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Info on KPSO Steven’s Field, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
- Thread starter Av8safe
- Start date
Pagosa Springs
Hello, Mitch,
I live in Pagosa Springs and fly our RV8 from Stevens Field. We do a lot of Mountain Flying here! First piece of advice: Never fly IFR or at night over the mountains - it leaves you no "outs." Coming from Indiana, you could route to Vigil Intersection south of Pueblo, then over Mosca Pass (9740'), just north of Latvia Pass and Alamosa, taking you over Great Sand Dunes National Park. Then turn west using Rominger airport (KRCV) as a waypoint for Wolf Creek Pass (10,600'), where you will pass by Wolf Creek Ski Area, then a 15 mile descent towards KPSO. The no wind runway is 19, but caution for the Corporate jets who seem to think that 1 is "their" runway. I would recommend that you make an upwind entry to 19 to get a look at the runway environment and the wind sock. The wind is usually from the southwest.
Do you know when you will be traveling to KPSO? We can get your RV7 into our hangar (we have our RV8 and a RV12) no problem. Upon landing, go to the end, and turn left on Taxiway Bravo; our hanger is at the far northeast end of Taxiway bravo. I will need to meet you there to get you into our hangar. We have self-serve (and truck) fuel available, but a bit expensive at $6.95/gal.
Pagosa Springs has a great Experimental community with our RV8, an RV12, two RV4s, a RV14, two GlassAir III, a GlaStar and a couple RV7s in progress. We do a lot of formation (FFI rules) flying.
Nearly activity you might like is here. Hiking, camping, mountain biking, skiing, fishing, hot springs, great motorcycle roads and wonderful flying scenery. Winter is a great time to fly here, as the air is usually very smooth. In the summer we say "off by 0700, on by 1100" to avoid turbulence.
Finally, read the book Flying Colorado Mountain Weather by Margaret W. Lamb. It is a bit of a doomsday book because of the limited power of "Spam Cans" but the better power/weight of the RV overcomes much of the downside of mountain flying; the book is a good primer.
Hope this proves helpful.
Hello, Mitch,
I live in Pagosa Springs and fly our RV8 from Stevens Field. We do a lot of Mountain Flying here! First piece of advice: Never fly IFR or at night over the mountains - it leaves you no "outs." Coming from Indiana, you could route to Vigil Intersection south of Pueblo, then over Mosca Pass (9740'), just north of Latvia Pass and Alamosa, taking you over Great Sand Dunes National Park. Then turn west using Rominger airport (KRCV) as a waypoint for Wolf Creek Pass (10,600'), where you will pass by Wolf Creek Ski Area, then a 15 mile descent towards KPSO. The no wind runway is 19, but caution for the Corporate jets who seem to think that 1 is "their" runway. I would recommend that you make an upwind entry to 19 to get a look at the runway environment and the wind sock. The wind is usually from the southwest.
Do you know when you will be traveling to KPSO? We can get your RV7 into our hangar (we have our RV8 and a RV12) no problem. Upon landing, go to the end, and turn left on Taxiway Bravo; our hanger is at the far northeast end of Taxiway bravo. I will need to meet you there to get you into our hangar. We have self-serve (and truck) fuel available, but a bit expensive at $6.95/gal.
Pagosa Springs has a great Experimental community with our RV8, an RV12, two RV4s, a RV14, two GlassAir III, a GlaStar and a couple RV7s in progress. We do a lot of formation (FFI rules) flying.
Nearly activity you might like is here. Hiking, camping, mountain biking, skiing, fishing, hot springs, great motorcycle roads and wonderful flying scenery. Winter is a great time to fly here, as the air is usually very smooth. In the summer we say "off by 0700, on by 1100" to avoid turbulence.
Finally, read the book Flying Colorado Mountain Weather by Margaret W. Lamb. It is a bit of a doomsday book because of the limited power of "Spam Cans" but the better power/weight of the RV overcomes much of the downside of mountain flying; the book is a good primer.
Hope this proves helpful.
Av8safe
Well Known Member
Thanks for the info Craig, I am just gathering info as I consider a trip there to do some hiking and “take in the waters”. If it gets past the bucket list planning stage I will be in touch. All of my Western mountain flying experience is in heavy iron, with a bit of GA flying in the Appalachians, so your local guidance is helpful!
Best regards,
Mitch
Best regards,
Mitch
Good info for me as well as a long time friend and colleague moved there and built a hangar for his several planes (none are RVs
) after he retired and will be planning to fly there to visit in the not to distant future.
Roadjunkie1
Well Known Member
Mountain Flying
The area you are thinking about is one of the most beautiful in the country. It is also one of the most rugged. Mountain flying is a completely different animal than "flat land" flying. And you HAVE to know what you are doing. The performance of your airplane has nothing to do with conditions you will encounter flying mountains because a mountain wave can outpower anything you might be flying. O2 is nice but you might not be able to get above everything.
I am a native Coloradoan and learned to fly Mountains in Montana in a 65hp J-3 Cub....which was just one step up from soaring! I would fly mountains every chance I got to figure out as much as I could about their unique type of flying. Things can happen suddenly there including weather that can change in minutes. Down drafts that take one by surprise. (Early morning. Absolutely clear day: I was trying to get from Cody WY to West Yellowstone and was following a ridge and riding an amazing wave UP. Just as I was about to crest the ridge, I was suddenly coming DOWN so fast there was fuel coming out of the 12 gallon nose tank! I had planned on that [well, not EXACTLY that....] and it was just a matter of a left turn into the WIDE valley and putting West Yellowstone off until another day).
I would suggest several things before flying Mountains:1) Get some quality Mountain Flying Instruction. Hopefully you have time for that before you head over here. 2) Read every thing you can find about Mountain Flying. Not as good as instruction but will give you some idea about what the instruction will be like. Mountain Weather is important but WIND in the Mountains may be more important to know and what it will do. 3) Always have an "out". Flying to West Yellowstone I had a huge valley to fly into. There are times you just have to trust your craft but those should be short and only when necessary. 4) Talk to locals (like gear1) about the best routes through places. Monarch Pass North of there has long been known as an aviation fooler. It looks like a good pass; it isn't. I was raised in Durango and going over Wolf Creek Pass was a common occurrence. Driving.
I flew Search and Rescue for years in Montana and Mountains were where people got in trouble. I am NOT discouraging you from coming Out West; just come prepared!
The Appalachians would be what we call "Foothills" here. Our airplanes are amazing in nearly all environments including Mountains. Service ceiling (22-25,000 feet!!!) Will help you in many ways. But knowing how to fly a sometimes inhospitable terrain will help as well.
The area you are thinking about is one of the most beautiful in the country. It is also one of the most rugged. Mountain flying is a completely different animal than "flat land" flying. And you HAVE to know what you are doing. The performance of your airplane has nothing to do with conditions you will encounter flying mountains because a mountain wave can outpower anything you might be flying. O2 is nice but you might not be able to get above everything.
I am a native Coloradoan and learned to fly Mountains in Montana in a 65hp J-3 Cub....which was just one step up from soaring!
I would fly mountains every chance I got to figure out as much as I could about their unique type of flying. Things can happen suddenly there including weather that can change in minutes. Down drafts that take one by surprise. (Early morning. Absolutely clear day: I was trying to get from Cody WY to West Yellowstone and was following a ridge and riding an amazing wave UP. Just as I was about to crest the ridge, I was suddenly coming DOWN so fast there was fuel coming out of the 12 gallon nose tank! I had planned on that [well, not EXACTLY that....] and it was just a matter of a left turn into the WIDE valley and putting West Yellowstone off until another day).I would suggest several things before flying Mountains:1) Get some quality Mountain Flying Instruction. Hopefully you have time for that before you head over here. 2) Read every thing you can find about Mountain Flying. Not as good as instruction but will give you some idea about what the instruction will be like. Mountain Weather is important but WIND in the Mountains may be more important to know and what it will do. 3) Always have an "out". Flying to West Yellowstone I had a huge valley to fly into. There are times you just have to trust your craft but those should be short and only when necessary. 4) Talk to locals (like gear1) about the best routes through places. Monarch Pass North of there has long been known as an aviation fooler. It looks like a good pass; it isn't. I was raised in Durango and going over Wolf Creek Pass was a common occurrence. Driving.
I flew Search and Rescue for years in Montana and Mountains were where people got in trouble. I am NOT discouraging you from coming Out West; just come prepared!
The Appalachians would be what we call "Foothills" here.
Our airplanes are amazing in nearly all environments including Mountains. Service ceiling (22-25,000 feet!!!) Will help you in many ways. But knowing how to fly a sometimes inhospitable terrain will help as well.
Av8safe
Well Known Member
Respect for the Mountains
Michael,
Wise words indeed…you can bet if I do make it out there I will be as prepared as possible. But as you stated, even with the best preparation there can still be surprises. This is true even when I fly the work machine over unforgiving locations. Mountain waves can beat up the biggest birds too!
Aviation is amazing, but can be unforgiving. Unfortunately, I have plenty of experience over my career, which includes accident investigations, to reflect on that truth. That’s why I am thankful for this forum and those who are able to share their experience, whether building or flying these amazing RV’s, with safety in mind.
-Mitch
Michael,
Wise words indeed…you can bet if I do make it out there I will be as prepared as possible. But as you stated, even with the best preparation there can still be surprises. This is true even when I fly the work machine over unforgiving locations. Mountain waves can beat up the biggest birds too!
Aviation is amazing, but can be unforgiving. Unfortunately, I have plenty of experience over my career, which includes accident investigations, to reflect on that truth. That’s why I am thankful for this forum and those who are able to share their experience, whether building or flying these amazing RV’s, with safety in mind.
-Mitch
