Mountain Flying Course

murphey

murphey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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murphey
Colorado PIlots Association will, finally, offer the High Altitude Mountain course this summer, August 28, 2021. Full day ground school followed by a day in the hills with an experienced mountain instructor.
Counts as a BFR, too!

https://coloradopilots.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=612720&module_id=379021

Yes, I know it still refers to 2020 cancelled class, but trust me, it's happening. For those of you going to OSH in July, our senior instructor, Bill Standerfer, will be doing a 1-hr Intro to High Altitude multiple times.

This is NOT back-country flying. This course is geared to high-altitude paved airports including Leadville (get your certificate!), Granby, Steamboat, Glenwood Springs (Vail if you want to pay the landing fee) and so on.

The New Mexico Pilots Association has a similar program that emphasizes northern NM and southern Colorado airports. Again, the website is a bit out of date but book mark it for later.
https://www.nmpilots.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=264824&module_id=334177
 
Are there any particular aircraft requirements? Twins or experimentals welcome?
 
iamtheari said:
Are there any particular aircraft requirements? Twins or experimentals welcome?
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Twins you may want to email just to make sure they’ll have a multi rated CfI attending but there usually are multiple.
 
Robert Braun is one of the instructors....he's an MEI. 8 of the instructors on the website are MEI. I know about half the list, flown with 5 of them.
 
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murphey said:
Robert Braun is one of the instructors....he's an MEI. 8 of the instructors on the website are MEI -I know about half of them, flown with 5 of them.
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Just depends on if the website is who’s actually coming — from experience.

Not sure why anyone is arguing with “Just make sure to ask them.” But it is PoA after all — where calling an FBO is a grave hardship these days. LOL
 
denverpilot said:
Just depends on if the website is who’s actually coming — from experience.

Not sure why anyone is arguing with “Just make sure to ask them.” But it is PoA after all — where calling an FBO is a grave hardship these days. LOL
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Guilty. :sosp:
 
If you have no mountain experience, and even if you do, this is a great opportunity. I count the mountain flying I have done and instructed as some of the best flying I have ever enjoyed. Some great history in those places as well. Gorgeous scenery. Learning the tricks and pitfalls to mountain flying is extremely fun and challenging.
 
murphey said:
(Vail if you want to pay the landing fee)
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I thoroughly enjoyed the course a couple years ago. I picked Aspen instead of Eagle and paid $40 to stretch my legs for a few minutes at the FBO. They waived the additional $40 fee for entering their ramp space. :) Beautiful airport to visit… once. Leadville was dirt at the time so no certificate for me yet.
 
denverpilot said:
Just depends on if the website is who’s actually coming — from experience.

Not sure why anyone is arguing with “Just make sure to ask them.” But it is PoA after all — where calling an FBO is a grave hardship these days. LOL
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I'm scared to talk to someone on the phone!!!
 
There is no landing fee at "Vail", which is actually in the town of Gypsum. The Vail Valley Jet Center is very nice, I used to base there. I know of no one ever charged a landing fee.

Glenwood, where I am based now, is a great little airport. We locals land on the grass next to the runway, but the grass is only about 1000' long. Land to the north, take off to the south, unless the wind dictates otherwise. Glenwood in the mid day can be quite an interesting ride. More than once I have been dropping over the ridge from the west (8200' to clear the ridge), and found myself suddenly doing 1800fpm down.
My landing pattern from the east(ish) is overfly midfield above pattern altitude, join left downwind for 32. There is very often a pretty good sink over the river just before the threshold. Coming from the east, the field is obscured by terrain until within about 3/4 mile.
 
I really enjoyed the flight into glenwood too, I think it was more memorable than Aspen. Came from the north with a long downwind, then heading back north, come around the corner and hello airport! Also the only place I’ve been so far with an automated super unicom (click 3 times for weather)
 
Wagondriver said:
There is no landing fee at "Vail", which is actually in the town of Gypsum. The Vail Valley Jet Center is very nice, I used to base there. I know of no one ever charged a landing fee.

Glenwood, where I am based now, is a great little airport. We locals land on the grass next to the runway, but the grass is only about 1000' long. Land to the north, take off to the south, unless the wind dictates otherwise. Glenwood in the mid day can be quite an interesting ride. More than once I have been dropping over the ridge from the west (8200' to clear the ridge), and found myself suddenly doing 1800fpm down.
My landing pattern from the east(ish) is overfly midfield above pattern altitude, join left downwind for 32. There is very often a pretty good sink over the river just before the threshold. Coming from the east, the field is obscured by terrain until within about 3/4 mile.
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Glenwood, weather permitting, is one of the stops exactly for the reasons you describe.
 
I’m very interested in this. Any idea how fast they typically sell out?
 
kaiser said:
I’m very interested in this. Any idea how fast they typically sell out?
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All the details and registration form for this year at

https://coloradopilots.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=612720&module_id=319185

Usually run 2 a year - June and August. This year, only August. Send an email to

membership@coloradopilots.org or mtnfly@coloradopilots.org

"membership" handles the registrations, "mtnfly" runs the program.

If you're interested in the New Mexico version (very similar), head over to their website and check the mountain flying link.

Mike - gonna attend and learn to fly real mountains this year?
 
I flew a C-340 into Glenwood a few years back. Just me and 1/2 tanks, but was exciting. No worse than my Viking though. The Vail airport was closed many years ago. Rocky Mountain airways flew Otters and Dash- 7's in there. It was suppose to be a private strip STOL strip, but I flew in there in C-182's a few times. It was a great strip back in the day. But short and high. Then they put restrictions on it. Made it private and then closed it permanently. I think there must be condo's built on it now. Eagle is now the airport used by the "Vail Valley crowd".
 
Marble is another great place. But you really need to have your act together for that one. I would avoid it unless you have lots of experience at unimproved strips in canyons. Go with someone who has been there, and know what they are doing on a very nice day. But worth doing. Worth hiring a good mountain instructor who has experience going in there. You will not be disappointed.
 
Oldmanb777 said:
Marble is another great place. But you really need to have your act together for that one. I would avoid it unless you have lots of experience at unimproved strips in canyons. Go with someone who has been there, and know what they are doing on a very nice day. But worth doing. Worth hiring a good mountain instructor who has experience going in there. You will not be disappointed.
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CPA used to have flyins there. Miss going there, it was always fun.
 
Be sure to get permission before going into Marble.
I was there a week or so ago, its in great shape. But watch out for the geese and pay attention to where the sprinklers are.
 
Yes, I forgot to mention getting permission to fly to Marble. Thanks for that. It's easy and worth the effort to talk to them in advance.
 
Thanks for posting. I think I’ll bring my little Cherokee 180 up from Texas for this.
 
Shucks, wish I could make it. I am hoping to fly from FL to Colo Springs in June. Maybe I'll find a CFI to take me into Leadville. Any thoughts on Super Decathlon performance in the mountains? Power to weight is excellent, with max gross of 1800 lbs on 180 HP, but I'm not sure how the semi-symmetrical airfoil would impact high altitude performance.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Shucks, wish I could make it. I am hoping to fly from FL to Colo Springs in June. Maybe I'll find a CFI to take me into Leadville. Any thoughts on Super Decathlon performance in the mountains? Power to weight is excellent, with max gross of 1800 lbs on 180 HP, but I'm not sure how the semi-symmetrical airfoil would impact high altitude performance.
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Pick any of the CFi on the CPA website.CFI located in Parker, COS or Castle Rock are closer to COS. Or, call ahead to any of the schools in the COS and ask for the mountain flying CFI.
 
cowtowner said:
Thanks for posting. I think I’ll bring my little Cherokee 180 up from Texas for this.
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I fly the same, no problem in the hills. Weight management and attention to weather are critical.
 
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I’d have loved for Leslie and I to have taken that course before yesterday!
But we survived.
 

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My husband loved chatting with all of you on Pilots of America. He died in a tragic accident on May 15 when he fell off a ladder here at home and hit his head on the concrete floor in the basement. I found him unconscious a few minutes later. He was flown to hospital by helicopter ambulance but he never recovered consciousness, and died from massive head injuries a few hours later. Posted by his widow Jennifer Gill
 
GRG55 said:
My husband loved chatting with all of you on Pilots of America. He died in a tragic accident on May 15 when he fell off a ladder here at home and hit his head on the concrete floor in the basement. I found him unconscious a few minutes later. He was flown to hospital by helicopter ambulance but he never recovered consciousness, and died from massive head injuries a few hours later. Posted by his widow Jennifer Gill
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Jennifer. I’m sorry for your loss.
 
HighCountry said:
I thoroughly enjoyed the course a couple years ago. I picked Aspen instead of Eagle and paid $40 to stretch my legs for a few minutes at the FBO. They waived the additional $40 fee for entering their ramp space. :) Beautiful airport to visit… once. Leadville was dirt at the time so no certificate for me yet.
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If you would like to avoid the Aspen airport price gouging but want to visit Aspen fly into Glenwood Springs and take the bus to Aspen. They run about every half hour and are fast (for a bus) and charge $6.00, free for seniors. You can take your bags on board. I have a place at Aspen (actually Snowmass) and never use the Aspen airport, always Glenwood.
 
GRG55 said:
My husband loved chatting with all of you on Pilots of America. He died in a tragic accident on May 15 when he fell off a ladder here at home and hit his head on the concrete floor in the basement. I found him unconscious a few minutes later. He was flown to hospital by helicopter ambulance but he never recovered consciousness, and died from massive head injuries a few hours later. Posted by his widow Jennifer Gill
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Oh my goodness. I am truly sorry for your loss Jennifer and shocked to hear this news.
 
GRG55 said:
My husband loved chatting with all of you on Pilots of America. He died in a tragic accident on May 15 when he fell off a ladder here at home and hit his head on the concrete floor in the basement. I found him unconscious a few minutes later. He was flown to hospital by helicopter ambulance but he never recovered consciousness, and died from massive head injuries a few hours later. Posted by his widow Jennifer Gill
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Oh no. I’m so very sorry for your loss.
 
Maybe I am overthinking this, but without Mountain Flying experience, how are you getting there?
 
TimRF79 said:
Maybe I am overthinking this, but without Mountain Flying experience, how are you getting there?
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It's a training event. One day of ground school then the second day of flying with an experienced mountain CFI to learn the practical aspects.
 
murphey said:
It's a training event. One day of ground school then the second day of flying with an experienced mountain CFI to learn the practical aspects.
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Which airport would the party start from?
 
iamtheari said:
Which airport would the party start from?
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Pretty much your choice - we have routes start/end at KCOS, KAPA, KBJC. Entirely up to you and the instructor.

Basic route (not all locations are landings) is [start] up by Boulder to Rollins/Corona Pass, Granby, Steamboat, Rifle, Vail, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, backtrack to Glenwood Springs, Leadville then back to your starting point. Might be Salida (down the road from Leadville), etc.
 
iamtheari said:
Which airport would the party start from?
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Not sure but they’ve done BJC and FNL in recent years.

And now I’m triggered...

“From here you'll find a list of instructors covering all types of aircrafts,...”

Damn it. The plural of aircraft is aircraft. LOL
 
Where is ground school? Or is that also one-on-one?
 
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