Photos of the Day -- Halibut Cove
Great day with the family and friends, we are truly blessed.
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Jun 11
Jun 10
Photos of the Day -- Taking a Couple Days Off
My best friend from college flew up to Alaska today with his wife and little girl so we loaded the 185 and headed for Halibut Cove. I don't often take time off in the summer, but sometimes a chill pill is needed. This is our family cabin and my mom and dad are sharing the time with us which is awesome. We will be down here for a few days and then back to the normal routine with flying pictures.
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Jun 6
Photos of the Day -- NOLS Mountaineering
This is one of several teams of mountaineers currently climbing in the Chugach Mountains near by. Most of these teams will be totally isolated in the extreme wilderness for 4 weeks. The only contact with civilization during this time is when I bring them groceries in my 1962 Super Cub. These climbers are with an organization called NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). NOLS does an excellent job of training young people to be leaders while experiencing the rewards of the wilderness. These month long trips test the endurance of all those who participate and they are some of our favorite clients. I have done hundreds of flights for NOLS and I am always impressed by the goals they accomplish.
My father-in-law, Mike Meekin (Meekins Air Service) has been flying for them for nearly 30 years and they have always shown a high level of professionalism and care for the environment. This team (NAME 2) is still out there, and I just talked to their course leader 30 minutes ago by satellite phone. They are currently sitting in the clouds at 8000' in the Chugach Mountains. If the weather allows I will see them again on the 8th of June.
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Jun 1
Photo of the Day -- Oops I Think I Scared 'em
I took my dad out on the glacier this weekend. We landed up at 8500' and it was still more than 40 degrees. It was an awesome day to be up on the snow. We landed above a huge 2000' ice fall on a glacial shelf. Often the cold air makes up for the high altitude in terms of flight characteristics, and density altitude, but with 40 + temperatures the poor old bird was really feeling it. When we were done with the job on the glacier we said good-bye to the mountaineers and crawled into the cub. There was a little bit of wind blowing down glacier, plus we were pretty heavily loaded, in slushy snow at 8500' elevation. The climbers reminded me that I only had a little bit of smooth snow before the huge crevasses trailed into a 2000' vertical drop of broken snow and ice.
The Cub very slowly accelerated and after several hundred feet the tail came up and we began gaining speed. We lifted without a problem, and seconds later huge crevasses were passing just 15 feet below the skis. As I carefully accelerated and began bleeding off the flaps I allowed the Super Cub to loose a couple hundred feet as we came over the shelf because the terrain was falling away quickly and there was a bit of a downdraft with the falling air. After we had been airborne for about 2 minutes, a concerned voice came over the radio inquiring as to whether or not we were airborne. I laughed and said, "all was well" when the leader responded on the radio we heard a loud cheer from the team on the ground. My Dad and I busted out laughing not realizing the dramatic view the mountaineering team had experienced as we had disappeared toward the icefall with our skis still plowing slush as we doggishly accelerated down a one way slope. We got a good laugh over this, and then flew back to the house for hamburgers and steaks with the family.Comments [0]
May 28
Photo of the Day -- Moose Horn Hunting
I took a buddy of mine, and we went out moose horn hunting this afternoon. Moose naturally shed their antlers during the winter months and as the snow melts they become visible lying in the woods.
It's a great way to destroy a perfectly good Super Cub. There is an odd fascination with landing to pick them up, but they often prove to be a difficult retrieval, after a sketchy landing. For some reason I naturally rebel against walking too far. For this reason I may be tempted to land as close as possible in a really horrible spot rather than landing in a location that is actually sane but involves 15 minutes of walking. I guess all I am saying is that it's always a challenge to use good judgment, and horn hunting puts this to the test like no other.
I hate to be a salesman but if anyone wants to go on a horn retrieval flight it's a lot of fun and involves a sightseeing trip, a bush landing, a hike, and an antler to take home for the kids. Maybe I'm weird but this little activity really is a good time ... as long as you are willing to walk a bit :o) For $300 bucks I'll get you a moose horn...I apologize for the sales pitch, but I just think it's a good time, and you might enjoy it.
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May 23
Photos On The Fly -- Hauling Groceries For NOLS
Look at those groceries! Kai can really eat.
Sent from my iPhone
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May 21
Photos of the Day -- Super Cub Carrier Landing
OK so today I am so sore from running down mountains chasing sheep that I can barely walk. The biologist got 5 more lambs today so the project is well on its way. If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about visit here.
Today was a pretty long day I started by flying 4 hours for Fish and Game, and then I moved a couple of bear hunters, a gold miner, a resident, and then 3 loads of freight to the glacier. This photo shows only half the team that is currently headed out on a month long expedition. I hauled more than 400 pounds of equipment and supplies onto this gravel pad for 15 climbers. These are some tough guys and gals and they have a real challenge awaiting them as they lug their gear to the top of the Chugach range, and then all the way back out to the road system. I will see them twice more during the month long expedition.
You can see my tracks on the gravel. This strip is about 290 feet long unless you dive right and take your chances with the boulders. I now those rocks don't look like much, but when you are loaded up with freight, and braking hard, it's not all that fun to hit watermelon sized rocks. Even if it was fun, it's doggone hard on equipment. I consider this a high-stakes landing simply because of the aircraft-carrier characteristics. The approach end is as vertical as the side viewed above. You can't land short and you really don't want to go long.
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Apr 26
Photo of the Day -- Calm After the Storm
These guys had spent some time trying to get up Marcus Baker but the weather did not cooperate. We picked them up a couple of days ago after the storm had passed.
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Mar 29
Story Sunday -- Photo of the Day -- Pants on a String
There was a storm brewing on the other side of the mountains and the wind was temperamentally building. I was surprised when the report from the glacier was less than 10 knots, but optimistically assumed we were experiencing a lull before the storm. I also knew that if they did not get their groceries today, it might be several days before conditions allowed another trip. I quickly loaded the plane and headed for the 10,000' level. It was obvious that the wind was blowing at altitude because the clouds were passing by the peaks at a tremendous rate and conditions were changing rapidly. The clouds were looming over the landing site and it was becoming apparent that the line between do-able and dangerous was growing very thin.
The airflow affecting the cloud formation just overhead indicated winds in excess of 60 mph but where I was currently flying conditions remained ... reasonable. I made one pass over the campsite and was disappointed when they explained on the aviation radio that the wind had picked up significantly in the past 20 minutes. The climbers had taken a 12 foot probe and tied a pair of pants onto the end of it and stuck it in the snow for a wind indicator. The pants looked like a thin silk flag as they stood straight out pointing away from the ominous cloud formation threatening to overtake us at any moment. This is not uncommon and can be viewed in the picture above as the air comes up and over the range it will actually hold in position for several hours, and then, all of a sudden unleash it's furry. I could feel the wind tugging on the control surfaces of the super cub yet I was reluctant to retreat because the air was relatively smooth. As I flew away from the camp a massive downdraft required full throttle to maintain a 500 foot per minute decent. This is where the game can get a little dicy because the Super Cub is no longer performing at its full potential because of the reduced airflow over the wings, and through the engine and propeller. 350 lbs of groceries and gear sat behind me in the seat and the 10,000' elevation was making itself known. It does not take a rocket-scientist to realize that you have about 30 seconds to make a choice; either go home and don't look back, or, if you're comfortable, drive it in there. Circling overhead and talking about it is not always an option, because the longer you lolly-gag the longer you leave yourself exposed. I was comfortable with landing because I had felt the wind and while it was powerful it was not turbulent, but I knew it was a one way trip. A go-around was absolutely out of the question because of the steepness of the terrain as well as the unstable air. I turned in towards the snow and ice and drove it into the ground under nearly full power with no flaps. It was an un-eventful landing and I quickly unloaded the gear and explained that I wanted to be airborne in 10 minutes --Usually we hang out and at least drink a cup of coffee. I didn't know if it was my imagination or if the clouds really were closer, but as soon as the Cub was unloaded and I looked around it seemed as though things were getting worse. The clouds were darker and the wind was stronger. Somebody had an anemometer and we held it into the Southerly wind. It quickly climbed through 10 then 15, 17, 22 mph..... that was all I needed to see, I walked away from the wind indicator and headed straight for the plane. I hollered to the course leader that I needed to be airborne immediately, because I had to take off with a tail wind. They grabbed all the garbage and backhaul they could and I was in my cub with the engine running in less than 2 minutes. I sat with the engine idling while I stared at the pair of pants whipping in the wind, I was waiting for a lull that never seemed to come. I had to take-off down hill because an up-hill, up-wind take-off was suicide in the rising terrain and massive downdrafts at the base of the nearest mountain. I waited, and waited but the wind never relented. I eventually poured the cobbs to it and started down the glacier with 25+ mph of wind blowing on my tail. At 10,000', in fresh snow, with a half loaded Super Cub, and a 25 mph tailwind it took me almost 2000' to get airborne. There is nothing like that feeling of your airplane breaking ground as the wings finally build enough lift to fly ... it is a beautiful thing. I spoke with this course a couple of weeks later and they said that within 15 minutes it was snowing and blowing so hard there was no way I could have landed and they did not a see a break in the weather for 3 more days. That's one thing with the glacier work, you just never know what you are going to get. *NOTE* I have no pictures of this event because of the circumstances, but the above photo is taken in the same area with a much milder system brewing on the horizon.Comments [1]
