AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2012 - 91

OFF T

TECHNIQUE

BEATEN TH PA

Mountain majesties
Learning to fly amidst towering peaks
BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN

here was something about preparing to land on Runway 16 at Afton Municipal Airport in western Wyoming that just didn’t look right. The wind was nearly calm on a cloudless summer afternoon, and the airplane had been performing flawlessly. The landing gear and flaps were down, and the airspeed indicator showed the airplane was on speed. But the ground beneath seemed to pass by in a blur, and the airplane looked to be traveling too fast. Had the flaps not fully deployed? No, a quick glance showed they were all the way down. Had a headwind suddenly shifted to a tailwind? No, the airport windsock still showed a light breeze out of the south that was nearly aligned with the landing runway. The prelanding checklist items had been completed, checked, and doublechecked, but the disconcerting view of the ground rushing by seemed to indicate something was amiss. Over the runway, the airplane settled into ground effect and touched down without incident.

But this first landing, after flying all day from the Midwest, confirmed something all pilots learn in ground school but don’t always fully appreciate: Flying at higher elevations (Afton is 6,221 feet above sea level) is just different. And a noticeably faster true airspeed (for any given indicated airspeed) is just one of the myriad factors that make flying among mountains challenging. There is a great deal to learn about diminished aircraft performance, reading winds and cloud formations, dynamic and sometimes highly localized weather conditions, physiology, outdoor survival, and other vital subjects. And specialized instruction is available from expert pilots in these regions who are more than willing to help newcomers delve into such subjects practically and safely. On my first flight to the mountainous West, I was surprised to find the same kinds of normally aspirated piston airplanes on airport ramps that populate the flatlands, and turbocharged models made for thin air were largely absent. Lowly
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE FIZER

Cessna 152s, Piper J–3 Cubs, and other relatively low-performance airplanes can do just fine in the mountains as long as their pilots take care. The reward for pilots who learn to balance the demands of mountain flying is aerial access to some of the most remote, spectacular, and awe-inspiring places on Earth (see “Aerial Amazement,” page 66). Timeless and towering mountain ranges provide a perspective that makes us feel both tiny and transitory, and that’s never truer than when flying among them. Mountain flying inspires humility, and that quality—perhaps more than anything else—is a requirement for success. Michael Collier, a geologist, writer, and photographer, has flown his Cessna 180 for more than 5,000 hours, ranging from his home in northern Arizona (at 7,000 feet msl) to Alaska and Central America—mostly over the jagged mountain chains he studies. His familiarity with his airplane helps him to eke out maximum performance in conditions in which it’s needed.
AOPA PILOT • 91 • APRIL 2012

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2012