Rentals and Mountain Flying

Wow! I just heard something a little surprising today. One of the places that I have favored for rentals is now not allowing mountain flying.

Part of the beauty of flying in Colorado is going in the moutains. Rental places have always required special check outs before flying into the moutains. This I think is an excellent idea and makes a lot of sense for everybody flying into the Colorado mountains. The high density altitude makes landing/takeoffs challenging, the winds and downdrafts can be challenging, and the tight valleys in Colorado can be challenging. But to not allow people to enjoy the mountains is too bad.

I hear it was for insurance reasons which is not too surprising. So this might place another mark in the side of owning your own plane. At least, you need to check and make sure your proposed rental place will allow you to take the plane where you want to go.

I always wanted to learn the backcountry grass strips in Idaho and many rental places do not allow anything but paved runways. So this is another item to watch out for. But I was surprised to hear somebody wasn't allowing any mountain flights.

/Brian