Sparky Imeson's Mountain Flying Tips On Line - More than JUST Mountains!

For many years, Sparky Imeson's Mountain Flying Bible has been a resource for a lot of pilots. For some time now, the crux of this work has been available on-line right here.

I bring this up because I have read several threads recently where people are questioning their ability to get in our out of here and there in their airplane. A number of Sparky's rules of thumb are great to know for these situations.

One of my favorites is that if you have not reached 70% of the rotation speed by 50% of the runway, you better not attempt the takeoff - this applies to all kinds of runways and all kinds of conditions. Handy to know.

Unfortunately, Sparky was killed in a plane accident in 2009.

This is, of course, not the definitive source for information, your POH is.

sj

Steve, I had the pleasure of speaking to an audience in which Sparky was sitting...right on the front row. I was speaking, I believe, about survival medicine for aviators. I have given many, many presentations over the years, and really don't get nervous any longer, but I must say that it was a bit intimidating to survey the audience as I stepped to the podium and see Sparky Imeson sitting right smack in front of me. I do think that most everyone I have met in Montana aviation felt that his book is the definitive work on mountain flight.



The gentleman standing on the right side of the photo (taken at the 2009 MT Aviation Conference) was Tuck Barrett, the gentleman who taught me how to fly in the mountains using the Cessna T210. I was an awesome pilot and I owe him so much with regard to how he taught me to fly my 210 over the course of about 15 years. Tuck passed away from natural causes in 2011, at the age of 92. Sparky had a fatal crash one week after this photo was taken, a victim of violating one of his own rules.


The saying "There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but few old, bold pilots" comes to mind when I think about these gentleman, both gone West now. The fact that Sparky went West in the fashion he did certainly does not invalidate the wisdom and contribution he made to aviation safety and mountain flying through his writings. This book contains a wealth of information for flying, in general, and should be in each of our libraries, as should Hal Terry's book, Fly the Wild and Stay Alive.



Randy

"One of my favorites is that if you have not reached 70% of the rotation speed by 50% of the runway, you better not attempt the takeoff - this applies to all kinds of runways and all kinds of conditions. Handy to know."

Timely advice. I read this last week and put into practice departing a muddy strip in west Texas in the Caravan yesterday. I walked the runway, marked the mid-point, reviewed the performance section, and thanked myself for coming light on fuel. Then I loaded my family and went. We were at 75% of rotation at the mid-way point. I continued without incident.

Thanks for posting.

I know that some of you are saying: "It rains in west Texas?" -yes it does from time to time. Texas looks like Ireland right now.