SkyHog
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2005
- Messages
- 18,431
- Location
- Castle Rock, CO
- Display Name
Display name:
Everything Offends Me
Lindrith Airpark (E32)
I have landed at shorter airports, and I have landed at higher airports, but never have I landed at an airport that was both higher and shorter. This was one scary approach and landing for a June day. To prepare for this flight, I had been watching the weather for coolness, and planned on leaving super early in the morning.
I got into Lindrith around 8am, and the temperature was about 60F. This dirt strip, being only 3300ft long is not very easy to spot, but there is a clearly defined ramp, and in my case today, a plane parked as well that gave it away. The dirt is a bit softer than I'm used to seeing at the dirt strips around New Mexico, so be careful. When its even slightly wet, I'll bet this is a true soft field.
The windsock for this airport is near the approach end of runway 7, and is not really visible by flying over the midfield. What we had planned was to come in, do our low flyby on one of the runways to check the status and note our ground speed to determine the winds, since we didn't even see the windsock. On final, we saw the windsock, which for us was laying completely calm. I was hoping for a bit more of a headwind, but the temperature was still cool enough to not pose too big of a concern.
The landing was not too bad. In the video, you can hear me and a friend (the one holding the camera) kind of freaking out about how short it is, but I still had well over 2000 feet left when I could have stopped the plane. I taxied to the ramp, which is accessed by going through a cutout in a fence and the brush, and parked to get a better look around, and to mark off our abort point should we not get airborne in time.
This is a really neat area. The pictures below don't do this area justice. Lindrith is in the middle of no where. There is nothing nearby, except maybe Cuba, NM, but even that is in the middle of no where. There is a road off to the left side of runway 25 that curves away about 2000 feet down the runway or so. That would be our abort point.
So after looking around and stuff, we got back into Juliet and taxied to the begininning of runway 25. I decided to do a short field takeoff since this was a very short field. I also wanted to do a soft field so that I could get off the dang runway as quickly as possible to avoid the prop picking up too many rocks. We accelerated and started to roll. Just as the nose is about to come up, airspeed still quite slow its "ABORT, ABORT!" and the throttle comes back and breaks go on. This is only the 2nd time I've had to abort a takeoff for something that I felt was seriously necessary (not practice), the other was to avoid a near head on collision on a runway.
I called the abort a little early because we had one long taxi to the end of the runway to turn around and try it again. This time, we'd be using the entrance to the ramp as our abort point. As we neared the ramp during the takeoff, I was just about to call it again when the airplane popped up into ground effect. Sweet, we're getting out of here.
Let me tell you, this takeoff was not for the faint of heart. We climbed at about 100fpm or less, following the lay of the land to get out without hitting hills or powerlines. I am glad I did Lindrith, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have gone even earlier, did it in the winter. That was the scariest dang flight I've ever experienced.
But the day was just beginning....
Videos *It was early, and we landed to the east...sun is causing glare*:
1) Landing, Runway 7
Pictures:
1) On the ramp at Lindrith, beacon and obstruction in background
LINDRITH AIRPARK QUICK FACTS:
Airport Elevation: 7202 Ft
Runways 7/25: 3300'x75ft, Dirt in excellent condition
CTAF: 122.9
Nick's NOTAMS: No fuel or services available. There are visible deer tracks on the runway, so the real NOTAM about deer is probably pretty accurate. I would strongly suggest a very low weight and high power plane or very low temperature to attempt this airport. Trees surround most of airport. Runway 25 would be preferred departure if wind agrees, due to downsloped terrain off of runway.
I have landed at shorter airports, and I have landed at higher airports, but never have I landed at an airport that was both higher and shorter. This was one scary approach and landing for a June day. To prepare for this flight, I had been watching the weather for coolness, and planned on leaving super early in the morning.
I got into Lindrith around 8am, and the temperature was about 60F. This dirt strip, being only 3300ft long is not very easy to spot, but there is a clearly defined ramp, and in my case today, a plane parked as well that gave it away. The dirt is a bit softer than I'm used to seeing at the dirt strips around New Mexico, so be careful. When its even slightly wet, I'll bet this is a true soft field.
The windsock for this airport is near the approach end of runway 7, and is not really visible by flying over the midfield. What we had planned was to come in, do our low flyby on one of the runways to check the status and note our ground speed to determine the winds, since we didn't even see the windsock. On final, we saw the windsock, which for us was laying completely calm. I was hoping for a bit more of a headwind, but the temperature was still cool enough to not pose too big of a concern.
The landing was not too bad. In the video, you can hear me and a friend (the one holding the camera) kind of freaking out about how short it is, but I still had well over 2000 feet left when I could have stopped the plane. I taxied to the ramp, which is accessed by going through a cutout in a fence and the brush, and parked to get a better look around, and to mark off our abort point should we not get airborne in time.
This is a really neat area. The pictures below don't do this area justice. Lindrith is in the middle of no where. There is nothing nearby, except maybe Cuba, NM, but even that is in the middle of no where. There is a road off to the left side of runway 25 that curves away about 2000 feet down the runway or so. That would be our abort point.
So after looking around and stuff, we got back into Juliet and taxied to the begininning of runway 25. I decided to do a short field takeoff since this was a very short field. I also wanted to do a soft field so that I could get off the dang runway as quickly as possible to avoid the prop picking up too many rocks. We accelerated and started to roll. Just as the nose is about to come up, airspeed still quite slow its "ABORT, ABORT!" and the throttle comes back and breaks go on. This is only the 2nd time I've had to abort a takeoff for something that I felt was seriously necessary (not practice), the other was to avoid a near head on collision on a runway.
I called the abort a little early because we had one long taxi to the end of the runway to turn around and try it again. This time, we'd be using the entrance to the ramp as our abort point. As we neared the ramp during the takeoff, I was just about to call it again when the airplane popped up into ground effect. Sweet, we're getting out of here.
Let me tell you, this takeoff was not for the faint of heart. We climbed at about 100fpm or less, following the lay of the land to get out without hitting hills or powerlines. I am glad I did Lindrith, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have gone even earlier, did it in the winter. That was the scariest dang flight I've ever experienced.
But the day was just beginning....
Videos *It was early, and we landed to the east...sun is causing glare*:
1) Landing, Runway 7
Pictures:
1) On the ramp at Lindrith, beacon and obstruction in background
LINDRITH AIRPARK QUICK FACTS:
Airport Elevation: 7202 Ft
Runways 7/25: 3300'x75ft, Dirt in excellent condition
CTAF: 122.9
Nick's NOTAMS: No fuel or services available. There are visible deer tracks on the runway, so the real NOTAM about deer is probably pretty accurate. I would strongly suggest a very low weight and high power plane or very low temperature to attempt this airport. Trees surround most of airport. Runway 25 would be preferred departure if wind agrees, due to downsloped terrain off of runway.
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