AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024 - 22

SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
Flatlander's flight
in the backcountry
Slow, steady, measured, and
calculated every time
BY MIKE GINTER / Senior Vice President,
AOPA Air Safety Institute
IT'S EASY TO see why pilots are attracted to remote mountain
airstrips. Whether your enthusiasm is piqued by a YouTube
video or you visited one of these airstrips yourself, as a pilot, you
will want to personally experience backcountry flying someday.
There is a natural beauty that words cannot adequately capture.
Imagine a perfectly manicured grass strip nestled near the river at
the bottom of a valley, majestic mountain vistas in every direction,
pristine camping spots, and easy access to hiking and biking trails.
Then add scenic mountain lakes, all manner of wildlife, excellent
fishing, and the friendliest pilots. Backcountry flying also allows
pilots to demonstrate their finely honed skills to get in and out
of challenging areas safely, usually accompanied by the plaudits
from onlookers for making that approach and landing look easy.
The backcountry is a siren to pilots wanting to commune with
nature and have some serious fun with their aircraft. Ask anyone
who has experienced Northwestern Arkansas, Colorado, Montana,
or Idaho, and you'll hear why this type of flying is so attractive to
pilots. (You might also hear that it's not all that great-that's code
for " don't ruin it for those of us who know the secret. " ) Excellent
backcountry airstrips exist all over the country. I recently
experienced Idaho's backcountry airstrips along the Middle
Fork of the Salmon River from the right seat of a Cessna 182 and
gained new appreciation for precision flying at high altitude. New
appreciation because-well-I'm a " flatlander. "
As Jeff Foxworthy might say, you might be a " Flatlander " if you:
* Never experienced flying near a canyon wall on downwind.
* Can't hit a 100-foot spot from a steep approach while
maintaining 8 knots above stall speed.
* Never landed at a one-way-in/one-way-out gravel strip.
Experienced backcountry pilots label us as " flatlanders "
because we are apparently easy to spot. We don't know the lingo,
haven't sought the training, or show up at a backcountry strip using
the same procedures as if we were at our home airport. And we
make these mistakes with life-threatening consequences. Flying
in the backcountry for the first time demands pilots acquire and
master new skills and knowledge.
In 2024, there were several avoidable fatal accidents in the
backcountry and a few near misses. Some appeared to be caused by
high, fast, nonstabilized approaches to a long flare, a few bounces,
and a late go-around attempt resulting in a stall and loss of control
22
AOPA PILOT / December 2024
into terrain. Others involved scud-running into unintentional
IMC and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). Why do pilots make
these mistakes? Did they forget the basics of airspeed and altitude
management in the pattern? Are they not aware of the preflight
planning and backcountry procedural information available on
websites hosted by state aviation departments or pilot associations?
Have they not practiced a high-altitude go-around to measure the real
performance on that day at that temperature, at that gross weight?
In only two days of experiencing the backcountry in Idaho, I
observed two important themes: Formal backcountry training is
readily available from experienced flight instructors, and it's not
how well you fly, it's how well you fly slow. Getting comfortable with
flying slowly is a critical skill when executing a 180-degree turn in a
canyon, because the radius of turn at any given bank angle is directly
proportional to the square of the airspeed. This means doubling the
airspeed results in a radius of turn that is four times greater.
The pilot I flew with (Ben " Evil " Cook) is a graduate of a local
mountain flying course and a seasoned CFI. After a review of the
Idaho Aviation Association FlyIdaho guidebooks, Cook put the 1958
Skylane through a series of slow flight and stall maneuvers to capture
stall speed and power setting in a 20-degree bank with two notches
and then three notches of flaps. He then calculated " canyon speed "
and approach speed that was 1.2 times the stall speed. Armed with
these speeds, we proceeded to explore some of the Class 1 and Class
2 airstrips including Mahoney, Warren, and Johnson Creek. Each
airstrip was different, but each required the same set-up: Remain
clear of the firefighting TFRs, review the recommended approach
path, establish canyon airspeed, overfly to confirm no wildlife or
obstructions, set up a stabilized approach, make the go-around
decision early, commit to the landing inside the go-around point,
and then manage the speed and descent to within 100 feet of the
desired touchdown point. If any parameter deviated, we executed a
go-around. Slow, steady, measured, and calculated every time.
I am happy with my decision to experience the backcountry
the first time in the right seat. And now, the backcountry is
calling-loudly. This flatlander
will be back-but next time for
some formal instruction and in
the left seat!
mike.ginter@aopa.org
MIKE GINTER spent
27 years in the U.S.
Navy, retiring with the
rank of captain.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024

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