In this line of work you are always looking for new places to land that will help you access areas that are otherwise very difficult. When I find a new spot to land I will seldom use it until I have a reason to. I may fly past a potential landing spot 100 times before I need to use it. I will generally wait until the winds are favorable, and I am light on gas and freight to do a test run. After landing the first time I move rocks, cut brush, and kick tussocks to improve it for regular use.
This photo shows a spot that we had flown by many times before landing. We used it the first several times when the wind was blowing 15 mph right down the strip so it always felt really good. We hauled hunters in and out a couple of times so I was growing comfortable with it. It sits in a small pass at 5600′ and has a definite crown in the middle. One day I needed to land and pick up 30 pounds of gear, but the wind was dead calm. I set up on final and it did not feel good, I felt really fast. I did a go-around and tried again. It was the same thing again, just too fast. I made several passes and finally decided it was too short for me to comfortably land, so I flew away scratching my head. The next day I returned and landed without a problem, with a nice head wind. I decided to pace the strip and determine it’s length. I found it was not quite 100′ to the top of the crown and then it was about 175 feet to the first boulder patch at a 7% down slope. I was stunned. I had flown in and out of this strip a half a dozen times, but I never guessed it was that short. Actually it’s not the length alone that is the problem it’s the combination of factors: Short, crowned, high elevation, no wind. Stopping a light Cub going downhill is never fun, and especially without a headwind.
This was last year, and since that time we have hauled out several old bent and damaged Super Cub parts found laying nearby this strip. I guess we weren’t the first to land there, I just think it ended better for us. A Super Cub is an amazing machine and pilot complacency is what will get you every time. The margins of successful operation creep in so very slowly …. never quit paying attention.
