kwmoore
02-18-2007, 10:48 PM
This past weekend I visited Todd and Jo and got a chance to fly the Katmai. Great fun--I always enjoy just hanging out in their shop, talking airplanes, and preventing them from getting any work done whatsoever. ;)
Kansas was cold. When my flight arrived at ICT Thursday evening it was 11 degrees F with a 15-20 mph wind. The next morning was 9 degrees when I left the motel at 7:30 am. The night had been clear so the car was covered with dew that had turned to ice. Not frost--ice, like a thin layer of concrete on the windows. It took me 20 minutes to scrape away enough to drive safely. The car's defroster was little help. :eek: I think I like California better. By the end of the day a veritable heat wave had arrived and it "warmed" to the mid 30's. But it was still windy. Sheesh.
Saturday was much nicer (in the 30's again) and the wind diminished throughout the day. Before lunch Todd and I climbed--an apt metaphor for me, considering the height imparted by the bushwheels--into the Katmai to go out to investigate some off-airport landing sites he had found to the north and northeast. The IO-470 started after only 2 or 3 blades and we taxied out for takeoff on runway 33...or so I thought. Todd taxied right past the runway's end into the grass and about 200 feet beyond to the edge of a downslope, where he turned around. In went the power and the bushwheels floated across the rocks and brush as we accelerated. We were airborne below 40 kt just prior to the pavement and then made an immediate right turnout to the northeast.
Todd had a number of jeep trail sites marked as "user waypoints" in the GNS430. Several had cattle grazing nearby so we passed on those--it's considered poor form to spook cattle in ranching country! The first one was on top of a small hill. We approached over a pond, more or less into a ~15 kt headwind, and aimed for a short, sort of straight portion of the trail. Todd brought in 20 degrees flaps and slowed to 45-50 kt. He planted it right on target and braked to a stop well before the end of the straight segment. We couldn't have used more than 100 feet to stop! He then turned left, taxied back over the turf, lined up into the wind and away we went, lifting off well before the curve in the trail. I was surprised by the smooth roll of the bushwheels--in a standard gear airplane I'm sure it would have instead felt like driving 55 mph through a granite quarry in a Yugo.
We did 3 or 4 more such landings. After one we didn't bother to takeoff on the trail, we just had our own little off-roading adventure across the ground--no worries, the tundra tires flinched not at all. The final landing and departure was especially interesting: Todd spied a trail segment on the crown of a hill. The reasonably flat portion on the crown must have been well under 300 feet, with steep dropoffs on both ends. Todd mentoned that he'd first just drag the wheels and decide then whether or not to stop. This we did, and there must have been something he didn't like, because he added power and we blazed off the crown of the hill at the edge of the dropoff, just like a cat shot from a carrier! :eek: What a rush!
We then headed back to EQA, about 25 miles south, flying the entire very sparsely populated route at 500-1000 agl. Todd set up for a landing on 33, then approached high and drifted down towards the final 500 feet of the runway. I knew what was coming and mentally noted what would have been my own "chicken out point," but Todd continued down and landed softly with plenty of room to spare (less than 200 feet). "Still had more than enough room for a touch-and-go," he smiled.
If you ever have the chance for a demo ride with Todd, don't pass up the opportunity. The things this plane can do are astonishing! :o
Kansas was cold. When my flight arrived at ICT Thursday evening it was 11 degrees F with a 15-20 mph wind. The next morning was 9 degrees when I left the motel at 7:30 am. The night had been clear so the car was covered with dew that had turned to ice. Not frost--ice, like a thin layer of concrete on the windows. It took me 20 minutes to scrape away enough to drive safely. The car's defroster was little help. :eek: I think I like California better. By the end of the day a veritable heat wave had arrived and it "warmed" to the mid 30's. But it was still windy. Sheesh.
Saturday was much nicer (in the 30's again) and the wind diminished throughout the day. Before lunch Todd and I climbed--an apt metaphor for me, considering the height imparted by the bushwheels--into the Katmai to go out to investigate some off-airport landing sites he had found to the north and northeast. The IO-470 started after only 2 or 3 blades and we taxied out for takeoff on runway 33...or so I thought. Todd taxied right past the runway's end into the grass and about 200 feet beyond to the edge of a downslope, where he turned around. In went the power and the bushwheels floated across the rocks and brush as we accelerated. We were airborne below 40 kt just prior to the pavement and then made an immediate right turnout to the northeast.
Todd had a number of jeep trail sites marked as "user waypoints" in the GNS430. Several had cattle grazing nearby so we passed on those--it's considered poor form to spook cattle in ranching country! The first one was on top of a small hill. We approached over a pond, more or less into a ~15 kt headwind, and aimed for a short, sort of straight portion of the trail. Todd brought in 20 degrees flaps and slowed to 45-50 kt. He planted it right on target and braked to a stop well before the end of the straight segment. We couldn't have used more than 100 feet to stop! He then turned left, taxied back over the turf, lined up into the wind and away we went, lifting off well before the curve in the trail. I was surprised by the smooth roll of the bushwheels--in a standard gear airplane I'm sure it would have instead felt like driving 55 mph through a granite quarry in a Yugo.
We did 3 or 4 more such landings. After one we didn't bother to takeoff on the trail, we just had our own little off-roading adventure across the ground--no worries, the tundra tires flinched not at all. The final landing and departure was especially interesting: Todd spied a trail segment on the crown of a hill. The reasonably flat portion on the crown must have been well under 300 feet, with steep dropoffs on both ends. Todd mentoned that he'd first just drag the wheels and decide then whether or not to stop. This we did, and there must have been something he didn't like, because he added power and we blazed off the crown of the hill at the edge of the dropoff, just like a cat shot from a carrier! :eek: What a rush!
We then headed back to EQA, about 25 miles south, flying the entire very sparsely populated route at 500-1000 agl. Todd set up for a landing on 33, then approached high and drifted down towards the final 500 feet of the runway. I knew what was coming and mentally noted what would have been my own "chicken out point," but Todd continued down and landed softly with plenty of room to spare (less than 200 feet). "Still had more than enough room for a touch-and-go," he smiled.
If you ever have the chance for a demo ride with Todd, don't pass up the opportunity. The things this plane can do are astonishing! :o