That last account brings to mind another story I heard of some years back about a similar problem. I didn't actually see any of this and I'm only relaying what I heard on the matter. Seems this fellow was flying a Luscombe from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Provo, Utah. He was doing ok, zipping along and enjoying the scenery, when for some reason or another (bladder problems, I suspect) he elected to set down on a secluded dirt road in southwestern Colorado. Well; the road was rougher then he anticipated and he wound up busting one of the wheels (way beyond repair). After getting out and taking care of essential business, he inspected the damage.
There was only one thing to do, get a ride to the next town and purchase a new wheel and tire. Well, he waited on that road for a couple of hours, hoping that a car would come along, so he could hitch a ride. But; when he realized he might be stuck there for days he reassessed his problem and did some powerful pondering. He finally hit on an idea and started looking for a long, hefty stick. His idea was to wire it to the landing gear, snow-ski style. The idea had some merit (considering the circumstances) so he found one and wired it on. Satisfied, he fired up the bird and with some hard opposite rudder made his takeoff without no more than a high pucker-factor. He headed for a small dirt strip he'd overflown a few miles back, near Dove Creek, Colorado. Arriving over the dirt strip, he looked over the situation and found the place deserted. He didn't relish the idea of cracking up with no help standing by, so; he flew on to the little town (named after the airstrip we must assume).
He flew low over the town to attract attention and before long had some people aware of his problem and heading for the strip. When everyone was on hand he lined up a long slow approach and ever-so-easy let the Luscombe settle to the ground. The touchdown was a classic. No bounce, no fish-tail, just a gentle one tire squeaker, then a rip-snorter of a ground loop. He didn't get hurt, and the bird only sustained some scraped off fabric on the wing tip. He did a temporary fix to the wing with duct tape and then got a ride into town. He located a spare wheel in nearby Cortez and hopped a bus. At Cortez, he went to the airport, bought his parts, and managed to located a gentle, helpful soul . Our pilot and his benefactor loaded up the wheel, a new tire, some tools and headed back to the landing strip. After a bit of sweat they had the bird ready for normal flight and the rest is history.