I have long wanted to try the strip at Ram River Falls but always wondered how the Rotax 582 in the Buzzard would handle the higher elevation. I have leaner jets in my 582 because Bishell’s in 3400’ ASL and I usually fly at 4500’ to 5500’ ASL. When you compare this to Manitoba as an example, where people fly at 1000’ to 1500’ ASL, the Rotax book says to use leaner jets for our altitude.

I noted that August 26 and 27 had us under a super nice high-pressure area and light winds (no winds) were predicted for this time period. I think the 26th was a better day but my pilot friend Royal and I had picked the 27th as the day to try this new experience. Royal flies a pretty little Savage Cub, with the 100 HP Rotax 912. The plane is light to handle and fly, but grooves rock solid through the air. The plane will leave the ground in about 400 feet from his strip west of Didsbury. My plane takes a little more (1200 to 1600) depending on load.

The day before the planned excursion I filled my tanks to the top and did some minor maintenance on the Buzzard. My tachometer was not working the way it should, so I changed the tach, changed the plugs (after gaping them to the proper specs) and gave the plane a good once over. As I was doing the work on the plane Royal sent me a text with an article about the Olds/Didsbury flying club and their efforts to maintain the Clearwater strip. The Clearwater strip is at the base of the Forestry Trunk Road with access to the valley that brings you into the Ram Falls airfield.

We decided that we would leave Carstairs about 7 AM, head to the Clearwater and land there first. If all was going according to plan we would take off to the Ram Falls field and complete our adventure.

Of course, when you are planning a trip like this you leave some room for flexibility and as it turned out we didn’t get wheels up till 7:15. Remember I said I might take up to 1600 feet to get airborne. Well with two 10 gallon tanks full I think I took more.

The air going west was smooth as could be at this time of day with just the slightest headwind of about 10 to 15mph. I decided that since I had 45 miles to go, I would test climb and get up to 7000 ASL if that was possible. I flew the Buzzard at wide open throttle and saw about 6150 RPM as I continued to climb. The plane was flying well and as we approached the Clearwater Strip area I checked heading and distance to Ram Falls. It showed about 30 miles and the track was along a valley. Rather than landing and loosing all that altitude I had worked so hard to gain, I mentioned that we should probably keep going to Ram Falls while the going was good. Royal agreed and we continued on.

I was still flying the Buzzard at pretty much full throttle and at 7000 feet EGT’s would not raise much above 1000. For those unfamiliar with two strokes, the Bing carburetor pours lots of gas into the motor at wide open to give increased cooling with the gas and oil mix. Add to this the fact that there is less air at 7000 feet, and you get a pretty rich mixture. I followed the road and then the river through the valleys but never really felt threatened by the ridges we flew over. Royal climbed to 9000 feet and was convinced I was far too close to the ridges. Perception from different altitudes can be alarming. It wasn’t long before we followed the road and rivers and the GPS told us Ram Falls Airstrip was a mile away at 12 o’clock. We did an inspection pass over the strip and then entered a downwind for runway 26. My first attempt at the runway was far too high (mountain terrain can really mess up your perception) and I called that I was doing a go around…

Royal slipped her hard and was able to get to the level he wanted for a good landing.

My second run at the surface was much more successful and I was able to put the plane down without any bounces or things that would indicate my newness to this kind of adventure. Good thing as there was a truck and camper at the end of the runway to watch us touch down.

We didn’t stay long on the ground and in fact, did not even get a chance to walk to the falls to check out the sights. We were not sure how long the weather would hold (although it was a perfect day) as earlier reports and weather radar did show some activity that could be cause for concern.

We backtracked on runway 08 and I tried to raise Royal on the radio. For some reason I could hear him, I could hear my side tone but he could not hear me. We stopped the planes poked and prodded the connectors and we were able to get things back on track.

I lined up to depart first with a plan to fly the river valley out. It took almost 2000 ft, but I was off and climbing. There was some funny gusting on takeoff and the Buzzard bucked a little more like a bronco than a Buzzard. The trees were well below me, but it seemed like they were much closer than they really were. I kept climbing out from the 5350 elevation of Ram Falls to the 7000 feet I felt comfortable flying in at. Royal climbed to 10,000 ft and kept marveling at the views that were below him.

My flight again was just a little bumpy but Royal did mention he had some pretty good bumps at his altitude.

As I followed the river and the roads out, there was one last ridge to either go around or over. I had lots of altitude and could see Cow Lake on the other side of the ridge. I elected to go over the right (low) side of the ridge and we broke out of the foothills.

15 minutes later were in Sundre for a rest stop. Then, with a nice tailwind home, the Buzzard took me to Royal’s Didsbury strip at a 90 MPH ground speed. Airspeed was only about 65 MPH. The Savage cub has to carry 15 degrees flaps and just idle along but stays beside me nicely.

It was a great day and an accomplishment for me, my Buzzard, my pilot friend and his Cub. And oh yeah, we left Clearwater for another adventure day. Smooth Skies