I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wish there were some awesome back-country airstrips around here. I’d probably make a sorry bush pilot and I might fold up anything I tried to fly into those awesome back-country strips, but I can dream. Now, instead of doing productive things that might make that dream come true, I often fill the empty, and sometimes not so empty, space in my schedule by surfing Youtube or doing something dumb in FSX (e.g., my patented loop to touch-down final approach). It was during one of these sessions that I came across today’s Movie Monday clips.

I imagine that some people might not be familiar with certain flying jargon and to them the title of this post may seem curious. In short, a strip that is referred to as “one way in, one way out” is simply an airstrip that can only be approached from one direction due to obstacles or some other reason, such as gradient. Most of these strips do not allow for a go-around, so you are pretty much committed once you begin the approach.

These clips feature an approach, landing and take-off at a Forest Service strip in the Idaho known as Cabin Creek USFS (I08). As you can see in the video, Cabin Creek is pretty much a one way in, one way out airstrip. There is no way you’d be able to out-fly the terrain since it is right up against a very steep hill. If you’re lucky, you might manage to turn out over the trees, but there isn’t really a viable option for a go-around.

As with any mountain flying, the deck is pretty much stacked against you. You can see in the videos, the strip features a number of hazards that most cushy city-folk will never encounter. More importantly, with concerns like high density altitude and short strip lengths, not every aircraft is going to be able to successfully operate from these back-country strips. According to the description, the pilot in the film is operating a Super Stinson 108-2. I don’t know exactly what modifications that entails over a stock Stinson 108, but my guess is probably little more than engine upgrade considering the Stinson 108 is a pretty rugged to begin with.

Here’s the take-off:

Anyway, both videos are available in HD, so I recommend you burn the bandwidth and watch them at 720p. Additionally, like the creator of the videos I’d like to urge you to support the Recreational Aviation Foundation and/or, if you feel so compelled, the Idaho Aviation Foundation who offer some awesome posters for contributors. Some of the coolest places are at risk of being shut down if not for the efforts of these groups and others like them.