2017 High Sierra Fly-In
There’s this little gathering up in the Nevada desert north of Reno, for one long weekend a dry lakebed turns into one of the busiest airports in America. The High Sierra Fly-in is an incredible event, and I had no idea what I was getting into.
If you’re thinking about coming, you need to check out these two websites and videos below:
https://www.highsierraflyin.com/
http://www.stoldrag.com/
Getting There
So first, a quick shout-out to Al at Air San Luis, after waiting out the marine layer I taxied for takeoff and during the run up failed the mag check. Engine ran rough, and temps dropped on the #2 cylinder. I tried my best at “un-fouling” the engine but it wasn’t having any. I taxied back over to my hangar and pulled in front of Air San Luis.
It was a quick ordeal, pulled up, yanked the cowl, grabbed the spark plugs out of the #2, Al wired the lead deposits of the electrodes, put it back together, ops check good.
I taxied to the run-up area, and this time it checked out, time to go flying. After getting to what I thought was going to be my cruising altitude, I ended up climbing to basically the oxygen limit to avoid clouds while crossing over the sierras in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful flight, and everything was clear on the east side of the mountains. Clear enough that navigating by paper chart was an easy task.
I made it in, found a spot to set up camp, and then started workign augers in to tie the plane down for the night. Short 15” ground anchors are certainly a questionable choice, and they were a serious PITA to get in, but overall worked well. I had arrived on Friday, but those who were there Thursday night were exposed to flooding (of the dry lakebed), and winds that collapsed a few tents as well as ripped a Piper Cub from it’s tie down, sending it bouncing across the desert and into other aircraft. The ground anchors despite their difficulty at getting installed, were fantastic at holding the big Skylane in place. I was all set in for the first night… and then realized I had forgot my sleeping bag. Great. It was like 10 deg in the middle of the night, I was wearing all the clothes I brought and maybe got an hour of sleep. Morning would soon come and then it was off to adventure.
Flying around Dead Cow
A group of about 6 of us shot out northbound from dead cow… well 5, they left without me. My primer had failed, likely just the o-rings were too cold to pump any fuel and I had killed the battery attempting to start the plane. The guy leading the pack was more eager to impress the young lady in the group than wait for me to get a jump, so they left and I would have to catch up. I ran into Mark (from Skywagons.com), yea the guy who sold me the aircraft who said he would “hand prop” my big continental. I didn’t believe it, but we did it. Judicious pumping of the throttle to prime the system, a heave of the propeller, and it sputtered to life. We were in business.
So about that pack, they were flying at the speed of a Piper Cub (so about walking speed), and had probably a 30min head start on me. But no matter, the Skylane is truly a “jack-of-all-trades” and with coal to spare caught up in no time.
We would explore a geyser, land at black rock city, land on a BLM road and check out a hot spring then meander through valleys on our way back to the lakebed to watch some STOL drag. The pack would break up, and I hit up Susanville for fuel, then returned tot he campground. In the pack was James in the red/white Bonanza, who thankfully had a second sleeping bag. What a lifesaver! After watching the STOL Drag finals, and making dinner, we burnt the desert down with an awesome bonfire and fireworks!
