World Center for Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft
“The exhilaration of flying is too keen,
the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.”
-Orville Wright
A Green Coyote Crosses the Rockies
By Jerry Allen, M.A.
Editor
Boulder, CO – It was one of those crisp October mornings, the kind that hints of the winter to come. SportPilot.com owners, Glen Marshman and Bob Rubino, had recently completed the construction and fly-off of their latest project, a RANS Coyote II S-6ES. Anxious to see how their light sport aircraft would perform cross-country, they boldly decided to traverse the Continental Divide and do some sightseeing down by the Grand Canyon.
Not your typical first cross-country excursion for a new aircraft, but then these are not typical adventurers. Back in 1988, Glen had competed in the Mr. Universe Competition, winning the runner-up position. This eventually led him to owning successful fitness centers, while Bob excelled at world-class bicycling, skiing, and his main business, land surveying. It was bicycling, though, that brought these two together some 15 years ago, tooling around the red rock country of Moab, Utah.
Longtime pilots, they’re based in Boulder, Colorado, where they’ve partnered to own the Coyote and a couple of hangers at the Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU at 5,288’ ASL). Bob likes the backcountry performance of his Maule which provides a great platform for his other business, aerial photography. Glen on the other hand is a daredevil, so to speak, getting his aerobatic kicks in his blue and yellow Pitts.
Boulder, CO to Farmington, NM
The plan was for Glen to fly the Coyote, while Bob flew along in his Maule, just in case there were problems along the way. However, running two businesses has unexpected demands, and that prevented Bob from leaving the same day as Glen. So around 9 a.m., Glen took off alone from Boulder’s 4,100’ Runway 8 in the green-colored, high-wing LSA heading south for Walsenburg, Colorado.
Glen had expected to encounter winds that morning, but skirting along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, they proved rather turbulent at times. Still the Coyote performed flawlessly for the two-hour flight, albeit bumpily, to the Walsenburg – Spanish Peaks Airport (4V1 at 6,047’ ASL). He circled the unattended, 4,900’ paved runway to judge the play of the windsock, then aligned himself for landing on Runway 8. Surrounded by grass-prairie land, the airport was mostly empty. He refueled at the circa 1920-looking self-serve station, then took off again for the westerly leg.
From the Spanish Peaks Airport, Glen had planned to climb to 12,000’ to give himself plenty of clearance over 10,400’ La Veta Pass, some 28 miles away. This was expected to be the most turbulent part of the trip, crossing the Front Range of the Rockies, and according to La Veta Pass AWOS, it probably would be; the forecast called for 30-knot winds with gusts to 50. He wasn’t even sure that he could make the necessary altitude on the first try, but the 100-horse Rotax 912S proved worthy of its reputation, powering the Coyote up and over the pass with relative ease – much to Glen’s relief.
Crossing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just south of 14,345’ Blanca Peak, the Coyote entered the high plains of the San Luis Valley, where Glen turned south toward Taos, New Mexico. Now cruising along the western range of the Sangre de Cristos, he could see mile after mile of evergreen forests clinging to steep slopes, giving way to the craggy peaks towering above. In less than hour, he landed at the Taos Regional Airport (SKX at 7,091’ ASL) and refueled again, playing it safe while flying the Rockies. Taxiing the little two-seater past numerous jets dotting the tarmac, it was obvious to him that Taos is a well-heeled destination.
As the winds had calmed considerably, the take-off from the 5,800-foot long runway was relatively smooth. Glen turned to a southwesterly heading in order to skirt the southern end of the Mogote Ridge, a nearly 12,000-foot line of mountains separating Taos from his next destination, Farmington, New Mexico. At Abiquiu Reservoir, he turned to the northwest and made a beeline for Four Corners Regional Airport (FMN at 5,506’ ASL), a hundred and ten miles away.
Soon, and without any fanfare, the Coyote crossed the Continental Divide at an indistinguishable point, just east of the tiny town of Llaves, New Mexico. The further west Glen flew, the more vast, dryer, and desert-like the landscape became, with multiple red and sand-colored canyons interspersed with occasional patches of pinon pines.
He entered Farmington’s Class D airspace and received clearance to land at around 5:30 p.m. It had been a long and sometimes grueling day of flying, so after refueling, Glen had a well-deserved dinner then proceeded promptly to a motel for the night. The next day, Bob would catch up and meet him at the airport, but not until around lunchtime, so Glen decided he would get up early and scout the surrounding area, from a bird’s eye view, of course.
Ship Rock Adventure
Thursday morning was clear and calm, the kind that promised a great day of flying. Glen took off to the west heading for Ship Rock, a 7,178-foot high mast of volcanic rock rising some 1,800’ above the desert floor. Resembling a 19th century Clipper Ship, the formation is the remains of a solidified, lava core, formed from the effects of wind and rain over eons of time. The Navajo name is Tsé Bit'a'í, meaning “rock with wings,” referring to the legend of the great bird that brought them to their present lands.
Glen swung clockwise around the southern flank of Ship Rock and headed northwest to the Four Corners National Monument, the only place in the U.S. where you can stand in four states at the same time: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. With a couple of loops around the monument, he turned to the northeast and set a heading for Cortez, Colorado, a mere 35-mile flight. Skirting the southern tip of 8,959-foot high Sleeping Ute Mountain, he neared the southern-most stretch of the high, heavily-forested San Juan Mountains. Landing at the small Cortez Airport (CEZ at 5,918’ ASL) to refuel, he was surprised to see a couple of Beech-19, regional-service turbo props parked nearby.
To complete his tri-legged adventure, Glen headed southwest to Farmington to meet Bob. Timing is everything, as they say, and that was the case as he taxied to a stop just as Bob was tying down the Maule. During their liesurely lunch, Glen convinced Bob to take some aerial pictures of the sites he had explored that morning. So they returned to the airport just after the 11-member Canadian Snowbird Demonstration Team had landed. Speaking with one of the pilots, they learned that the red, white, and blue jets were Canadair CT-114 Tutors, stopping for fuel on their way to an airshow.
The pair watched the team depart as they pre-flighted the Maule. Soon they were heading straight for Ship Rock, meandering along the way so as to allow the sun to sink from its high setting.
They eventually approached the Rock with Glen handling the controls, as Bob readied his camera and lens. Glen slipped the aircraft, just above the stall speed, making it possible for Bob to shoot from the open window with the wing and struts out of his frame of view.
After several passes, Bob was satisfied with the effort, so they landed for a brief stop at nearby Shiprock Airstrip (5V5 at 5,270’ ASL), a facility that existed, according to the FBO, primarily for medivac services. Once airborn again, the duo flew to the Four Corners National Monument and repeated the approach and picture-shooting process, before heading back to Farmington for the night. After securing the Maule and refueling, they treated themselves to a delicious steak dinner at a local brew pub, then turned in early.
Red Rock Country of Sedona, Arizona
On Friday morning, Bob checked the weather on his laptop, then Glen called Flight Service to confirm the forecast. Weather was in the area, but would cause only a slight deviation from their intended route to Sedona, Arizona. After both aircraft took off, they soon saw for themselves that 9,550-foot high Chuska Mountains to the southwest were indeed engulfed in clouds. So they turned a bit more to the south and followed Highway 491 to keep clear of the mountains. Once over Window Rock, they turned again toward the southwest and flew directly for Winslow, Arizona and on to their destination, Sedona.
For the most part, the landscape was dry and barren, until they neared the high country south of Flagstaff, where poderosa pines dominate the area. Then crossing the west edge of Munds Wilderness Area, the forest gave way to steep red rock canyons, pinon pines, and cacti. In matter of only a mile or two, the land dropped from 7,700’ to approximately 4,400’ at Sedona. However, the Sedona Airport (SEZ at 4,830’ ASL) was sitting on top of a plateau, roughly 400’ above and to the immediate south of Sedona.
Glen likened it to landing on an aircraft carrier as he descended at 2,500 fpm. Bob would soon agree with Glen’s analogy over lunch at the airport diner. Later, they rented a car and drove down the flat-topped mountain to take in the sights of Sedona. They picked up a local hiking map and set out for a memrable, four-hour jaunt. (Remember, these guys are athletic.)
Surrounded by towering majestic red rock beauty like Coffee Pot Rock and the Two Sisters, they imagined the experience to be similar to looking up from bottom of the Grand Canyon. Then to top off their day, they had dinner at the Cowboy Club, an old western eartery and bar where, back in the day, stars like John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Jane Wyman, Dick Powell, Glenn Ford, and James Stewart would refresh themselves after filming in the surrounding canyons.
If you get a chance to visit the area, be sure to drive north along the main drag, Highway 89A. Oak Creek Canyon is simply spectacular. And should you continue on up to Flagstaff, it’s only 45 miles total from Sedona. I say “up” to Flagstaff because it is. While Sedona sits at 4,400’, Flag (as the locals call it) sits at a lofty 7,000’. But beware, it can be snowing in Flagstaff while a warm sun shines on Sedona.
Marble Canyon and Monument Valley
The next morning, they both took off to the north toward the west of Flagstaff, until they crossed Interstate 40, about 30 miles out of Sedona. Then they adjusted their heading to the north northeast for a 100-mile flight to Marble Canyon Airstrip (L41 at 3,603’ ASL). Because of the Grand Canyon flight restrictions, they had to stay within a 3-mile radius of the airstrip, so they circled down, taking in the scenery. The challenge of landing on the relatively short (3,715’) and narrow (35’) runway was increased by the sheer 3,000-foot Vermillion Cliffs on the one side and the Colorado River gorge on the other.
From Marble Canyon, Bob and Glen began their trip home to Boulder with a short, 15-minute flight to Page, Arizona, doorstep to Lake Powell, a 186-mile long reservoir with an unbelievable 1,960 miles of shoreline. After refueling the Coyote, they headed east northeast where Bob took a couple of shots of Powell off the Maule’s left wing. Then on the same easterly heading, they flew to the Monument Valley Airstrip (71V at 5,192’ ASL), a private strip requiring a call ahead, which Bob had done.
The Hollywood classic, “Stagecoach,” starring John Wayne, was filmed in the Monument Valley, making the area the iconic symbol of western landscape to generations of movie-goers. If you would like to fly your own plane into the Monument Valley Airstrip, just give a call to Goulding’s Lodge & Trading Post for permission (435-727-3231).
Heading Home
Before long, the pair continued on east northeast for another hundred miles or so to Cortez, Colorado. They refueled again and headed southeast for 150 odd miles, crossing the Navajo Reservoir before turning northeast for Taos at Albiquiu.
After refueling and getting a needed night’s rest, they left Taos early the next morning heading north for La Veta Pass. This time the winds at the pass were from their backs, giving Glen an indicated airspeed of 90 mph in the Coyote but a ground speed of 160 mph. He turned north at Spanish Peaks Airport and landed at Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB at 4,726’ ASL) for refueling, while Bob went on ahead to Boulder.
From there, Glen proceeded north along the Front Range, encountering turbulent winds all the way to about 10 miles out of the Boulder Municipal Airport. Still, Boulder AWOS reported a 20-degree crosswind at 18 knots with gusts to 27 knots. Challenging but manageable for a competent pilot flying a dependable RANS Coyote II.
The trip was over, the Coyote had performed as expected, leaving the pilot-adventurers to begin thinking of their next trip.
