Low-time Pilot Flying Telluride to Aspen VFR in a Cirrus SR22T

[@rockybolin3093]

I fly out of Cheyenne, just north of Colorado. I have had my PPL since 2004, but flew out of TX back then. When I came home and wanted to fly into Aspen, the first 3 times I did it I paid for an instructor who had done it hundreds of times to take me up there. This was after receiving mountain training. This was after over a decade and over 600 hours of flight experience. This was after flying in the general area for about 4 years before deciding to take on Aspen. Probably overkill. But would much prefer to do overkill than be killed.

[@Elivate.]

I completely agree with you! Mountain flying is serious business. Out here again currently. Storm stopped us at Hopkins field. Staying in Telluride tonight, heading into Aspen tomorrow when it’s clear.

[@chrisquaintance4905]

Nice video! Side note, as a fellow SR22T driver: it’s a lot safer to get that seatbelt buckle much lower across your lap. In case of some sort of incident, you could slide under and out of the belt and/or decrease effectiveness of the seatbelt airbags. Mine rides up sometimes, too - I find I have to sit up straight, scoot back in the chair, pull the buckle as low as possible, and tighten the waist straps. Happy flying!!

[@Elivate.]

Totally. Good point. We’ve been trying to do that / more cognizant about it over the last year or so. You should see an improvement in the coming content.

[@KutWrite]

Yes, that's called "submarining." Race drivers have extra straps near their crotches to prevent that at their speeds and - er - unusual attitudes.

[@BaxterretxaB]

This is why a 5 point harness is a better option. That middle waist strap stops this. I have the same issue in one of the GA airplanes I fly but the jet I fly has 5 point and it’s more comfortable.

[@dragracin247]

@@KutWriteI have a bad attitude and I call it a crotch strap in my race car.

[@eclectictech]

That's also one of the first things I noticed... More important during takeoff and landing than in cruise, as that's where the probability of accidents are highest.

[@EduardoAbreu-Counsell]

I’m not sure what your experience level is.. judging by your body language, perhaps this was a flight beyond your capability/current level of exposure. And the look of complete terror on your wife’s face made for uncomfortable viewing. I hope you found time to debrief yourself on what you could have done better. Safe flying! Cheers.

[@Elivate.]

Yah it was at my limits at the time no doubt. This was over a year ago, now this flight is a lot more palatable now that I know what to expect there and with the added 200 hours of experience.

[@dcgivx]

I am a Cirrus pilot who has never landed above 6,500 field elevation. Telluride to Aspen looks epic, hope to try it myself someday. Great vid!

[@Elivate.]

Maybe try Buena Vista or Salida first, then take a mountain flying course from someone like Stephan from Fly the Rockies. That way you can avoid the risks we took before formal training. Mountain flying is gorgeous, definitely pursue it!

[@skycop56]

Beautiful flight. The mountains can be deadly so be really careful. The crackling you hear when tuned to weak stations is most likely a leaky ignition harness. As the insulation gets older it will often allow some of the high voltage from the magneto to escape through cracks, etc. and the arcing causes interference. A new harness will fix the problem. Worked for my RV6.

[@RusscanFLY]

Man that density altitude was nuts! My heart started beating fast, just listening to the ATIS! Anyway, nice flying out in the west. I haven’t done that yet, and definitely a different animal for sure. Take care, and fly well!

[@Elivate.]

Right!? Thanks for the comment and channel support. If you make it out there, you will not regret it. Enjoy!

[@jackterry7664]

Try Leadville, Colo. higher yet, and Really hard in a 172.

[@Elivate.]

Heading there for mountain training end of August

[@zacharynorman397]

Hey, thanks again for a great video! I really enjoy them for the flying first and foremost, but appreciate the look into other cities, and the tour around too. In other news, I just yesterday got to fly a G7 SR22 for the first time. Wow, amazing. But going to take some getting used to.

[@Elivate.]

Nice! I fly a G7 SR20 in three weeks, pumped for the G2000!

[@safetycheckoops]

Brother, love your videos! Keep them coming.

[@Elivate.]

Thank you. Will try!

[@krporsch]

Nice video. Landed at both airports during my mountain training last year. One thing to note is the POH says full flaps for all landings including crosswinds. 30 degree crosswind with 5 kt gust is no big deal in a cirrus with full flaps.

[@Elivate.]

Yah normally I land flaps 100. But from some previous experiences in the mountains I’ve found cross winds and gusts are a little easier to overcome with flaps 50. Landing flaps 50 is easy once you get used to it. This one I could have gone either way in hindsight. Check out our almost crashed in telluride video and you will see why I was a little gun shy of flaps 100 in the mountains with the crosswind and up/down drafts only 10ft above the runway. But this one was so minor you could land either flap config easily.

[@robertferraro236]

In the Aspen landing, you could see the effects of the adrenaline leave your bodies, especially Mrs, the moment your landing was finally complete, and you were safe on the ground. The cute doggies in the back were, of course, completely oblivious. Thanks for sharing that experience with us.

[@Elivate.]

Totally. Thsnk you for tuning in and supporting!

[@TheRotorhound]

I don’t know how many hours you have but I think you did good. Now with that very capable plane get your instrument rating. Doesn’t take much to get into IFR conditions especially in the mountains. Comment about lap portion of seat belts was right on and hearing aids for dogs are hard to find. Nice flying.

[@Elivate.]

At that time I had around 350 hours. Currently I have 545 and got my IR a year ago. I’m behind on making videos… This month we go back out there for some dedicated mountain flying instruction. Looking forward to it. Thanks for taking part in the channel. Some really great content is coming up I’m about 11 videos behind in editing!

[@jmead6121]

Awesome Flights & Adventure with yall Thanks for the Ride really enjoyed ..not an Pilot here but Flown a lot ....

[@Elivate.]

Thank you for the feedback and supporting the channel! Love having people like you on the channel.

[@jmead6121]

@@Elivate. Thanks ...& Cant Wait till y'all s next one ....Safe Travels !!!

[@bartosullivan8050]

What a change since the late seventies. Ranch where I lived is now a golf course and almost as many private Jets as Bozeman. Have you guys flown to Jackson Hole? Thanks for taking me along one sweet ride. Crazy winds in them hills. Stay safe!

[@Elivate.]

Glad you enjoyed! No we have not landed Jackson Hole yet but it’s on our bucket list!

[@RA-pv8br]

Love your videos! My wife and I recently did two full ski seasons in Telluride (100 days on the mountain each season!) and fell in love with living in the town... It's one of the most magical places we've been in the US, and we've been all over the country. We also have both been flying a bunch and are down to just our checkride for our PPL for both of us... Would be awesome to connect with you guys some time!

[@Elivate.]

100 days in Telluride, that is like living all season in Paradise! Congrats on being able to do that. Lyneé and I are working towards hopefully being able to do that someday. Your PPL will change your lives, looking forward to hearing from you about it and maybe connecting in person someday. An early congratulations on your next chapter in life!

[@RA-pv8br]

@@Elivate. Yes!!! Thank you! Cheering you guys on!

[@MrBrink182]

Is that a dog with an oxygen mask on in the back seat? Thats too cute for words.

[@Elivate.]

Absolutely www.4pawsaviation.com

[@SMcda]

Great video, what time are you departing? I have hundreds of hours in the rockies and our rule of thumb is to be done flying by 10:30. be landed by then, take off early early

[@Elivate.]

Good call. We’ve landed as late as 12:30pm and it definitely is best before 11am. These two flights were around mid to late morning.

[@SMcda]

@Elivate. yeh I would be getting off by 8am, less traffic, lower DA, less wind, less thermals, less mtn wave etc. Be over the valley and out of the mts by 9:30

[@MrClintonharper]

27:41 Tower tells you 70kts , dude had to go around due to you. As a CFI your crosswind control into KASE kinda stopped when your wheels touched, I wonder if you sideloaded the gear? Otherwise good landing. Watch the getThereit's and congratulations on your adventure in aviation.

[@Elivate.]

I edited out our s turns due to video timing. With us slowing to 85 and s turns, that gave us 1-2 miles of separation. So I’m not sure why KF was told to go around but I do not think it had to do with us. KF is a flight club plane at our airport that runs the pattern almost nonstop at our airport so I’m guessing it had something to do with that. I’ll need to ask Hugh the tower controller and make sure didn’t do anything to press KF.

[@rollamichael]

@@Elivate. I wasn't going to comment beyond noting your awesome puppy O2 masks, but this comment has me scratching my head. Coming into your home airport, you were #4 and following #3, 70 knot guy. #3 would have had right of way over you so I can't think of anything you could have done to cause #3 to be waved off. Perhaps #2 hadn't cleared the runway? And whilst I'm here, so much confidence expressed in your fuel gauges and calculated remaining fuel (was it all useable?)! I'll bet there was some reasonably priced avgas between Aspen and Waukesha, KAMW, e.g.

[@teddyherrera727]

I hope this flight taught you about what you dont know and that you took your steps to fix it. Fly safe man.

[@Elivate.]

Thank you. Every flight teaches us more and makes us safer and more experienced in different situations. The mountain training course gained us more than anything else though. I wish I would have taken it sooner.

[@danhorowitz8497]

I've been flying since 1968. As good as your equipment in the plane is, you should never land with less than a solid 45 min to 1 hour left. I made that mistake once doing a PALS flight. Never again. You're an adorable couple and saving dogs is wonderful. Just fly safe. Anything can pop up in an instant and low fuel can be devastating.

[@grumman38]

Watch your video and make note of your left hand pumping the controls in pitch. To get your flying to the next level you will need to break this habit. Usually this happens because pilots are trying to get some feedback on “how much energy is left”. In other words, how slow is the aircraft getting? When I flew large cabin jets career pilots weren’t allowed to flying into ASE without special training and several trips with an experienced crew member. You can go around a corner too slow as many times as you choose but only too fast once! Safe flights!

[@NineGPull]

Excellent feedback. Whenever I’ve flown with pilots that “pump” the controls in the flare, it’s made me wonder the same: don’t they know how much energy is left? That and/or not dialing in their sight picture yet… FWIW, and I only offer this as hopefully helpful feedback, I’d always recommend landing with the “golden hour” of reserves, not the mere 30 min as required. Should you get any different winds not in your favor, buildups/WX, etc you don’t have any margins. Plus, most bladders can’t last this long, never a bad idea to get out, stretch, refuel, bathroom, eat a small bite and hydrate. Mental clarity will improve drastically and overall it’ll be a safer operation. :-)

[@KutWrite]

Interesting. I felt the pressure you and your lady's faces were showing. For similar reasons, I had a slightly more tense flight out of Catalina Island. Just wrote a short story about it. Cute O2 rigs your dogs wear. Do you have a video with your history, what you do for a living, etc?

[@Elivate.]

Oxygen hoods. During departure from Telluride we show them and explain it. Check it out. You will see the hoods link in the video description.

[@Elivate.]

Yah we were pretty stressed there at pattern and touch down. What type of aircraft are you flying? No we don’t have a video about us, but we will have videos coming that get into it a little more gradually.

[@KutWrite]

@@Elivate. I hope so. It's a good human-interest hook. I'm always curious about others' levels of success. I no longer fly due to the FAA Medicine's AI "no" machine. Really. But for the cost of overriding it and getting to a human reviewer, I'd still be flying. I was a single-engine and helicopter commercial pilot... as a side-hustle only, until 2004.

[@KutWrite]

BTW... Whatever you two are doing to stay in shape, keep it up! You could be models or in show biz!

[@Elivate.]

I'm sorry to hear. Maybe take out your aviation interest on simulators. Tons of fun and way less fuel 🤓

[@evansneath]

I'm a private pilot w/ IR based out of a mountain town in CO and though I'm low time too, all of my time has been spent in and around mountainous terrain. There are a few red and yellow flags that came up for me watching this. Flying GA in CO anywhere in the summer is a morning sport. Based on the daylight, turbulence, comments about the heat, and DA for both departures you were leaving waaaay too late and making this flight so much more dangerous and difficult than it should have been. The comment near the start saying something like "we had no choice but to fly into Aspen VFR" set off some alarm bells. I know that you were trying to get at the fact that you couldnt fly IFR, but it also implies some level of get-there-itis when attempting to fly between two of the most complicated airports in the world with a high powered plane for a low time pilot. Your options were way more than that including flying into Grand Junction or Eagle and renting a car or just going to Aspen in the first place. Its pretty obvious from this flight that you've never seen the start of how dangerous blue sky mountain weather can get with high DA and mountain wave/rotors in the summer. A good chunk of the comment section seems to see that too. Next time you come out here you should stop in Denver before going further and get some serious mountain flying training. Every year there are experienced pilots from non-mountainous areas who become smoking holes in the ground because they junped into the deep end while thinking that the DA calculation from PPL training and a vague understanding that mountains have weather and turbulence will keep then safe. Margins in the mountains are slim and if your trip isn't boring then youre doing something very wrong. All of the legs of this trip for you were exciting as best. Its really easy to see that you were one or two small holes away from that swiss cheese model. All the best, and stay safe out there. I hope you enjoyed your time in CO and learned a lot on your trip.

[@Elivate.]

It’s tough/impossible to relay all experience, details, timelines, planning, discussions, training in a KZbin video 30 min long as you know. Great points above. While almost all of them have been addressed, in two weeks I’m lined up for dedicated mountain training with Stephen from Fly the Rockies. Looking forward to it which will increase our safety. I’ve had an additional 200 hours of experience and IR since this video was filmed so that hopefully will help our next trip to the mountains as well. We’ve had 4 trips to the mountains since then and obviously just love it out there. Congrats on being able to be out there year round!

[@brianl7938]

I noted that you went to full rich before landing which is normal at lower DA’s, but can be a problem at high DA’s, especially if you need to do a go-around. All the best. Brian

[@Elivate.]

💯 for Normally Aspirated. Do you feel that way for Turbo as well? Turbo manifold pressure is constant/controllable to the same degree no matter the density altitude.

[@brianl7938]

@@Elivate. I didn’t notice you have a turbo. With a turbo I believe you were fine. I scanned some of the comments to your video and was disappointed to see some very rude comments. I hope they don’t discourage you from making future video’s.

[@Elivate.]

Isn’t it interesting what people say from their armchair? 😆 If anything it encourages us to make more videos. Thank you for your support, you will be seeing a bunch of videos coming down the pipe soon. We are trying to get better and better at each one!

[@caprica_13]

You seem to have developed a nasty habit of pumping the elevator in the flare. Don't do that, you're destabilizing the airplane and inducing your struggle yourself. That landing at aspen was hard to watch, no landing requires that amount of back and forth on the yoke in a Cirrus. You're not flying a 737. Overall, I'd just say try to relax but that'll come with more experience. Happy flying! Oh and those pup masks/cones are pretty neat!

[@Elivate.]

It seems I only do that in very thin air. If you watch my other landings at sea level or close to it, there is very little to no pump. I’ll have to be more cognizant of this.

[@AllenPortman]

I wish you had cameras pointing toward what you are pointing or referring too!

[@Elivate.]

Yah good call. We started doing that since. You will see that in our newer content coming very soon. Have 11 videos in the queue.

[@johnmcevoy4002]

I got to give you credit you have some big ones to attempt that landing at your level of flying. Aspen is a very difficult approach and landing as well as takeoff because of the canyon affect.

[@Elivate.]

Ha! Thank you, they are respectable in size 😆. Next month I get formal mountain training with Stephen at “Fly the Rockies”. So moving forward hopefully I’ll be better prepared.

[@dasaniman1]

Curious what was your performance chart with a density attitude of 11,000+ Must have a lot more performance than my Hawker 800 used to have were limited to limit over 9000 feet’ FYI It’s called a non controlled airport.. Pilots don’t control airspace, they do communicate with other pilots in the area though.

[@Elivate.]

I will have to look to know exactly. It does well in high density and heat- better than I thought it would. It does have Gami’s, fine wires, Surefly, and she’s dialed in by Jim Barker so it performs just about as good as it possibly could given the hardware. Good point. Pilot Controlled Airport is a slang term. Uncontrolled or non-towered airport is the term I should have used on KZbin.

[@Elivate.]

I have the performance charts handy but it looks like KZbin does now allow pictures in comments? This is the first time I’m trying it.

[@igclapp]

​@@Elivate.You probably know this, but always refer to the performance charts and don't rely on density altitude for aircraft performance in a turbocharged or turbine aircraft. Temperature and pressure altitude have separate effects on these types of engines. For example, a turbo engine performs better at 10,000 feet and zero degrees C compared to 6,000 feet and 40 degrees C even though the density altitude in both cases is about 10,000 feet. Safe travels!

[@gs1doll]

On your run up I don't see that you have CAPS read . Just an observation. Also, you should look into why you may not want to go full rich on the mixture at high altitudes and instead just enriching mixture.

[@Elivate.]

Yah it’s on the checklist, just edited out of first flight, you can see it on second flight. That’s funny you say that about the mixture. I actually explained that on the ground to Lyneé and at the approach in Aspen leaned after going full rich in case and called it out while I did it. I edited both out because of video length and to avoid people asking about it 😆.

[@jackterry7664]

Unusual approach, most do a straight in from the North.

[@Elivate.]

Yup typically you land 15 and take off 33 there. The winds that day were 360 @ 12-17kts so it made sense for planes that could navigate the 33 downwind to land 33. Big jets would still land 15.

[@jimmydulin928]

We old instructors still call non-tower airports uncontrolled airports. Pilot controlled is very deceptive and your comment pretty much points out the problem. The FAR effort to make is as safe as possible is "See and Avoid." Assuming air traffic control where there is no ground control is dangerous. A major consideration in the mountains, it should be everywhere but is not, is total energy management. Fuel energy is considerable in your Cirrus, but is not finite and is not total energy. Teaching in the 85 hp C-140 at Monte Vista, a bit over 7611 MSL, level in low ground effect energy to cruise airspeed was at least 50% of my total energy available. I expect your Cirrus is not carburetor fueled, but in a C-172 we get at least 300 more rpm by leaning to max rpm before takeoff. Down drainage egress, as is 27 departure at Telluride is provides critical potential energy of altitude when we need it most. In most small trainer airplanes, most of mountain flying is maneuvering flight, where horizontal space available may be less than vertical space available. Staying near one ridge, hopefully the ridge downwind of the valley for updraft rather than downdraft, gives us more horizontal space available for turnback down valley as is your base to final at Aspen. At high DA it is more critical to allow the safety of dynamic neutral stability (what Wolfgang means by what the airplane wants to do) work as designed in turns...all turns. What does the airplane want to do in turns...all turns? It wants to get its nose down to stay at trimmed airspeed and not stall. Very nice dynamic proactive elevator movement on landing. Hopefully the same dynamic proactive rudder movement (no aileron) as well. I couldn't see the centerline but saw no lateral stick (aileron) movement. Good job. Did you fly tailwheel airplanes?

[@Elivate.]

Based off your wealth of knowledge, I assume you are a very experienced pilot. Thank you for sharing some of that experience. I do not have any tailwheel experience. I am hoping to get my tailwheel endorsement this winter.

[@jackterry7664]

Dido on the uncontrolled airport. But Aspen is controlled. Not Telluride.

[@KutWrite]

Good-o mentioning Wolfgang Langewiesche. His "Stick and Rudder" is still a wonderful source of flying principles and techniques.

[@mattclark9883]

Hey, nice video! Where did you get those Cannulas??

[@Elivate.]

Mountain High Oxygen

[@Weeeeeeelp]

if you haven't already, look into a mountain flying course. There's a school in KAPA that works strictly with Cirrus planes and owners called Independence Aviation. Best of luck!

[@Elivate.]

Absolutely. I went with Stephen from Fly the Rockies this past summer. He’s based out of Centennial and Colorado Springs. Best money I’ve ever spent. Thank you for the lead I’ll check them out too.

[@monkeysmamma]

I love your poodles! How long did it take them to get used to the oxygen hoods?

[@Elivate.]

Not too long. The headbands help keep them calm. They don’t love when we need to put the hoods on them, but once they are on, they don’t seem to care and snuggle up together.

[@KutWrite]

@@Elivate. Kind of a nice touch that you bring them along. With those hoods, is there a way for them to get water in flight? I'd guess the O2 dries them out.

[@tomcole4736]

If I am correct High Altitude and High temps dont provide a lot of lift. So glad you had great weather, would hate to have done that in cover

[@Elivate.]

You are correct! Trips are planned around the weather. This trip would not have been possible for us in IMC. Even though I’m IR now, I still would not fly the mountains in IMC.

[@VintageAviation737]

Great crew resource management! 👍

[@Elivate.]

Thank you! Lyneé is a huge help and additional level of safety.

[@gsveeb]

Nice videos! Keep up the great work. Just wondering though, Is there a reason why you don't have a front facing camera looking over the nose?

[@Elivate.]

Thanks! We started recording facing forward several months ago. You will see it in some of our other current videos. You are right, much better having a forward facing view in conjunction. Plus better wing footage, we had battery and connection issues with the wing camera on this trip.

[@ken91773]

Where did you learn the term "pilot controlled airport"? I've been flying for 35 years and have never heard that term. I did a google search and only find matches that the term doesn't exist. The only thing close is "pilot controlled lighting". The proper term is "non-towered airport".

[@Elivate.]

In PPL training we were taught that term. But yes it is slang for a non-towered airport.

[@dasaniman1]

Curious what was your performance chart with a density attitude of 11,000+ Must have a lot more performance than my Hawker 800 used to have were limited to limit over 9000 feet’

[@KutWrite]

As a former airline dispatcher (flight planner), I wondered about the DenAlt runway and climb charts, too, esp. when he said "We should be able to... "

[@igclapp]

I would avoid focusing on the term density altitude when discussing turbocharged or turbine powered aircraft. Temperature and pressure altitude have separate effects on these types of engines. For example, a turbo engine performs better at 10,000 feet and zero degrees C compared to 6,000 feet and 40 degrees C even though the density altitude in both cases is about 10,000 feet. Always refer to the performance charts in the manual.

[@KutWrite]

@@igclapp Yes, but density altitude still affects the wing's ability to generate lift. It also affects a propeller's efficiency. Even a turbocharged or turbine powered helicopter has to take it into account.

[@igclapp]

@@KutWrite True, but the difference in engine power will definitely affect takeoff distance and climb rate. I just want to make sure no one flying a turbo gets into the trap of thinking that they don't need to look at their performance charts for a takeoff at 6,000 feet and 40 degrees C because "it's 10,000 feet DA and it will fly just like it did when I took off at Leadville at 10,000 feet DA" (yeah, but it was 0 degrees C that day at Leadville). I'm just trying to emphasise that pilots should always refer to the performance charts!

[@boogerwood]

Do you not have cameras that look outside the plane?

[@Elivate.]

Yup but they died on this flight with us being on the ground in line so long before takeoff. Upcoming content has roughly 3-4 camera views that will be a nicer viewing experience.

[@boogerwood]

​@@Elivate.Cool. Such beautiful scenery and approaches. Would love more of that! I have a Comanche 250 and will be duplicating your flight one day... When it's cooler.

[@Elivate.]

Absolutely. Will get some content out for you soon!

[@mikesaenz4077]

What’s the metal part on the headset?

[@Elivate.]

They are Mountain high oxygen cannula boom mounts.

[@EdmondSmith-u8o]

My only comment, having flown out of many Colo high airports , is you never use less then full length . Hot and High requires full length for safety sake. Remember that your initial rate of climb is going quite a bit less then anticipated

[@Elivate.]

💯 agree. In fact, ground was implying to me they wanted an intersection departure and we were not going to accept that. But then they granted full length departure before I could contest it.

[@mikesaenz4077]

You should have the CAPS placard off so you can use it, no?

[@Elivate.]

Cirrus recommends the mixture being cutoff first, then the placard removed and caps pulled. They recommend the caps safety pin being removed during the entire flight, so we always fly with the pin removed. The caps cover is like a safety on a gun. Gives your brain a 1/2 second to solidify your decision.

[@billcoyne3060]

Awesome video

[@Elivate.]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jeanfrancois7344]

Nice video! all credit to your wife, she had the situation under control. You can see that as soon as you landed that plane.

[@Elivate.]

Poor thing I think I almost made her pass out.

[@josephsener420]

Take a mountain flying course! I took one and flew out in the Collegiate Peaks area from Lake in the Hills in Illinois! You will relearn what you were taught in WI but ever really have the discipline to follow on the flat lands where the DA never gets above 3500 ft!

[@Elivate.]

Done! I used Stephen with “Fly the Rockies”. Best money and time spent.

[@josephsener420]

@@Elivate.I used Western Flight Academy, their Chief Flight Instructor, Howard. It was great, 8 hours ground school and then 9 hours clock time for 6 hours flight time and six stops, six different challenges, including Leadville.

[@Elivate.]

Love it! Makes you such a safer pilot in the mountains, no comparison.

[@ocpilot4hire]

Please watch "Pilot Makes Tragic Mistake On Honeymoon Flight!" Your video made my palms sweat... Please do all you training WITHOUT the wife and dogs, especially in the mountains. You guys are young. You have plenty of time to fly together when you become an expert in your plane. I didn't fly my wife until about a year after my first plane. Thank you for the video. You guys make a great couple... Take care...

[@Elivate.]

Yah we saw that video. Tragic, extremely sad. Goes to show that no matter how much experience one has, ADM needs to be made case by case and is completely situational.

[@Elivate.]

And yup I agree, new pilots should fly solo for a while. We waited until I had over 100 hours before my wife joined and over 200 hours before any other passengers joined including our pups.

[@ocpilot4hire]

@@Elivate. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3zblIiVZdmWpKM

[@richardholmes5691]

Looks like it was turbulent enough to hand fly.

[@mukuld50]

I think you maybe have forgotten to take the CAPS pin out 😅. Thanks for posting these videos, they are fun to watch!

[@Elivate.]

Pin is out, and it’s in the checklist. But we leave the cover on as a personal safety switch.

[@mukuld50]

@@Elivate. not trying to argue in any way, I am genuinely curious - what do you mean by personal safety switch? Easier to read the checklist on the cover? I personally do like to see the red handle poking out with the cover shifted down on the bottom two velcros! On a different note - my wife is trying to convince me that we need to fly with our 80 lb Labrador puppy in our SR22T… this channel is great for me to build up confidence that we can maybe find a way! Looking forward to more videos!

[@Elivate.]

In the event of a CAPS pull, I want that extra 1/2 second action to confirm I’m pulling under the right mindset - like a safety on a gun. Not all dogs fly the same, but I would say maybe try the calming and noise reducing headbands (Amazon) and a large dog hood from 4pawsaviation.com. They work great on our dogs so maybe it will for your pooch as well!

[@Clark-i9o]

Reminds me of the couple in Christmas vacation

[@Elivate.]

😆 I’ve never heard that one before

[@davidportugues1312]

What’s the make and model of your wife’s sunglasses?

[@Elivate.]

a.co/d/06IJORHd

[@MikeRetsoc]

Pilot seatbelt belongs across laps and hips. Not bellybutton area. Nice trip performance on the 22T.

[@johnnunez17]

Sporty, but nice work for the first time in there👍🏻✈️😎

[@Elivate.]

Thank you for the support!

[@tracyj1961]

I’m scared just watching 😧

[@Clark-i9o]

So annoying the cameras on you guys the whole flight when there’s beautiful terrain to look at

[@rmcghe5610]

Realized that and couldn’t finish the vid.

[@Elivate.]

You’re annoying

[@Clark-i9o]

@@Elivate. thank you

[@Tomsyourbuddy]

Consult with a CSIP on landing with 50% flaps. There is no good reason to in this case. Also consider not taping any flights. It adds another layer of complexity you do not need as slow time pilot. Safety first!

[@Elivate.]

Check out our other videos as to why I used 50% in this case as I explain it. That is not my typical approach as you will see in our other videos. As you can notice in the videos, the recording does not take my attention away from any of the flight. It only adds to my awareness of my actions of the flight after the flight and allows me to become better with every flight.

[@tomcole4736]

Oh we are still transpondding...listen to her check list, you jumped ahead of her instead of just listening and following the list. No fighting when you are flying, Pilot, Co pilot, check list, every item gets checked and rechecked if there are questions

[@Elivate.]

😆 yup. I don’t think you were understanding the situation. When I said we were still transponding, I meant we were still transponding the squawk code from the day before, instead of it resetting itself to 1200 like it typically does. A check list is for double checking. A pilot has a work flow, the checklist is there as a backup to confirm the entire flow has been followed.

[@TheFlyboySouth]

Tighten seatbelt first, then snug shoulder harness.

[@19441978]

Don’t you think it a good idea to report the birds on approach course …

[@Elivate.]

There were no birds on this approach course that I can remember..

[@dragracin247]

Decent flying, next time work on your high speed landings. Think about driving a Mazda 3 and you’ll be better pilots for sure.

[@Elivate.]

😆 that’s funny. Dude I recognize your screen name from previous videos and off the wall comments. Thanks for following though you have a good sense of humor.

[@Sky_Burger88]

It seems like a terrible thing to do to those dogs. What is the decibel level inside the cabin? Do you know dogs ears are 10 times more sensitive than yours? As if the suffocating mask wasn't bad enough. If you gave those dogs a choice I don't think they'd want to be there.

[@Elivate.]

Well, respectfully I can understand your position if you do not know what we do for them. In our other videos we explain more about our babies and the care we take with them. They have dog ear plugs and dog head bands on. The masks are not suffocating, they are the opposite pumping 💯 oxygen to their precious snouts. They love flying, we know this because they get excited when we get to the hangar and put on their gear.

[@rollamichael]

Puppy O2 masks 🤣.

[@Elivate.]

www.4pawsaviation.com

[@jcheck6]

Mountain wave: Sounds like you will be doing quite a bit of mtn flying in the future. Learn all you can about mountain waves. The airline I flew for was outstanding in "wave" detection that occurs various times throughout the year (mostly winter). So much so that we filed/flew mtn wave bypass routes that were printed on our HI/LOW charts when areas were active. No other airline did this.

[@Elivate.]

Will do. Getting formal training in August with Stephen. Looking forward to learning more. Thank you for the tip!

[@jimmydulin928]

The excellent power of his Cirrus can get him into trouble in a wave or just strongly active rivers of air. In the common low powered airplanes I flew, there was no question as to what to do in 2,000 fpm down air...push forward on the yoke and fly through it as quickly as possible. Same with 2,000 fpm up air...pull back on yoke and stay in it as long as possible. In the San Pedro mountains I went from struggling to find up air at 9,000 to 13,500 in less than a minute in a 65 hp Taylorcraft. In a Tri-Pacer I went from 11,500 to 100' AGL at 7500 MSL in the same amount of time. The wind, when managed, is our friend. Attempting to maintain altitude is called, "the air just slammed him into the ground" in accident reports. He stalled trying to fight down air, stalled, and fell to the ground. Even in a Cirrus, always trying to maintain altitude in the mountains can be fatal. Strong down air bottoms out with a back bending bang, if we are still flying when we get there.

[@brandonc2859]

Lol poor girl looks scared

[@Elivate.]

Her and I both 😆

[@jerryclayton4616]

I’m hoping Dan Gryder or Blancoliro won’t be doing segment on him…

[@Elivate.]

I respect Dan and feel he does a great job providing non-biased analysis. But to imply that someone will need a crash analysis is not a well informed statement and relays bad intentions. If safety being our main priority is not clear from our videos, then I don’t know what is. Being an armchair pilot is easy and may make you feel better about yourself, but it will not make you a better pilot.

[@jerryclayton4616]

@@Elivate. as a retired CFI-I with LearJet time and over 4K TT I’m far from and armchair pilot… first of your videos I’ve seen but concerns raised… but you do you and be safe…

[@igclapp]

​@@jerryclayton4616Can you be more specific? We're all trying to learn here.

[@Elivate.]

With your experience, your constructive criticism will carry some weight. Please share what you feel I’m doing wrong in the cockpit.

[@Kristind66]

Standby…

[@mikesaenz4077]

W

[@Elivate.]

?

[@miteco1]

Foolish for a guy who obviously is not a fool.

[@Elivate.]

It looks like you might be a pilot based on your photo. If you are, after watching the entire video and understanding the title and thumbnail are grabby, what do you feel was foolish?

[@TwitchFlys]

You landed at the worst possible time of day. I fly a bed sheet just south of Aspen in CB and if you want calm winds and subsequently no rotor (source of most gusts up here). Get off the ground and land before 9am at the latest! After that things get thermic fast! Also will keep your DA down as well.

[@Elivate.]

Totally

[@williammorgan6639]

He does a lot of I think, I should. Does he scare anyone else?

[@safetycheckoops]

Umm did you watch the video? I never heard him say that once. Am I missing something? He displays cautious confidence and comes across as being proficient and experienced for only having 350 hours. I used to be a pilot. What is your fixed wing pilot experience? They are displaying cautious CRM every second that they are showing video of at least...

[@Elivate.]

When did I say that once? If I did, what is the safety concern with that?

[@asherhudson439]

More concerned with your video commentary than flying your aircraft safely…not great

[@Elivate.]

Interesting perspective

[@therustypilot3452]

That’s a voiceover for most of it and talking out loud is a challenge response single pilot style / his wife is helping too.

[@jcheck6]

@@therustypilot3452 I thought she did great with good CRM before start in Aspen. Great coordination in departing Telluride; everyone cooperated. Keep the vids coming.

[@Elivate.]

Thank you!

[@Elivate.]

She is a great co pilot! Makes us safer.

[@tomcole4736]

SO you rich guys out there are planes like cars when your lines up to fly out....Hey can you get the Kia out of the way of our Mercedes, we are flypassed in 5 minutes aabout 5000ft above you

[@Elivate.]

No, with aviation a line is a line, no matter what the aircraft. There are exceptions though when it comes to safety. For instance wake turbulence and fuel on board is a key factor when departing or landing multiple aircraft.

[@ElChupahuahua]

How about you guys turn off the cameras and learn to fly properly and confidently. Your addiction to social media is rather sickening.

[@Elivate.]

Maybe you should find a different channel to watch or get off social media yourself.

[@ElChupahuahua]

@@Elivate.Listen. I don't want to see anything happen to you both! However, there seems to be a trend of KZbin pilots crashing and being killed due to negligence and focusing more on clicks than competence. Folks, I wish you nothing but safety and long lives flying. But, when you introduce cameras into your flying environment, it becomes entertainment versus developming skill. Seriously, rethink your approach to flying. Love it, enjoy it, but stop filming it.

[@Elivate.]

This is a much better comment. Thank you! But, do you notice any time when all attention needs to be on the flight, that the pilot (me) is distracted by any video cameras? You will never see that on our channel because it doesn’t happen. I am solely focused on flying the airplane. In cruise when full attention is not needed, that is the only time I talk to or pay attention to the cameras. Lynee takes care of all filming and it never takes precedence over flying. It is quite opposite as you assume, as we use the videos to learn from our mistakes, share each video with our instructors, and strive to become better and safer pilots. There is no desire for social media, this channel is a record of our lives for Lynee, myself and our families to enjoy. It is expensive to fly and produce these videos, thus monetization from KZbin is a motivation to help fund this amazing hobby.

[@yurimoros]

Love it

[@DeenaMeldgin-k3f]

Impressive! I’m so glad to see the poodles have oxygen and are safe. 🩷 So cool that you rescue pooches. Supporting rescues around the world. @nationalmilldogrescue

[@Elivate.]

Thank you! Also @tinypawssmalldogrescue

[@Clark-i9o]

So annoying the cameras on you guys the whole flight when there’s beautiful terrain to look at

[@Elivate.]

Then turn on a nature channel maybe