Short Field, real short, Landing

[Bill Greenwood]

This weekend, just on the east side of Boulder, an ultralight landed in a church parking lot. I only know what the story in the Daily Camera said, but according to it the pilot was circling and ran short or out of fuel. This is a bit strange since it probably only burns a gal an hour and the airport was withing a couple of miles, but anyway the pilot made a successful forced landing in the parking lot of the church, no damage, no harm, no foul, no laws violated.
One other matter of note, the place the he was apparently sightseeing over is a marijuana farm, all legal under Colo law. Don't know any more details, but I wonder if this was some type of narc or a grower checking out his competition?

You may have heard of Neil Williams, great British pilot of acro and vintage planes. He was 1 times national champion. One chapter in his book is flying one of the oldest planes in England and thus the world, may have been the 1912 Blackburn. Anyway the engine is really marginal and it quits on him on a x c flight, He manages to glide down and with an extreme side slip put the plane safely onto a small airstrip, using all his skill and no doubt some prayers.

When the owner of the place comes out of his farmhouse, Neil says, "This is quite a small airstrip you have here." The farmer replies," it's not an airstrip, it's a cricket patch."
Neil's book on flying all the different planes is one of the best I have read. If you really want to know what flying a Spitfire is like read his chapter on his first flight in one.