AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2023 - 69

GPS waypoint list, Joi creates a " flight
plan, " plotting a route that will efficiently
cover each lake.
On the first trip of the morning, with
a tube full of fingerlings in water for each
lake, the Skywagon is about 250 pounds
below its maximum gross weight, and the
center of gravity is slightly aft because of
the hopper tank. The tank carries 2,000 to
3,000 fish, and their exit is controlled by
the discharge of each tube separately with
a button on the control wheel.
Most of the lakes Joi seeds with fish
are above timberline, roughly 11,000 to
11,500 feet in craggy, steep-sided cirques
at the bottom of a bowl. There are no
roads up here; this is the only way to supply
these areas with fish.
The CPW pilots are done for the
day by 11 a.m., after delivering up to six
loads-anywhere between 6,000 and
26,000 fish. Being finished with your
flying before lunch is a great rule of
thumb for safely flying any kind of mission
in the mountains.
There are two main reasons for fish
seeding: One is to provide more fish for
anglers to catch, of course, but another
important reason is to help boost populations
of threatened and endangered native
species. Contrary to popular notion, there
are no tax dollars funding this operation;
rather, income from angler and hunter
license fees, and from sales of the state's
Heritage Stamps finance it.
CPW stocks 90 million fish annually,
although not all get to fly to their new
homes in the orange and white 185s; most
are delivered by truck. Joi and the other
three pilots on the team will drop 250,000
to 275,000 fish into 200 to 300 non-road
accessible lakes each year.
Happy anglers who make the trek up
to these high lakes often wave as Joi flies
by, and she often sees campers or hikers
enjoying the quiet solitude in Colorado's
high country.
OTHER SKYWAGON MISSIONS
Although at one time, CPW flew the
Skywagons off-airport and into unimproved
backcountry landing areas, they
no longer have a need for that. The utility
Cessna's high-wing configuration, robust
power, and, interestingly, the manual flaps
which allow immediate configuration
changes on approach and departures, are
perfect for this mission.
In addition to " teaching fish to fly, " the
CPW 185s are used for animal population
surveys; tracking GPS-collared animals
including deer, elk, and mountain lions;
waterfowl counts; eagle nesting surveys;
and flying cover to monitor operations
when doing helicopter animal captures.
Sometimes they even patrol for poaching.
But for Joi, fish stocking is her favorite
mission at CPW. It's certainly the most
challenging, and she gets to fly in the
stunning high country of Colorado. Joi is
passionate about her work: " It gives me
purpose. I make a difference in the world-
just a small piece, but part of the equation.
It's very gratifying. "
OVER THE HOR I ZON
Will drones someday replace the department's
Skywagons? Possibly. Like many
organizations, Joi says there are ongoing
conversations about that subject. The
department has tried using drones to do
some of the work of the Skywagons, but
the solution hasn't proven workable-yet.
As cameras and unmanned aircraft systems
improve, though, surveys by drone at
least will undoubtedly be more frequent.
" The biggest issue, " she says, " is the
transfer of tribal knowledge from the
pilots who have learned how to perform
this challenging work over decades. " That
unique knowledge, as in many areas of
our world, is fading with each retirement.
One pilot retired last year, and another has
been considering it. She wonders if she's
witnessing the end of an era, when pilots
did these amazing jobs with these amazing
airplanes, yet she is grateful that she
got the chance to do this flying, and she's
proud to have made her dream of flying in
the mountains come true.
At some point, the department will
probably contract some of the work to
helicopters or drones, but until then, she's
living a life of meaning in an airplane that
is designed just for this kind of dream.
Michael Maya Charles is a mentor, speaker,
consultant, flight instructor, and author of
Artful Flying. artfulpublishing.com
CPW's bighorn sheep logo is displayed
on the vertical fin of the Skywagon (note
the vortex generators installed ahead
of the rudder). Half the Skywagon fleet
at Rifle, Colorado, awaiting their little
squirmy passengers. The aluminum tank,
mounted just behind the front pilot's seat,
carries 2,000 to 3,000 fish when loaded
for each mission.
AOPA PILOT / February 2023
69
http://www.artfulpublishing.com
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2023

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