Flying in Idaho

[tfdixon]

Winter has finally come to Idaho which can mean long periods of limited flying opportunities. When a chance comes, I usually go up even if only for a short local flight. My son is home for the holiday and likes to go up with me, so last Friday we went to the Nampa, ID airport (MAN)for an early breakfast and to check conditions. It was a bit gray with winds of around 15mph about 30 degrees across the active runway and reported gust to 25mph. Watched a couple of Cessna's doing some landing work while eating, thinking this was not a great day to be out there. Then I saw one of the four CT's at the airport take off. Did not get a good look to see who it was nor catch his radio call. (Don't know where he went as I did not see him come back or any radio calls while we were flying. But, obviously another CT'er who likes to fly in the winter.) My son and I decided to give it a try and off we went. Had a great flight around the Boise Valley, up the Snake, and into the Owyhee Mts. Winds aloft were pretty good, we had ground speeds of 134 knt to 65 knt. with an indicated speed of 95 knts constant. The outside temps were pretty low but the heater worked fine - I have covered all the wing access holes with clear covers which reduces the the cold air in the cockpit considerably. My son did all the flying after takeoff - he is not rated but is in the process of "thinking about doing it"- which enabled me to enjoy the view. The landing was a bit challenging with not only the gusty winds and quartering cross direction but the middle of the runway had some snow and ice, which I noted on takeoff. While we were heading back another pilot reported that breaking was minimal to none!! Just held some extra speed, no flaps and things worked out fine. Fun day for father and son.

 

Tom

Idaho

[CT4ME]

Hi Tom,

 

'Good to see you on the Forum... 'Came through Idaho last Sept (year ago), and had ground speeds of around 146kts all the way from Ellensburg to Twin falls. Landing in Twin Falls with winds 28G38 was a hoot. Sure glad we don't have to deal with much snow & ice here in Phoenix!

Tim