It's that time again
 

Yep. Spring ptarmigan hunting is here. The snow is deep and difficult for flying but not bad for snowshoeing just yet. I made a short day of it and did a shorter than normal loop to get the legs to realize that winter is over and it's time to go back to work. Saw 4 birds, 3 which flushed at least 100yds out and one that wasn't quite as bright. Took my 28" 28ga Repro along. Pretty ideal gun for this kind of hunting where even a 20ga gets to feeling heavy by days end.

great stuff as always...what a life you live....charlie

Richard,
That's not what I was expecting it to be time for!
I'm glad you had a good hunt.
Jeff

I'm with Jeff as I was expecting something different given the time of year. I have to admit your the only guy I know who hunts with the aid of an airplane:)

So cool! I was on the wrong page as well! Putting guns away, and stretching fly lines for me!!

What an incredible adventure. Thanks for sharing those incredible pics. What big country that is.

I think both Jeff and I were both thinking something much more organic:whistle:

Richard,

We actually still have a bit of snow on the ground here in northern Missouri (ok, it's only in the shaded spots, but, hey, it's April!).

I assume you're still imbibing your super beet juice, yes?

I sure enjoy your photos. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Beautiful pictures, for sure!

Love the super cub....flew one for years. Tail draggers are fun planes.

I do still use beet juice for days like this and it helps a lot.

Tom: It's a 3-seater PA-12 Super Cruiser. I sure do like the extra room.

That's a great plane Richard. I flew a 1947 Piper J3 C-85 Cub in traditional yellow with black markings. Great plane and a kick to fly.

Funnest flite I've ever done was in a classic yellow 100HP J-3. Fairbanks to Pontiac Michigan. 10days of bliss. Most unforgettable part was low-level cruising the expansive sunflower fields in southern Minnesota with my arm draped out the open window as if I was driving a '57 Chevy and so close that my downwash was creating a wave in the sunflowers... for miles, it seemed. Talk about fun! In that same area I saw ahead of me 3 stout farmer lads jumping up and down - one was standing on the seat of a quad - and waving at me, so I swung around and gave them a flyby that was almost low enough to blow their hats off and finished it off with a full stall near-roll wing-over. They loved it. If they had had a driveway big enough to land it I would have landed for a visit. I'm sure I'd have had all the Brats and beer I could stand had I landed. You don't forget flites like that one. Definitely goes in the "life well lived" list.

I want to come back as Richard Flanders...






.

There is often, in the flying world, a lot of hype about fast, high flying planes that zip from point A to B. In my view they are nothing more than a conveyance to get somewhere. Real flying that fills the senses is low and slow. I have had some very memorable flights across this great land of ours at smell the flowers altitudes. Once I flew an 85 horse, then considered a Super Cub, into a very strong headwind and was actually flying backwards. That was a kick.

love hearing you fella s telling them stories...charlie

Another very fun thing to do with a small low flyer in our great west is to chase coyotes across the tops of the extensive Columbia River basalt plateaus in Washington state. You see one and pull up into a wingover so as to not lose sight of them then circle around behind the now hauling ass coyote and come up from behind try to bowl them over with a tire. Big fun, I can tell you! They really can haul once they discover a mysterious noisy bird rapidly approaching from the rear. That's when I figured out where the wide-eyed Wiley Coyote concept came from. I also think that the song line, "nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide" had to have been written by someone who was a practitioner of this particular form of ridiculously entertaining recreation. I hope I'm not giving away trade secrets here!

I'll never forget the flight through Lake Clark Pass and the flights into and out of camp in Alaska. Oddly enough one of the pilots was from Grand Rapids MI.

That's an incredible flite Rich, and one I never do at an altitude of less than 8000ft so that I am looking straight down on the 20 some plane wrecks that litter the pass.

That's so damn cool Richard. If you really wanted to impress those boys you could have flown inverted. :)

My second all time favorite airplane is a twin Otter. An absolute classic. We have one at my jump site (I have AFFM certification) with hand and foot holds on the fuselage. It’s a real kick climbing out on the fuselage and looking at the prop in front of you and the tail behind you. I like to linger there a bit before pushing off for the jump. Being on the outside of an airplane in flight is awesome.

We jump at around 18,000 feet and engage the chute at around 5,000 feet. Free fall is wonderful and I usually link in the air with a few buddies. The picture was taken at the precise moment I waved my buddy off and engaged the chute. You can see the chute a second or so into deployment. The only thing better than flying an airplane is jumping from one.

....

you boys live on the edge....charlie

I've always wanted to do that. I'm afraid I'd become addicted and run out of money and end up living in a rusted out VW bus on Charlies back 40!... though I suppose a guy could do worse....

Now that would be ruffing it.