Finally to the oilfields, first real flight, but aborted...

Now at Tioga aiorfield,  

The weather at Old Fort Mandan didn't show any signs of improvement, so got on the road....  Really would have liked to fly there, as the start of the Lewis and Clark Trail, but couldn't wait around for questionable improvement.....  Maybe I'll get back later.  The Lewis and Clark Trail is part of what I came to see, so better do it right....

Had a a look at Stanley airfield, but that was just the start of the oil wells, so went on to Tioga, and this is the real oil patch.  Big tanker trucks everywhere, but many are parked today cause this the the Labor Day long weekend, and many are gone home to family, or just gone fishin'....   Temporary accommodation everywhere. Trailer homes stuck in every corner of land, and all sorts of accommodation advertised at very high prices.  Three taverns on main street, open on a Sunday.....  Big changes in this little Lutheran conservative town....  New rumbling diesel pickups everywhere.....

I set up at the very quiet airfield.  Flew a half hour overhead, just checking things out, since this is still just checking the aircraft out, haven't really done an exploratory flight yet.....  Did a couple of touch-and-goes to get a feeling of the aircraft, but then the front  portion of the turtle deck covering ripped loose and went through the prop...  Luckily it was a Warp Drive, cause it just made confetti out of the aluminum, with no damage to the prop.  As I had mounted that turtle deck this time, I noted that I would like to add some zip-ties to secure it better than just the old velcro.  Well, should have done it sooner rather than later....  Now a real problem, where to get the .016 aluminum, to replace it??  Not much chance out here...  So I removed the aft portion of the turtle deck as well, and went for a test flight - felt just fine, so I'll fly that way, it was a pain to install anyhow.....  Keep It Simple, eh.....

So all fueled and ready to explore the center of the oilfield chaos at first light tomorrow....  Good timing, cause it will be Labor Day so no commuter jets in the air right now....  Don't like mixing a slow ultralight with high speed traffic like that.  Then I'll split to a smaller, quiet airfield for more exploring   for the next couple of days.  Finally starting to happen for real.....


p.s.- Boy this 'Steel Reserve, High Gravity Lager', at 8.1%  packs a punch in a 24oz. can (710ml) ....  Brewed in Milwaukee where they do know how to brew beer, who says American beer is all weak piss.....  Tastes good too, so much better than those light 'pretend' beers....  But can't type straight anymore, so to bed early.....  Got some photos, but they'll have wait until I'm sober.....  Sounds like mosquitoes tonight, so I've also got to rig my net......

Still no real exploring flight....

Flew at sunrise this morning.  Chilly and heavy dew.  As soon as I got up to altitude, found that there was considerable southerly wind.  Actually, only making 36mph ground speed against it in the direction I wanted to go......  So just flew around the town and landed again.....

Soon after touch-down the tailwheel detached itself and the axle skidded along the runway.  Searched and searched but couldn't find the wheel, as it had run off into the grass.  Had to carry the tail and push the aircraft to the intersection to get it clear of the runway.  No sooner done than an aircraft took off on that runway.....  Went back and hunted and hunted for that wheel.  Was despairing that I might have to order another and wait until it came....  Then finally stepped on it!  Just yesterday I was looking at the cotter pin that held it on, and deciding that I'd replace that pin with a bolt - too late.....

Difficulties loading the aircraft, cause this new tailwheel doesn't fit the wheeled dolly needed to lift the tail into the trailer.  So I have to bodily lift the tail onto a support and change to the old tailwheel to load it into the trailer.....  Big hassle, and liable to do a back injury due to the awkward lift.  Need to get this dolly modified, but darn't approach any welding shop here cause they're all super busy....

Drove to Wiliston, the fabled main center of all this oilfield activity.  Yep, very busy place, even on Labor Day holiday....  This airfield with lots of business jet traffic wouldn't be suitable for me, so moved on to Watford City airfield.   On the road this place is even more busy, big trucks everywhere, and all in a hurry.....

To get here, drove cross-country along the Lewis and Clark Trail.  The road doesn't quite follow the river, but gives some good varied views of the country.  A really jumbled and mixed feeling.....  Some good visions of Indian country in the hills along the river, with cliffs for buffalo jumps, and visions of sheltered campsites they might have used.  Now herds of fat Angus cattle on that grassland....  Very lush grain fields on the more level country.  And everywhere now, the new economy, drilling rigs and oil activity.  The jack pumps pulling long strokes at full speed, so a lot of oil coming up.  Tanker trucks everywhere carrying that oil to wherever....  There are about 15 dams across the Missouri now, so much of it is actually a chain of lakes, so it's hard to visualize Lewis and Clark actually making their way upstream.  ......  Great for agriculture and flood control, but I'm looking forward to finding some of the original river that Lewis and Clark paddled up....

Moved to Watford City airfield and set up camp.  Camping on airfields means you have to get used to the rotating navigation beacons that flash green-white-green-white.... all night.  This airfield also had a large gas flare lighting up the area....

So still haven't had a real exploring flight yet.....  Hopefully tomorrow morning, if it's not too cloudy, as forecast......  There's lots of interesting activity right around here.

Warm beer tonight cause the liquor store is closed on this holiday.  A continual stream of young men in pickup trucks driving up and going away disappointed....

The Bakken Oil Boom (Chaos)

Finally, first real exploring flight!  An hour and a half out of Watford City.  Aircraft felt really good! Throttled back to 5600 rpm, gives 50+ mph in perfectly balanced straight and level flight.  Quiet and smooth and peaceful at that power setting, and completely stable, just right for observing and photography.  I think I'm going to like this aircraft for this purpose.....  

Observing all the drilling rigs and production pads, some with gas flames, scattered around.  Temporary accommodation everywhere, fifth wheelers and travel trailers in every available space, and whole communities of transportable units (called 'dongas' in Australian mining camps)....  Lots of new apartment buildings going up.  Big sheds serving the oil industry, drilling equipment suppliers and trucking yards.  Most of the oil still goes out by truck, so that's a LOT of tanker truck traffic.  Main highway 85 goes right through town, so long lines of trucks working their way through....  Crude oil going out and lots of diesel coming in to fuel all the big trucks and pickups...  Watford was just a really small town, but now overwhelmed by all the new activity....  Services can't keep up, so a bit rough on the edges yet, lots of dust....  An exciting 'boom' town feeling!  Thousands of young single men prowling around, so lock up your daughters, but they could do worse than tie up with a man who's got the stamina and ambition to put on boots and put up with these rough conditions in order to get together a stake.....  These are 'can do' men, no loffers here....

All those jackpumps pulling long strokes at full speed, so lots of oil coming out of the ground.

Rigs drilling more holes everywhere.

Most of that oil is hauled out by truck.

Hundreds, nay thousands of those trucks everywhere.

All that heavy truck traffic in the summer heat has left these grooves in the highway....

Evidence of a new pipeline across a field, to eventually carry most of the oil out to market.

A large 'man camp' next to a small town.

Completely changes the character of that once quiet little town.

Lock up your daughters.....

Not a place I could live in.....

 There are fifth-wheelers and house trailers everywhere....

Anything goes.....

Laundromats are always a big business in such camps.

A lot of hard-working machines in there.....

Everyone drives those trucks.

Changed times......
Was probably a one-room country schoolhouse.
Looks a lot like my first school, but this one more ornate....

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Begin Lewis and Clark Trail

Flying from Washburn, ND

Up at first light and unloading aircraft for an early start.  But battery dead so can't start......  Took time to arrange a jump start from the van....

Finally up and away, only to find that the wind up there is 30+mph.... and rough.  So still went and got a few photos of the Old Fort Mandan, but couldn't go all the way to garrison Dam and the big coal-fired power stations along the river.....  It would have meant a return leg at 30mph or less......     At least I did get a bit of a look at the Fort, but couldn't get down low due to turbulence..... Loaded up again....  So an hour of unloading/loading for a 23 minute flight....

This is near old Fort Mandan, where Lewis and Clark spent the first winter of their expedition to be the first crossing to the Pacific Ocean.  I've been fascinated in this expedition for a long time, and long wanted to follow it's route.  So I'll start here and try to follow it up the Missouri River and over the Rockies to the coast.

Ken Burns' documentary on the expedition gives a really good story of the trip.  It's a dramatization, but a good one, as his documentaries always are.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc9tG9aD3P4

Old Fort Mandan, right beside the Missouri River.

This is a replica, because the original was burnt down, then eroded away by the river.

That's the little 'Fort' where 40 men spent the very cold winter 1804-05. 

Note how the smoke from the tall stacks is blown by the strong wind,

but the steam from the coolers is just wafting around.

So typical for such a morning, calm on the ground but blowing strong just a couple of hundred feet up.

 I guess these wind turbines nearby tell the story.

They built them here because they know it blows most of the time.

So wind farms aren't a good sign for ultralight flight.....

Headed into Bismark and found a muffler shop to replace the broken van muffler that I had wired up with haywire.  While waiting for my turn, got a new battery from Walmart for the aircraft, and hunted out stronger tailwheel springs at Ace Hardware.  These American hardware stores are truly amazing! This one had 200 varieties of springs!  While maneuvering in a parking lot I scraped against a car.....  First time ever.....  Only the lightest of sprapes, on his plastic bumper.  First he was distressed and wanted name and number and insurance and all that complicated procedure.  After I rubbed most of the scuff off, he settled down a bit and I convinced him to take $100 and leave it at that.  As I left, now late for my muffler appointment, he said, "...I hope the rest of your day goes better..", and I sure needed that...

Finally hit the road late afternoon, headed into the westerly sun, but with that wind now giving me a tailwind, and with a rig like this I feel the boost, and with the new glass-pack muffler barking away, the van fairly charged along.....

They don't sell beer in South Dakota gas stations, so pressed on into Montana and found a much needed big cold one just across the border.  Then out a country road and found a nice quiet campsite well away from the roar of the traffic on the interstate.  Not easy to find such campsites with such a trailer in tow, cause can easily get caught with nowhere to turn around.....  Internet wouldn't work out there, but too tired to care anyhow....  And so to bed, hoping for a better day tomorrow....

Serendipity!

Well, now at Winifred, Montana http://fms.ws/Dji4m/47.55571N/109.37868W  A tiny town, one grocery store, one cafe, one gas station, a couple of churches, and two bars.  Serious dryland farming all around, lots of wheat and hay bales.

Serendipity - "... the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it..."

That's the story of my knock-about travels, many times over....  Seems to be especially so when things have been heavy going, then stumble onto a really pleasurable experience, it's happened to me so many times!   Today was feeling despondent that time is half over and done so little flying yet....  Hassles with trying to rendezvous with my new license plates....  Hassles renewing my internet pre-paid.....  Etc, etc.....  All in high 90'sF (36C) humid, and storms threatening.....

Then what a surprise!  Winifred is way off the beaten track, so I didn't expect Verizon internet signal here, and there isn't....  With no Verizon I couldn't call up SkyVenture on the iPad to get the location of the airfield, or phone the manager.  I could see the rotating beacon high on the hill, right in the edge of town, but every approach just ended up in someone's yard....  Finally got directions, and the airstrip is right in the edge of town but not near the beacon....  Just a grass strip, but what facilities!  I got into the pilot's lounge with the CTAF frequency, and phoned the manager on the phone provided.  He came over right away to welcome me to the facility.  A new 39 x 33 metre free-span hangar, with five super cubs around the sides and lots of room for me to unload the trailer inside out of the thunderstorm approaching.  Now I don't have to pack the plane away every night just in case of storms, and nice and cool to tinker on it in the daytime.  It seems this hangar was a gift from a pilot who much enjoyed flying from here!  Some Americans really do philanthropy in a big way, if they get to choose where the money goes.   The pilot's lounge even has wi-fi, so that's how I can send this posting now.  I think I'll hang around a couple of days and try to catch up on adding photos to the blog....

Winifred, with the enormous public hangar front center.

Unloading inside the hangar.

Finally a real good flight

Perfect early morning here.  Down to the cafe for my standard breakfast, two eggs over easy, hash browns, toast and coffee.  Full plate and coffee refills, $5...

Flew north to the Missouri Breaks, which is why I came here.  The river runs through spectacular eroded badlands country.  Inaccessible by road, so it's unmodified since Indian times.  Lots of protected gullies for deer and elk to feed and shelter.  Could imagine Indians hunting them as they came out to the river to drink; good terrain to stalk in close and set ambushes.  Could also imagine Lewis and Clark poling up the river, under those impressive cliffs.....  There are several old 'bush' strips up that way, but I didn't feel like landing on them if I didn't have to, cause each landing with a very light aircraft like this, with a tiny tailwheel, has some risks, and don't want to break something out there and get stranded....  Now, if I'd been in my Savannah, all of them would have been targets..... Flew 2 hours, found that I need better padding under the seat....

The Missouri river winding through 'The Breaks'.

Flying high, cause there's not many places to land down there if the engine stops.....

 I like to imagine Lewis and Clark paddling and poling through here, 

not knowing what would be around the next bend.

 There are a lot of deer and elk down there.

Hunters come from all over the country to hunt here.

Farming right to the edge.....

..........................................................................................................

Then came back and flew short circuits at the field.  Just the right place for that practice that I needed in this new aircraft.  Smooth grass and no traffic, so just round and round a few dozen times.  Finally figured out that this aircraft needs to be 'wheeled on'.  I'm used to flaring right back to a stall landing, but these Kolbs sit so flat on the ground that the tailwheel lands first if I do that, and then the mains come down with a mighty thump.....  So, just hold it level and don't flare, and just pin the mains on when they touch down.  So it's landing faster than a fully flared landing, but that's the way it has to be.... Feels a lot better now.

There's a big sign company in main street so I stopped to see them.  I would mostly expect to find a business like that in a light industrial district in a noisy big city.  But these fellas have got themselves known for specialty big sign work, and city firms sub-contract to them.  So they can live in a quiet small town, and don't have to put up with the city, pretty smart, eh....  Anyhow, I'd dreamed of covering those big windows in the van with the perforated vinyl, used for 'see through' signs on windows.  With the white outside, and black inside, I can still see out really well, but outsiders can't see in.  But I'd given up on chasing around a city to find a sign works and having to deal with them....  This was really easy, and at the same time I had them make up a couple of red kangaroos for the van and aircraft.  Looks great I reckon.

Overcast and dull today...

Overcast and dull today...  Cool at last, after so much hot weather, high 90'sF (high 30'sC)
Ideal for some landing practice, but no good for sight seeing.

No internet signal here, but wi-fi in the pilot lounge, so spent some hours uploading photos onto the blog.