Belen: 7:09 am Holbrook: 11:38 pm Cobra flight #607, PIC #620, 4 landings. Holbrook: 12:56 pm Valle: 3:26 pm Flight to Bar 10 Ranch,

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1 Saturday, October 21, 2017 Belen: 7:09 am Holbrook: 11:38 pm Cobra flight #607, PIC #620, 4 landings Holbrook: 12:56 pm Valle: 3:26 pm Flight to Bar 10 Ranch, Valle: 4:51 pm Bar10: 6:33 pm Airtime: 8.7 hrs Total PIC Time: Total Logged Time: Paul and I had planed to fly out to Bar 10 yesterday, but the weather forecast was 30 mph winds, gusting up 40 all across New Mexico and Arizona. Today was marginally better with 20 mph winds out to the NM/AZ border, then 10 mph headwinds to the Grand Canyon area. So we are flying out to Bar10 in one day, in better although far from ideal wind conditions. Yesterday would have been really bad. Pre-dawn takeoff

2 The winds picked up as soon as we got about 10 miles west of the airport. It took a half hour to get to the pools on Arroyo Pato, creeping along at around 30 mph ground speed. Below on my AnywhereMap GPS, you can see my ground speed at 19mph when I let the bar out to take a picture. It usually slows to around 50mph when I do that. As I approached the first ridgeline, the Sierra Lucero, I was forced to climb up to 8200 ft to cross at the low spot on the ridge. The winds were definitely stronger up high, and it was no fun an hour later when I was forced to climb to 9000 ft to cross a high ridge just north of Cebolita Peak. I turned south and followed the road on the east side of the Malpais for a while, not wanting to slowly creep over the El Malpais lava field at 30 mph. Once past the Malpais, I set two vectors on my GPS. One for St Johns, and the other for Holbrook. The only reason I had St Johns as an option was that it was an hour closer. This was turning into one of my toughest flights ever. We were flying directly into the wind, with the winds substantially stronger and smoother up high. But to make any really forward progress, I had to say low in the 500 AGL range, pulled in all the way on the control bar. The last high terrain was near Cerro Alto, west of the Malpais. Finally the terrain started slope down ahead.

3 Around 10:30am we crossed the NM/AZ state line and flew along the Zuni River for a while. I was able to maintain 60mph ground speed now, and we were making decent progress. The scenery was interesting for about 5 miles, then I had to leave the river and head across the bleak desert for Holbrook.

4 After 40 minutes, we made it to the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest National Park. I looked down on the badlands area and remembered hiking through it a couple years ago.

5 We made it to the Holbrook Airport and took a long needed break after 3.5 hours of rough flying. Paul parked next to the pulled 100LL and started to fill up when a local pilot came by and said the pump wasn t working. Paul persisted and the pump came to life. We both topped off and ate lunch.

6 Our next stop was Valle Airport, which was directly in-line between Holbrook and Bar-10. I taxied out and took off. About 2 seconds after liftoff, I got hit with a really strong gust from the side which banked my wing. I recovered but this was a warning that the thermals were kicking in now. The airport had been thermal free when we landed 1.5 hours ago.

7 We continued on through the thermals and slight headwind. We flew over the Great Falls of the Little Colorado. Not any water today. I need to come back here for the spring runoff.

8 Far ahead on the horizon was my old favorite, SP Crater.

9 I circled over top of the crater, looking down into the deep hole on top. Another half hour of flying brought us to Valle Airport.

10 I knew from Google Earth, that there was a gas station about quarter mile away. We had discussed getting fuel there, instead of the 100LL that was supposed to be available from Valle, but didn t want to spend the extra time and trouble hauling our gas cans that far. When I radioed in to Valle, I was informed that there was no fuel at the airport. I asked if we could get a courtesy car to get to the gas station, but they had no car. Later, an old timer pilot who ran the aircraft museum offered to shuttle us to the gas station. That greatly improved our fuel situation. We would have enough to tour the Grand Canyon tomorrow, but would probably have to get some gas at Stout Airport, some time during the day. Above, taxing out from Valle.

11 My takeoff from Valle was much smoother compared with the one from Holbrook. It was getting later in the day now, with less thermal activity. We turned to the west for our last leg to the Grand Canyon. If we headed straight for Bar-10, we would arrive about a half hour before sunset.

12 We crossed a flat, featureless desert for about an hour, then finally approached upper end of National Canyon, a tributary of the Grand Canyon on the south side. I crossed a small mesa and then entered Mohawk canyon (above) and circled here to take in the spectacular view.

13 I slowly worked my way over to the Colorado River. Far below I saw some rapids which I later determined was Lava Falls. With the sun behind me at low angle, it was probably the most spectacular view I have ever seen over the Grand Canyon. I lingered up here in a lazy 360 degree circle, not wanting to land. This stretch of the Grand Canyon seemed much wilder than the eastern side where I had flown 3 years ago.

14 I looked west and saw the Colorado meandering downstream between the buttes. In the distance I saw what looked like a large island butte. We would check that butte out on tomorrow s sunset flight.

15 It was time to head in to land. Paul was already talking to Bar-10 on the radio, letting them know were going to show up today, to save some dinner for us, and pick us up at the airstrip in a half hour. I had to stay above 9000 ft until I reached the edge of the Grand Canyon Special Use Area, 3 miles south of the Bar-10 airport. The airport is in the shade, at the center of the picture above.

16 After crossing the boundary, I pulled in on the control bar to enter a steep dive towards the airport. It was great fun to dive down, loosing all that altitude. You can see the airport on the left side of the image above. A dirt road is to the right of the runway. Runway threshold is lighter scrapped off dirt, with the main part of the runway having a dark asphalt surface.

17 I overflew the Bar10 lodge (below my wheels) and continued up the canyon a bit before making my turn to downwind.

18 When I turned downwind I saw 4 planes plus Paul s trike at the upper end of the tie down area.

19 Land conditions were nearly perfect. Uphill, with a 2 or 3 mph headwind and smooth air. We tied down our trikes, and stripped off all the cameras and electronics to charge up at the Bar10 lodge. A guy from the lodge appeared with a utility vehicle, and we arrived about halfway through dinner. The other planes were from the NM Pilots Association. We found their table and joined them. I recognized some of them from the Reserve Fly-in last week. Dinner was great, and we had a campfire.

20 We found that we had made the correct decision in not flying yesterday. One of the pilots said he landed his plane downhill in a 40 mph headwind. That would have been bad for us. After today s long grueling flight, the luxurious accommodations at Bar10 were quite welcome. I definitely plan on returning and spending more time here. Paul and I shared a room with two bunkbeds. I threw all my gear on the bottom bunk and slept on top. I spent hours copying files from my GoPros to a small hard drive. It takes way too long. Next time I am just bringing more memory cards.

21 Here is my GPS track for todays long flight. We were in the air for a personal record of 8.7 hours with a GPS cartographic length was 428 miles, which includes taxing around at Belen, Holbrook, Valle and Bar10. My previous one day airtime record was the first leg of the Grand Circle trip in 2014 where I flew 8.5 hours with a GPS distance of 479 miles. Fighting today s wind cost me an hour of airtime and 50 miles. The straight line distance off all the legs (Belen Holbrook Valle - Bar10) was 387 miles. Bar10 N D Valle SP Crater Malpais Belen Holbrook Painted Desert Zuni River