Thanks for the memories. Been 50 years since I was in there. Miss it, but way too old.

That departure out of Moose Creek was pretty dang amazing!

Smiled thru the entire episode. Kid your passion is infectious! Can’t wait till the next update

If you ever get back to Orofino, you ought to take a crew car and run up to Dworshack Dam. It's my backyard, basically. Pretty quick drive up to the Dam 15 to 20 minute drive. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

that shot of the stinson landing at Cavanaugh bay i know those people in the red and white pacer, white and blue murphy rebel, and white and blue clipper

Such a lovely Mooney, I really like these older low wing planes (Bonanza, Cherokee, Mooney's, Globe Swift etc) with polished aluminium like the old pre ww2 planes. And then mixed with my other favourite part of aviation, back country flying and semi STOL. IMO when you took that low turn at take off is the best Mooney footage on KZread currently 👏👏

@AverageAviator

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I really enjoyed taking the Mooney into the back country, perhaps I'll do something similar with the Skybolt this year!

I fly N9263V a 1969 Mooney M20C out of KGIC. I used to fly out of 1S6 Priest River. Orofino is a great airport. Grangeville could take a lesson from Orofino. My gear is electric and it collapsed on me one day landing at Palm Springs. I've been chicken about landing it on grass strips after that.

Man that landing at Orofino was perfect!

Lived in Orofino, worked on the Dam 1970, S Got my privet and Commercial license there. Great Memories. Love your adventures.

That takeoff footage was about as cool as it gets! Great video!

It's SO pitch black in the Selway-Bitterroot! flying over at night is like IFR!! so many stars!!!

You flew pretty much over us on your way into Cavanaugh bay. We are in St. Maries Idaho. Boyhood home of Pappy Boyington

Awesome, love the footage, what an adventure.

Awesome job Travis. Thanks so much for sharing

Great Job! Adventures you will never forget!

Brave young man, good show! Cant' wait to hear more.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the journey. Amazing experience

Great job! Really nice vid.👏👏👏

Thanks so much for sharing…. Brings back similar (Mooney) memories for me. Really enjoy listening!!! Pictures and videos are great…!

What a nice experience ! thanks for sharing :)

You're a trooper bud! I really enjoy your candid videos :-)

I recently discovered your channel and have been enjoying your stories! Great job!

Dude this is fantastic!

Ha ha did you leave the camera there and make him land again to pick it up to get that shot 😂 looked fun Trent ! Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to get my rating

I watched some of your Videos about one year ago and now I stumbled upon one of your newer videos. I‘m impressed that you keep on going and that your editing and moderating Skills improved a lot. Am a bit jealous of your PPL… not gonna talk about your Mooney… 😍

Your departures and arrivals are well thought out and well performed! You sure don’t act like a low time pilot!

This is so awesome

Well BrYan was right about you, a natural story teller you are. Would love to run into you around a campfire or informal dinner table and just sit and listen. Please keep them coming!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

@@paratyshow Now that's funny

Welcome to my neighborhood! I fly in Montana and enjoy your vidoes!

AA - Moose Creek is great backcountry strip as is Johnson Creek! Took my RG182 several years ago and landed at the same two strips. Phenomenal experience for an east coast (FL) pilot. On the Moose Creek departure. Interesting choice. I had not considered that departure but seems viable. I did the departure up the “box canyon.” It is plenty long and wide to spiral up and gain altitude before you fly off to your next adventure. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I met you there, briefly at Cavanaugh. I was in the Clipper along with a PA18, a Pacer and a Rebel. I recall your mx issue and I think Dave(in the Pacer) helped you troubleshoot your electrical issue. Cool to see your story here. You picked some great stops. Orofino is a very cool airport and a neat little town to overnight too.

Dang! I want to hear the rest of the story! That’s just about the same journey I want to take from South Dakota in my Cherokee 180.

Loving the series. I have a 62 C that’s a pavement baby but this makes me want to get on some other surfaces!

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Jake! You could definitely try some grass strips around your area. Every grass strip over been on the Mooney can handle no problem. Plus grass is easier on your tires and brakes and makes your landing feel like a greaser even if it wasn't! I've found that if it's a listed grass strip (not private) it's usually maintained and should be no issue for Mooney. After all, most airports when the Mooney came out we're grass. That being said, you should still do some homework and make sure the strip is maintained and be on the lookout once you land, but that's for all normal airplanes not just the Mooney. I'd be happy to hear if you decide to take the plunge off pavement haha

What a cool takeoff from Moose Creek. Man, whoever is watching your vids and is not dreaming of a PPL is, I don't know, not into adventure?

Epic!

Nice job … I’ve been into Orofino once and Cav Bay numerous times. Love the airport. There used to be a fantastic restaurant down on the water at the end of the runway. Not sure if it survived the COVID nonsense or not. I’ll be doing some more “fun flying” this coming year, so it may be time to go back!

16:00 Great Picture! 🤩

Great series! Can't wait to see the next epi. I was just at Cavanaugh Bay. It's isolated so I'm curious how you got your gennie repaired from there...

Nice

I learned how tp discribe stars on an episode of comedy bang bang - 5 stars

fwiw, if you take off to the north (Rwy 1), there's a mining claim airstrip 1/2 mile north of the Rwy 22 threshold that can serve as an engine-out landing site, and the valley to the north is *much* wider than both valleys to the south, and it completely flat for over 4 miles (lower than field elevation) which allows plenty of time to climb out, plenty wide to circle in the climb, and it makes go-arounds to the north a non-issue. There's also an open area 4 miles north with over 1000 feet clearing that could also serve as an emergency landing site. One can also approach from the southwest and land on Rwy 4, which is uphill and provides far less maneuvering at low altitude (hug the right side of the canyon on approach) than Rwy 1. (Of course I've never seen the grass this tall so for this trip I wouldn't land on 4 either!)

The 201's I've flown have very little prop clearance. Easy to prop strike on a paved runway, and that might be why there's no data for grass / dirt performance. Good times!

Cliffhanger!

So I definitely have a crush on you, and you're never going to be a KZreadr without someone having a crush on you in the comments, so consider this as my official contribution to your channel.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

HAHA now this is the best comment I've received!

Love Orofino, been there via road and camped in the wilderness above there. Where about's in Montana did you camp? I live in NW Montana.

G,day Average Aviator from Sydney, Australia. Polished Aluminium. Firstly it's good to to see your latest cross country adventure. Your flying is really tidying up some accessories under the cowling: not a bad things, just necessary and costly. The fishing looks like a challenge: spinners, fly or grasshoppers? I'm interested on the age of the generator: (how many hours on the hobs.... metering). On those back runways, do you taxi up to locate 1/2 point, then back? Take care and have fun 🐟🦗🦟

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Hey John! Yep, the Mooney was definitely a better airplane when I returned from the trip, and I lucked out that it wasn't too expensive as far as airplanes go. I'm not sure how much time was on the generator as it wasn't clear whether they replaced it at the last engine change. If they did: 900hrs, if not: who knows. In any case it was pretty old. I don't taxi to the halfway point, there really isn't a way to accurately tell halfway. I just visualize it as I'm landing or taking off and that works fairly well. And as for the fishing, it was barbless flys because it was catch and release only. Thanks for the input!

See ya Jim 🤦🏼‍♂️😂

Broke in broken billfold wyoming

We’re flying home to WA from Bozeman in the morning, passing over the areas in the video and I’ll keep an eye out for those airports. How’d your prop handle the off pavement strips? I just put the MT on my 62C and gained 1.5” ground clearance, still cautious about grass although cold weather paved airports tend to have a lot of loose gravel. Took a pretty good ding in Oroville WA last month with the 3 blade Hartzell which required a file.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

You can see the prop tip in the one picture, it's pretty solid with no nicks despite me operating off of gravel and dirt fairly often, especially for a Mooney. It was a relatively new prop though so that might also help. I'm sure it would get a few more nicks over time than if I only stuck to pavement, but it's not like you are guaranteed a ding anytime you take it to the grass/dirt.

@HairHelmet

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator Good info. Unswepted paved airports are probably a bigger risk than grass. I flew over Johnson Creek yesterday, must've been 15 planes parked there. I'll get brave one of these days and try that one out.

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

@@HairHelmet it's definitely a good one to try first. Just keep your airspeed under control. If you can do that, you should be fine. If you make the decision to go around, do it early, but it's definitely an option at Johnson Creek should you not like what's happening.

How long of a runway do you need?

Great experience. Are you ever concerned on the effects of the rough runways on your fuel tanks?

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

I wasn't very concerned because I replaced the gear donuts only a year prior. I didn't notice and more leaking after going to all the rough places that I did. I would expect that if you had old donuts and landed on these strips all the time it might make the tanks leak more, but I wouldn't know for sure.

a cliff hanger in the valleys of idaho! look forward to the next video...these are quite good. If you like bush piloting, you should checkout Missionary Bush Pilot. He runs a cool channel about being a bush pilot

After 50 years and 13,000 hours of flying I know one thing; the back country here in the West, is not Mooney country😀

First comment geek!

Where's part 4 😭😭😭

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

Currently being edited! it takes me about 5 days of work to put one video together, but the final part will be out soon, hopefully by the end of the week.

@ImNotHere222

3 жыл бұрын

@@AverageAviator Totally get it. I used to do wedding videography. Take your time mate. 😁

@AverageAviator

3 жыл бұрын

@@ImNotHere222 wedding videography sounds much worse! At least if I do a bad job here no one cares to get mad at me hahaha