Ed Guthrie
Cleared for Takeoff
The ridge isn't 900' AGL relative to the ruwnay, it is less than 350' AGL. Furthermore, one need not top the immediate ridge nor the power lines between the runway and the river when exiting Gaston's--the lowest climb gradient is found by flying the valley upslope to Mountain Home airport. Taking that route the aircraft must accomplish 450' of elevation gain in 7.6 nm--hardly a difficult task for a Warrior even on the hottest of days at Gaston's--you need less than 100 fpm climb.It's clear to the east if you call climbing over a 900 foot ridge a mile downrange or flying down the river "clear." No problemo for most of us.
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