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Mountain Air North Carolina!

jeffkersey

Well Known Member
I have been curious about this destination for a few years.

A student pilot in my town 13 years my senior is working on his private pilot license. I invited him to our EAA meeting and after the meeting he expressed he would like to fly over the Smoky Mountains. I thought I would try to help fuel the fire to keep him studying to get his ticket.

Mountain Air might actually be considered the Appalachian Mountains but we flew over some of the smokies to get there...

This Airport / resort / Golf Course / Country Club is at 4500msl. 2900ft runway cut out of the top of a mountain.

I am disappointed in myself for forgetting to tell my passenger to video the approach. It was spectacular. I was focused on being on my game and just forgot. Here are a couple video angles of the departure. This was a bucket list airport for me and one of the most breath taking approaches i have done. You must get permission to land because it is private but it is well worth the trip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miKvxIaFtYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvJIsZVsvdA
 
another video

The wind over the mountains around Asheville has been unusually subdued for the last week. I've never landed at Mountain Air but I took this video in the same general area with my Garmin Virb Elite tail-cam the day before your flight: Over the Mountains West of Asheville
 
Beautiful Video

The wind over the mountains around Asheville has been unusually subdued for the last week. I've never landed at Mountain Air but I took this video in the same general area with my Garmin Virb Elite tail-cam the day before your flight: Over the Mountains West of Asheville

It was a perfect day for me to fly over there. Just some popcorn clouds to dodge as I was looking for the airfield.

Beautiful video. Lancair? I have not flown one but love the way they look and the numbers in the performance specs for top speed and efficiency. I imagine you approach speeds might be almost twice what mine are. You'd want to put it down on the numbers, or shortly after, and get on the binders! Land up hill on 32.... don't do it unless you can consistently land in less than 2000 feet somewhere else. Runway is only 2900 ft and an overrun spells disaster....
 
... don't do it unless you can consistently land in less than 2000 feet somewhere else.
That lets me out. I love my Lancair but you RV guys can go many more places than I can. I don't do grass strips or short runways. I can easily land in 2,900', but not 2,000'. My approach speed is 75-80 KIAS but the real problem is the tiny little tires on the Lancair 235. They had to be small to fit up inside the wings. If I apply the brakes above 50 KIAS, I'll flat spot the tires.

Thanks for your videos. Here are some more Cliffs And Mountains Make This A Challenging Private Airport. (These look scary to me.)
 
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