Over the holiday weekend, I spent July 4th hiking near Grand Lake. There is a great trail not far from town that has to be the best place in Colorado to see Moose in the wild. About ten years ago they reintroduced Moose to CO and they have done quite well in this area. Its almost a guarantee that I will see Moose on this particular hike every time I go. It is indeed a wonderful thing to have this in your backyard. I ended up seeing 9 Deer, 4 Moose within ten feet of me and a Grouse along with spectacular scenery. Sure enough, being a pilot, where does my mind wander while hiking the beautiful Rocky Mountains?? Flying, of course! :) I started thinking about skids, slips and moose stalls. I personally believe every pilot should spend time really understanding the aerodynamics of the skid and slip and why the skid can be deadly, while the slip is a great old school skill that every pilot should have in his toolbag. You probably, like I did, are wondering what the heck a moose stall is?
Well, over the winter I attended an FAA safety team seminar called 'Survival Flying' and also purchased the book. It was a fascinating seminar about Bush flying conducted by the pilot/CFI/author Jay Baldwin , the 'piper poet' as he's called because of his affinity for poetry. The premise of the book and the seminar is a "threat based program derived from the special challenges of flying the Alaska bush and departs radically from the manuever based instruction endorsed by the FAA." Although it is based on bush flying, it has lessons for all pilots to be safer in the air and I would highly recommend it.
During this seminar I first learned the term 'Moose stall'. This is Jay's description from the book: "...a funny thing happens when you are turning very steeply over a moose. First, the inside wing of your Cub starts getting in your line of view. A simple solution is to roll toward the outside of the turn and step on a little bottom rudder."
What you are unknowingly setting up is a cross-controlled skid that is essentially the same as the killer base-to-final skidding turn. What happens next is the inside wing stalls, the outside wing doesnt, maintains lift and consequently snaps the aircraft over on its back rather quickly. You are too low to recover and the end game is usually fatal. Pay attention when circling low and slow over any object, moose or otherwise. Watch the ball, keep it centered and never step bottom rudder unless you have altitude to play with. And if you must keep your eyes outside, learn to know the feel of a skidding turn in the seat of your pants.
A young buck in velvet...
This Grouse seemed a little pissed off at me for some reason. I think she may have been protecting her young somewhere nearby. I did my best not to agitate her, but that didnt seem to stop her from squawking at me! Must be a female thing? ;)
Look at the color of that Rocky Mt water!! Gotta love it...
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