Life of an Otter Pilot - Pic

[Irish Pilot]

Heres a pic taken by one of my buddies at work the other day (who also lurks these boards)...one of the great trips of being a Grand Canyon otter pilot....

Monument Valley - No Single Engine Go Arounds

You should see that runway from the ground....the cliff is right there.

 

[Jim]

Below about 200 feet, you don't go around on 2 engines either. I've seen a C-207, a Mooney and a Bonanza all stall into the ground trying to go around there. I also saw one of our Otters succesfully do it but it almost drug the left wing tip on the ground and barely missed the cliff face (all during my first time at Scenic in the 1998-2001 time frame). When I first went there as a Captain in 1999, we were taught that below 250 feet you are committed to landing - perferably on the runway but off it if need be.

What that picture does not show is that the cliff is about 1/2 mile from the end of the runway and that the runway slopes up significantly towards the cliff.

 

[NookyBooky]

Heres a pic taken by one of my buddies at work the other day (who also lurks these boards)...one of the great trips of being a Grand Canyon otter pilot....

Monument Valley - No Single Engine Go Arounds

You should see that runway from the ground....the cliff is right there.

Linky es no beuno amigo. Gringo say "big no no."

 

[lowtimeguy]

Go to www.airliners.net, search for Scenic, and it's the first photo that comes up.

 

[NookyBooky]

Go to www.airliners.net, search for Scenic, and it's the first photo that comes up.

Already found it, thanks. That strip looks fun, I didn't even see it when I was there.

 

[Irish Pilot]

Linky es no beuno amigo. Gringo say "big no no."

Wha? The link seems to work fine for me...

How about this one?

 

[cjs]

Dumb question .. why not just make a climbing left turn in order to avoid the cliff face?

 

[V2plus25]

NookyBooky, nice avatar...... VERY nice!

 

[MDAutry]

what is the climbout speed and feet/min. on a twin otter? Fully loaded of course...

 

[NookyBooky]

NookyBooky, nice avatar...... VERY nice!

She'll do

 

[Jim]

Dumb question .. why not just make a climbing left turn in order to avoid the cliff face?

Because the cliff is probably about 200 yards from the end of the runway. Doesn't seem that way in the picture, but it is d@mn close. The runway is also sloped uphill and the slope increase significantly after the runway towards the cliff. You are climbing without gaining a proportionate amount of ground clearance. To go around, you would be at least 45 degrees bank at maybe 50-75 feet off the ground hanging on the props hoping you don't stall into the ground.

What is also confusing from the picture is that the end of the runway is not at the end of the dirt. It is at the end of the pavement.

what is the climbout speed and feet/min. on a twin otter? Fully loaded of course...

Well today going in there I had a 11,900 lbs plane with a V2 of 79 kts. Our normal climbout is 90 kts at flaps 10 and 110 kts at flaps 0. The temp was 32 C and the density altitude 8000+. When I took off, I got about 450 fpm.

 

[Irish Pilot]

She's a peach....especially in the summer. At least our little pilot shack there has Skinemax and HBOs lol.

 

[MDAutry]

Hey Jim,
My buddy just went Air Force and now he is training with this really sharp Marine in cross over with the Navy. He looks forward to every uniform inspection... I feel sorry for him, he thought he was gonna get the easy life and then they told him he would be training in Florida with the Navy.

Anyway, on another note... What kind of times would I need to fly tours in the Grand Canyon. I do have my A&P liscense if that would help get my foot in the door?

 

[Famous Dave]

What up Paul? What up Jim? I added a couple more pics to Airliners.net but it takes like a week to clear so watch out for them (if ya like).

Anyway, MDAutry with your time you might wanna try these guys at the canyon http://www.airgrandcanyon.com/ They fly 182's and 207's. You also might want to try King Airelines based out of Henderson. They fly c402's and 207's (I think). I don't know if you would make use of your A&P at Air Grand Canyon but I bet you would at King (not for them but for yourself).

Safe skies.