John Wright and his 1946 Taylorcraft BC12-D

June 20, 2005:  The weather rained out my flying today after getting my wheel pants back on my airplane.  I went up to the FBO lobby to check the weather radar and found John Wright had been there looking for me.  He had come to the airport to buy some 100LL fuel for this classic airplane that he keeps at a grass strip a few miles from the Collegedale Airport.  Since it was raining this afternoon, he chose not to fly over to the airport, but came in his truck with his fuel container.  I followed him back to his grass strip and found this blue and yellow bird parked next to the runway.  The plastic storage boxes help to protect the tires, while a custom-built galvanized sheet metal "shield box" covers the wood prop from the rain and sun.

Standing in the middle of his runway, looking west is the approach path alongside the power lines near the top of the hill.   You keep the power lines on the left side of your airplane before you make a 45-degree turn to final.  I am leaving this photo full-sized to retain all the details.  Just to keep the approach interesting, there are TWO creeks down at that end of the runway.  The closest one is literally at the threshold of the runway where you see some low bushes at the end of the mowed area of the runway.  The second creek is where the short trees and bushes are located.  That single tree out there is in the farmer's field between the runway and the power lines.  So if you are flying into this strip, you have to approach by coming by the power line support tower you see on the horizon in the left half of the photo.  With that on your left wing and flying parallel to the power lines, you are on "base leg" for this strip.  You turn final right over that single tree out there.  You had better be touching down just after you cross the closest creek to the runway.  The house out there between the first row of trees and the power line tower is why you stay close to and parallel to the power lines on "base leg".

The reason you have to be down on the runway way down there is because of what is up ahead.  When I turn around from where the picture above is taken, I saw this view of the remaining runway.  You definitely want to have things under control on this end of the strip.  Running off the runway is NOT an option here due to the forest on both sides.  As for takeoffs, you start way down there near those cars and the building where the trees begin and come toward my camera location.  That means you are also heading for the power lines seen in the photo above.

John had asked me to come with him, not only to see his air strip, but to help him cover up his airplane, not from the rain, but from the sunshine.  This airplane was re-covered not too long ago and John wants to keep the fabric in good shape.   Right after I snapped this picture, John and I put the tarps back over the entire airplane.  We got finished just as the rain started again.  At that point I knew I was not going flying this afternoon and packed up for day and went home.  My airplane was locked up and still safe in the hangar back at Collegedale.