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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:24pm PT
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The most scared I've ever been landing at an airport was a training cross country flight into Buffalo, Wyoming during an interval between storms. Of course I was the pilot on this one---I contacted Buffalo Unicom (that's operated by the management of the strip, and NOT the FAA!). I radioed to determine the field conditions before landing, and they reported that the "runway was clear." Yeah, of all the snow that had been plowed off, but as I was doing my landing round-out and final flare I noted that the surface was all black ice, and yes, with a distinct crosswind. As I touched down, I went to full throttle and did the scariest touch-and-go landing of my life. I was already sliding sideways on the runway from the crosswind component as I lifted off. Gulp! Didn't stall the airplane either!!
Commercial passengers have it relatively easy. They either live--or die--by the skill of the pilot.
I've seen some really cool back country strips that I'd like to fly into sometime, but these were all on a training DVD on Mountain Flying. All of these were in the mountains of Montana.
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wildone
climber
Troy, MT
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:29pm PT
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Oh my god. The airport I fly into in Kuparuk where I work, is ice for 6 months of the year and gravel for the remainder. We're in a 737 or a 757, the runway is covered in geese, there's engine strikes all the time, and security guards chase the caribou off the strip in their trucks just before the landing. I'll see if I can fish up some pics.
Admittedly, not commercial. Private. Although Prudhoe isn't much better, but less wildlife on the runway as it's more civilised over there. In some respects.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:35pm PT
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Piloting an airplane commercially has been described to me as "hours upon hours of boredom--punctuated by moments of stark terror."
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:35pm PT
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Dingus,
I guess you have to be one of the 'beautiful' people to know what it is all about:-)
Bruce
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:35pm PT
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The airport on Catalina Island is pretty extreme. Right on top of a mountain, with a 1500 ft dropoff at one end.
San Diego is fairly exciting for a large airport.
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dennyt
climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 11, 2011 - 04:54pm PT
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I bailed from the Annapurna circuit (bronchitis at altitude, couldn't sleep for two days), and dreaded getting on an airplane at 10k ft, in a country where simple mechanical devices such as doors rarely work.
Got on the plane in Humde, and what did I see on the yoke?
It all went well.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 12, 2011 - 12:03pm PT
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That was one scary landing on the youtube video! It makes some of the strips in the Montana back country look pretty tame in comparison.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Feb 12, 2011 - 12:43pm PT
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Odd that Jan and I have the same top 2.
Lukla in the Bad Ole Days (1981) when it was snow, grass, mud, Yaks and TWO busted up airframes at the side of the runway. Guess there was another "incident" after Jan was there. Somewhere around here I wrote up a full account last year.
Old Hong Kong. Luckily I went in on a nice day. Landing there at the end of a Typhoon must've been horrifying.
Landing at JFK in the 70's right after a 727 went down on the runway with loss of all life. Wreckage was still burning when we came in from New Haven Conn on a DeHaviland twin otter.
Thought provoking.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 12, 2011 - 12:58pm PT
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It's not really about generating enough lift, but the engine doesn't produce enough power. On a hot day, it might be like doing a takeoff at 12,000-14,000 feet. It's called "density altitude" or the pressure altitude corrected for temperature. At 11,000 feet a 235 horsepower engine on a hot day develops less than 50 % of the sea-level rated output, and that's not enough to get a heavily loaded airplane off the ground and climbing! That's called "pilot error."
Added in edit: Turbocharging changes things drastically, however.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Feb 12, 2011 - 01:18pm PT
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prolly flown to lukla aboot 10 times , ive also walked from jiri thrice,if you have an extra week, its one of this planets best treks!(jiri/namche).
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2011 - 01:24pm PT
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Speaking of elevation related problems on hot days, thermals, lack of visability, and "flybys."
Photo is from Forest Service video taken on top of Baldy 9150 ft. during Sun Valley Idaho Castle Rock fire.
The Forest Service worked real hard to save the ski lift infrastructure on Baldy.
Pretty amazing retardant drops in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DDF7jgEdHs
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Feb 12, 2011 - 01:26pm PT
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As for dangerous airports in developed countries, I vote the old Hong Kong airport where one landed on a postage size runway for jets, which was surrounded on three sides by skyscrapers.
The new airport has a whole island to itself.
Lukla is a scary ride on a twin Otter, but they use to have an old used Russian Helicopter option, which was equally dangerous, but could stick the landing better:-) The skill of the commercial pilots dropping down into the old Hong Kong airport was always appreciated too.
An old climbing buddy bush piloted in Alaska for a while, those guys up there have got to be some of the most amazing flying of all.
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zeta
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Feb 12, 2011 - 02:11pm PT
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i've flown in and out of lukla and it's definitely improved. The scariest airport/flight I had was in Syangboche airstrip (above Namche Bazaar, now closed to regular flights)...
We took off in a old russian helicopter/plane hybrid (we had rotors and wings but we took off like a plane) It was old! and we sat in semi-circle around the gear, potatoes, and chickens (all under a big cargo net in the middle); the pilot was this young nepali kid (looked about 14) and when we took off, we dipped pretty low before getting stable in the air. It was scary!
this is kind of what it was like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQufKeeltUk
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 12, 2011 - 03:28pm PT
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A paragraph from the upcoming Frost book concerning the 1963 Schoolhouse Expedition.
Hillary also noted that “a successful film ‘High in the Himalayas’ came out of the expedition and I also wrote a book Schoolhouse in the Clouds. Our work with the Sherpas became more widely known and I was not only able to obtain more finance from World Book but also the increasing support from companies, Service clubs, schools and private donors. I was back again in 1964 with a large and experienced party and a very ambitious programme- to establish an airfield (Lukla); build three schools; construct a difficult suspension bridge; and attempt the formidable mountain Tamserku 21,730 feet (climbed successfully).
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 12, 2011 - 06:46pm PT
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Jan-
I read your earlier post, and you were lucky to be flying in a Pilatus Porter (PC-6) into Lukla. Phenomonal performance on short strips! Turboprop with power out the wazoo, and a tremendous useful load. if I ever fly into Lukla, that's the only airplane to even consider.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Feb 13, 2011 - 07:42am PT
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Meanwhile I vote Hidden Splendor in Utah right up there with the old Lukla of the early 1970's! And I will indeed take a Pilatus Porter over a Twin Otter or a Russian helicopter any day.
As for Aspen, my mother always hates me to fly in there which I do every two years rather than take the shuttle from Denver. I duly noted that Eagle County airport which she favors, is rated even worse.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 13, 2011 - 12:04pm PT
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I've been trying to locate Hidden Splendor on the FAA aeronautical charts, but without success? Anyone here know where it's located: nearest town or significant geographic feature? Private strip or public? There is one private strip I located that states right on the chart as "extremely hazardous." I don't think I'd want to try landing a retractable gear airplane there--too much chance of gear collapse.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Feb 13, 2011 - 12:48pm PT
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After doing a Google search, I found that Hidden Splendor is near Hanksville. UT, and is considered by pilots as one of the "easier" backcountry strips in the Utah canyon country. Further investigation revealed that the name was related to an abandoned uranium mine by the same name. Also for us climbers: the access point to a non-technical canyoneering adventure!
Check this out: http://www.the-adam.com/adam/bryce/utahback2.html
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