Site ideas for a big Western US soaring trip next season

On Saturday, November 28, 2020 at 8:12:11 AM UTC-7, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Ted Frost wrote on 11/21/2020 8:03 AM:
Having been a member of the Soaring Society of Boulder CO for 28yrs, I highly recommend that site! I also recommend Eagle Soaring airfield in Steamboat Springs CO, my current club. The Park mountain range is nearby and provides good lift during the May-September soaring season.
Ted Frost
I prefer a paved airport for my ASH26E self-launcher, instead of Eagle Soaring's turf. Would
operating out of Steamboat Springs be a reasonable alternative? It has a great runway and low
activity, according to Airnav.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
Bob Adams airport, the municipal airport operated by the City, is ~2mi NE of Eagle Soaring airfield and offers a paved runway. As a new resident of Steamboat Springs I've only heard of one motorglider calling the pattern there. You're correct that activity there is light and self-launching shouldn't be a problem.

Bob Adams airport, the municipal airport operated by the City, is ~2mi NE of Eagle Soaring airfield and offers a paved runway.
As a new resident of Steamboat Springs I've only heard of one motorglider calling the pattern there.
You're correct that activity there is light and self-launching shouldn't be a problem.

I trust the airport manager there is more hospitable than was the case ~12 years ago. It ranks as the second-worst treatment I've ever witnessed. We wound up moving, and made a couple of launches (the first ones in gliders, I expect) from what is now Eagle Soaring.

In terms of soaring possibilities, both these sites are first-rate.

On 12/2/20 8:53 AM, John Good wrote:
Bob Adams airport, the municipal airport operated by the City, is ~2mi NE of Eagle Soaring airfield and offers a paved runway.
As a new resident of Steamboat Springs I've only heard of one motorglider calling the pattern there.
You're correct that activity there is light and self-launching shouldn't be a problem.

I trust the airport manager there is more hospitable than was the case ~12 years ago. It ranks as the second-worst treatment I've ever witnessed. We wound up moving, and made a couple of launches (the first ones in gliders, I expect) from what is now Eagle Soaring.

In terms of soaring possibilities, both these sites are first-rate.


I Haven't flown out of the municipal airport, but believe it's got lots
of private jets. Yampa Valley used to be a good alternative, but it's
got commercial traffic now.

Highly recommend Craig, good runway, friendly people, easy to get east
over Steamboat into North Park. Flew there a couple years ago.

I Haven't flown out of the municipal airport, but believe it's got lots
of private jets.

It has one 4450' runway at an elevation of almost 7000' - could be challenging for a decent percentage of private jets.


Highly recommend Craig, good runway, friendly people

Craig gets two thumbs up. The scenery on a flight west from there to Dinosaur National Monument / Vernal UT should impress anyone.

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 6:28:11 PM UTC-7, John Good wrote:
I Haven't flown out of the municipal airport, but believe it's got lots
of private jets.
It has one 4450' runway at an elevation of almost 7000' - could be challenging for a decent percentage of private jets.
Highly recommend Craig, good runway, friendly people
Craig gets two thumbs up. The scenery on a flight west from there to Dinosaur National Monument / Vernal UT should impress anyone.

One consideration would be to download and fly potential locations on Condor. Most of the Western US is now covered by various maps/sceneries on Condor2. For MT that would include the Yellowstone and Ronan sceneries.

On Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 1:41:04 PM UTC-7, John Foster wrote:
On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 6:28:11 PM UTC-7, John Good wrote:
I Haven't flown out of the municipal airport, but believe it's got lots
of private jets.
It has one 4450' runway at an elevation of almost 7000' - could be challenging for a decent percentage of private jets.
Highly recommend Craig, good runway, friendly people
Craig gets two thumbs up. The scenery on a flight west from there to Dinosaur National Monument / Vernal UT should impress anyone.
One consideration would be to download and fly potential locations on Condor. Most of the Western US is now covered by various maps/sceneries on Condor2. For MT that would include the Yellowstone and Ronan sceneries.

To update this some, Condor Club now has "NW Montana" and "Yellowstone Park" that cover parts of MT. There are other great sceneries that cover the Sierras, Cascades, and Great Basin/UT as well. Worth checking out.