Landing on gravel bars is not my thing.
Not that Whiskyblue couldn’t handle it, all she needs are perhaps bigger tires and she’d master everything even a very experienced pilot could challenge her with.
On my trip I just wasn’t into bagging landings in difficult spots.
Of course, all the upgrades and bush mods on my bird take its performance for backcountry flying to a new level and open up access to very challenging strips, but for me they are primarily safety enhancing add-ons.
Case in point: my landings “the wrong way” In Garden Valley and Warm Springs.
The Idaho-Airports app recommends landing rwy 10 in U88 and rwy 02 in 0U1.
In both locations the windsock pointed straight downwind when I got there.
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(a Kodiak on) Approach on rwy 28 into Garden Valley
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Looking towards approach end of rwy 20 Warm Springs
From above, I looked at the approach paths to land into the wind. Short doglegs on base and final - doable, I decided.
With the Sportsman cuff with VG’s I had excellent maneuverability at 52mph, which is about 1.5 vso, and approach and landing turned out perfectly.
Then there was an added safety bonus; if I had had to abort for any reason, the go-around would have been in the recommended direction for takeoff.
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When I reviewed my decisions later at the campfires I felt good about them.
I also realized that my experience with gliders in the mountains played a role: I felt comfortable flying close to the terrain and was confident in my ability to correctly assess the local wind conditions.
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