Yup, that's the one. Funnily enough I watched his video a few days ago on YouTube by chance

The longer I own the 185, the more impressed I am. And the more I realize it’s way more capable than I am. A little over 400 hours now in 180/185s, and I’m still in the steep part of the learning curve.

A friend shot some video of my takeoff and mediocre landing at our little mountain strip. Pretty soft, lots of dust.

We marked the end of the usable runway with short logs. Too soft beyond them.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/YO0ZXtLXryk[/youtube]

Landing. The meadow is too soft to land on, so a friend was marking the start of the usable runway. We’ve since added the logs seen above.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/X7kC3JA52S0[/youtube]

Man, I wouldn’t like to taxi between those trees! Nice job.

What do you suppose your weight was at the time? I’ve done a 900’ runway at about 1500’ DA and 2700#. Not too bad, but I wouldn’t do it without an instructor, even with the 200# weight penalty he brings.

In the video, I was just under 2600 lbs. That was just me, 43 gallons and about 150 lbs of stuff.

The first time I took off from there, I was at 2350 lbs, which is about as light as I could be and still have enough range to get to an airport with fuel.

Looks like big cohones are in the Minimum Equipment List....
My "airstrip" is 900 feet, steep grade, with a tall cliff at one end, and the river at the other. Da's also up to 9,000+. One way in, one way out. Winds always crossed; often on the tail. If strong enough the approach is over the cliff, big slip with 3/4 flaps, then full flaps, plant it on, clean up the flaps, and heavy braking. MEL includes rabbits' foot on keychain and St. Christopher medal on the panel.
Hated to molest the beautiful early 180 wing, but had to install the STOL kit. That, and the PPonk conversion, was the best I could have done for my needs.
Landing heavy: Horseshoes, branding irons, pinto beans for the vaqueros, antibiotics, vaccines, bulldozer parts. Departing light (me).
Best,


TN

Tom,
I may have mentioned this before, but did you know "Doc Willie"?

Del: I am restraining from writing all in capital letters, but yes, I knew Doc Willie: The strong, silent type; consummate Veterinarian and Skywagon man of the West. Taught me how to castrate colts without "proud cutting". Many years ago, I used to fly my 180 over to Fabens, a crop-duster strip where he had his hangar, which was crammed with all kind of fascinating things aviation. He once bought a boxcar load of 185's from the Philippine air force, and placed them in his yard. Pretty soon he advertised a huge auction, and people from all over the U.S. came and cleaned out the place. All I wanted was an 18-gallon "drug runner" tank that goes in the baggage hold, but I was unable to go bid, because no one would take my call that weekend. (I am still looking for one).
Amazed that you knew him... aviation is a small world.

Tom

Tom,
It's been a very long time, probably 1989 or '90, since I last seen him in Mena. We repaired a 182 for him. He hauled it to us on a trailer. That was the first and last time I saw him in person. Some folks leave a lasting impression.

Del,

I sent you a PM, not sure if you received it. It was quite lengthy.

Rgs
Patrick Daniels

The full Strawberry Moon has me all outta sorts. I probably read your message in the early morning hours and then forgot to reply. Sorry. I just replied. Will discuss on Monday.
The moon is beautiful tonight. It goes well with bourbon and a cigar

2800’ isn’t considered short but a Skywagon is a Skywagon. https://youtu.be/OgIDibhjOFQ

Chris,


Awesome video - the take off looks especially hairy negotiating the trees and then getting over the higher terrain ahead - very well done. I am curious if the trees are protected on the strip. Seems it would be a good idea to just take down a few of those trees to make it just a bit wider.

In the landing video you can see one tree near the top of the strip that was trouble. My wing overlapped it when I turned around. We took that one down on this trip, and in the takeoff video it’s as wide as it’s gonna get. There’s a good 10’ on either side, so unless I really screw the pooch, they shouldn’t cause any issues.

The meadow is downhill, and as long as you get airborne, you can fit through the gap in the trees even if you don’t climb at all. Not ideal, but better than if it were flat.

Quick, small issue:
On the end of the flap handle, there is a plastic collar. Mine has come off, hanging on the inner part of the handle. Does it ever need to come off, or can I stick it on with J-B Weld or some such?