Tripod
03-15-2009, 07:19 PM
Have any of you flown into Monache Meadows (N36° 13' 28.44", W118° 10' 16.29") in California? I think the strip has been closed for quite some time now. My dad took my younger brother and I there for an overnight stay in 1964 or 1965. We flew there in the very TP I now own. Needless to say, we traveled light. We limited our load to a make-shift lean-to, dried soup (dinner), summer-weight sleeping bags and a couple of short fishing poles. That was about it. We left early the next morning while the air was still cold. We pushed the TP (engine off) up a hill at the far-end of the strip and then mounted up. After the engine was fully warmed up dad ran it up to max-blast, leaned for more max-blast and then released the brakes. Remarkably we were airborne at mid-field. We made one wide circle over the meadow valley and then headed west, over the ridge line. I think that airstrip was at 8000 feet. Can't remember how high we had to climb to clear the ridges to the west, but I don't recall having any problems. And of course, all this fun on one load of gas.
-dave
-dave