# MFS Airplane cost



## COH20man (Jul 13, 2021)

Can anyone give me an idea of what it cost to fly into Indian Creek? Launch is second half of August. Ideally we'd run from boundary with light boats and fly coolers, kitchen and beer to Indian creek. 1.6' is going to be our cutoff for running from the top. Fly out of Stanley if it's just gear. Fly out of Salmon or Challis if we have to launch from Indian creek. Willing to be as creative as need be with types of boats and kitchen setup. Which company do you prefer


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## cnalder (Jul 7, 2016)

Call them as what size of plane and the airport matters. Mccall Avaition, Sawtooth Air, Gem Air, Middlefork Aviation?

A Cessna 206 runs either $450 or $600 per load and I think the load max is 900lbs.


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## Achilles Man (Feb 17, 2021)

I flew in last year using Sawtooth Flying Services. These were quotes from Stanley because they operate out of Stanley. Make sure you pick a service whose based out of where you are trying to fly out of. For a 206, $450 with 1000# payload, for an Islander $765 with 1500# payload. We ended up having to push our trip because of the fires to the end of Sept and as a result Sawtooth had already taken their planes back to their main hub (cant remember if that is Challis or where). We ended up sticking with Sawtooth for our trip at end of Sept and they in turn outsourced the flying to GSR. Our cost was $1026 for the Islander. Again, that was 2 complete raft setups (14') and 2 adults (plus the pilot). We were pretty packed. When we flew in, Boundary and Indian were closed (fires), so we flew into Cougar Creek.


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## jgrebe (Jan 16, 2010)

Looks like you got a couple of good responses but thought I'd throw out a second thought. Last year I took my first ever "backpack" style river trip (on the Selway). Backpacking stoves, no coolers, light weight food, 2-bay frame, etc. Did it more for manuverability but found that I kind of enjoyed not schleping stuff around every day at camp, spending all my camp time cooking and cleaning, and the boat handled amazingly well . Since you are running light boats from Boundary, have you considered just running that way for the whole trip?


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## spencerhenry (Jun 21, 2004)

Those quoted prices seem pretty good to me, but not likely to be that this year. Avgas has gone up $2.20 per gallon as of last week, and it will probably go much higher. I would guess the cost per hour of the plane is around $350 to $400, not including the pilot. But then, they don't usually make much.


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## Whitewater Worthy Equip (Dec 11, 2013)

It really depends on how your set up is put together and how many people NEED their dry boxes. If your dialed in and leave some stuff home figure on two boats and one body in an islander.


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## Conundrum (Aug 23, 2004)

Whitewater Worthy Equip said:


> It really depends on how your set up is put together and how many people NEED their dry boxes. If your dialed in and leave some stuff home figure on two boats and one body in an islander.


Yeah. On low water MFS, ditching the boxes all together and running drop bags is a good strategy. Especially if you don't have a way to raise the boxes up. Hard box/floor/rock sandwiches are not always a good combination.


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## COH20man (Jul 13, 2021)

Thanks for all of the responses. I imagine prices will be going way up as of today. I've been a backpacker my whole life, so it's not a big deal to bring less stuff for me. Trying to manage expectations for folks coming on the trip and giving them an idea of what it's going to take to grind down at what should be historically low flows. Hopefully the West sees some deep spring snow accumulations and a nice monsoon flow this summer for the health of our forests, rivers, air quality and generally well being that nature provides us all. Happy floating to you all!


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## DidNotWinLottery (Mar 6, 2018)

Year before last we used Gem Air, 1687.50 out the door for 2 Islanders with all gear for 1 boat and a pack raft, 5 passengers and a dog, We flew out of McCall. Because of a Main Permit we did not have time to do anything other then start at Indian Creek. Flying in is a unique experience.


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