Your enthusiasm and smile as you describe landing at Johnson Creek are contagious. Now I can't wipe the smile off MY face!

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it can have that effect, that's the kind of thing that is the main goal of this channel!

I like my 150. You don't have to worry about losing your engine in the mountains because you simply can't climb high enough to ever attempt it.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

That's the spirit 😆😆

Evolution of KZread Pilots: Start with "how I got into this gig" pieces, continue to Maintenance issue stories, progress to group flying stories in , meet girl, do shorts with girl learning to fly, move to Alaska, start flight school. You are at phase 2 :)

@VeteranAviator

2 жыл бұрын

Haha. So true.

Thank you for the travelog. It's been great hearing and seeing about your huge cross country.

Great video! Looking forward to the next leg of your adventure.

I really enjoy your stories and your "debrief" of the events that take place. Aspiring pilot here and I like how you are honest and integrating your experiences into learning opportunities. Stay safe!

Nice video and great storytelling. You keep it real and real interesting, thanks for taking us along!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad you are enjoying it!

Thank you for sharing your experiences! As an aspiring aviator and Mooney pilot it’s very insightful and very appreciated! Always enjoy your videos, thank you so much for sharing your experiences, good and bad, with us!

Gorgeous haha, good stuff! Another excellent and enjoyable episode. Keep em coming!

Great Video! I really enjoyed watching and can’t wait for the next episode. best regards from Australia.

Great video!! You keep us coming back for more!

Glad you finally finished the editing👌🏼

I have to say, it's always fun to hear what people outside of the mountains think of flying out here. It trips me out when I watch a video and some one is flying at 3,000ft and are 2,000+ft AGL. I hear that and want to add power and pull up! Love the video, awesome work!

If it makes you feel any better, that pilot lounge in Lusk is probably the nicest accommodations in the entire town.

Fascinating story, really enjoying your channel.

Travis, I like the new series documenting your westward adventure. I’m glad you learned from this experience and turned your encounters into teachable moments. Flying out west commands a greater respect for mother nature - virga, density altitude, winds aloft, and icing just to name a few. Let me know the next time you’re out this way. Would love to fly with you. PS. Summer temps require I also run rich on climb (more for CHTs than oil temp but that’s beside the point). A couple years ago I replaced my bottom plugs with fine wires and that all but solved my fouling. It stings buying 4 of those but, it’s better than 8...

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

I definitely will get in contact if I am able to get out there again this year! Thanks for the tip. I am jealous that you are based there and don't have to fly 1,000 miles just to reach the mountains.

That was a heck of a flight dude, for your experience level it was pretty brave!

Very nice pics. Congrats.

I did a long cross Country to Montana this summer with my Mooney and some similar circumstances. Very cool video, thanks for posting and next time fly up to KBVS and I’ll show you my neck of the woods.

LOVED THE VIDEO. VERY COOL!

Glad I found this channel...Like it that you seen just like a normal guy and not like some others that post videos on here...Keep up the great work.

good job, looks like you're learning a lot

Nice video Travis, and nice pun.

just found you channel, interesting trip and you present it well, subscribed!

I cought both of the videos back to back. I really like the way you just sit down and have a chat with your viewers about the video. The maintenance issues must have been a bitch. But it looks like you made the right choice to stay focused and overcome the obstacles. A tip of the hat to ya buddy. I hope this trip in your aircraft has made you more grounded and what ever else was going on in your life is now further behind you and it became another one of lifes learning experiences. Thanks again for taking the time and all the hard work editing to bring us along for the ride!! Blue Skys and Tailwinds

Just watched this great video. I flew a TU206 out of Frank Church wilderness for 8 years. Johnson Creek is amazing, went to many fly-ins there. one year we went with 120 super cubs, all camped along all sides of the runway. looks like you had a great trip.

Hello from Wyoming. I just saw this video. I grew up in Florida, but now live out West. YEAH, flying out here is different. But you learned your lessons quickly and did great. Next time, send me a note and I'll tell you where to find Wyoming FBO's that are shacks in the prairies.

Great Trip. I took a similar trip to this as an inexperienced easterner about 15 years ago. I remember that exact lake north of Sheridan, WY.

Can't wait for the next episode!

Great video. Looking forward to the next. I’m in Oregon with an M20B

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

You have some great country to fly out there!

Great videos. Keep going.

I'm a new sub to your channel and love it... great job!

Just found your channel. Extraordinary story..very well done. I’m looking forward to your further exploits.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the support!

@Capt_Tarmac

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator I’m looking forward to learning from you and experiences. I’ve just retired from airline and looking to get back into general aviation. You are a tremendous story teller.

Kickass trip man!

Thank you. Great story.

You have me on pins and needles for the next installment. Great job!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the support!

Awsome video !!

Interesting content. Good narrative.

Your speed competition with the Cirrus was funny. I was once in a 100 plane caravan crossing Cuba for Grand Cayman Island and when we left Key West the fastest airplanes had to leave first and all the Moonies had reported that they were a faster speed than me, I was in a pressurized Centurion, so all the Moonies left and then I was next and enroute I passed them all flying at 16,000 ft and while flying I radioed them and asked them what their gauges were reading and they were quite irritated with me.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Haha that's great! We Mooney drivers do get irritated when someone is faster, especially if they have the same or lower fuel burn, then we really get irritated!

@cyrooski4

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator now im in an rv12...no mechanics but us..4.5 gal/hr...110 kts...all parts cheap...think about it!! I fly a lot now...my 6th plane and I finally got it right.

Love the video and the flying. Keep it up! Holler if you come through Denver and a beer's on me. We can take my Mooney and head to Leadville to check the box on the highest airport in the country.

Great story!

I like the way you tell the story

Great video, keep them coming. Looking for a nice FBO out west? Carlsbad NM, Canyon City CNM.

Subscribed my new friend....great video

I learned to fly in the backcountry mountains and canyons in Utah. I think if I ever flew back east I'd give storms way too wide of a berth, those pop-up afternoon T-storms would scare me, and I'd be bored to tears at all the flatland.

As a Nebraskan I can confirm runza is awesome

Great video man! Johnson creek is on my list this October when I fly to high Sierra. I flew my tripacer from Dayton Ohio to San Diego the south route this past March. Just uploaded part 5. You might enjoy the series.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! I'll go check it out!

I am based out of KHVR in north central Montana and love to fly my 182 into some of the same destinations you visited on your trip around the west. West Yellowstone and Johnson Creek ID being two of them. Great job with the video, keep up the good work!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the supoort!

@tywheeler7131

2 жыл бұрын

You can Havre ;)

Dont' be shy about your accomplishments. That's what life is, small things no one gives a fu** but that you can be a bit proud of.

Great video, those shots around Sheridan are amazing. I think the deal with virga out here is a combination of low humidity and high air temps in the afternoon. The rain evaporates easily and creates a high temperature differential and thus stronger up and down drafts. Virga causing 1000-1500 fpm is not unheard of, and yes, terrifying.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting thing is that I actually flew through some virga right before and it was very smooth. The turbulence came underneath a cloud that looked relatively normal but I noticed it had a very bumpy underside, almost like a sheet of cottonballs. There wasn't any virga where I experienced the turbulence, but there was some on the same cloud formation a couple miles to the south of where I was. It was very odd, I'm not sure what it was exactly because it didn't look much different than a normal cloud. Also, the FPM wasn't too crazy, but the bumps were very violent, my head hit the ceiling a number of times, but it wasn't pushing me up or down, just whipping the plane every which way, making it roll and yaw violently more than push up or down.

@nichenke

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator well, that’s annoying when it doesn’t happen like the books say it should 😀

Corn country is weird. One minute everything is hunky dory and the next minute there's a microburst that'll put a DC-10 underground on TO/GA. They can get witches on bicycles clear up to 7500 AGL.

Probably need to think about doing a trade in. Lol 😆 There's NO WAY I'd be flying over all those mountains in a plane that I have 20% trust in. Holy Crap dude

Really inspiring, interesting and relatable, beautiful imagery and in general great airtrip (or however they call this kind of travelling)! For now my best equivalent is motorcycling around the european alps - have to say your vids are not helpful in fighting that GPL bug within me...

Great video and story. Thanks for posting. Username Back country 182 has a few videos on bush flying you would like.

Enjoyed...being from Clarion. FYI a great Mooney guy in Evanston WY KNR Inc...is that a B model?

Great trip thanks for share , look forward to more. Did you not factor going to Sun n Fun 2021?

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately my work and other factors made it so that I can't make it this year. I may try for Oshkosh, but I am unsure if that will be feasible either. It is definitely a goal of mine though as I have never been!

@egreens8512

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator tried replying three times? Hmm anyway, Oshkosh is mandatory and mind blowing - you have a free place to stay in KSBM all week. Visit ou Heritage Air Museum and try our flight simulator. Plan on it. So fun.

A loaf of bread with meat and cheese stuffed in it is called a Hoagie where I come from. 😂😂😂

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

Come to think of it, fair enough!

Awesome Yinzer dude. How many hours did you have when you made this trip? Instrument rating? Ever been into 5G8 Greensburg Jeanette? Used to be called Boquet Airpark.

I had partial engine failure on take-off from the kind of oil build-up described. I’d have avoided it had I let the engine warm-up some (it was a rental, I had no idea) but damn, that wasn’t fun!

Wow what a story

There’s only one kindve cloud along the Rockies. Cumulus. Building, mature and dissipating....turbulence,more turbulence and more turbulence. Don’t fly in the mountains after 11am.....and airports are few and far between. Bring survival equipment. Great learning experience. Good job. Be careful.

One thing I’ve learned in many cross country flights from the East Coast to the West Coast is to land at airports that have significant maintenance facilities. Landing in the middle of nowhere may save you a couple bucks on gas but if you have an issue you’re really SOL. Land at the big airports and pay more for gas it’s worth the extra money if you have an issue.

Those short grabs are exquisite! What camera are you using there?

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Actually mostly its just my phone camera and some of the shots are from a small Panasonic camcorder I've used for a while.

At 4:31 and he talks about getting under that large cloud base, he hits severe turbulence, well there's a reason for that. Look in the brief parts of that where the clouds are looking like bubbles falling out of them, thats a end stage thunder storm almost put if gas and collapsing, cold air mammatus clouds in sinking air. Commonly referenced as "cloud-based detrainment instability (CDI), by those of us that put effort into our weather phase of training in flight school during the instrument rating, these clouds are a big red flag for mild to violent wind shear from 1000 ft agl upto the cloud base itself.

@AverageAviator

Жыл бұрын

That is a wonderful explanation! I am very happy you paid attention to the video and in your weather class. Unfortunately, the clouds shown in the video were not the ones I was actually.talking about. I didn't actually get video of the ones with turbulence below them. The ones that are pictured in the video I did fly under and experienced very minor up/downdrafts.

G,day Average_Aviator from Sydney, Australia. Amazing the film: full stop. The Mooney is really shaking it's feathers? * the intermittent increase in oil temperature is interesting. Has the Mooney a oil cooler? * air Flow * change in rubber apron to cowling, * is the plane using oil Any changed engine performance data: CHT, IMP, EGT. Looking forward to the next exciting adventure. 🌏🇭🇲

"Cirrus pilots tend to rub people (especially Mooney pilots) the wrong way." Heh. I'm an M20E, KSEG. My first major experience with clear air turbulence was flying north through Oregon -- in about one second I was tossed into a 40 degree bank (with the wing leveler on).

And yes it should be muscle memory that at low level, low speed, and higher bank, pitch down slightly, never up and be careful with rudders.

that's great stuff. Wish I could say the same stuff. That's the thing I hate about airplanes; I don't own one and I can't fly one. Maybe in the future. Maybe.

Where did Yinz start aht? (I'm from Pittsburgh originally Florida now) I really appreciate your videos

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

I grew up northeast of the city and that's where I live now. I started my training at Rock Airport, but I lived in NJ for a while and finished it up there. I'm glad you're enjoying them!

Great video and adventure. How many days from the moment you left Pennsylvania to landing at Johnson Creek? Thx! I really admire your gumption to do this. I’m a low time pilot as well and would love to do this. Can’t time wise yet but soon I hope.

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

I left PA on a Friday, got to Ohio that night and then the airplane was broke in Ohio for a week, and then from Ohio to Johnson Creek I took 3 days because I stayed a night in West Yellowstone, but I could have made it in 2 days. Hopefully you'll be able to plan your own trip soon!

@57eleven1

2 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator awesome. Good to know. I’ll be following your flights. Keep up the good work and thx!

Having had an engine failure in the mountains, on a well running Lycoming 0 360, you definitely took a risk flying over those mountains on an engine with some issues.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Going into Johnson Creek there's no way around going through the mountains, I figured if I was taking the risk anyway, might as well go the extra mile. And to be fair, the engine was running great, its the accessories that were giving me trouble! But I don't disagree with your point.

Great videos. How many hours did you have when you got the mooney?

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

I had roughly 150hrs or so and it was a very easy transition. If you can control airspeed well, the older Mooney's are no issue to transition to. Thanks for the support!

I'm loving watching this series. However, I can feel my anxiety rise as I hear you say you have a suspected fouled plug, rough running engine, high oil temps, but you decided to take off like that in high DA and fly over a mountain range based on, "It was probably just a fouled plug and I think I burned it off." I know it's easy to sit back and judge as an armchair pilot, but that could have gone very badly.

Very enjoyable video. I do have to ask tho. With all the issues you’ve had and the fact that you spent so much time looking for emergency runways as you thought the engine would fail why would you take such an unreliable aircraft on a trip of this magnitude?

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

The looking out for landing areas is a bit of emphasis for a KZread video entertainment really. I mean, I was always trained to be constantly looking for an emergency landing area, so it really wasn't out of the norm. The point is that an engine can fail at any point, regardless of how much faith we have in them. You say "such an unreliable aircraft" but that's not really the truth. It was a very reliable aircraft up until the trip. I had absolutely no reliability issues with the airplane, so I had faith that it was reliable. But that was undue faith because it just took 100hrs to finally need attention. None of my issues were anything a normal aircraft owner hasn't experienced before, and none of them would have brought me out of the sky or else I would have been more concerned. Every time I ran into another issue it was solved by a qualified mechanic who signed off saying it was airworthy again. If it was indeed airworthy, why would I not keep flying towards my goal? Also a note is that for the sake of the KZread video all you hear is the issues I had, not the hours and hours of flying where nothing happened. Hopefully this answers your question!

I've been to Johnson Ck. many times in a helicopter.

Johnson Creek is NOT the backcountry. Cars, trucks, and 4 wheelers run there daily, and frequently park there for weeks. But your Mooney might feel at home on Indian Creek. And IC is indeed in the backcountry. No cars or trucks.

I live in western PA looking to get my PPC this year any advice for the area on schools?

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure how far away you are but I know Armstrong Aviation at McVille (6P7) is a good school that is very affordable. I know of a couple others in the area, but they are mostly 141 schools and I can't speak of how good they are, but I'm sure they would be fine as well.

@johnpooky84

Жыл бұрын

I've always found the best PPC school is Mechwarrior 5. You'll definitely get PPC-certified there 😄

I don’t get why woulr mixture has so much to do with your oil temp. I think you have an oil cooler issue or something wrong with the thermostat no opening properly and letting oil cool. Oh an excellent video by the way!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

It wasn't that I thought it would solve all of my issues, I just know that mixture helps cool down combustion so I thought that perhaps it would have at least helped on that particular flight. I didn't use that for any of the other flights as I learned that climbing as fast as you can to higher altitudes where the air is cooler was what worked the best. I also learned later that it was the vernatherm that wasn't seating all the way which caused some of the oil to bypass the cooler. It wasn't enough to be a problem at the low DA in the East but it was enough to not be able to keep up in the hot, less dense air in the West. Thanks for the support!

Which monies do you have?

"pulled the chute..." Funny, but please next time always use gust lock to avoid damage to control surfaces and or control linkage especially with a storm rolling thru...Those are the kinds of things that can kill you from loss of control.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Mooney's don't have control locks, normally it's just accomplished by using the seatbelt to tie the controls to one side. Apparently it wasn't very tight, thanks for the input. That's why we always do a flight control check before takeoff!

Cirrus pilots and Mooney pilots are both like BMW drivers.

@kazansky22

2 жыл бұрын

This guy gets it!

The mooney is built like a brick house compared a cirrus

You're from Leechburg?

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Looked up the N number I see haha

Im a trucker, based outta Ames, IA and I run to Nebraska at least 6 times a month, and I just wanted to say, Runza is horrible

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

😂😂 maybe it was because I was so hungry but I thought it was great!

🙌🙌🇧🇷🇧🇷🇱🇷🇱🇷

You should not be fighting all these engine temps and trouble. You haveing something going on, it is that simple.

And no offense but most non-commercial and below, private pilots just don't understand the wx (weather) very much and get lucky like this guy did.