Best Little Airport in the Four Corners
While visiting
Moab, Utah in September 2008 I had many great
experiences. One of the best was a visit to
Canyonlands Field, the regional airport serving Moab and
all of Southeastern Utah. With its internationally assigned
airport code of “CNY”,
one might think it was the “City of New York” airport, but
the acronym is equally descriptive of CaNYonlands. The more
logical “CAN” designation disappeared early on to the
Baiyun Airport in
Guangzhou, PR China. Does the acronym “CAN” stand for
“Canton”?
Regardless of its moniker, CNY is a rare
hybrid airport, serving both general and commercial aviation
on the same field. As long as there is no commercial flight
in the vicinity, citizens may visit the hangers and the open
tie-down area. Throughout normal business hours, the
terminal is open to all.
On the day I visited, I met first with my
friend and
Great Lakes Airlines employee, Ms.
Tiger Keogh. Great Lakes Airlines holds the contract
for daily passenger service both “To” and “From”
Denver, Colorado. Because of CNY’s relatively low
passenger volume, Tiger and her counterparts must wear
several hats.
That day, I found Tiger checking in two
passengers who were heading for the Upper Midwest. Once
they received their tickets, they proceeded to the U.S.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
area, where they received a security screening identical to
what one finds in larger airports.
Mr. Terry Carlson, Manager for TSA at Moab
told me that with the help of a federal government grant,
his department operates a full security screening facility
in Moab. If every “earmark” that the U.S. Congress passed
was as worthy as this one, it might restore our faith in
government. Terry went on to say that if you check in
through
TSA at Canyonlands Field, you can fly from Moab, through
Denver and on to destinations that are as far away as
Dusseldorf, Germany, all without any further security
screening.
Next, Terry offered me a walking tour of the
airfield, including a close-up look at the airplanes parked
on the tarmac. As soon as we walked on to the field, I
spotted a bright red and white
Cessna 182, parked in the front row. Beyond its
eye-dazzling paintjob, there was something different about
this Cessna 182. With its high stance and longer wings, I
would say, “it had attitude”.
Standing beneath the wing of this beautiful
aircraft was its engineer, manufacturer and owner, Todd
Peterson. Todd is a principal at
Peterson’s Performance Plus, based in
El Dorado, Kansas, not far from Cessna’s home in
Wichita, Kansas. You can read all about Todd’s company
at
http://katmai-260se.com. Todd has experience as both a
backcountry pilot and an aeronautical engineer. This rare
combination of
experience
allows him to create unique and functional “off-road
airplanes”.
Southwestern Utah is peppered with old
airstrips, most of which date back to the uranium boom of
the 1950s. When prospecting and mining folded in the late
1950s, so too did maintenance on most of these airstrips.
Today these fields often receive their maintenance from
volunteers, if there is any at all. With the area’s extreme
variability of wind, weather and terrain, it takes a plane
as capable as Todd Peterson’s
King Katmai 300 SE/STOL to utilize these fields.
When we expressed interest, Todd offered to
take Terry and me on a guided tour of his exceptional
aircraft. As you might expect Todd’s personal plane is an
experimental model, featuring a 300 horsepower turbocharged
engine. As Todd spoke, I realized that this red and white
beauty looked brand new.
Todd’s version of alchemy is to take a small
airplane originally manufactured thirty years ago, and then
completely transform it. The result is an aircraft
featuring safety and performance that were unimagined in the
past. To do
this,
Todd and his team start with the best airframes available,
and then accomplish a complete “frame-up” restoration. A
peek through the open door to the instrument panel shows
that the panel and all of its components are brand new. The
details include Katmai’s trademark bear paw logo in the
center of the wheel.
Since continued use is all that keeps some
remote airstrips open, strong landing gear is essential for
“ironing out the rough spots”. In the late spring, it is
common to make a final approach on a one-way airfield, only
to find tumbleweeds encroaching on to the edges of the
airstrip.
A look at the Katmai’s main landing gear
strut shows how “beefy” it is, when compared to original
equipment. The stainless steel leading edge acts as
a brush-cutter, should errant foliage make its way on to a
landing strip. To create an extra safety margin on rough
fields, the King Katmai also features oversized balloon
tires, designed for rocky or rough terrain.
In order to create additional lift and
increased airworthiness on short fields and hot days, the
King Katmai features beautifully integrated
wing-extensions. The extra wing surface and their flared
tips help to create a slower stall speed and greater overall
lifting capacity.
Up front, the King Katmai sports two airfoils
known as
canards. Sprouting from the beltline of the engine
cowling, these mini-wings add lift at the front of the
plane, where one often needs it most. By adjusting the
canards’ angle of attack, the pilot can trim the plane for
slow speeds and level flight, thus providing better
forward-vision during a landing approach.
After our visit, Todd graciously offered me a
DVD, which shows takeoffs and landings at many remote
airstrips in Southeastern Utah. For a novice flier, an
airstrip with a steep drop-off or a cliff-face at the end of
the runway might seem daunting. For Todd, it is all in an
afternoon’s fun.
Utilizing a dashboard-mounted camera, the
viewer sees exactly what the pilot sees as he maneuvers the
airplane. Todd offers live narration on approach, landing
and takeoff at each field. If there is a nearby
archeological point of interest, Todd takes you on a tour of
that, as well. On his website, both the
Utah DVD and a new
Idaho DVD are for sale at a reasonable price.
For most Americans, the archetype of a bush
pilot is a man flying a floatplane, somewhere in the wilds
of Alaska. Now there is a new breed, using wheeled aircraft
to access remote and exotic sites. Although the price tag
for this backcountry access by air is not low, an
expenditure of less than $400,000 gives any intrepid pilot
the best “off-road airplane” in the sky.
Immediately, my daydreams went to a
seldom-seen airstrip in Canyonlands. There, the love of my
life sits to my left and my King Katmai sits a little
farther away to my right. Alone together, my love and I
toast the sunset with chilled champagne in crystal. After
dinner fresh from our grill, we stop to view the night sky,
and then retire to our tent. Our accommodations include a
queen-sized airbed, with luxury bedding. There is a hot
water, enclosed shower just outside our door.
Respecting the peace and quiet of our unique
campground, we use battery
power for lights and refrigeration. With the huge cargo
carrying capacity of our King Katmai, we can “pack in”
almost anything that we want and still not exceed our
aircraft’s safety margins. Before turning in, we plan a day
hike up an untracked canyon. To keep the terrain untracked,
we will use its dry streambed as our trail. When the
planning is done, we slip between clean sheets and dream
about this little adventure that we are living. What is it
that “they” say? “If you can dream it, you can do it”.
As
I returned from my reverie, activities picked up elsewhere
at CNY. The afternoon flight from Denver was about to
arrive. When a commercial aircraft is approaching, the
public must leave the field. Thus I missed getting a
picture of Tiger out on the tarmac, as she provided ground
and parking control for the pressurized sixteen-passenger,
twin-engine turboprop.
In 2007, I had flown from Moab to
Burbank, California. In order to do so, I first flew on
a smaller turboprop to
Salt Lake City, Utah, then another flight to
Phoenix, Arizona and then a final flight to Burbank. At
the time, the only way to fly to Denver was first to drive
ninety miles to
Grand Junction, Colorado and then take a flight from
there. Last year, it took me over eight hours to reach my
destination. Since then, Moab’s air service has markedly
improved.
Great Lakes Airlines, a well-recognized
regional carrier, with an excellent safety and maintenance
record, took over the Moab scheduled-service contract in
2008. The new twice-a-day flights to Denver improve
convenience, since Denver is the largest hub in the Mountain
West Region. The Moab to Denver service allows one-stop
service to Burbank and many other regional airports.
Additionally, each Great Lakes Airlines
flight out of Moab shares flight codes with the regional
carrier,
Frontier Airlines and with
United Airlines, which is the largest carrier serving
Denver International Airport. This new service is
another great example of U.S. federal grant money going for
the public good. Now, Moab and the fast-growing
Southeastern Utah area can enjoy the highest quality service
and security available, right there at Canyonlands Field,
just a few miles north of town”.
On that September afternoon, the Great Lakes
Airlines Pilot finished his post-flight checklist and then
came out to enjoy the fresh air at Canyonlands Field.
Having helped remove the checked baggage from the plane,
Tiger could once again go inside and resume her ticket
counter duties. Ever vigilant, one of Terry Carlson’s TSA
staff members entered the airliner cabin to conduct a
routine check. At the same time, Tiger’s smile tells us how
much she enjoys her job.
Tiger, a native of Moab, grew up believing
that a woman could do any job, if given the opportunity.
These days Tiger works four days each week in downtown Moab,
where she handles administrative duties for
Cloudrock. Cloudrock is a luxury residential
development that received first-phase approval by
Grand County, Utah in 2008. Located at Johnson’s On Top
Mesa the company pledges to respect the environment as it
develops million dollar homes, almost in the shadows of the
Manti La Sal Range.
As a break from the land development
business, one day each week Tiger enjoys the physical and
intellectual challenge of balancing ticket agent, ground
crew and baggage-handling duties for Great Lakes Airlines.
After my visit to Canyonlands Field that day,
I had to tell the world that this is one of America’s great
places. If you think that all government projects are a
waste of money, come to Canyonlands Field and experience the
excellent services available to Moab residents and visitors
alike. Now that more corporate executives and government
officials will be “flying coach” to their second homes or
vacations in Moab, we are sure that they too will appreciate
the new amenities. Rather than driving to Moab the next
time I visit, I plan to fly.
through
TSA at Canyonlands Field, you can fly from Moab, through
Denver and on to destinations that are as far away as
Dusseldorf, Germany, all without any further security
screening.
experience
allows him to create unique and functional “off-road
airplanes”.
this,
Todd and his team start with the best airframes available,
and then accomplish a complete “frame-up” restoration. A
peek through the open door to the instrument panel shows
that the panel and all of its components are brand new. The
details include Katmai’s trademark bear paw logo in the
center of the wheel.
power for lights and refrigeration. With the huge cargo
carrying capacity of our King Katmai, we can “pack in”
almost anything that we want and still not exceed our
aircraft’s safety margins. Before turning in, we plan a day
hike up an untracked canyon. To keep the terrain untracked,
we will use its dry streambed as our trail. When the
planning is done, we slip between clean sheets and dream
about this little adventure that we are living. What is it
that “they” say? “If you can dream it, you can do it”.
As
I returned from my reverie, activities picked up elsewhere
at CNY. The afternoon flight from Denver was about to
arrive. When a commercial aircraft is approaching, the
public must leave the field. Thus I missed getting a
picture of Tiger out on the tarmac, as she provided ground
and parking control for the pressurized sixteen-passenger,
twin-engine turboprop. 
