idaho back country flying

[WebMaster]

I live on 4N0, it is a 2500 ft long grass strip.
My airplane didn't have any stol characteristics. I was able to get down and stopped using less than 1/2 the runway. Same for take off. There are trees, and a hill, on the south end, and just trees on the north end. With 600 yards, and no trees, you will have no problems.

[Roger]

Sorry, I read that as 650-700 feet

[jchronic]

For ngb-

I tend to agree with Larry Bowdish. I frequently take my 337D (non-STOL) in and out of the 2300' blacktop strip where I live, and we're surrounded by tall trees. If I'm where I should be speed-wise on approach (85-90) and hit the touchdown zone I can usually stop in about 16-1800 ' without undue effort; on turf you can do better than that (on soggy turf, even better!).

You should be fine if it's flat around your strip, even with an engine out at gross weight.

Joe

[ngb1066]

Larry and Joe

Thank you for your helpful advice on this. I can now move forward with the project.

Neil

[hharney]

I lived and flew in the mountains of Idaho, Montana and Nevada for 20 some years. I started out using a 172 and learning the basics of mountain flying. Dad had two different Skymasters both normal aspirated. Turbo's would be nice but not a necessity. Here are a couple of strips I did operations in and out of several times.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/55H
http://www.airnav.com/airport/U60
http://www.airnav.com/airport/U81
http://www.airnav.com/airport/U63
http://www.airnav.com/airport/U87

Here is some action at U87
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...0374385469147#

Don't let the length of these strips fool you. You might say that these strips are 3 and 4,000 ft long. No big deal. Check the elevation at some of these locations. Then think about DENSITY ALTITUDE. If you think about taking off in the summer at one of these strips you are going to be easily looking at a 10,000 ft density altitude. So not to be taken lightly. These strips sometimes have one way in and one way out. You are also on turf, dirt, gravel, not hard surface. Take all this in account when flying the back country.

The normal aspirated Skymaster is a really nice aircraft for these operations. You can really have a good time taking your Skymaster into these beautiful areas.

The STOL kit is a great addition. VG's would be another great addition but I have never flown with them. The gear on the Skymaster is strong, no problems on the rough surface. The only other caution is the rear prop picking up FOD. One must practice good techniques in the some loose surface areas.

The Skymaster will work well, if fact for most of my experience it was very impressive and comfortable. I think a lot people were surprised when we showed up in a twin.

[B2C2]

Thanks for the detailed answer. It looks like this is doable. Now off to find the right airplane. I have been searching around and visited "skymaster center" (www,skymaster.com). Has anyone had any dealings with them and could comment on their experience?

[hharney]

Skymaster Center is the foremost experienced with the aircraft, especially in marketing and representing more aircraft than any other dealer. They have been in business for over 20 years. Contact Bill Crews and you will learn a lot about buying a Skymaster.

Phone: (864) 583-5967

FAX: (864) 585-1188

E-mail: BillCrews@Skymaster.com