Welcome to the Moab Airlines blog
Posted on January 16th, 2009 by Jim McGillis
Moab Airport - 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, better known as the Moab Airport.
That regional airport serves 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 paint job, 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 the company
website. Todd has experience as both a back country
pilot and an aeronautical engineer. This rare
combination of
experience
allows him to create unique and functional “off-road
airplanes”.
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 air-frames
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 yoke.
this,
Todd and his team start with the best air-frames
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 yoke.
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 belt-line
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 float-plane, 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 back country 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 stream bed 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”.
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 stream bed 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 Airport 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. Author's Note - Cloudrock was a luxury
residential development that received first-phase
approval by Grand County, Utah in 2008. Located at
Johnson’s Up-On-Top Mesa the company pledged to
respect the environment as it developed $million homes,
almost in the shadows of the
La Sal Mountains. With the economy for luxury second
homes drying up like the aquifer it might someday
straddle, Cloudrock closed their website and their
office on Main Street, Moab, Utah in early 2010.
Author's Note: As of July 2024, eighty-three of
Cloudrock's acres are for sale. The asking price is
$20,000,000.
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.
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