Check Lists

“Seat belts on; Doors locked; Brakes set; Circuit breakers in; Fuel selector valve on both.”

Four of us were sitting in a Cessna 172 at the parking area of the Roche Harbor Resort airstrip preparing to depart.

ROCHE HARBOR RESORT

Roche Harbor sits on the northwest corner of San Juan Island in Washington. It is a half hour flight from the mainland. John S McMillan, a lawyer from Tacoma, Washington discovered a large deposit of lime in the area rock and in 1886 started the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company. He built the 20 room Hotel de Haro and by 1890 had built quite a company town with a pier, store, employee housing, church, school, barrel works, and the lime factory. Much of the town has been preserved and can still be seen today.

“Throttle open ¼ inch; Mixture full rich; Carb heat to cold; Propeller area “clear!”; Master switch on; Ignition; Throttle to 1000 RPM; Check gages and instruments.”

The Roche Harbor airstrip is 3593 feet long and 30 feet wide. It runs east and west with runway headings of 070 and 250. The middle of the runway is on a knoll and is the highest point so on a landing at either end, the airplane rolls uphill to the center point of the runway and rolls down the other half. Most approaches to the runway are made from the west, coming in over the Roche marina. There used to be several tall fir trees at the west end of the field which required a steep final approach to the end of the runway to avoid hitting the trees. Take offs were mostly done from east to west to gain altitude over the water.

“Roche Harbor traffic this is Cessna 3572 Quebec on frequency 128.25, taxiing on active runway 070 to the east for departure.”

It was a late afternoon day in August and the sun was starting to set. The four of us had flown to Roche for a picnic. It was a beautiful day. John sat next to me in the co-pilot seat as we taxied up the runway.

“What a great day for an outing. Nice and warm and so much to see at the marina.” John shouted over the engine noise.

“These August evenings are so calm. It should be a smooth flight back to Bellingham,” I said.

As we taxied to the mid and high point of the runway, I was startled to see, standing in the middle of the runway, a flock of sheep. They had come through the fence from a field on the south side of the runway. In my flying career, I had never seen animals on a runway before.

“ROCHE HARBOR TRAFFIC, CESSNA 3572Q ON THE GROUND. WE HAVE A FLOCK OF SHEEP ON THE RUNWAY!” I shouted into the mike.

I shut down the airplane, set the parking brake, and John and I climbed out.

“Ok,” I said staring at the flock. “You stay here, and I’ll get on the other side and let’s see if we can walk them back through the hole in the fence.”

Surprisingly, it was easier than expected and after one sheep climbed through, the rest followed. We then stood at the fence line, yelled, and waved our arms to scare them down the field. After they were safely away, we climbed back into the cockpit, restarted the engine, and taxied to the far east end of the field to the run-up area.

“Read off the checklist.” I said, handing it to John.

“Flight controls free; Instruments set; Mixture full rich; Fuel selector valve on both; Elevator trim set for takeoff; Throttle to 1800 rpm; Left and right magnetos check; Carb heat on; Throttle back to 1000 rpm; Flaps up; Run- up is complete.”

“Roche Harbor traffic, this is Cessna 3572Q on the ground departing runway 250 straight out to 1100 feet.”

“Flaps up; Carb heat to cold; Trim set for take-off; Throttle full; Roll out.”

We started down the runway into the setting sun keeping the aircraft nose pointed straight down the centerline.

Picking up speed, heading to the high point on the runway, I watched the airspeed indicator. I will lift the nose at 55 knots and climb out at 75 knots indicated airspeed. Almost to the high point on the runway. 55 knots, lift the nose.

“SHEEP ON THE RUNWAY!” yelled John.

Sure enough. The flock had climbed back through the fence and were gathered straight in front of us.

Two things would happen if the airplane hit the flock.  First, there would be mutton chops flying in all directions. Second, the Cessna would roll and catch on fire. There was no time left for brakes and we were too light to get solid on the ground.

65 knots. Pulling back on the yoke. The Cessna hopped into the air, barely clearing the bodies of the sheep with the landing gear. Now level the airplane, let the airspeed build up.

Dropping the nose some, the airspeed rose to 70 knots, and we climbed out over the marina filled with boats. Looking back at the runway, there were now sheep scattered all over the airstrip and some were still running.

“Roche Harbor traffic. This is Cessna 3572 Quebec. Be advised that there are sheep all over the airfield. The runway is unsafe for takeoff or landings.”

Later I looked at the airport information chart for Roche. It says: You are using these facilities at your own risk. Roche Harbor will not be held responsible for any mishaps that might occur during landing, takeoff, taxiing, or while parked. Caution: animals and birds.

Looking on the back of my check list as we flew home, I scanned the list of emergency procedures in their categories: Engine failures; Carburetor icing; Engine fire; Electrical failure; Spin recovery; and that was it.

Humph! Nothing about sheep.

• Title photo: Google Earth

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