This is your home for Tail Wheel training, Backcountry and Mountain Flying Instruction! Based here in Truckee California, density altitude, the mountain environment and our close proximity to the endless regions in Nevada offer pilots opportunities that are second to none. Come pay us a visit and take your flying to the next level while learning to do it safely.
Just a quick post here about our Annual High Sierra Fly-in Oct 24th-27. I made some new T-shirts today. They will be BLACK this year!
Also some great photos from Grant that many of you have not seen.
Our crazy cameraman, more about Grant
And of course…our very own “Pistol Pete”
Looking forward to this years fly in more than ever…
AKT
Good morning here on the “North Circuit” with Flyenger.
Here are some pics
AKT
One of my favorite spots up high yesterday. Then to this little gem I found out about.
Bath tub warm – 3 large pools all within about 200′ of each other
Lots of frogs in another pool close by
A few resident cows in the area
They decided I wasn’t going anywhere soon
AKT
Just a fun morning flying around the “South Circuit”. These photos are just a few samples of the endless flying opportunities we have when we hold our High Sierra Fly-in, pill in October.
Had a few new landings and several that many of you may recognize if you have flown with us. Anyhow, winds started to pick up (seems like thats the theme this summer) and I figured it was time to get back to the hanger after a good morning run.
Here are some photos.
South East bound to what we call the “South Circuit”. Big Blue here
Where there is water, there is green
The “Tire Factory”. This is a cool spot to land and look for big tires! Its part of the south circuit. I did not land here today however. Just a flybye
Wild horses here. I forget what we call this spot, maybe its “Wild Horses?” This is where we lined up the 15 or so planes last year for the team photo during the High Sierra fly-in.
Some very tall grass here. Did 5 or 6 fly-byes here looking at it for big rocks and logs then committed. It was fun. Its part of the dry lake bed thats now grown over so I was very confident in the fact it was going to be smoooooth. I was more concerned with the idea that it could be soft as it was so green. Ended up doing a light touchdown and some serious mowing and then came back around and committed to it. It was dry as bone.
MT Prop getting a good test today mowing grass
New spot on the lake. Fun approach and DEEP SAND
This spot here is “3 Wagons”. I have taken many of you here before. Its a staple on the south circuit. The sand on the beach here was deep and soft as well. The lake itself is very dry and hard.
Parting shot. Good times on the “South Circuit”
AKT
I almost got in 18 holes today and I cannot say enough good things about the MT prop. Today I was cutting some long grass and landing in a few fun spots. The MT looks great. You have all heard my performance reports. Its kinda unbelievable honestly. I have made a lot of landings now and she still looks purty. I am concerned about others reporting about cracking and such so I am looking it over daily. Aside from the grass stains and dead bugs she looks brand new.
Here was my day on the North Circuit:
#1 – Stampede SW
#2 – The Island 
#3 – Stampede N
#4 – Loyalton High Boy….. 
#5 – Chillkoot
#6 – Frenchman’s Ranch
#7 – Hop Skip and Jump
#8 – Nervino – 600
#9 – The Ranch
#10 – Bumpy Barn
#11 – Totem Pole 2
#12 – Totem Pole 1
#13 – Stampede NW
#14 – Truckee 02L
All in under 2hours of flying. Its hard to get 18 holes in.
Just a couple photos today. Spent most of my time landing, turning around and taking off. My camera battery kept acting weird as well. I know I need a new one. Half of the time it was dead and the other half it showed full bars…hmmm
Bumpy Barn
Frenchman’s
Good day
Great day on the North Circuit. Hit 9 holes today and 4 of them were new ones. The new horizontal feels great along with the new Jackscrew, bushings and my 8$ paint job to cover the green replacement parts on the tail section. I did the numbers my self. You can tell up close…
One guy today at the airport said that I sure know how to beat up a really nice aircraft… 
Isn’t that what its for?? That sam guy also once told me that he had 20 thousand hours of flying and he has never even dinged a plane. I think I will just leave that comment alone… It does however make me think about the line that says something along the lines of getting to the pearly gates beat up,bruised and battered. I think you have heard that one before.
Anyhow, great day in the mountains and desert. All before the huge T-storm rolled in. Here are some pics
Stampede SW
A new one at Stampede
Have not been to this one for awhile – Chillkoot Ranch
Nice new parts and paint…
Frenchmans Ranch and all 40 acres FOR SALE!!! $399K This could be a flying church. Tax free 
The owner of Frenchmans plane – Great guy – Hung out with him for awhile today listening to his stories. He is 80 and still flying
Did several touch and goes in this dried up river bottom but did not stop. I dont like snakes…
Black Rock – home of the hippies, Burningman and lost souls that Bumper finds when he is flying
This one will be called “Little Blue Shoe” its just another little lake bed in Nevada
The lake beds are in great shape. Very dry with deep cracks
I have no idea what this is…anyone? Its not a bed frame
This guy had a bad day
Maybe the pilot survived and now lives here
We call this one Dead Cow lake bed – Notice the different texture in the mud. Not deep cracks here but flakes
The quintessential middle of nowhere Nevada meth lab
Last stop today on the way home I went looking for BCP member Chance. He has a lot of land with an airstrip. Buzzed his house 3 or 4 times but know one came out. Ended up landing at his strip. Normally I just land in the green grassy field closer to his house but having never landed at his actual strip before I figured it needed to be added to the circuit. He has a really cool spot!
All that riding around in the plane I then needed to get some exercise
My Cessna 180 Skywagon featured on the new Backcountry Pilot site
With a new super-sized engine, a composite prop, bushwheels, and a wing cuff kit, Kevin Quinn takes his Skywagon into places that most Super Cubs would think twice about– usually above 7,000 MSL. View the host of modifications that make this plane a standout.
Welcome to the very first installment of Featured Bushplanes, our new periodical series on best-of-breed light aircraft specifically setup or modified for bush and backcountry flying. This column is mean to be an inspiration for those who are shopping for airplanes, looking for ideas for modifications to their own aircraft, or who simply can’t get enough of bush planes. Look for a new article about once a month.
Who qualifies to be featured? That’s a good question. It takes a special person who is proud enough of their bird to take the time to share in detail exactly what they’ve done to improve its performance, condition, and appearance by doing a little writing and providing some nice photographs. Our first ever featured bushplane is Kevin Quinn’s 1953 Cessna Skywagon, well known to forum users and locals in the Truckee, CA area.
Kevin’s a fairly experienced pilot at 3,500 hrs in his logbook, but he only began flying tailwheel aircraft recently in his career after buying N1677C. His previous plane was a 1970 Cessna 182 which he’d added a host of STOL options to, as well as the big tire/big nosewheel mod, but once he caught the bug for taildraggers it was up for sale within days. N1677C was found just a few miles away in the Sierra foothills of Placerville, CA at Stancil Aviation, a long time Cessna broker.
Kevin has this to say about his plane:
In my own humble (maybe not so humble) opinion, the Cessna 180 is the quintessential backcountry aircraft. My 1953 (2013) model with all of the upgrades is by far the very best aircraft for my personal mission. I do often ponder the idea of owning an experimental type Cub or Highlander but far too often I find myself flying with these lighter types and loving the idea that my Skywagon can keep up…almost. None of those can match the load hauling capabilities of the Skywagon, however. Having the ability to have a gross weight of 2,950 lbs says it all.
I have flown the 180 with all sorts of mods (stock wing, Horton, Bush) and have found the Sportsman cuff with the Wing X conversion to be exactly what I am looking for in terms of performance. The extended wings have slowed the roll rate slightly, but again for my mission the roll rate does not need to be “snappy” when flying on the edge of a stall, hanging on the prop trying to land somewhere very short. When I say short, I am talking about 500 feet or less and generally above 6000 feet MSL. The numbers in the POH will never show that but a Skywagon can very easily perform like that when flown properly and modified.
Another upgrade that I have found to be one of my favorites is the MT prop. I have flown the Skywagon with the 2-blade 88″ McCauley and loved it. Then I did a test between the 3-blade Mac 401 and the 3-blade MT. After the time-to-climb tests and the static thrust pull test, the MT outperformed the Mac, not to mention losing the 30 lb dumbbell on the nose helps keep the Cub-like feel.
With the big heavy Mac my trim was always aft of center and landings where just not the same at a high AOA. You could very easily run out of elevator. When going to the MT and the loss of the 30lbs way out front, I found that I could stall the aircraft at an extra 5-8 mph slower and still have very positive elevator authority. When trying to land short, that’s a lot. It ended up being a no-brainer for me. Obviously there are certain skepticisms out there on the actual durability of the MT due to its construction, but again, I have found it to be “wear worthy” so far. This is with almost 200 hours on it at the time of this writing, and a lot of landings and take offs in the dirt, tall sagebrush, tall grass, snow and ice, rain etc. It still looks brand new. Time will tell, but I have to think that with all that I have put this MT through so far, it’s a winner in my book.
I have done a lot of other various mods to keep the plane as light as possible but also have added weight by doubling up longerons and supports in all of the areas that would need it. I am very hard on my aircraft and many Skywagon owners cringe at the idea of landing a Skywagon in some of the areas that I do, but that’s what I enjoy most.
| Aircraft specs | |
|---|---|
| Type | Cessna 180 Skywagon |
| Year | 1953 |
| Engine | Contintenal O470-50K 285hp PPonk “super eagle conversion” |
| Propeller | MT MTV-9-D/210-58 3-blade |
| Gear | 185 Titanium Gear Legs & P-Ponk beef up kit |
| Tires/wheels | 29″ and 31″ Alaskan Bushwheels with the Baby Bushwheel and heavy duty stinger |
| Wing |
|
| Weight empty | 1,684 lbs (29″ Bushwheels) |
| Max gross | 2,950 lbs |
| Useful load | 1,393 lbs |
| Panel |
|
Zane Jacobson is the founder/editor of Backcountry Pilot and currently flies a CubCrafters Sport Cub S2 around his home area of Portland, Oregon.
Website: www.backcountrypilot.org
Just a qucik stop on the way home as my bird is back and all fixed up from the rock that took out my horizontal stab.
Somewhere in Utah during the 2013 Caveman fly-in…