CC268
Final Approach
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- Nov 4, 2015
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CC268
***Please understand that this was my first time flying in AK and my first time flying in terrain like this - I am not an expert - this is my perspective of the flying - this was probably weak sauce for anyone who flies in AK - don't rip me to shreds over it - thanks.***
Last week I was in Alaska, visiting my wife's parents who live in Sterling (Kenai Peninsula). It was my first time in AK. I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't fly in Alaska and I really wanted to do some float flying (which I've never done before).
I decided to book an "Intro to Float Flying" flight at Scenic Mountain Air (also known as Alaska Float Ratings) in Moose Pass, AK. Their "bread and butter" is their ASES course that is 3-5 days long. They have these cool little cabins right there on property that you can stay in. I talked with the owner, Vern, for quite a while as I was waiting to go up with an instructor. He was telling me about all the interesting folks they get there - fighter pilots, corporate CEOs, poor engineers like me, even an astronaut! He told me how even the best of pilots come in with a humble attitude towards a new type of flying. Thought that was cool. I talked with a fella who was a Sheriff in Boston - he was there getting his ASES rating.
My instructor, Darlene, was an awesome pilot and a great instructor! She has flown up there for 12 years. Anyways, we started out by practicing some "step taxis". Our route was Upper Trail Lake, over Grant Lake, up to Wolverine Glacier (I think that is right) and then over to Paradise Valley where we landed on both Upper Paradise Lake and Lower Paradise Lake. She even let me land a few times! I did pretty good. We took off from Lower Trail Lake over to Ptarmigan Lake where she had me do some landing exercises. After Ptarmigan we headed back to Upper Trail Lake - the water was glass so she made the landing there.
The experience was truly indescribable - the coolest flying I have ever done. The terrain was unbelievable. Flying through the valleys with mountains above you is a very humbling experience. It was a struggle to decide whether or not I wanted to take photos of all the incredible views or fly the airplane (of course I handed the controls over to her when I wanted to take some photos or video).
Our approach into Upper Paradise Lake was amazing. We had to fly up into a small boxed in valley (you can see it in my photos and on the map) in order to make the approach and land into the wind at Upper Paradise Lake. It's a little odd flying directly towards a mountain side - I asked her a few times, "uh, do we turn yet?" "Nope keep flying!". I kept thinking to myself, "were not gonna be able to turn tight enough and were gonna hit the mountain!" LOL. Of course I trusted her. I can definitely see how somebody could get over there head and kill themselves in terrain like that. We made a 180 degree turn in the valley over Ptarmigan Lake (which to me was quite tight - to her or any AK pilot, just another turn in a valley). It was so cool flying right next to a mountain side, seeing the trees below.
I even saw a fella on big wheels who landed on a gravel bar between Upper and Lower Trail Lake. Might of been James or Stewart or David or something
So cool.
My hope is to someday go back and get my ASES rating. If I had the time and money I would have done it in a heartbeat (I have enough money saved for the full course, but it will be going towards my Commercial). Again - the experience was truly amazing!
I was supposed to fly with a family friend up there in a PA-12 on 36" tires, but he owns his own welding business and was really busy that week. He has a dirt strip that his dad built way back in the day - it was SO cool. GA up there seems so much different than in the lower 48 (not to say there aren't similarities of course). These planes are like flying pickup trucks - its a tool to haul out moose, bear, whatever you can fit in the thing lol. Very cool. A lot of these guys learned to fly in a tail dragger when they were 14, 15 years old.
So now I just need a Super Cub on floats and a set of big tires!
I can't upload all the photos here, so please check out the shared link below to my Google Photos. By the way, the photos don't even begin to give the scenery/terrain justice.
All photos/videos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uNSxRMM1aKQXV6vr5
*The video of us landing is indeed me (well Darlene actually landed it that time)
Last week I was in Alaska, visiting my wife's parents who live in Sterling (Kenai Peninsula). It was my first time in AK. I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't fly in Alaska and I really wanted to do some float flying (which I've never done before).
I decided to book an "Intro to Float Flying" flight at Scenic Mountain Air (also known as Alaska Float Ratings) in Moose Pass, AK. Their "bread and butter" is their ASES course that is 3-5 days long. They have these cool little cabins right there on property that you can stay in. I talked with the owner, Vern, for quite a while as I was waiting to go up with an instructor. He was telling me about all the interesting folks they get there - fighter pilots, corporate CEOs, poor engineers like me, even an astronaut! He told me how even the best of pilots come in with a humble attitude towards a new type of flying. Thought that was cool. I talked with a fella who was a Sheriff in Boston - he was there getting his ASES rating.
My instructor, Darlene, was an awesome pilot and a great instructor! She has flown up there for 12 years. Anyways, we started out by practicing some "step taxis". Our route was Upper Trail Lake, over Grant Lake, up to Wolverine Glacier (I think that is right) and then over to Paradise Valley where we landed on both Upper Paradise Lake and Lower Paradise Lake. She even let me land a few times! I did pretty good. We took off from Lower Trail Lake over to Ptarmigan Lake where she had me do some landing exercises. After Ptarmigan we headed back to Upper Trail Lake - the water was glass so she made the landing there.
The experience was truly indescribable - the coolest flying I have ever done. The terrain was unbelievable. Flying through the valleys with mountains above you is a very humbling experience. It was a struggle to decide whether or not I wanted to take photos of all the incredible views or fly the airplane (of course I handed the controls over to her when I wanted to take some photos or video).
Our approach into Upper Paradise Lake was amazing. We had to fly up into a small boxed in valley (you can see it in my photos and on the map) in order to make the approach and land into the wind at Upper Paradise Lake. It's a little odd flying directly towards a mountain side - I asked her a few times, "uh, do we turn yet?" "Nope keep flying!". I kept thinking to myself, "were not gonna be able to turn tight enough and were gonna hit the mountain!" LOL. Of course I trusted her. I can definitely see how somebody could get over there head and kill themselves in terrain like that. We made a 180 degree turn in the valley over Ptarmigan Lake (which to me was quite tight - to her or any AK pilot, just another turn in a valley). It was so cool flying right next to a mountain side, seeing the trees below.
I even saw a fella on big wheels who landed on a gravel bar between Upper and Lower Trail Lake. Might of been James or Stewart or David or something
So cool.My hope is to someday go back and get my ASES rating. If I had the time and money I would have done it in a heartbeat (I have enough money saved for the full course, but it will be going towards my Commercial). Again - the experience was truly amazing!
I was supposed to fly with a family friend up there in a PA-12 on 36" tires, but he owns his own welding business and was really busy that week. He has a dirt strip that his dad built way back in the day - it was SO cool. GA up there seems so much different than in the lower 48 (not to say there aren't similarities of course). These planes are like flying pickup trucks - its a tool to haul out moose, bear, whatever you can fit in the thing lol. Very cool. A lot of these guys learned to fly in a tail dragger when they were 14, 15 years old.
So now I just need a Super Cub on floats and a set of big tires!
I can't upload all the photos here, so please check out the shared link below to my Google Photos. By the way, the photos don't even begin to give the scenery/terrain justice.
All photos/videos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uNSxRMM1aKQXV6vr5
*The video of us landing is indeed me (well Darlene actually landed it that time)
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