO

Edited 11 May 2014 by Ed In Missouri

[akflyer 1427]

going for fast cruise in a slow plane makes about as much sense as putting an elevator in an outhouse  

 

Of course I say that as I am thinking of going to a long speed wing or KF IV wing rib to get a bit more speed and not give away STOL

 

[EDMO 1078]

Then you could build some HUGE wheelpants to keep the tail from blanking out, and get another mph!  

Seriously tho, I was afraid those bushtires would wear out too fast on concrete, and didn't want the extra weight of the 8.50 x 6 on my heavy Grove gear.

ED

Edited 11 May 2014 by Ed In Missouri

[959 11]

going for fast cruise in a slow plane makes about as much sense as putting an elevator in an outhouse

 

Of course I say that as I am thinking of going to a long speed wing or KF IV wing rib to get a bit more speed and not give away STOL

 

Hey now I had an elevator and joy stick in my out house on Big Lake Ak,For when I got fogged in or snowed in and couldn't fly.

It's like using a practice tree for Drag Racing.

 

I like being high in either sport.

 

Finally had to move to Long Lake when it go to crowded on Big Lake.

[akflyer 1427]

My cousin lives on Big Lake and I have a good buddy that a retired flying trooper that lives on Long Lake.  How long ago did you move out?

 

I have snooped around the Washington / Oregon / Idaho real estate sites looking for a possible winter area to play at for a few months a year.  Some damn pretty country down there.  Last time I was on the Oregon coast I was 15