AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013 - 78

P&E

TECHNIQUE

HERE’S WHY I PICKED GLENWOOD SPRINGS
The search for challenging airports began with a posting on AOPA’s “I Was Wondering” forum, followed by a request in AOPA ePilot. Three hundred of you responded. AOPA members offered nominations in 35 states as the “most challenging airport.” Forty of those airports have oneway approaches, 30 are mountainous, 33 have steep slopes, 25 are in the bottom of a canyon—with another 32 in the bottom of a valley. Many have whipping crosswinds or turbulence, but I was looking for an airport that is a challenge even on a calm day. A trend emerged; many had blind approaches where the runway is not seen until the last second or had threatening terrain on all sides. Over and over, many listed Telluride, Aspen, and Glenwood Springs, Colorado, airports. It seemed unfair to pick on Telluride since officials leveled the runway a few years ago. Aspen is well documented as challenging, but Glenwood Springs has the more interesting approach. Aspen flight instructor Gary Kraft agreed, saying, “Glenwood is the most challenging in Colorado, particularly when the winds on the ground or aloft are active.” That cinched it. —AKM

“The rule of thumb here in summertime,” said Weinberg, “is if you have a four passenger airplane, it’s now a two-passenger airplane. “When it’s really gusty and going crazy because of the terrain, you can have the windsocks at each end of the runway looking at each other,” Weinberg said. He has taught at least 100 students without incident. They learned to stay on the ground if winds are swirling, and to be especially vigilant after 11 a.m. from mid-April to midJuly, when winds pick up.

to noise abatement over the city when taking off from Runway 32. Maneuvering as you would in a normal traffic pattern for Runway 14 is impossible due to mountainous terrain on both sides. That ’s why standard procedure is to land on Runway 32 and take off on the other end—Runway 14—even with a tailwind. The upslope of Runway 32 ONE WAY, UNLESS THE TREE BENDS. If wind helps aircraft slow down despite a tailand weather permit, Glenwood Springs is wind, while the downslope of Runway a one-way runway, and it’s not due solely 14 (less than a 1 percent grade) results in terrain falling away as the aircraft climbs— even with a tailwind. But how do you know when the tailIT’S LIKE AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER wind on Runway 14 is too Six airports were listed by you as “aircraft strong? carriers” because they perch on a mesa “We have trees here on or mountain, with one—Ronald Reagan the left side, right across from Washington National—cited for requiring a the FBO building,” Weinberg “carrier-like landing.” The airports termed said. “I tell people if you see a “aircraft carriers” are: Yeager Airport in tailwind and you don’t know Charleston, West Virginia; Sedona Airport, whether to go or not [on Arizona; Los Alamos Airport, New Mexico; Runway 14], you look at the Ingalls Field in Hot Springs, Virginia; Mackitops of those trees, and if those nac Island Airport, Michigan; and Catalina trees are bent over on the top, Airport, Avalon, California. —AKM don’t go that way. It’s not the
78 | AOPA PILOT January 2013

tailwind on the ground; it’s what happens after you get 50 feet in the air. The tailwind doubles all of a sudden, like a windshear. So what happens? You dump down. Hang on!” Weinberg said. But if you mitigate the risks and follow proper procedures, he added, “It’s a wonderful airport.” When winds are difficult his students are taught to land at nearby Rifle, Colorado, and wait for better conditions. (That’s also what experienced pilots do when conditions are tough at Aspen.) The tops of the trees were bending, so I took off uphill towards town into the wind, climbing as quickly as possible in Kraft’s 160-horsepower Cessna 172 to be kind to the neighbors. When departing Runway 14 at Glenwood, as I did, you have a choice of two canyons, one to the right and one to the left. “A right turn over the interstate is prohibitive as most light singles would have to circle to achieve enough altitude,” Weinberg said. “A left turn toward Rifle is fine, and although you’ll be between the canyon walls for a while, you can easily outclimb the terrain. In an emergency, you have the interstate under you.”

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2013