Wed March 2 Salida, Colorado
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Everskyward
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Everskyward
That would be doable for me. The plane is down for inspection so I have the day off. 
Everskyward
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Everskyward
Either one is OK for me but we can say Jet Center like last time unless you would rather go to TacAir. Or I can come out to Front Range. I'm pretty easy...
Everskyward
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Everskyward
I'll come out to FTG. It'll save you the extra stop. What time? 9:30?
denverpilot
Tied Down
Airplane's still getting a new bladder tank, so... definitely no here...
But being that it's a weekday and I have a job... it'd be a no anyway... who are you people that can go flying for lunch during the week? There was a bunch of talk of that at the CPA Holiday Dinner too.
LOL! Must be nice...! Maybe I'll join y'all in about another 30 years when I retire.
But being that it's a weekday and I have a job... it'd be a no anyway... who are you people that can go flying for lunch during the week? There was a bunch of talk of that at the CPA Holiday Dinner too.
LOL! Must be nice...! Maybe I'll join y'all in about another 30 years when I retire.
Everskyward
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Some people say I'm pretending to be retired, or maybe the better word would be "rehearsing".But being that it's a weekday and I have a job... it'd be a no anyway... who are you people that can go flying for lunch during the week? There was a bunch of talk of that at the CPA Holiday Dinner too.
LOL! Must be nice...! Maybe I'll join y'all in about another 30 years when I retire.
OK, see you there. The weather looks gorgeous today, at least from here.
woodstock
Final Approach
I had lunch and a microbrew at Amica's a few years ago. I even bought a few growlers to take along with me.
Have a great time.
Have a great time.
gkainz
Final Approach
rats - guess I'll have to wait for the next one
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murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
Airplane's still getting a new bladder tank, so... definitely no here...
But being that it's a weekday and I have a job... it'd be a no anyway... who are you people that can go flying for lunch during the week? There was a bunch of talk of that at the CPA Holiday Dinner too.
LOL! Must be nice...! Maybe I'll join y'all in about another 30 years when I retire.
I should point out this is the first weekday lunch I've managed in months. Until a couple weeks ago I was working on a contract.
Find me a job, and I won't be making these offers. No, I'm not retired, but as I like to describe my situation, an Unemployed Rocket Scientist. I still have to figure out how to pay for the overhaul later this year. I can either sit home and be miserable and constantly look for a job or I can look for a job for a bit every day and have fun (altho cheaply) the rest of the day.
Find me a job!
C/C++, COBOL (sigh), FORTRAN (another sigh), Java, SQL, Oracle, Unix/Linux, DO-170B and other things. Excellent tech writer. Superb technical trainer. Tickets inactive and would take too long to get them back. Job offers in DC & Dallas area were lucrative but meant moving back east. Ick. BTDT.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Sorry to hear you're doing the unemployment dance, Murph.
Sure looks like a nice day "out there" for those of you who went flyin'.
Sure looks like a nice day "out there" for those of you who went flyin'.
gkainz
Final Approach
Murph - check your PMs.
Hope you had a nice flight and good lunch ... I'm still on the wrong side of an angry, recalcitrant SAN admin who claims to have set up "hundreds of filesystem for databases this way" ... uh, ok, then tell me why straight up file copies take 12x longer than they did last month - give you a clue - it's not the database.
JOOC, tell me/show me how you route to Salida... I've not flown in there.
Hope you had a nice flight and good lunch ... I'm still on the wrong side of an angry, recalcitrant SAN admin who claims to have set up "hundreds of filesystem for databases this way" ... uh, ok, then tell me why straight up file copies take 12x longer than they did last month - give you a clue - it's not the database.
JOOC, tell me/show me how you route to Salida... I've not flown in there.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Greg,
My easiest/longer route for that flight is down past KCOS and R-2601 A/B, and then make a right to go West up the valley there over 1V6 and then follow the valley, the railroad tracks, and the river up to Salida. Piece o' cake. Just look over your charted obstacles and altitudes and keep track of where you are, and it's easy.
The other common way is to come down from Buena Vista, down-valley... and to get there is basically the reverse of how you typically get out of the Leadville area and back to Denver.
It's basically the route of V160 on the chart, maybe a bit south of that to cross over Wilkerson Pass in the vicinity of the Badger Mountain RCO (which is a very easy to spot landmark... lots of radio stuff up there for the State and Feds), and then you could either go West from there over Antero Reservoir (pretty from the air), and over the Trout Creek Pass area into Buena Vista -- then south down-valley, or really if you're willing to climb, you can get into the KAEJ/KANK valley from anywhere East of there (the depicted TERRO intersection route on the airway if you're high enough to receive Blue Mesa or using GPS, but there's no real need to be that high there). The issue is the further south you come once you leave the Badger Mountain RCO area, the higher the ridgeline is between you and the valley. The terrain is about 11'000 or so if you were to go "ridgeline direct" from Badger Mountain into KANK. It's not much better up at the north end, you'll still be pretty high.
Me, I don't like having to do the "slam dunk approach" that results from crossing that ridge and then having to get down to the airport when I can wander over Buena Vista and do a normal letdown coming down-valley there. And if the weather is weird over the Badger Mountain area, sometimes the valley up from PUB is wide open. Hard to find out from the ground in Denver, though.
Be sure to check out the A/FD remarks for the airport... the depicted "glider" on the VFR chart there on the ridgeline to the East is usually hang-gliders (noted in the A/FD) and they're tough to spot but usually brightly colored, at least. And they recommend 24 for arrival and 06 for departure, wind permitting. 24 can have sinkers on the approach in high winds, but going up there in high winds isn't super bright anyway... too bumpy.
Check out the missed approach on the RNAV GPS-A for KANK sometime... it's a fun one to show flat-landers. "Climb to 16,200' MSL..." Ask 'em if their airplane can do it.
Both KANK and KAEJ airports are down in the valley and not that "high" for us Denverites... (7523') but of course, always check temperature and density altitude...
And if you haven't done it already and want to take the time to do your DA calculations, etc... the "up the valley from the south" way into Leadville is a pretty easy way to get your "I landed at the highest public-use airport in the U.S." certficate... but I highly recommend doing the Colorado Pilot's Assn. Mountain Flying course first.
Flying something with over 200 HP, and coming into Leadville after climbing out of KASE, backtracking up the valley to Reudi Reservoir while climbing (and climbing and climbing and climbing) over Hagerman Pass... and then doing THAT "slam dunk" over Turquoise Lake is a far more interesting way to get to Leadville than up the valley from the South.
My easiest/longer route for that flight is down past KCOS and R-2601 A/B, and then make a right to go West up the valley there over 1V6 and then follow the valley, the railroad tracks, and the river up to Salida. Piece o' cake. Just look over your charted obstacles and altitudes and keep track of where you are, and it's easy.
The other common way is to come down from Buena Vista, down-valley... and to get there is basically the reverse of how you typically get out of the Leadville area and back to Denver.
It's basically the route of V160 on the chart, maybe a bit south of that to cross over Wilkerson Pass in the vicinity of the Badger Mountain RCO (which is a very easy to spot landmark... lots of radio stuff up there for the State and Feds), and then you could either go West from there over Antero Reservoir (pretty from the air), and over the Trout Creek Pass area into Buena Vista -- then south down-valley, or really if you're willing to climb, you can get into the KAEJ/KANK valley from anywhere East of there (the depicted TERRO intersection route on the airway if you're high enough to receive Blue Mesa or using GPS, but there's no real need to be that high there). The issue is the further south you come once you leave the Badger Mountain RCO area, the higher the ridgeline is between you and the valley. The terrain is about 11'000 or so if you were to go "ridgeline direct" from Badger Mountain into KANK. It's not much better up at the north end, you'll still be pretty high.
Me, I don't like having to do the "slam dunk approach" that results from crossing that ridge and then having to get down to the airport when I can wander over Buena Vista and do a normal letdown coming down-valley there. And if the weather is weird over the Badger Mountain area, sometimes the valley up from PUB is wide open. Hard to find out from the ground in Denver, though.
Be sure to check out the A/FD remarks for the airport... the depicted "glider" on the VFR chart there on the ridgeline to the East is usually hang-gliders (noted in the A/FD) and they're tough to spot but usually brightly colored, at least. And they recommend 24 for arrival and 06 for departure, wind permitting. 24 can have sinkers on the approach in high winds, but going up there in high winds isn't super bright anyway... too bumpy.
Check out the missed approach on the RNAV GPS-A for KANK sometime... it's a fun one to show flat-landers. "Climb to 16,200' MSL..." Ask 'em if their airplane can do it.
Both KANK and KAEJ airports are down in the valley and not that "high" for us Denverites... (7523') but of course, always check temperature and density altitude...
And if you haven't done it already and want to take the time to do your DA calculations, etc... the "up the valley from the south" way into Leadville is a pretty easy way to get your "I landed at the highest public-use airport in the U.S." certficate... but I highly recommend doing the Colorado Pilot's Assn. Mountain Flying course first.
Flying something with over 200 HP, and coming into Leadville after climbing out of KASE, backtracking up the valley to Reudi Reservoir while climbing (and climbing and climbing and climbing) over Hagerman Pass... and then doing THAT "slam dunk" over Turquoise Lake is a far more interesting way to get to Leadville than up the valley from the South.
gkainz
Final Approach
Thanks, Nate. Lots of good details. I worked thru most of those routes last night while waiting for database backups to finish (and cursing the SAN admin who still insists there's nothing wrong with their SAN, in spite of 12x file transfer times).
I've done the Mountain Flying course (both with CPA and with a club at Erie) - good info but I need to go back and brush up again - haven't flown much west of here in a while.
I've done the Mountain Flying course (both with CPA and with a club at Erie) - good info but I need to go back and brush up again - haven't flown much west of here in a while.
murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
I keep meaning to do this route but never seem to find the time - it's about 30 min longer that the route below.
This is my normal route. Greg will be coming down on the west side of town. Since I come down from FTG, it's head south, the bear a bit to the west following I-25. Just south of Castle Rock there's a private strip on the west side of I-25 - turn SW and climb to 12.5. Badger Mtn/Wilkerson Pass AWOS is 132.2 (K4BM).
Just keep going, heading to Buena Vista, then down the valley to Salida. Carl's the airport mgr and in hot weather, meets you with a bottle of cold water.
Check out the missed approach on the RNAV GPS-A for KANK sometime... it's a fun one to show flat-landers. "Climb to 16,200' MSL..." Ask 'em if their airplane can do it.
And if you haven't done it already and want to take the time to do your DA calculations, etc... the "up the valley from the south" way into Leadville is a pretty easy way to get your "I landed at the highest public-use airport in the U.S." certficate... but I highly recommend doing the Colorado Pilot's Assn. Mountain Flying course first.
I didn't go today - altho winds were light or calm both in Denver area and in the alley, Wilkerson was reporting winds in the teens with gusts in the high 20s from the west.
wimped out.
gkainz
Final Approach
I disagree - assessed the situation and made a wise choice.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Agreed!
20 knots at the tops of the rocks is a no-go hard limit for me Westbound.
15 makes me wonder if I'm making a good decision and usually you get rocked and it's not a fun ride anyway.
"Select Zone 5, extend and escape."
20 knots at the tops of the rocks is a no-go hard limit for me Westbound.
15 makes me wonder if I'm making a good decision and usually you get rocked and it's not a fun ride anyway.
"Select Zone 5, extend and escape."
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
Agreed!
20 knots at the tops of the rocks is a no-go hard limit for me Westbound.
15 makes me wonder if I'm making a good decision and usually you get rocked and it's not a fun ride anyway.
"Select Zone 5, extend and escape."
The wave was working yesterday:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=1617780
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=1617775
Clark1961
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Kept an eye on the standing clouds on the drive to/from southcentral WY from Denver yesterday. They were plenty high so might have been able to sneak around under the majority of the nasty stuff. Then again, it might have been really rough.
Plane is back in the hospital for corrective panel surgery so had to drive rather than attempting to sneak through the valleys...
Clark1961
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Agreed!
20 knots at the tops of the rocks is a no-go hard limit for me Westbound.
15 makes me wonder if I'm making a good decision and usually you get rocked and it's not a fun ride anyway.
"Select Zone 5, extend and escape."
I use the 30/30 rule for planning and it seems to work okay. It does get bouncy at times and I do go for more, sometimes much more, than the simple 1,000 foot ridge clearance rule. Clearing by at least half the floor to ridge elevation change has been smooth(er) on a couple occasions.
denverpilot
Tied Down
I'll work up to 30/30... not enough time/experience up in the rocks yet, for me. So 20 is my personal limit for now. It'll get accidentally busted eventually -- since weather and winds are hard to predict or even get in some areas up there...
The excellent State-purchased AWOS system has really changed that since back when I first started flying.
I got a copy of the 2010-2011 State of Colorado airport book -- nicely done as usual, but I decided to read it cover to cover (who does that? someone with a broken airplane... that's who!) and found a number of errors.
They still list DIA's airspace as a "TCA" on DIA's page. LOL... it wasn't a TCA even when DIA opened.
They still have Sparky Imeson listed as a Colorado Mountain Flying contact along with Colorado Pilot's Assn. (Made me sad for a minute... Sparky was a good guy.)
And there were a few other good laughs. I intend to toss them a note and let them know what I've found after running the items past some folks. Anyone else want to go spelunking in the text with me looking for gaffs that the State guys missed?
The excellent State-purchased AWOS system has really changed that since back when I first started flying.
I got a copy of the 2010-2011 State of Colorado airport book -- nicely done as usual, but I decided to read it cover to cover (who does that? someone with a broken airplane... that's who!) and found a number of errors.
They still list DIA's airspace as a "TCA" on DIA's page. LOL... it wasn't a TCA even when DIA opened.
They still have Sparky Imeson listed as a Colorado Mountain Flying contact along with Colorado Pilot's Assn. (Made me sad for a minute... Sparky was a good guy.)
And there were a few other good laughs. I intend to toss them a note and let them know what I've found after running the items past some folks. Anyone else want to go spelunking in the text with me looking for gaffs that the State guys missed?
murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
One of the advantages of the Wilkerson Pass route is you never need to go above 12.5 west, and come home at 11.5. There are no "passes" as described in the CPA course (definitely not Poncha Pass or LaVeta). It's really very wide open. Coming back east it's always fun to have someone who's never flown in a little airplane. As you come over the ridge line just NW of Colorado Springs, the ground drops away from about 1000 feet below you to about 3000 below. Surprise!
murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
Exactly! It was fantastic weather for the gliders - mediocre for little spam cans that are already underpowered up here. I mean I really love my PA28 with the 180 HP engine that's really only 120 HP, and that's just on the ground!
murphey
Touchdown! Greaser!
I'll work up to 30/30... not enough time/experience up in the rocks yet, for me. So 20 is my personal limit for now. It'll get accidentally busted eventually -- since weather and winds are hard to predict or even get in some areas up there...
The excellent State-purchased AWOS system has really changed that since back when I first started flying.
I got a copy of the 2010-2011 State of Colorado airport book -- nicely done as usual, but I decided to read it cover to cover (who does that? someone with a broken airplane... that's who!) and found a number of errors.
They still list DIA's airspace as a "TCA" on DIA's page. LOL... it wasn't a TCA even when DIA opened.
They still have Sparky Imeson listed as a Colorado Mountain Flying contact along with Colorado Pilot's Assn. (Made me sad for a minute... Sparky was a good guy.)
And there were a few other good laughs. I intend to toss them a note and let them know what I've found after running the items past some folks. Anyone else want to go spelunking in the text with me looking for gaffs that the State guys missed?
Hm...I just picked up the new copy yesterday. Gotta go look at it. And DIA has never been "DIA" to the FAA.