OVEREASYGUY
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New Gloucester, Maine
Cliff’s Big Adventure – Big Trees & Big Tires – Clip B
See Link below for video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idAwr1B0eQ
I have had my fill of landing on Pavement with small wheels. I bought the big bush wheels and thought that might make me the Bush Pilot I dream of becoming. However after seeing those Big Rocks and Long Props videos I thought geez I am no bush pilot. There is only one way to become a bush pilot – get out there and land in the bush!
My friends have been hunting in Northern Maine all week on Lake Chesuncook. It’s a 4 hour drive north – or one and a half hours by super cub. I used Google Earth to explore the camp roads in the area and it looked landable – so early Saturday morning I stuffed all my hunting gear into the super cub and headed north.
I found my friends camp – then headed about a mile east where the nearest landable camp road was located. I soon recognized my friend’s truck and not long after I saw him and three others come out of the woods. My friend said when he first heard the airplane he thought it was a ranger but then when he realized it was 12 inches above the trees tops he said - that must be Cliff!!
It was difficult to control myself – I really wanted to just pop down and celebrate a successful trip – however I had a lot of planning to do – for one I had no idea which way the wind was blowing. It would really not be a good idea to be landing downwind 10 mph faster than needed on a bumpy camp road. I used my GPS and just headed in one direction and observed my ground speed – then headed in the other direction and soon I had the wind direction figured out. My instructor once showed me another way – just pick a point and fly a 20 degree circle around it – if you hold a 20 degree turn and the wind is blowing – you will find you have drifted away from the point – so where the point is when you are finished is where the wind is blowing from.
The camp road was long – so I needed to pick a particular point which looked like the beginning of the best stretch – it’s critical that you not hit a tree with the wings – even a small soft pine branch hitting your wing out 18 feet from the center of gravity has HUGE leverage to spin you sideways.
In my opinion a good bush pilot MUST know how to slip the heck out of his airplane – drop it like a rock. You MUST hit that touchdown zone. With a narrow camp road a slip can be tricky. If there is a small wide open area – that is where you want to get the heck down – you sure don’t want to be hitting any branches up high – getting spun sideways 10 foot off the ground while bleeding off speed would be a lot more survivable than at 40 feet while making a long approach into a camp road like this one. I wonder if shutting off the master switch would be a good idea – since that might minimize the potential for fire if you did have a mishap?
You might see a deer run out at the last minute – if you have the airspeed you might pop over him and then suddenly find you have a really short track left & no option of aborting – if you can slip fast – you might it.
I used a large dead tree on the right side of the road as the marker for the beginning of the good spot. Soon I was down.
Once again I forgot that flying an airplane does not stop until you shut the engine off. I had to taxi about a half mile to where my friends were parked - I taxied slow but completely forgot to pay attention to the trees on either side. The road narrowed and I ran into a small pine tree towards the end – no damage but I felt a little foolish.
I hunted during the day on Saturday. That evening I showed my friends the video and geeze I had nightmares all that night wondering what I had in store for getting out of there. Fortunately the departure was uneventful & due to the amazing capabilities of the Super Cub I was soon way above the trees.
After landing on this camp road – landing at my place sure seemed like a breeze!!
I’ve been videotaping with a Sony Handycam which burns right to a mini DVD disc – I mount it with a RAM mount. Landings are easy – since the engine does not vibrate. The big bush tires definitely help. In cruise – often the video fails due to the vibrations - however if I hold it in my hands – it works great. It’s really nice to be able to go back and relive the flight. So now you know what to get your spouse for a Christmas present!
Cliff in Maine
See Link below for video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idAwr1B0eQ
I have had my fill of landing on Pavement with small wheels. I bought the big bush wheels and thought that might make me the Bush Pilot I dream of becoming. However after seeing those Big Rocks and Long Props videos I thought geez I am no bush pilot. There is only one way to become a bush pilot – get out there and land in the bush!
My friends have been hunting in Northern Maine all week on Lake Chesuncook. It’s a 4 hour drive north – or one and a half hours by super cub. I used Google Earth to explore the camp roads in the area and it looked landable – so early Saturday morning I stuffed all my hunting gear into the super cub and headed north.
I found my friends camp – then headed about a mile east where the nearest landable camp road was located. I soon recognized my friend’s truck and not long after I saw him and three others come out of the woods. My friend said when he first heard the airplane he thought it was a ranger but then when he realized it was 12 inches above the trees tops he said - that must be Cliff!!
It was difficult to control myself – I really wanted to just pop down and celebrate a successful trip – however I had a lot of planning to do – for one I had no idea which way the wind was blowing. It would really not be a good idea to be landing downwind 10 mph faster than needed on a bumpy camp road. I used my GPS and just headed in one direction and observed my ground speed – then headed in the other direction and soon I had the wind direction figured out. My instructor once showed me another way – just pick a point and fly a 20 degree circle around it – if you hold a 20 degree turn and the wind is blowing – you will find you have drifted away from the point – so where the point is when you are finished is where the wind is blowing from.
The camp road was long – so I needed to pick a particular point which looked like the beginning of the best stretch – it’s critical that you not hit a tree with the wings – even a small soft pine branch hitting your wing out 18 feet from the center of gravity has HUGE leverage to spin you sideways.
In my opinion a good bush pilot MUST know how to slip the heck out of his airplane – drop it like a rock. You MUST hit that touchdown zone. With a narrow camp road a slip can be tricky. If there is a small wide open area – that is where you want to get the heck down – you sure don’t want to be hitting any branches up high – getting spun sideways 10 foot off the ground while bleeding off speed would be a lot more survivable than at 40 feet while making a long approach into a camp road like this one. I wonder if shutting off the master switch would be a good idea – since that might minimize the potential for fire if you did have a mishap?
You might see a deer run out at the last minute – if you have the airspeed you might pop over him and then suddenly find you have a really short track left & no option of aborting – if you can slip fast – you might it.
I used a large dead tree on the right side of the road as the marker for the beginning of the good spot. Soon I was down.
Once again I forgot that flying an airplane does not stop until you shut the engine off. I had to taxi about a half mile to where my friends were parked - I taxied slow but completely forgot to pay attention to the trees on either side. The road narrowed and I ran into a small pine tree towards the end – no damage but I felt a little foolish.
I hunted during the day on Saturday. That evening I showed my friends the video and geeze I had nightmares all that night wondering what I had in store for getting out of there. Fortunately the departure was uneventful & due to the amazing capabilities of the Super Cub I was soon way above the trees.
After landing on this camp road – landing at my place sure seemed like a breeze!!
I’ve been videotaping with a Sony Handycam which burns right to a mini DVD disc – I mount it with a RAM mount. Landings are easy – since the engine does not vibrate. The big bush tires definitely help. In cruise – often the video fails due to the vibrations - however if I hold it in my hands – it works great. It’s really nice to be able to go back and relive the flight. So now you know what to get your spouse for a Christmas present!
Cliff in Maine
and thanks for sharing
Just kidding. Make sure you check for big pot holes were you're planning on landing. I once hit a woodchuck hole with an ultralite and ripped one wheel clean off. 
