Off-strip Flying

[StudentPilot]

I am interested in getting into off-strip flying next year once my current contract expires. I've heard some places consider private grass, gravel, or dirt strips "off-strip" - I am more interested in learning the art of flying small planes with big wheels from sand bars, mountainsides, random meadows, and such. I am aware that most of the off-strip flying seems to be in the Yukon, northern BC, and the Mackenzie Mountains with big game outfitters and I was wondering if there was much in the way of off-strip flying elsewhere in the country.

For those who have been there and done this already, any advice to an off-strip wannabe? Should I make the plunge, or would it be ideal to go do something else as a first step? ie I recall reading that General Airspray has Super Cubs that are often operated from roads. Since I've never done any off-strip flying before, are there any outfitters or operators that stand out as far as training their pilots for off-strip work goes? Anyone that I shouldn't aspire to work for (ie ratty planes, no maintenance, overloads, no training, etc)? - Best left to PMs so the thread doesn't get pulled... Anything else that would be good to know before getting into this niche?

SP

[trey kule]

Over the last 20 years Canada has vastly improved the airstrips. And you are correct. Most of todays new pilots consider landing on anything but pavement an excitement.There simply is not really that much off strip work as you described it. If you really want to do remote unprepared stuff you should look into Indonesia or Papua New Guinia (PNG) flying porters. Probably some other places around the world.

I dont know your age or experience, but while this kind of flying sounds like fun, it is not. It is dangerous hard flying.. And unlike in the video game or theatre, there is no mulligan if things dont work out. You dont make clever jokes and walk away.You get hurt or worse. And with experience it does not get better as they send the most experienced pilots in to the worst places. Which is my subtle way of suggesting you really think this idea through if you are going to folllow that path.

[Rowdy]

Borek, Tindi, ASW etc all operate in the NWT and NU offstrip in the summer time and to ice strips in the winter. Might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's definitly not pavement to pavement either. The twin and the turbo otter will go into some pretty interesting places.

[StudentPilot]

I've thought about a number of the places in Yellowknife and especially Borek, but at this point I'd rather fly something single pilot, small (Super Cub, 180/185, etc), and ideally seasonal work. They're on my list of future places to work, but not what I'm looking for right now. I've often thought about PNG, but as mentioned above, I would prefer to find seasonal work at the moment and I expect PNG would be year round. Thanks for your thoughts nonetheless, something to keep in mind.

[Sky Pilot]

I used to fly a tail-dragger to the south end of Lake Winnipeg, just east of the delta. I'd land and go swimming for a day. The beach sand was a bit tricky.. Too wet or too dry and you'd sink and swerve. Put one wheel down and feel it out. Damp sand (not wet) is the best. Be watchful of wind changes. Once, the wind shifted to North and the water started to pile up just like a tide. My brakes were half submerged before we noticed. We were able to pull the bird to higher ground and take off.

Last time i flew over that beach, logs were piled up all over, making landing impossible. The water was brown and foul looking, and a large green chemical induced algae bloom lurked to the north. Good thing there are other planets out there, we are using this one up fast.

[Cadismack]

There are only two paved strips in the Yukon. Something to consider

[robertsailor1]

When it gets a little warmer you might try the beach on Vargas Island, used to camp there years ago. I've been in there with everything from a 180 to a Bellanca Viking. That was 20 years ago, maybe its not allowed anymore.

[bigsky]

There are only two paved strips in the Yukon. Something to consider

Perhaps two paved locations.
But 4 paved strips
CYXY-3
CYQH-1

[kiloindiapapa]

Start your research, talk to the people who do it daily and check out the books and videos that are dedicated to it. One that comes to mind is Big Rocks Long Props. You can buy the collection and see clips on you tube. Watch and learn and if any thing feed the desire.

[StudentPilot]

I didn't realize that the Yukon had so few paved strips, although it isn't that surprising. I've wanted to work in the Yukon for quite awhile, I was kind of hoping to get there (or the Mackenzie Mountains) with an off-strip job but I have also been thinking about other jobs up there.

Thanks for the advice Kilo, time to go bug some Cub drivers I think...

[Blaine Beaven]

I used to do quite a bit of "off-strip" flying, and miss it immensely. The challange is very exciting and makes you feel great when you do a good job. But it is higher risk than regular flying. I would recommend finding an employer that has a good training program and experienced pilots to show you the ropes.

[JerryCan]

If you are heading up around Yellowknife try Summit Air. They do off-strip work. CP is a great guy and the training is good. Tindi and Arctic Sunwest might also be an option for you. Anyway good luck, hope you find what your looking for.

[sheephunter]

Sure miss the YT, and the Mac Mountains, the wheels, and the gravel. Flying "offstrip" means a lot of different things to different people. The true offstrip flying here in Canada is for the outfitters where hunters are getting dropped off where there is no strip only your imagination and ABW less than 30" are for city folk having fun on weekends. The following photo is what some call offstrip. I think of it more as a gravel runway and lots of fun but the real offstrip is in a cub with 35" tires, brush slapping the wings, rocks, water, mud and no one on the radio one way strips and no room to spare. I truly miss it.

[all_ramped_up]

also! Labrador is mainly gravel and offstrip work as well in addition to some floats.

ANOTHER spot to consider.

[trey kule]

I am a bit confused when I read these threads as to exactly what is meant by off stirp.

To me it is landing on goat trails in the mountains, or a little piece of ground in the arctic.
What it is not, is landing at an airstrip..(hence, I suppose the name). Yet people talk of the number of unpaved airstrips here and there.

This is not a thread drift or hijack. On another thread people were defining grass fields as soft fields, and I get the impression people are defining remote airstrips as off strip. Perhaps it is our whole training program that puts ideas inside peoples heads to define things as they see them...so let me start ...if the place you land is an airstrip, airport aerodrome....No matter if it is muddy, or small...It is a landing place that has/is being used. It is not offstrip. Think of offstrip as landing in places on wheels similar to the way float planes land on different lakes.

Now, as people mentioned, it has a much increased risk factor. Excitement for a young pilot. Adventure. And despite all the Holy Shits taking off and landing, not that bad until you see one of your buddies mangled bodies being taken out of a wreck on a mountain, that it finally starts to sink in that what you are doing is really dangerous. No mulligans like on the old X-box.

Which is my way of saying, think this over as a career real well. It is hard to understand , but experience here is necessary, and there is really only one way to get it, and that is to be lucky.
If you are worng about your luck you could well end up dead or crippled.

I know I am talking to a wall with the adrenniliy enhanced, but you just might decide in the future to take a more sedate part of aviaition to advance in, and that is hard, as employers of most companies dont want cowboys. And even if that is a misconception, it is the perception

[sheephunter]

Trey, you're absolutely correct but for most the closest to offstrip many will get to is a slightly wet or muddy mine strip like I posted and so called offstrip maybe because of intitial training where a hard packed, cut grass strip at the airport was their so called soft field practice landing area .... if so, mud would be offstrip and going where no one has made tracks is out of question. Now, once we make those first track up a mountain ridge or on a short gravel bar, does it then become an airstrip and not offstrip? What about a jungle strip in the mountains? Very dangerous environment, but is it offstrip? I haven't been to New Guinea but every bit of footage I see an airport. As for danger, yes it is all dangerous the shorter, the narrower, the higher, the heavier and the more complacent you get. For the most part, not many pilots ever fly true offstrip especially as a daily routine so you are correct in that offstrip is very much imaginary for many and for many it should remain that way. It is a skill set that no one has to start off and the learning curve is steep and not very forgiving. My first year in the MacKenzies, I did 300hrs. with wet paint on my license. In my third season I lost my best friend and mentor with well over 10,000 hrs. behind him. It is a very harsh environment, but the strips, mountains, weather is not always the cause. Sometimes things happen that shouldn't and it isn't because of where you were, why it happened. Because we are all in aviation and it being such a small community, we will loose more than our fair share of friends and aquaintences before their time and true offstrip flying takes a lot of that total so as you state or imply, it should be something that you give serious consideration prior to jumping in.
Nice Gravel Airport on the Alaskan Peninsula

A little Rougher Country

Gravel Bar

[nutbutter]

I am a bit confused when I read these threads as to exactly what is meant by off stirp.

To me it is landing on goat trails in the mountains, or a little piece of ground in the arctic.
What it is not, is landing at an airstrip..(hence, I suppose the name). Yet people talk of the number of unpaved airstrips here and there.

This is not a thread drift or hijack. On another thread people were defining grass fields as soft fields, and I get the impression people are defining remote airstrips as off strip. Perhaps it is our whole training program that puts ideas inside peoples heads to define things as they see them...so let me start ...if the place you land is an airstrip, airport aerodrome....No matter if it is muddy, or small...It is a landing place that has/is being used. It is not offstrip. Think of offstrip as landing in places on wheels similar to the way float planes land on different lakes.

Now, as people mentioned, it has a much increased risk factor. Excitement for a young pilot. Adventure. And despite all the Holy Shits taking off and landing, not that bad until you see one of your buddies mangled bodies being taken out of a wreck on a mountain, that it finally starts to sink in that what you are doing is really dangerous. No mulligans like on the old X-box.

Which is my way of saying, think this over as a career real well. It is hard to understand , but experience here is necessary, and there is really only one way to get it, and that is to be lucky.
If you are worng about your luck you could well end up dead or crippled.

I know I am talking to a wall with the adrenniliy enhanced, but you just might decide in the future to take a more sedate part of aviaition to advance in, and that is hard, as employers of most companies dont want cowboys. And even if that is a misconception, it is the perception

This
I will add my own humble definition(s) too:
I consider anything off strip be just that. Float, ski, or wheel flying whereby you are not taking off, landing, taxiing, or even parking on even a makeshift runway and ramp. Even the smallest, gnarliest little strip is still by the very definition of the word a "strip," and therefore to be considered "on strip flying" or "Short and Soft field work." Off strip work is not governed by a path someone has carved through the trees for the purpose of take off and landing, but it is governed by the PIC's judgment, creativity, experience, and local environmental conditions (and would include things like beaches, sandbars, lakes, rivers, oceans, unprepared frozen bodies of water, rocks, tundra, etc. Rotary guys do this kind of thing all the time, as do most float and ski operators. Harder to find are the outfits that still use Super cubs, C185/206/180/208's, DHC2/3/4/5/6/7's on tundra tires for off strip work. Good luck in your search btw, and good luck with the flying. As mentioned above there are plenty of guys with 10k hrs who were much better pilots than I will ever be, who have been killed doing this kind of work, and the only reason any of us survived doing it in the first place was a combination of blind luck, good decision making, and creativity.
Also I consider "bush flying" to be primarily "off strip work" conducted from remote locations, alone, with very little in the way of services such as fuelers, rampys, scales, runways and ramps, maintenance, weather information, communications, dispatch, ground vehicles and equipment, and emergency services. Usually its you, a few drums of fuel (that you probably dropped off yourself), a leatherman, duct tape, a mouse infested crew house condemned a few decades ago, or a tent (old leaky POS), and if you're lucky some type of vehicle (quad, truck or van) that you can boost the 12V airplane with when you leave the master on overnight.

[nutbutter]

BTW those pics are amazing sheephunter, that's about as off strip as it can get.

[sheephunter]

Nutbutter, that in my opinion is a very good analysis of offstrip, onstrip and bushflying. But it does get a whole lot more offstrip... I just don't have a scanner to get my pictures on here and surprised that some of the cub guys haven't jumped in here with some photos. The first trip in is always the best, then you move the roots, rocks, bumps, brush until you now have a 300' airport. Long props & big rocks shows what can be done to make money selling DVD's but also shows the capabilities of not only some of these pilots but also the aircraft modded up to do this work that is still going on in sheep country every fall. In todays world with everyone having an up to date map on their lap, gps backup, google earth for preliminary visuals, hand held radios on the ground, exact coordinates, we have it easy compared to the guys that opened the north up with very little information to work with, limited formal training and not much more for equippment than a big set to sit on. I guess as mining and logging continues to build roads into the not so long ago, untouched wilderness I suppose this type of flying will slowly come to an end. I hope all that feel they want to try offstrip work do so with some understanding of what they are truly getting into and go ahead with respect and enjoy every minute of it. You will get places that no many people ever see and land maybe find that secret honey hole to land that no one will ever find.
Made some tracks now going into land.

On the ground.

[Fling Wing]

If I wanted to be a commercial pilot, this guy here has the job I would strive for. If you look through the pages, you'll see some of the amazing places he puts his cub.
http://blog.blueiceaviation.com/

[nutbutter]

Nutbutter, that in my opinion is a very good analysis of offstrip, onstrip and bushflying. But it does get a whole lot more offstrip... I just don't have a scanner to get my pictures on here and surprised that some of the cub guys haven't jumped in here with some photos. The first trip in is always the best, then you move the roots, rocks, bumps, brush until you now have a 300' airport. Long props & big rocks shows what can be done to make money selling DVD's but also shows the capabilities of not only some of these pilots but also the aircraft modded up to do this work that is still going on in sheep country every fall. In todays world with everyone having an up to date map on their lap, gps backup, google earth for preliminary visuals, hand held radios on the ground, exact coordinates, we have it easy compared to the guys that opened the north up with very little information to work with, limited formal training and not much more for equippment than a big set to sit on. I guess as mining and logging continues to build roads into the not so long ago, untouched wilderness I suppose this type of flying will slowly come to an end. I hope all that feel they want to try offstrip work do so with some understanding of what they are truly getting into and go ahead with respect and enjoy every minute of it. You will get places that no many people ever see and land maybe find that secret honey hole to land that no one will ever find.
Made some tracks now going into land.

On the ground.

Thanks, those pics are f&%king awesome btw, post more!

[Midnight Sun Flyer]

Trey, you're absolutely correct but for most the closest to offstrip many will get to is a slightly wet or muddy mine strip like I posted and so called offstrip maybe because of intitial training where a hard packed, cut grass strip at the airport was their so called soft field practice landing area .... if so, mud would be offstrip and going where no one has made tracks is out of question. Now, once we make those first track up a mountain ridge or on a short gravel bar, does it then become an airstrip and not offstrip? What about a jungle strip in the mountains? Very dangerous environment, but is it offstrip? I haven't been to New Guinea but every bit of footage I see an airport. As for danger, yes it is all dangerous the shorter, the narrower, the higher, the heavier and the more complacent you get. For the most part, not many pilots ever fly true offstrip especially as a daily routine so you are correct in that offstrip is very much imaginary for many and for many it should remain that way. It is a skill set that no one has to start off and the learning curve is steep and not very forgiving. My first year in the MacKenzies, I did 300hrs. with wet paint on my license. In my third season I lost my best friend and mentor with well over 10,000 hrs. behind him. It is a very harsh environment, but the strips, mountains, weather is not always the cause. Sometimes things happen that shouldn't and it isn't because of where you were, why it happened. Because we are all in aviation and it being such a small community, we will loose more than our fair share of friends and aquaintences before their time and true offstrip flying takes a lot of that total so as you state or imply, it should be something that you give serious consideration prior to jumping in.
Nice Gravel Airport on the Alaskan Peninsula

A little Rougher Country

Gravel Bar

I Love them pictures, can't beat the off strip stuff...never a dull moment.

[Midnight Sun Flyer]

also! Labrador is mainly gravel and offstrip work as well in addition to some floats.

ANOTHER spot to consider.

There was a fair amount of off strip stuff in Labrador after the Voisey's Bay Nickel, Copper & Cobalt discovery around the mid 1990's then it slacked off.

[just curious]

While all the foregoing is true, and sheephunter managed to reveal some of the best aspects of flying, my last week of it also yielded that off-strip is heavily governed by:

• "I think I can",
• "That looks about right" (TLAR), One the Twin we have dual TLAR. I say that looks about right and the other driver nods and says, Uh Huh.
• Holy Cow (or other appropriate Deity )
• And occasionally "Oh, Sh*t!",followed closely after by , "Well, now what?"

Being able to polish yourself up from Expression one to expression two is a desirable and necessary part of off-strip.

Given the lack of accessible support a firm command of the word NO is also important.

Mostly though, it's fun.

[ScudRunner]

Ah the Yukon, I do miss it. kinda hard to believe that was 5 years ago.
I think my rotate speed these days is the cruise speed of that thing.





Is this more what you had in mind?