That time we got stuck at Wilson Bar

rwellner98

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Definitely not the highlight of our trip, but at least all it took was a couple hours of digging and strip repair to get us going again!

 
Why didn't you take the junk out of the back? Why didn't you do an afterlanding checklist?
 
Good battery.

Indeed. Fairly new and that O-540 is a low compression, carbureted engine that starts first time, every time - so I use less juice in six starts than some people end up using doing a single start on other engines.
 
That looked like a pretty deep hole so this may not work, but I have seen good results from getting 2-3 people to push up on the wing (pilot side in your case) and rocking the wing forward or aft from the tip. You get a lot of lever advantage from the span of the wing and it doesn’t take super human strength to unload the wheel in the hole and pull it out. Not sure if that would have worked in your case (or even if it is possible with wings like yours- fabric covered?) but it’s an option for people to have in the mental toolkit.
 
I just have to ask - you are flying back country and don’t even have a shovel? I would think you might want to spend some time on Backcountry.org and look at some of their recommendations for tool kits and other stuff when flying in the woods. And thanks for repairing the spot - many would not have taken the time to do so.
 
I would think you might want to spend some time on Backcountry.org

lol. Assuming you mean backcountrypilots.org, I'm one of the admins there. Oversights happen, maybe that's another lesson here...
 
That looked like a pretty deep hole so this may not work, but I have seen good results from getting 2-3 people to push up on the wing (pilot side in your case) and rocking the wing forward or aft from the tip. You get a lot of lever advantage from the span of the wing and it doesn’t take super human strength to unload the wheel in the hole and pull it out.

Yeah, I saw the Flying Cowboys do something like that recently with Cory's plane. In this case, I'm not sure it would have worked. The hole was indeed pretty deep. I bet it would have worked after I had dug the first version of the ramp though...

Another tip I got as a result of this video: Dig the ramp behind the wheel, chock the other wheel and push sideways on the tail to gain a large moment arm. One person should be able to do this alone and it complete eliminates any risk of prop strike.
 
Does anyone know what the slope should be to attempt this?
 
why did that woman look so unenthused?

I watched the video just to see what you were talking about. Now I have the same question!

Also, was nobody else there willing to help? Just curious. Maybe there were but just not in the footage posted?
 
I am impressed with the time and effort you put to fill in that hole after you got your plane out. I wish more people were like you.
 
I watched the video just to see what you were talking about. Now I have the same question!

Also, was nobody else there willing to help? Just curious. Maybe there were but just not in the footage posted?

It really is a one person job. The person who lent me the shovel was a CFI who was working with a couple students. There was no reason for them to interrupt what they were doing to help me.

I am impressed with the time and effort you put to fill in that hole after you got your plane out. I wish more people were like you.

:):):)
 
It really is a one person job. The person who lent me the shovel was a CFI who was working with a couple students. There was no reason for them to interrupt what they were doing to help me.

Ahhh okay. I got tired watching the video (needed a nap afterwards) and you didn’t even show the “whole” thing. :D Thanks for posting it. Even though I don’t fly BC stuff like that is informative.
 
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