Tweet
This weekend I took the Taylorcraft to our fall New Mexico Backcountry fly in at the Negrito airstrip in the Gila wilderness in southwest New Mexico. You can Google for the Negrito Airstrip and get a good idea of where it is on Google Maps. It was about 2:17 from Los Alamos down to Negrito and I left Friday morning with full fuel and a gross-weight load of camping gear. Negrito is at a bit under 8200 msl, but the C-85 was purring and I knew the route.
Normally, here in New Mexico, we are in a drought (still are for that matter) but there have been heavy rains in southern New Mexico. Last Wednesday one of our folks visited and reported the strip in good condition so we took off with nice weather. As we got there (I was about the fourth or fifth to arrive) the ground crew radioed that there had been heavy rains Thursday night and the strip was MUDDY! Having been there before, I knew that the north end of runway 17 was good gravel and as long as we touched down there we would all be OK. And in fact about 20 planes came and went without getting stuck.
Taxing was another matter. The strip, normally dry dirt, had a nice mat of short grass growing. The center of the runway was firm, but the edges were a bog. Pushing planes back off the runway often resulted in the wheels sinking in to the axles and a lot of pushing and heaving to get them back to somewhat dryer ground back from the runway edge. The Taylorcraft, even with its basic 600x6s did well in the mud. I taxied fast with the tail up a bit. I found that my little Scott 2000 narrow tire is the weakest part in mud. I drew a nice deep line down the right side of the runway. A few puddles spread mud down the wing and the fuselage. A nice badge of honor for a backcountry airplane.
Once tied down, it was time to reconnect with a lot of old friends, sit around the campfire eating fresh Green Chili Bratwurst (A custom butcher in Bosque Farms made them for one of the guys) drinking beer and swapping stories. The grass was deep, the Elk were bugeling.
Everyone's pants legs were soaked from the knees down. And everyone was laughing and having a great time. The evening thunderstorms went to the south and north with the hope of the runway drying a bit Saturday, and with that hope everyone wondered off to tents and sleeping bags. The night cleared and stepping out in the wee hours (Hey, I'm an old man. Deal with it...) the stars were so bright and close that you could reach out and touch them.
About 5 AM heavy fog rolled in with the high humidity (rare in New Mexico) and when we woke up the planes were covered in Dew and Fog. As the sun started up, the coffee brewed, pancakes and eggs were on the grill and everyone sat and watched the Sun make rainbows over the parked planes.
The weather guessers were saying that lots of bad storms were headed our way and so most everyone packed up and flew off Saturday afternoon. I made it back to Los Alamos and home to a shower with a lot of new good memories. The little plane did everything I could have asked off of a high mountain strip loaded with camping gear.
Just another weekend...
Thanks to my friend Thomas for the wonder photo.
Normally, here in New Mexico, we are in a drought (still are for that matter) but there have been heavy rains in southern New Mexico. Last Wednesday one of our folks visited and reported the strip in good condition so we took off with nice weather. As we got there (I was about the fourth or fifth to arrive) the ground crew radioed that there had been heavy rains Thursday night and the strip was MUDDY! Having been there before, I knew that the north end of runway 17 was good gravel and as long as we touched down there we would all be OK. And in fact about 20 planes came and went without getting stuck.
Taxing was another matter. The strip, normally dry dirt, had a nice mat of short grass growing. The center of the runway was firm, but the edges were a bog. Pushing planes back off the runway often resulted in the wheels sinking in to the axles and a lot of pushing and heaving to get them back to somewhat dryer ground back from the runway edge. The Taylorcraft, even with its basic 600x6s did well in the mud. I taxied fast with the tail up a bit. I found that my little Scott 2000 narrow tire is the weakest part in mud. I drew a nice deep line down the right side of the runway. A few puddles spread mud down the wing and the fuselage. A nice badge of honor for a backcountry airplane.
Once tied down, it was time to reconnect with a lot of old friends, sit around the campfire eating fresh Green Chili Bratwurst (A custom butcher in Bosque Farms made them for one of the guys) drinking beer and swapping stories. The grass was deep, the Elk were bugeling.
Everyone's pants legs were soaked from the knees down. And everyone was laughing and having a great time. The evening thunderstorms went to the south and north with the hope of the runway drying a bit Saturday, and with that hope everyone wondered off to tents and sleeping bags. The night cleared and stepping out in the wee hours (Hey, I'm an old man. Deal with it...) the stars were so bright and close that you could reach out and touch them.
About 5 AM heavy fog rolled in with the high humidity (rare in New Mexico) and when we woke up the planes were covered in Dew and Fog. As the sun started up, the coffee brewed, pancakes and eggs were on the grill and everyone sat and watched the Sun make rainbows over the parked planes.
The weather guessers were saying that lots of bad storms were headed our way and so most everyone packed up and flew off Saturday afternoon. I made it back to Los Alamos and home to a shower with a lot of new good memories. The little plane did everything I could have asked off of a high mountain strip loaded with camping gear.
Just another weekend...
Thanks to my friend Thomas for the wonder photo.
Attached Files
Comment