EAA Sport Aviation - April 2010

EXPERT PANEL

suggests taking a bug-collecting jar with a magnifying-glass lid, cheap binoculars, and small flashlights. Patti has even watched students entertain themselves for nearly an hour turning the runway lights on with a handheld radio. Airplane kids, indeed.

CHOOSING GEAR

Since all your stuff has to fit in your airplane, you’ll want good-quality, lightweight, low-volume gear—or a bigger airplane. How much gear depends on what you’re flying; a Cessna 152 or RV- 8 has less space than a Bonanza or the Turbo Stationair that Ramona flies. Nearly every airplane works with most airports, Don says, so don’t let yours limit your imagination.

Given your mode of transport, you’ll need portable airplane tiedowns, and a cell phone will help you check weather. A few pieces of plywood to slide under your wheels will also keep your airplane from sinking in wet ground.

Feel like roughing it? Throw a tarp over the wing and call it done.

In bear country, particularly, avoid storing food in your airplane, unless, of course, you’re shopping for a new one.

If you want a stove, pick one that burns avgas, Don says. For remote trips, say to forestry air strips, Ramona recommends adding a few extras: a snakebite kit, a per-sonal-locator beacon, water-purification tablets or filter, and a satellite phone—all in case of emergency and to get weather in mountainous areas, where an accurate report is a safety issue. If this is your idea of camping, consider first taking a back-country-flying course to hone your short- and unimproved-field landing techniques; Ramona worked up to the most-challenging fields and still works to stay proficient.

PACKING THE PLANE

Unless you also have a Stationair, you’ll need to pack judiciously. “Go through your stuff and say, do I really need this, do I really need that,” Don says.

Patti suggests packing as if you were
going to carry it all on your back. “Most peo-
ple would not set out for the day with a pack
of more than 40 pounds,” she says. “If you
figure two people with 4 0 pounds, that’s 80
pounds. You have that in the back of a 152.”
Of course, you don’t want 80 pounds
flopping around the back of your airplane.
Keep everything packed tightly by cinching
your load down with cargo netting or gear
straps, Ramona says.

Consider weight-and-balance, too. Heavy items should be stowed low and forward; otherwise, they can tumble backward, which is probably more excitement than you’re looking for. These kinds of real-world weight-and-balance and performance calculations are exactly the reasons Patti does camping trips with students. “It really calls upon you to use your basic flight-planning skills in a way that sometimes you let go a little bit,” she says.

MAKING CAMP

“Always tie down the airplane first,” Ramona
says, in case the wind picks up. “Second, set
up the tent.” She puts her tent close to her
airplane, but not tucked underneath; the
noise of rain dripping off the wing onto the
tent fly will eventually drive you nuts, she
says, but put it close enough to run to if you
need something.