Here is a video and pictures of my first landing onto the private grass airstrip on Hudson Island.
Imagine yourself in my shoes… doing a first time landing on a place like this.
Hudson Island has a small private airstrip, and the airplane shown, is my Expedition E350. Our flight began in Camrose, Alberta. En-route, we flew over Ram Falls abandoned airstrip, (and took pictures below). The flight over the Rocky Mountains at 12,400 feet elevation, then entering Sechelt inlet, flying over skookumchuck narrows, and landing on Hudson Island.
Distance 516 Nautical miles.
March 2012 update. Here’s a more recent picture showing my plane, parked to the side, about half-way down the runway.
And here are two videos of a takeoffs from Hudson Island. Inside and Outside views.
July 30, 2012 update. I’ve just returned from a visit to Hudson Island. One of the other residents, also a pilot, is uneasy about my posting internet info about the Hudson Island airstrip. I was told that the few times that non-owners have landed on Hudson island, the other residents DO come out and tell the un-invited visitors to leave. I was told there is a permanent notam saying flying over the gulf islands below 2000ft is only allowed for “intending to land”, but not allowed for practice flyovers. And perhaps most importantly, the trees are growing inward at the sides of the airstrip, constantly growing. The strip is narrow, uphill, curving and bumpy. In fact, on my first landing attempt this recent weekend, I caught a little tailwind and had to abort, and do a go-around, so I was flying down a narrow corridor, following the curve while fiddling with power and flaps, emphasizing, that this is a tricky and potentially dangerous airstrip.
