Mountain Checkout

This checkout was organized for a couple of pilots who had about 100 hours time each, and wanted to explore beyond the usual $100 hamburger flights. The planned flight was to take the three of us in a Cessna 172 from Reid-Hillview airport in San Jose to Blue Canyon, then Truckee, Reno, South Lake Tahoe, Lee Vining, and back through (literally) the Tioga Pass, then over Yosemite Valley and back home. The two pilots would fly alternate legs and each would do a couple of turns in the pattern at each airport.

The day was clear and sunny, with little wind, and plenty warmth to increase density altitude. Blue Canyon is always an interesting airport to land on. It sits on top of a ridge, close to Interstate 80 at Emigrant Gap, with a big drop off on the northern side, which throws off a pilot's sense of how high they are, and causes them to descend too much, just to discover they are too low when they turn final. Coupled with the usual downdraft on short final, followed by wind change as the plane descends below the tree line, it makes for interesting landings. On takeoffs, there us an unusual opportunity to watch the trees well above the plane on either side, as the pilot wonders if the plane will ever climb enough to turn crosswind.

Truckee was unusually calm, and the 7000' long runway made it deceptively easy to lift off, just to discover the climb performance once out of ground effect is even worse. An excellent lesson in the importance of the climb gradient when working out if one can clear the trees ahead. The pilots learned very soon why instructors always harp on about right rudder while climbing, to eke out every last ounce of climb performance. After Truckee, Reno was not much of a challenge, though it provided a useful exercise in big busy airport Class C operations, and lunch at Amelia's.

Pilots and plane refueled, we set off for South Lake Tahoe. The ulterior motive behind going to Reno first, (aside from lunch at Amelia's) now became clear. The plane needed to climb from under 5000' to over 10000' to clear the huge steep wall that prevents Lake Tahoe from spilling into the Carson Valley. With the plane (and pilots) at full gross, this became an exercise in patience as the pilots learned about looking for thermals and visualizing wind flow to find updrafts to make it high enough to be able to be able to cross safely. At TVL, density altitude was nearly 9000', and despite the long runway and extended upwind, the Cessna 172 with three people on board did not make it all the way to the higher then usual pattern altitude. The pilots also learned not to use full flaps till the runway was assured, and then only if absolutely necessary, as the plane would not hold altitude with full flaps even at full power.

Then for the piece de resistance, off to Lee Vining. After a lot of circling to be able to cross Kingsbury Grade, we located Route 395 and followed it South East. The reason for IFR (I Follow Roads) quickly became apparent. Signs of human habitation were few and far between, the terrain more and more inhospitable. A forced landing even a short distance from the road would become a major exercise in survival. Even a minor injury could make a distance of a couple of miles be an impossible barrier to reaching help. It was also a shock to the trainees to find out there is no radar coverage, and no radio communications, nobody to talk to, unless very high - on a hot day, the altitude needed for radio communications with Flight Service or ATC might be beyond reach of a little airplane. Filing and keeping to flight plans becomes very important in such circumstances.

Mono Lake and the surrounding mountains did not disappoint. By now the sun was low, and the slanting light brought out terrain and lake features in lovely relief. In contrast, the airstrip blended well with the surrounding brush and took some time to spot. The wind was calm, with nobody around, so we landed on runway 14 and took off on 32. Why? Runway 32 slopes downhill, gently at first, then with a very pronounced slope after about half way. It is much easier to take off downhill, and to stop landing uphill. The visual cues the pilots were used to were all absent. The steeply sloping terrain, the runway with a big kink in the middle, and the absence of any VASI all combined to make for some interesting approaches. In the picture, the airfield is left of center. If we could see it, we are looking at Runway 14.

Finally, the time came to look for thermals and updrafts to allow us to climb across the Tioga Pass. The road snakes up a narrow canyon, with the 13000' plus Mt Dana (a dormant volcano) looming darkly on the left. This is not a place to try and outclimb the terrain. Instead we climbed to 12000' before entering the canyon proper, to allow us to clear the Tioga Pass safely, to give us a couple of thousand feet terrain clearance, and to give us a little time to maneuver if we needed to land. The scenery was breathtaking, as the Clark ranges came into view, the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne opens up to the West, and the unmistakable shape of Half Dome peeks into view from behind the high peaks.

An unfamiliar and new view of an old friend, Half Dome looked a little dwarfed by all the five figure peaks.

After a couple of circles round Half Dome, we set the course direct for home, and arrived back some 8 hours of flying time after we started off. A thoroughly great time was had by all, and hopefully the pictures give some of the sense of majesty of the mountains.

Interested in checking out in the big hills? I'd be delighted to tailor a checkout in your own plane or a rental, taking into account your preferences and interests and the capabilities of your airplane. Come to the Amelia Reid Aviation Web site!

Give me a call on 408 891 4041 or click here to send me an email.
For more flying pictures go to the Flight Log