A backcountry-aviation living legend
As Galen Hanselman descended between jagged mountains toward the wilderness airstrip at Sulphur Creek Ranch, Idaho, he had no idea what he was getting into. Touching down about halfway down the strip, he stomped on the brakes, skidded past the lodge, and came to a halt just a few feet from the end. Knees shaking, Hanselman went in, had some pie, and decided he’d better get more information and some backcountry instruction before trying that again.
Raised in Idaho and educated as a physicist, Hanselman started flying in 1980 at the age of 32. He often heard his flying buddies talk about their experiences in the backcountry. Hanselman had newly transitioned to a Cessna 182, and he decided to fly to Sulphur Creek. After his near-accident he got the specialized training, but he couldn’t find detailed, accurate airstrip data—it was all word of mouth.
Having recently sold his home security business, he decided to document as many of Idaho’s airstrips as possible and publish his findings in a book. This would give pilots accurate information to help them decide whether or not they had the skills and equipment to fly safely into each airstrip. He personally flew to all the airstrips in his book, photographed them from above, and measured the length, width, elevation, and condition of each runway. He developed a system to assess each airstrip’s difficulty—the Relative Hazard Index—that assigned a number between 0 and 50 to each airstrip, taking into account variables such as elevation, terrain, obstructions, runway length, and surface condition. He made diagrams of each airstrip and its surroundings, and added recreational and historical information, all told in his folksy, tongue-in-cheek style.
First published in 1994, Fly Idaho! was an instant success and could be found in virtually every backcountry pilot’s cockpit. In the years that followed, Hanselman published books on airstrips in Baja California, Montana, and Utah, as well as beautiful state aeronautical charts, selling them on his website.
By 2010, some of the data in Fly Idaho! were outdated. Hanselman spent five years photographing and surveying 81 airstrips for the newly released third edition. Fly Idaho! is now 946 pages in two volumes, completely updated—including the new diagrams—and full of humorous anecdotes that make it an entertaining read as well as an indispensable guide.
Logbook
Who | Galen Hanselman, backcountry pilot and author of Fly Idaho!
Hours | More than 4,000
Favorite aircraft | Cessna 182
Extra | While researching airstrips for Fly Utah! Hanselman found airstrips where no one had landed for decades. Given the overgrown condition of the strips, he said he had to adjust his Relative Hazard Index, giving ratings in the low 50s.
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