Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
I thought some notes on flying in out and around Gastons now might preserve some important info others could use next year:
Much of the weekend started each day with calm surface winds and clear skies. At 7am, we had 10-15kts aloft.
As the day progressed the surface wind picked up to I'd guess ranging from 0-15kts out of the SW. By that time, the wind at 100' seemed to be more southerly and 10-20kts; and at altitude even stronger. A lot of people reported the wind as 'squirrelly', meaning it would come and go quickly, and the direction was fickle too. For the most part people used 6 for departure with a tailwind, and always 24 for arrivals. I have extreme respect for pilots of the slower moving airplanes, the taildraggers - they were tossed about a lot more in the valley than the heavier airplanes. The worst part of the weather was a windshear between short final and touchdown - where some reported airspeed losses of 30kts (Spike, comment?). The most challenging part of the operation was concern over departures, downwind on 6, with increasing daytime temps and the constant problem of 'am I overweight?'. Traffic seemed to ebb and flow, many times there was no one around, then you would have a gaggle of 5 in the pattern. Our system of comm in the pattern and over the lake really helped with spacing as did having folks on the ground pointing out pattern arrivals as we departed.
the Pattern
The Dam approach turned out to be most excellent, as it was easily spotted, and provided a good view of the pattern and airstrip on arrival. Most pilots flew over the SE side of the ridge for downwind, a couple of times I flew over, or even beyond the river for spacing. Turning base was mostly over, or inside the river watching altitude for the set of wires with their 'balls' at this point over the river. A SW wind was pushing us so I was turning final a bit early to avoid the desire to overbank (or avoiding the tendancy to overshoot final).
Arrivals
One problem the entire weekend, was that after 10am, the strong winds aloft descended into the river valley making short final a bunch of work. My first landing there was a carrier arrival because I did not catch a 10kt shear at the "goalposts". Many times during short final the asi was swinging wildly. It was tempting to carry excess speed through here but that carries the risk of an overrun for the heavier, faster airplanes. One thing I noticed was I could avoid most of the shear if I brought it down lower, earlier, and passed through the shear further out.....and was lower when going through the goalposts.
In most cases I think it safe to say you should not try to completely avoid the goalposts by overflying them and slamdunking beyond them. A difficult maneuver and too much energy to dissipate in a short distance. The goalposts are plenty wide enough if you track the centerline. Otherwise the rwy length seemed quite adequate for landing into the wind on 24. The runway has a few rolls in it and I would seem to be safely down, then become airborne again. If I felt it could be safely done I would have dumped the flaps after the first bump, but....too risky.
Departures
Departing on 6 has a nice 3/4mi flat treeless overrun so that was usually the preferred t-o runway. SW of 24 are tall trees, wires, the ridge. The big problem here was the tailwind, which meant longer ground runs, lower climb gradients. The wind seemed to strengthen at 10am until 5pm. Aggravating factors were the rising daytime temps, I think I saw 90F....and take off weights, I limited most of my flights to 1 pax and never full fuel. The most runway I used was when I had 2 on board...I think we used 2/3 of the runway and were about 1/2 way up the goalposts on climb out. Some said they thought the best takeoffs were experienced by not yanking it off early, just hold the pitch attitude and allow the a/c to accelerate normally. Often an a/c would become airborne only to sink somewhat, even recontacting the ground, so patience on gear retraction was a must. I was using 1/2 flaps mostly. I would have liked to pop the flaps out as I rolled but the situation was not conducive to that as my flaps are on the floor and I lose complete contact with the outside world when I go for them. Climbing out, most chose to take the first valley to the left, heading NE. There is no where to set an airplane down for a few minutes and a low level turn-around was dicey at best. The ntsb reports has an airplane following the river instead of the valley - sadly, it impacted the ridge - also there are wires to contend with in that direction. I think the folks that shuttled bags and people to kbpk were very happy with their decision as it greatly enhanced their climb out of the valley.
Runway Inspection passes
These were always a big safety concern for me, I suppose we accept/minimize the risks and carry on. I tried to always carry enough energy such that I could zoom up and set it in the river. There are some cleared areas to the west, but pretty small.
Local ops
Departing up the valley and towards the lake seemed ideal, mostly I flew 1000' over the lake. I suppose if the conditions were misty we might chat more and select discrete altitudes.
I was amazed we had no complaints about noise.
Much of the weekend started each day with calm surface winds and clear skies. At 7am, we had 10-15kts aloft.
As the day progressed the surface wind picked up to I'd guess ranging from 0-15kts out of the SW. By that time, the wind at 100' seemed to be more southerly and 10-20kts; and at altitude even stronger. A lot of people reported the wind as 'squirrelly', meaning it would come and go quickly, and the direction was fickle too. For the most part people used 6 for departure with a tailwind, and always 24 for arrivals. I have extreme respect for pilots of the slower moving airplanes, the taildraggers - they were tossed about a lot more in the valley than the heavier airplanes. The worst part of the weather was a windshear between short final and touchdown - where some reported airspeed losses of 30kts (Spike, comment?). The most challenging part of the operation was concern over departures, downwind on 6, with increasing daytime temps and the constant problem of 'am I overweight?'. Traffic seemed to ebb and flow, many times there was no one around, then you would have a gaggle of 5 in the pattern. Our system of comm in the pattern and over the lake really helped with spacing as did having folks on the ground pointing out pattern arrivals as we departed.
the Pattern
The Dam approach turned out to be most excellent, as it was easily spotted, and provided a good view of the pattern and airstrip on arrival. Most pilots flew over the SE side of the ridge for downwind, a couple of times I flew over, or even beyond the river for spacing. Turning base was mostly over, or inside the river watching altitude for the set of wires with their 'balls' at this point over the river. A SW wind was pushing us so I was turning final a bit early to avoid the desire to overbank (or avoiding the tendancy to overshoot final).
Arrivals
One problem the entire weekend, was that after 10am, the strong winds aloft descended into the river valley making short final a bunch of work. My first landing there was a carrier arrival because I did not catch a 10kt shear at the "goalposts". Many times during short final the asi was swinging wildly. It was tempting to carry excess speed through here but that carries the risk of an overrun for the heavier, faster airplanes. One thing I noticed was I could avoid most of the shear if I brought it down lower, earlier, and passed through the shear further out.....and was lower when going through the goalposts.
In most cases I think it safe to say you should not try to completely avoid the goalposts by overflying them and slamdunking beyond them. A difficult maneuver and too much energy to dissipate in a short distance. The goalposts are plenty wide enough if you track the centerline. Otherwise the rwy length seemed quite adequate for landing into the wind on 24. The runway has a few rolls in it and I would seem to be safely down, then become airborne again. If I felt it could be safely done I would have dumped the flaps after the first bump, but....too risky.
Departures
Departing on 6 has a nice 3/4mi flat treeless overrun so that was usually the preferred t-o runway. SW of 24 are tall trees, wires, the ridge. The big problem here was the tailwind, which meant longer ground runs, lower climb gradients. The wind seemed to strengthen at 10am until 5pm. Aggravating factors were the rising daytime temps, I think I saw 90F....and take off weights, I limited most of my flights to 1 pax and never full fuel. The most runway I used was when I had 2 on board...I think we used 2/3 of the runway and were about 1/2 way up the goalposts on climb out. Some said they thought the best takeoffs were experienced by not yanking it off early, just hold the pitch attitude and allow the a/c to accelerate normally. Often an a/c would become airborne only to sink somewhat, even recontacting the ground, so patience on gear retraction was a must. I was using 1/2 flaps mostly. I would have liked to pop the flaps out as I rolled but the situation was not conducive to that as my flaps are on the floor and I lose complete contact with the outside world when I go for them. Climbing out, most chose to take the first valley to the left, heading NE. There is no where to set an airplane down for a few minutes and a low level turn-around was dicey at best. The ntsb reports has an airplane following the river instead of the valley - sadly, it impacted the ridge - also there are wires to contend with in that direction. I think the folks that shuttled bags and people to kbpk were very happy with their decision as it greatly enhanced their climb out of the valley.
Runway Inspection passes
These were always a big safety concern for me, I suppose we accept/minimize the risks and carry on. I tried to always carry enough energy such that I could zoom up and set it in the river. There are some cleared areas to the west, but pretty small.
Local ops
Departing up the valley and towards the lake seemed ideal, mostly I flew 1000' over the lake. I suppose if the conditions were misty we might chat more and select discrete altitudes.
I was amazed we had no complaints about noise.
He seems like a really nice guy. 
that it would be a safe and uneventful departure.
No wonder it was such a short strip for me 
