thumperak
Filing Flight Plan
This is a long post, it is the full length version of my trip from Anchorage to Oshkosh this summer. Originally it was posted in segments along the way on Yahoo Groups CitabriaPilots.
An Alaska pilot flies south for the summer…
I left Anchorage June 27th with an eventual destination of Oshkosh July 23rd. I flew down the coast via Cordova and Yakutat to play around for a couple of days with a friend that lives in Hoonah, slightly Northwest of Juneau. Stopping in Yakutat for fuel I came across a covey of homebuilt Glasiar drivers whom I had seen for a couple of days in Anchorage. My flight time to Yakutat was 3:30, theirs was 2:15. They were fueling up and wiping down their windscreens and leading edges with cleaner to get rid of what few bugs deposited themselves. I told them if they flew a bit slower the bugs might have had time to get out of their way. One of them was from Daytona Beach Florida, another from Mississippi so they had covered quite a bit of ground over the course of their adventure.
The weather was gorgeous down the coast with views from the Pacific up to the peaks of mountains that exceed 18,000’ in height. I was glad they had such great weather for sightseeing given the distance the came to be there. I previously had only flown as far south down the coast as Cordova, so this was all new GA flight territory for me as well. On the way down I checked out the old DEW and White Alice sight at Cape Yakataga, and the towering frame dishes and drive-in movie size radar reflectors were in great shape still, with minimal vandalism to the old buildings as far as I could tell. One of the advantages of being way off the beaten track.
Continuing towards Hoonah I took a side trip (and pictures) of Lituya Bay where a huge portion of mountain broke loose during an earthquake and slid into the bay causing a 1700’+ splash that denuded the one of the tree lined slopes of the bay. I arrived Hoonah at 4 p.m. after about 6 hours of flying time.
The following day my friend took me out in his boat and we dropped two crab pots and two halibut jigs (part of the advantages of being a subsistence fisherman). Getting back to Hoonah he drove me for a couple of hours around many of the old logging access roads, saw deer, and a brown bear with an a** as large as the front of his jeep running down the road ahead of us at one point. He estimated it was a 600+ pound brownie. Later that afternoon we went flight seeing over the area to the west of Hoonah and around Yakobi, one of the “outer” Islands. Arriving back in Hoonah around 9:30 p.m. we headed back out onto the water with an incredible moon rising above the snow capped mountains and reflecting off the water. We found one crab pot stuffed with eight or nine keepers, and the other with only one too small to keep. We came up empty handed with the halibut jigs but sure filled up on crab late that night, and I was hungry!
Friday the 29th we went back out onto the water to leave the halibut jigs again. Then we took the plane over to Juneau, topped the fuel and headed up the Lynn Canal cutting west through the Endicott River valley and cruised Glacier Bay for an hour and a half, landing Gustavus where we had an outstanding lunch and spent a couple of hours exploring the area in a car his girlfriend’s family leaves there. Gustavus looks to becoming an aviation mecca. It is an old WWII field that has been kept up nicely. They recently resurfaced the runways and put in a great transient ramp. They have approaches and are looking to become an Alaska Airlines alternate for Juneau. I saw many new GA hangers, with more being put in. It is one of the tourist jump off points for Glacier Bay with many lodges, B&B’s and steady low key growth. And they have Avgas fuel available retail now.
Returning Hoonah we discovered a 20 pounder on one of the halibut jigs and had another fantastic late night dinner – salad made from leftover crab, and grilled halibut.
Next will be a flight to enter Canadian customs at Prince Rupert, then in to Prince George and down to Washington State where I hope to spend five or six days knocking out airports for GoFlyAmerica. I learned to fly in Yakima, at McCallister’s Flying Service and there are dozens of airports in Eastern Washington I’ve always wanted to explore, and then I’ll spend a couple of days flying the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula as well.
I have been having a great time flying at 1000’-1500’ over the valleys, farms, and ranches of NE Washington State, but had to overcome a hurdle or two to get here.
I intended to leave Hoonah AK for Juneau then Prince Rupert B.C. Sunday morning the 1st of July with the intention of spending Sunday night in southern B.C. for the hop in to Washington State Monday morning. Talking to my wife Saturday night, she asked if I had my passport. After weeks of telling myself “remember to take your passport” it was now Saturday night, 600 miles from Anchorage, and I forgot my passport. I spoke with Canadian Customs and they had no problem with my entering and leaving Canada with an Alaska State drivers license. I spoke to U.S. Customs and was told flatly that if I arrived in the U.S. from Canada via private aircraft, I would subject myself to “SUBSTANTIAL FINES, AND POSSIBLE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION” (the emphasis was from the guy at U.S. Customs, not me). He was pretty animated I not show up in the U.S. without a valid passport, or a drivers license and proof I had applied for a passport.
To make a very long story somewhat shorter my lovely, industrious wife Vonda discovered DHL could Goldsteak it on Alaska Airlines Sunday. Alaska Airlines Cargo held over for 3 hours in Juneau thanks to the diligent and persistent work of the DHL agent in Anchorage and I got my passport 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. I would have flown back for it, but weather prevented, and although VERY expensive, DHL cost about half what it would have cost me to fly back for it myself. You get what you pay for, and DHL provided exemplary service, and Alaska Airlines Cargo was accommodating way above and beyond.
4:30 p.m. Sunday I left Juneau for Prince Rupert. Enroute along Stephans Passage and south beyond to Ketchikan under 3500-4000’ ceilings in occasional showers with scattered below, I did take two aerial detours to look at Petersburg and Wrangell Alaska. Both were larger and more developed than I had imagined. As a matter of fact, much of Southeast Alaska seems that way. There were very few areas with population, but almost everywhere somewhat accessible via boat or barge appeared to have been logged, or occupied in some way at one time or another. Throughout my sojourns in the area I would see a cabin or cabins, or a small boardwalk community where I never expected. There were overgrown roads with the detritus of over a century and a half of mining, fishing, and logging throughout much of the area I saw in Southeast Alaska. Well, one caveat – you can’t log a glacier or a solid mound of granite that emerges from the sea and extends immediately thousands of feet into the sky.
I arrived Ketchikan under beautiful clear skies and a sun baked 72 F. close to 7:30 p.m. I have only been to Ketchikan once, and it was spent sitting for 45 minutes on an Alaska Airlines jet, at night, in the rain. As lovely as Ketchikan was, thankfully Aero Services was open so I could fuel and continue. Besides, the airport sits on an island, connected to town by limited ferry service, so there would be no way to get into town after hours anyway. The FBO there at Ketchikan has a fantastic pilot lounge with T.V. / Snooze room, computer terminals for weather and e-mail, and nice complimentary refreshments. It might have had something to do with the three or four fancy biz-jets out front.
The hop from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert covers a LOT of water (emphasis mine this time) unless you plan to go a looong way around. Nothing wrong with the long way, and I know it would have been much more scenic (if there even is such a thing in Alaska) but it was nearly 8 p.m. and Prince Rupert is an hour ahead of Alaska so I went direct. An hour flight put me into Prince Rupert at 10 p.m. Pacific Time, and the terminal was completely empty. Prince Rupert too sits on an island, connected to the town via ferry service, with no more service until 8 a.m. the following morning. There was a nice soft grassy transient parking area I figured I’d be setting a tent up on to sleep as there were occasional rain sprinkles. There wasn’t even a security person or any janitorial staff present. Flight service told me to go to the pilot lounge and I could phone customs. Once in the lounge (using a frequency number to unlock the door) I found the terminal completely empty and mine to roam.
Customs were great, and checked me in over the phone. The pilot lounge had a TV (no reception, but a VCR and an assortment of movies), a couple of nice couches with airline blankets and pillows, phone, fax, and great wireless computer service. I plugged in my electric water pot and made dinner for myself, caught up the log book, planned my trip to Washington State for the next day and slept comfortably on the couch. Tomorrow (Monday the 2nd) I would leave for Washington via Prince George south to Kamloops, then Oroville WA.
Prince Rupert Monday the 2nd I was up at 06:30 and no one would be at the airport until after 8 a.m. I called flight service and launched for Prince George a little after 7 a.m. under overcast skies with ceiling at 3600 with scattered to occasional broken at 2600 feet with improvement as I headed east. Following the Skeena River there were a couple of scuddy areas, but by the time I reached Terrace B.C. ceilings were above 5000’ and I was able to save considerable distance by following a power line valley directly east to just south of Smithers. From there it was to Prince George for fuel, Prince George south to Kamloops for a fuel topoff, and a call to U.S. customs. I arrived Oroville at 4:30 p.m. and customs was there waiting for me and someone else following behind. By 5 p.m. I cleared customs and was able to visit and photo eight public use airfields before ending my day in Davenport WA, at a little motel within walking distance of the airfield. It was my longest day by far with 10.8 hours of flying, and 11 landings.
Tuesday the 3rd I visited another 14 airports (one was a private use field where I looked at a house I had seen on airporthomes.com). All the while I enjoyed peaceful views at 1500’ agl over freshly turned wheat fields with patterns that reminded me of playing with a spiralgraph set as a kid, green pastures with livestock, lush draws surrounded by higher dry desert ground with old abandoned farm houses, barns, and ranch structures, and fantastic eastern Washington/Columbia plateau geology. I ended my day in Yakima after 5.2 hours of flying and 14 landings. I have family in Yakima, and that is where I grew up and learned to fly. I really wanted to be able to unload the plane for more airport visits and flight exploring. I am traveling very heavy as I have everything I need for more than a month away from home, and record high temperatures are occurring here right now. I can feel my plane complaining about the excessive take offs and landings while carrying all that gear, and my fuel injection is not enjoying the frequent shut downs while the ambient outside temperatures are high 90’s low triple digits. BUT AT LEAST IT’S A DRY HEAT is what I tell myself. It’s been 60 degrees where I live right now, and I think I’ve actually been adapting quickly to the heat here. Plus I don’t feel so bad when even the locals are complaining about the heat.
Wednesday the 4th I rested the plane and helped my brother in law and his neighbor with putting in a “Regulation” horseshoe pit. We did break long enough to stand in the yard and watch the fireworks show occurring over the fairgrounds. When I lived here I used to rent a plane on the night of the 4th, and from 5000’ you could watch about six different fire works shows over different small towns all at the same time. It sounds great, the visibility was good, but fireworks really aren’t that spectacular when you are 5000’ up, and 10-15 miles away from the show.
Today the 5th I checked out an old cold war era Nike missile site I recently learned was in the area, and I visited five more airports with the intent to get back before the worst of the heat. My airport visits have been fantastic. When I lived here I always wanted to visit all these fields, but never “got around to it”. As a kid I always was fascinated by seeing a rotating beacon flash across the sky, and would wonder what it was like where the beam was coming from. The beacon at Yakima would flash across my bedroom wall, and I could hear the aircraft doing their run ups in the distance and I would wonder where they were going, and wish I could go along.
I’ve learned a heck of a lot about where I grew up by visiting all these airfields. I see how the rivers, railroads, power lines, freeways, highways, and terrain all relate to each other. Many of these airports belong to towns of 1500-3000 people, and when I arrive I discover beautiful pilot lounges with on-your-honor refreshments, courtesy cars, and friendly people. I’ve been flying over 15 years and I really didn’t know that was available. In Alaska you arrive somewhere and there is no courtesy car because there is no road. There is no pilot lounge, power, or services. The places that are on the road system are so large and busy, there are no complimentary amenities available for the small GA pilot unless your buying ten thousand dollars of Jet A, and with the tourist dominated economy, they try and eke out every dollar they can from visitors. There are exceptions of course, but not on the scale I’ve been finding here. Now I just need to plan it so I find the nice lounge with the full length couch for sleeping at the end of my day, and not the start.
July 8th I left Yakima to explore the west side of the Cascades a bit, particularly the San Juan Islands where my parents had a cabin on Lopez throughout my childhood. The cabin was a ten minute walk from the airport and I would hang out there and watch the planes come and go. There used to be a road that crossed the strip and you’d have to look both ways and up before crossing. Now the field is fenced off and it isn’t as easy to visit from the cabin side.
Anyway, I stopped in Ellensburg for a quick GoFlyAmerica photo. I tried to get one the day before, but winds were gusting to 28, and when I taxied to the FBO no one came out to meet me and I was afraid to get out of the plane alone due to wind gusts. Today the winds were only gusting to 26 so I’d figure I’d try it again. And so came my first field repair of the trip….
I pulled the mixture to shut down and the mixture cable kept coming, but the plane kept running. Broken mixture cable –again. I shut down with the magnetos and debated returning to Yakima as there are no services available in Ellensburg. However the thought of trying to return with the chance of the mixture working its way to the full lean position didn’t appeal to me. I tried to restart with the intent to taxi to the lee side between of a set of T-hangers to do the fix and I couldn’t get the aircraft to restart. No way to move it by hand with winds gusting to 26, so I set the brakes, tied the stick back, and crawled out. The plane rocked quite a bit, but it held its own, so I proceeded to remove the cowling halves to access the mixture cable where it attaches to the air box. Unfortunately both top and bottom halves had to come off, which was no easy task given I was afraid if I put a wrench down the wrench would blow off across the ramp. I got the cowlings off, and there was an old fuel attendant shack about the size of an outhouse I was able to put the cowling halves in while I reattached the mixture cable to its rocker arm mounted to the air box. I’ll be getting a new mixture cable at Oshkosh, because I don’t now have enough extra cable for a repair if it breaks again. On my engine the anchor point for the outside of the cable on the engine mounting bracket is so close to the mixture rocker arm that the internal wire is constantly being flexed when the mixture is operated.
An hour later I was back on my way over the mountains to stop in Auburn where Morris was kind enough to offer me a place to store my excess baggage while I spent two days flying around the Puget Sound area. I was able to visit many fields, which I entered on the Go Fly America site if you care to take a look there.
While in Spanaway I met a gentleman my age detailing a Cessna 172. He had recently bought the plane for his father and named it after his father’s wife of 62 years whom had passed away. Rather than camping on the field he invited me to their home. There I had the privilege of spending what turned into two days with an 88 year old WW II veteran who piloted B-24 Liberators during the war and is now piloting a Cessna 172 named after his wife. I was regaled with stories from a career in the Army Air Corps, and later U.S. Air Force. After the war he moved to transports spending the majority of his career in Globemasters and had been stationed everywhere from Italy, to Japan, to the Pacific Islands, to Alaska, and all over the mainland USA. I met two new lifelong friends and it was actually difficult for me to resume my trip. I felt I could have spent at least another week and still not get enough of friends newly met and fascinating tales of a life spent in aviation. Next time they are coming to see me in Alaska.
July 10th, after leaving Spanaway I spent a long day visiting the San Juans, eventually working my way down to Portland-Hillsboro where I met my wife and we stayed two days in Portland before she took a rental car and I took the plane to Seaside, Oregon for a family reunion (on my side) at Cannon Beach. I did take the afternoon of the 12th to return to Auburn and retrieve the camping gear and excess belongings from Morris in anticipation of heading east towards my wife’s reunion in Iowa, then Oshkosh. Thanks again Morris, and Jim, I am sorry I didn’t make it in to Banas Airstrip.
Three days of a wonderful family reunion and on the 16th my wife left via commercial to visit friends in Orlando before heading to Iowa, and I was left to dodge fire TFR’s while working my way east to rendezvous with her in Iowa on July 21st.
I was able to (barely) make it from Seaside, Oregon to Mountain Home, Idaho threading TFR’s like some people thread through isolated thundershowers. Temperatures were in the mid 90’s and my fuel injection gave fits every time I had to shut down then restart when stopping for fuel, or updates on TFR’s. In Alaska we still have genuine Flight Service Stations. The system here in the lower 48 takes some getting used to. The people are great, but there is a huge difference when talking to “Lockheed Martin Corporation” and the occasional not quite shut down yet FSS (the Idaho FSS was a week away from shut down, I am glad I got to talk with actual Idaho FSS personnel. They will be gone in one week from the time I talked with them). I arrived in Mountain Home Idaho late, and thankfully I found the air conditioned lounge unlocked and slept on a couch rather than set up a tent and sleeping bag.
On the 17th, after a fantastically thorough briefing, and extensively discussed routing options with genuine Boise FSS I launched for Salt Lake City, and points beyond with only one TFR to get around. I stopped in Ogden for fuel, then Heber for TFR updates and to file a flight plan for further east. I have had minimal luck contacting anyone from flight service or flight watch while enroute in the air.
I made two stops looking for fuel, and eventually topped off at Yampa Valley in Hayden, CO before (almost) finishing for the night in Steamboat Springs, CO. I feel like a real jet-setter. I can now say I’ve flown into Steamboat Springs for the day. I was unable to find agreeable sleeping conditions, so I returned the 20 minutes back to Craig-Moffett Field and slept on an old naugahyde couch in the open terminal building. Cheap isn’t easy.
The 18th of July I was in the air by 06:30 trying to maximize the time spent in cool air. Yesterday one of my departures was at a density altitude of 9,400’. I was off in about 2000’ with the help of a quartering headwind and had 4000’ of runway left, but I was looking forward to lowering terrain. I also wanted to maximize my progress in anticipation of afternoon thunderheads building up. My first stop was Sidney Nebraska and what a great stop it was. The FBO there is owned by Ed and Kelly Nelson and they were great. It is also an ACA dealership. Ed fueled me up and wiped down my windows INSIDE and out with a product called Plexus and my windscreen looked darn near new. He then showed me some of the new ACA merchandise, some of his favorite projects and toys, then offered to send me to Cabelas as I learned they are headquartered in Sidney, and have a huge store nearby. Weather was getting hotter, but no buildups were forecast for later in the day, so I took him up on it. Determined to spend no money, I discovered the “Bargain Cave” and lost all resolve. Nothing like going broke saving money J. I also ate lunch there, six and a half dollars (with tax) for a fantastic bison burger with fries and drink. Cabelas courtesy van returned me to the airport and I launched for Shenandoah Iowa on a whim. Shenandoah was on the way, and the flight guide said there was a lounge and a courtesy car. When I arrived the courtesy car was gone, and the lounge was locked up with keys and deadbolt no less. There was a hotel a few miles away for $51 a night, but I decided to sleep outside. It was warm with a pleasant breeze, and I expected I’d get a real bed and shower the following day. They had a small room with a desk, phone, and two chairs that gets air conditioned from the FBO, so I charged the batteries in my electronics, and caught up my trip in relative comfort. Later an Ag-pilot temporarily based at the airport came by and he was kind enough to let me into the actual lounge, which turned out to be fortuitous when I awoke at 5:00 a.m. to a thundershower with heavy rain.
On Thursday the 19th of July I left Shenandoah, IA stopping at Centerville then Washington Municipal. At Washington I decided to stay for the rest of the day as my wife wouldn’t get to Cedar Rapids until the 21st and I wanted some time to get out of the solo travel mode before spending the weekend at her family gathering in Mt. Vernon and Decorah IA. I had a great afternoon and spent the evening at Washington catching up on computer work, bills, and e-mail. There was Ag-flying going on throughout the day, and the airport residents were great company and enjoyable to shoot the breeze with. I stayed the night, and there is a great collection of ABC’s Wide World of Flying on video in the lounge.
On Friday the 20th I left Washington Municipal, stopping in Tipton then Marion where I was met by my wife’s Aunt and Uncle where I was to spend the night until my wife showed up the following day. Friday’s at noon during the summer the FBO at Marion throws a BBQ lunch for visitors and my timing was perfect. I had a great lunch of burgers and homemade dessert. Marion had nice transient tie-downs in the grass there (I did use my own ropes though, I think their ropes have seen too much sun). The rest of the day was spent with in-laws.
Saturday the 21st I left Marion for Cedar Rapids where I met my wife and we got a rental car. I left the plane there in Cedar Rapids and we attended the first family function of the weekend. The FBO let me park the night for no charge even though it only took 9 gallons to top me off Sunday morning.
Sunday the 22nd I took my wife for a local flight around Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon as that is where she grew up. After our local flight seeing she took the car to Manchester which was the closest airport to where the rest of her family was staying for the coming week. I picked her up in the plane at Manchester and we went up to Decorah for Sunday afternoon which was where the second family function of the weekend was being held. After leaving Decorah late that afternoon we returned to Manchester (well I did visit a couple of airfields on the way back, including a beautiful grass strip at Postville) and took the car to a rental cabin (house) where she was going to spend the rest of the week. BTW, Manchester had the least expensive 100LL of the whole trip by far, at $3.69/Gallon.
Monday the 23rd I left Manchester and the wife’s family enroute to visit an extended family of my own, OSHKOSH....
Well almost. As I approached Oshkosh after weeks of planning and studying ATIS notified me General Aviation Camping was closed due to saturation – Fon Du Lac here I come.
I camped at Fon Du Lac for 3 days and took the shuttle to Oshkosh each day. This was my first Oshkosh and I spent day one riding the Airventure shuttles and checking out the different areas getting a feel for the layout of the show. Day 2 was spent visiting the vendors in buildings A through D, then Pioneer Field and the Museum. Day 3 was spent trying to see airplanes, Aeroshell Square, and a quick trip to the Seaplane Base.
Thursday the 26th I left Fon Du Lac for Madison WI aiming for a light area between precipitation cells tracked by the weather computer at the Fon Du Lac FBO. I guessed well, and other than some visibilities down to 3 miles in haze I made it to Blackhawk outside of Madison where I tied the plane down for the next two and a half weeks before I can return to pick it up and return it with me to Anchorage.
Trip Summary thus far:
7,439 Miles recorded on the GPS
86.4 hours on the Hobbs meter
510.8 Gallons of Avgas
10 US Sectionals
4 US WACS
4 US Facility Directories
5 CAD Sectionals
2 CAD WACS
1 CAD Flight Supplement
2 Oil Changes + 4 quarts of oil added
An Alaska pilot flies south for the summer…
I left Anchorage June 27th with an eventual destination of Oshkosh July 23rd. I flew down the coast via Cordova and Yakutat to play around for a couple of days with a friend that lives in Hoonah, slightly Northwest of Juneau. Stopping in Yakutat for fuel I came across a covey of homebuilt Glasiar drivers whom I had seen for a couple of days in Anchorage. My flight time to Yakutat was 3:30, theirs was 2:15. They were fueling up and wiping down their windscreens and leading edges with cleaner to get rid of what few bugs deposited themselves. I told them if they flew a bit slower the bugs might have had time to get out of their way. One of them was from Daytona Beach Florida, another from Mississippi so they had covered quite a bit of ground over the course of their adventure.
The weather was gorgeous down the coast with views from the Pacific up to the peaks of mountains that exceed 18,000’ in height. I was glad they had such great weather for sightseeing given the distance the came to be there. I previously had only flown as far south down the coast as Cordova, so this was all new GA flight territory for me as well. On the way down I checked out the old DEW and White Alice sight at Cape Yakataga, and the towering frame dishes and drive-in movie size radar reflectors were in great shape still, with minimal vandalism to the old buildings as far as I could tell. One of the advantages of being way off the beaten track.
Continuing towards Hoonah I took a side trip (and pictures) of Lituya Bay where a huge portion of mountain broke loose during an earthquake and slid into the bay causing a 1700’+ splash that denuded the one of the tree lined slopes of the bay. I arrived Hoonah at 4 p.m. after about 6 hours of flying time.
The following day my friend took me out in his boat and we dropped two crab pots and two halibut jigs (part of the advantages of being a subsistence fisherman). Getting back to Hoonah he drove me for a couple of hours around many of the old logging access roads, saw deer, and a brown bear with an a** as large as the front of his jeep running down the road ahead of us at one point. He estimated it was a 600+ pound brownie. Later that afternoon we went flight seeing over the area to the west of Hoonah and around Yakobi, one of the “outer” Islands. Arriving back in Hoonah around 9:30 p.m. we headed back out onto the water with an incredible moon rising above the snow capped mountains and reflecting off the water. We found one crab pot stuffed with eight or nine keepers, and the other with only one too small to keep. We came up empty handed with the halibut jigs but sure filled up on crab late that night, and I was hungry!
Friday the 29th we went back out onto the water to leave the halibut jigs again. Then we took the plane over to Juneau, topped the fuel and headed up the Lynn Canal cutting west through the Endicott River valley and cruised Glacier Bay for an hour and a half, landing Gustavus where we had an outstanding lunch and spent a couple of hours exploring the area in a car his girlfriend’s family leaves there. Gustavus looks to becoming an aviation mecca. It is an old WWII field that has been kept up nicely. They recently resurfaced the runways and put in a great transient ramp. They have approaches and are looking to become an Alaska Airlines alternate for Juneau. I saw many new GA hangers, with more being put in. It is one of the tourist jump off points for Glacier Bay with many lodges, B&B’s and steady low key growth. And they have Avgas fuel available retail now.
Returning Hoonah we discovered a 20 pounder on one of the halibut jigs and had another fantastic late night dinner – salad made from leftover crab, and grilled halibut.
Next will be a flight to enter Canadian customs at Prince Rupert, then in to Prince George and down to Washington State where I hope to spend five or six days knocking out airports for GoFlyAmerica. I learned to fly in Yakima, at McCallister’s Flying Service and there are dozens of airports in Eastern Washington I’ve always wanted to explore, and then I’ll spend a couple of days flying the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula as well.
I have been having a great time flying at 1000’-1500’ over the valleys, farms, and ranches of NE Washington State, but had to overcome a hurdle or two to get here.
I intended to leave Hoonah AK for Juneau then Prince Rupert B.C. Sunday morning the 1st of July with the intention of spending Sunday night in southern B.C. for the hop in to Washington State Monday morning. Talking to my wife Saturday night, she asked if I had my passport. After weeks of telling myself “remember to take your passport” it was now Saturday night, 600 miles from Anchorage, and I forgot my passport. I spoke with Canadian Customs and they had no problem with my entering and leaving Canada with an Alaska State drivers license. I spoke to U.S. Customs and was told flatly that if I arrived in the U.S. from Canada via private aircraft, I would subject myself to “SUBSTANTIAL FINES, AND POSSIBLE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION” (the emphasis was from the guy at U.S. Customs, not me). He was pretty animated I not show up in the U.S. without a valid passport, or a drivers license and proof I had applied for a passport.
To make a very long story somewhat shorter my lovely, industrious wife Vonda discovered DHL could Goldsteak it on Alaska Airlines Sunday. Alaska Airlines Cargo held over for 3 hours in Juneau thanks to the diligent and persistent work of the DHL agent in Anchorage and I got my passport 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. I would have flown back for it, but weather prevented, and although VERY expensive, DHL cost about half what it would have cost me to fly back for it myself. You get what you pay for, and DHL provided exemplary service, and Alaska Airlines Cargo was accommodating way above and beyond.
4:30 p.m. Sunday I left Juneau for Prince Rupert. Enroute along Stephans Passage and south beyond to Ketchikan under 3500-4000’ ceilings in occasional showers with scattered below, I did take two aerial detours to look at Petersburg and Wrangell Alaska. Both were larger and more developed than I had imagined. As a matter of fact, much of Southeast Alaska seems that way. There were very few areas with population, but almost everywhere somewhat accessible via boat or barge appeared to have been logged, or occupied in some way at one time or another. Throughout my sojourns in the area I would see a cabin or cabins, or a small boardwalk community where I never expected. There were overgrown roads with the detritus of over a century and a half of mining, fishing, and logging throughout much of the area I saw in Southeast Alaska. Well, one caveat – you can’t log a glacier or a solid mound of granite that emerges from the sea and extends immediately thousands of feet into the sky.
I arrived Ketchikan under beautiful clear skies and a sun baked 72 F. close to 7:30 p.m. I have only been to Ketchikan once, and it was spent sitting for 45 minutes on an Alaska Airlines jet, at night, in the rain. As lovely as Ketchikan was, thankfully Aero Services was open so I could fuel and continue. Besides, the airport sits on an island, connected to town by limited ferry service, so there would be no way to get into town after hours anyway. The FBO there at Ketchikan has a fantastic pilot lounge with T.V. / Snooze room, computer terminals for weather and e-mail, and nice complimentary refreshments. It might have had something to do with the three or four fancy biz-jets out front.
The hop from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert covers a LOT of water (emphasis mine this time) unless you plan to go a looong way around. Nothing wrong with the long way, and I know it would have been much more scenic (if there even is such a thing in Alaska) but it was nearly 8 p.m. and Prince Rupert is an hour ahead of Alaska so I went direct. An hour flight put me into Prince Rupert at 10 p.m. Pacific Time, and the terminal was completely empty. Prince Rupert too sits on an island, connected to the town via ferry service, with no more service until 8 a.m. the following morning. There was a nice soft grassy transient parking area I figured I’d be setting a tent up on to sleep as there were occasional rain sprinkles. There wasn’t even a security person or any janitorial staff present. Flight service told me to go to the pilot lounge and I could phone customs. Once in the lounge (using a frequency number to unlock the door) I found the terminal completely empty and mine to roam.
Customs were great, and checked me in over the phone. The pilot lounge had a TV (no reception, but a VCR and an assortment of movies), a couple of nice couches with airline blankets and pillows, phone, fax, and great wireless computer service. I plugged in my electric water pot and made dinner for myself, caught up the log book, planned my trip to Washington State for the next day and slept comfortably on the couch. Tomorrow (Monday the 2nd) I would leave for Washington via Prince George south to Kamloops, then Oroville WA.
Prince Rupert Monday the 2nd I was up at 06:30 and no one would be at the airport until after 8 a.m. I called flight service and launched for Prince George a little after 7 a.m. under overcast skies with ceiling at 3600 with scattered to occasional broken at 2600 feet with improvement as I headed east. Following the Skeena River there were a couple of scuddy areas, but by the time I reached Terrace B.C. ceilings were above 5000’ and I was able to save considerable distance by following a power line valley directly east to just south of Smithers. From there it was to Prince George for fuel, Prince George south to Kamloops for a fuel topoff, and a call to U.S. customs. I arrived Oroville at 4:30 p.m. and customs was there waiting for me and someone else following behind. By 5 p.m. I cleared customs and was able to visit and photo eight public use airfields before ending my day in Davenport WA, at a little motel within walking distance of the airfield. It was my longest day by far with 10.8 hours of flying, and 11 landings.
Tuesday the 3rd I visited another 14 airports (one was a private use field where I looked at a house I had seen on airporthomes.com). All the while I enjoyed peaceful views at 1500’ agl over freshly turned wheat fields with patterns that reminded me of playing with a spiralgraph set as a kid, green pastures with livestock, lush draws surrounded by higher dry desert ground with old abandoned farm houses, barns, and ranch structures, and fantastic eastern Washington/Columbia plateau geology. I ended my day in Yakima after 5.2 hours of flying and 14 landings. I have family in Yakima, and that is where I grew up and learned to fly. I really wanted to be able to unload the plane for more airport visits and flight exploring. I am traveling very heavy as I have everything I need for more than a month away from home, and record high temperatures are occurring here right now. I can feel my plane complaining about the excessive take offs and landings while carrying all that gear, and my fuel injection is not enjoying the frequent shut downs while the ambient outside temperatures are high 90’s low triple digits. BUT AT LEAST IT’S A DRY HEAT is what I tell myself. It’s been 60 degrees where I live right now, and I think I’ve actually been adapting quickly to the heat here. Plus I don’t feel so bad when even the locals are complaining about the heat.
Wednesday the 4th I rested the plane and helped my brother in law and his neighbor with putting in a “Regulation” horseshoe pit. We did break long enough to stand in the yard and watch the fireworks show occurring over the fairgrounds. When I lived here I used to rent a plane on the night of the 4th, and from 5000’ you could watch about six different fire works shows over different small towns all at the same time. It sounds great, the visibility was good, but fireworks really aren’t that spectacular when you are 5000’ up, and 10-15 miles away from the show.
Today the 5th I checked out an old cold war era Nike missile site I recently learned was in the area, and I visited five more airports with the intent to get back before the worst of the heat. My airport visits have been fantastic. When I lived here I always wanted to visit all these fields, but never “got around to it”. As a kid I always was fascinated by seeing a rotating beacon flash across the sky, and would wonder what it was like where the beam was coming from. The beacon at Yakima would flash across my bedroom wall, and I could hear the aircraft doing their run ups in the distance and I would wonder where they were going, and wish I could go along.
I’ve learned a heck of a lot about where I grew up by visiting all these airfields. I see how the rivers, railroads, power lines, freeways, highways, and terrain all relate to each other. Many of these airports belong to towns of 1500-3000 people, and when I arrive I discover beautiful pilot lounges with on-your-honor refreshments, courtesy cars, and friendly people. I’ve been flying over 15 years and I really didn’t know that was available. In Alaska you arrive somewhere and there is no courtesy car because there is no road. There is no pilot lounge, power, or services. The places that are on the road system are so large and busy, there are no complimentary amenities available for the small GA pilot unless your buying ten thousand dollars of Jet A, and with the tourist dominated economy, they try and eke out every dollar they can from visitors. There are exceptions of course, but not on the scale I’ve been finding here. Now I just need to plan it so I find the nice lounge with the full length couch for sleeping at the end of my day, and not the start.
July 8th I left Yakima to explore the west side of the Cascades a bit, particularly the San Juan Islands where my parents had a cabin on Lopez throughout my childhood. The cabin was a ten minute walk from the airport and I would hang out there and watch the planes come and go. There used to be a road that crossed the strip and you’d have to look both ways and up before crossing. Now the field is fenced off and it isn’t as easy to visit from the cabin side.
Anyway, I stopped in Ellensburg for a quick GoFlyAmerica photo. I tried to get one the day before, but winds were gusting to 28, and when I taxied to the FBO no one came out to meet me and I was afraid to get out of the plane alone due to wind gusts. Today the winds were only gusting to 26 so I’d figure I’d try it again. And so came my first field repair of the trip….
I pulled the mixture to shut down and the mixture cable kept coming, but the plane kept running. Broken mixture cable –again. I shut down with the magnetos and debated returning to Yakima as there are no services available in Ellensburg. However the thought of trying to return with the chance of the mixture working its way to the full lean position didn’t appeal to me. I tried to restart with the intent to taxi to the lee side between of a set of T-hangers to do the fix and I couldn’t get the aircraft to restart. No way to move it by hand with winds gusting to 26, so I set the brakes, tied the stick back, and crawled out. The plane rocked quite a bit, but it held its own, so I proceeded to remove the cowling halves to access the mixture cable where it attaches to the air box. Unfortunately both top and bottom halves had to come off, which was no easy task given I was afraid if I put a wrench down the wrench would blow off across the ramp. I got the cowlings off, and there was an old fuel attendant shack about the size of an outhouse I was able to put the cowling halves in while I reattached the mixture cable to its rocker arm mounted to the air box. I’ll be getting a new mixture cable at Oshkosh, because I don’t now have enough extra cable for a repair if it breaks again. On my engine the anchor point for the outside of the cable on the engine mounting bracket is so close to the mixture rocker arm that the internal wire is constantly being flexed when the mixture is operated.
An hour later I was back on my way over the mountains to stop in Auburn where Morris was kind enough to offer me a place to store my excess baggage while I spent two days flying around the Puget Sound area. I was able to visit many fields, which I entered on the Go Fly America site if you care to take a look there.
While in Spanaway I met a gentleman my age detailing a Cessna 172. He had recently bought the plane for his father and named it after his father’s wife of 62 years whom had passed away. Rather than camping on the field he invited me to their home. There I had the privilege of spending what turned into two days with an 88 year old WW II veteran who piloted B-24 Liberators during the war and is now piloting a Cessna 172 named after his wife. I was regaled with stories from a career in the Army Air Corps, and later U.S. Air Force. After the war he moved to transports spending the majority of his career in Globemasters and had been stationed everywhere from Italy, to Japan, to the Pacific Islands, to Alaska, and all over the mainland USA. I met two new lifelong friends and it was actually difficult for me to resume my trip. I felt I could have spent at least another week and still not get enough of friends newly met and fascinating tales of a life spent in aviation. Next time they are coming to see me in Alaska.
July 10th, after leaving Spanaway I spent a long day visiting the San Juans, eventually working my way down to Portland-Hillsboro where I met my wife and we stayed two days in Portland before she took a rental car and I took the plane to Seaside, Oregon for a family reunion (on my side) at Cannon Beach. I did take the afternoon of the 12th to return to Auburn and retrieve the camping gear and excess belongings from Morris in anticipation of heading east towards my wife’s reunion in Iowa, then Oshkosh. Thanks again Morris, and Jim, I am sorry I didn’t make it in to Banas Airstrip.
Three days of a wonderful family reunion and on the 16th my wife left via commercial to visit friends in Orlando before heading to Iowa, and I was left to dodge fire TFR’s while working my way east to rendezvous with her in Iowa on July 21st.
I was able to (barely) make it from Seaside, Oregon to Mountain Home, Idaho threading TFR’s like some people thread through isolated thundershowers. Temperatures were in the mid 90’s and my fuel injection gave fits every time I had to shut down then restart when stopping for fuel, or updates on TFR’s. In Alaska we still have genuine Flight Service Stations. The system here in the lower 48 takes some getting used to. The people are great, but there is a huge difference when talking to “Lockheed Martin Corporation” and the occasional not quite shut down yet FSS (the Idaho FSS was a week away from shut down, I am glad I got to talk with actual Idaho FSS personnel. They will be gone in one week from the time I talked with them). I arrived in Mountain Home Idaho late, and thankfully I found the air conditioned lounge unlocked and slept on a couch rather than set up a tent and sleeping bag.
On the 17th, after a fantastically thorough briefing, and extensively discussed routing options with genuine Boise FSS I launched for Salt Lake City, and points beyond with only one TFR to get around. I stopped in Ogden for fuel, then Heber for TFR updates and to file a flight plan for further east. I have had minimal luck contacting anyone from flight service or flight watch while enroute in the air.
I made two stops looking for fuel, and eventually topped off at Yampa Valley in Hayden, CO before (almost) finishing for the night in Steamboat Springs, CO. I feel like a real jet-setter. I can now say I’ve flown into Steamboat Springs for the day. I was unable to find agreeable sleeping conditions, so I returned the 20 minutes back to Craig-Moffett Field and slept on an old naugahyde couch in the open terminal building. Cheap isn’t easy.
The 18th of July I was in the air by 06:30 trying to maximize the time spent in cool air. Yesterday one of my departures was at a density altitude of 9,400’. I was off in about 2000’ with the help of a quartering headwind and had 4000’ of runway left, but I was looking forward to lowering terrain. I also wanted to maximize my progress in anticipation of afternoon thunderheads building up. My first stop was Sidney Nebraska and what a great stop it was. The FBO there is owned by Ed and Kelly Nelson and they were great. It is also an ACA dealership. Ed fueled me up and wiped down my windows INSIDE and out with a product called Plexus and my windscreen looked darn near new. He then showed me some of the new ACA merchandise, some of his favorite projects and toys, then offered to send me to Cabelas as I learned they are headquartered in Sidney, and have a huge store nearby. Weather was getting hotter, but no buildups were forecast for later in the day, so I took him up on it. Determined to spend no money, I discovered the “Bargain Cave” and lost all resolve. Nothing like going broke saving money J. I also ate lunch there, six and a half dollars (with tax) for a fantastic bison burger with fries and drink. Cabelas courtesy van returned me to the airport and I launched for Shenandoah Iowa on a whim. Shenandoah was on the way, and the flight guide said there was a lounge and a courtesy car. When I arrived the courtesy car was gone, and the lounge was locked up with keys and deadbolt no less. There was a hotel a few miles away for $51 a night, but I decided to sleep outside. It was warm with a pleasant breeze, and I expected I’d get a real bed and shower the following day. They had a small room with a desk, phone, and two chairs that gets air conditioned from the FBO, so I charged the batteries in my electronics, and caught up my trip in relative comfort. Later an Ag-pilot temporarily based at the airport came by and he was kind enough to let me into the actual lounge, which turned out to be fortuitous when I awoke at 5:00 a.m. to a thundershower with heavy rain.
On Thursday the 19th of July I left Shenandoah, IA stopping at Centerville then Washington Municipal. At Washington I decided to stay for the rest of the day as my wife wouldn’t get to Cedar Rapids until the 21st and I wanted some time to get out of the solo travel mode before spending the weekend at her family gathering in Mt. Vernon and Decorah IA. I had a great afternoon and spent the evening at Washington catching up on computer work, bills, and e-mail. There was Ag-flying going on throughout the day, and the airport residents were great company and enjoyable to shoot the breeze with. I stayed the night, and there is a great collection of ABC’s Wide World of Flying on video in the lounge.
On Friday the 20th I left Washington Municipal, stopping in Tipton then Marion where I was met by my wife’s Aunt and Uncle where I was to spend the night until my wife showed up the following day. Friday’s at noon during the summer the FBO at Marion throws a BBQ lunch for visitors and my timing was perfect. I had a great lunch of burgers and homemade dessert. Marion had nice transient tie-downs in the grass there (I did use my own ropes though, I think their ropes have seen too much sun). The rest of the day was spent with in-laws.
Saturday the 21st I left Marion for Cedar Rapids where I met my wife and we got a rental car. I left the plane there in Cedar Rapids and we attended the first family function of the weekend. The FBO let me park the night for no charge even though it only took 9 gallons to top me off Sunday morning.
Sunday the 22nd I took my wife for a local flight around Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon as that is where she grew up. After our local flight seeing she took the car to Manchester which was the closest airport to where the rest of her family was staying for the coming week. I picked her up in the plane at Manchester and we went up to Decorah for Sunday afternoon which was where the second family function of the weekend was being held. After leaving Decorah late that afternoon we returned to Manchester (well I did visit a couple of airfields on the way back, including a beautiful grass strip at Postville) and took the car to a rental cabin (house) where she was going to spend the rest of the week. BTW, Manchester had the least expensive 100LL of the whole trip by far, at $3.69/Gallon.
Monday the 23rd I left Manchester and the wife’s family enroute to visit an extended family of my own, OSHKOSH....
Well almost. As I approached Oshkosh after weeks of planning and studying ATIS notified me General Aviation Camping was closed due to saturation – Fon Du Lac here I come.
I camped at Fon Du Lac for 3 days and took the shuttle to Oshkosh each day. This was my first Oshkosh and I spent day one riding the Airventure shuttles and checking out the different areas getting a feel for the layout of the show. Day 2 was spent visiting the vendors in buildings A through D, then Pioneer Field and the Museum. Day 3 was spent trying to see airplanes, Aeroshell Square, and a quick trip to the Seaplane Base.
Thursday the 26th I left Fon Du Lac for Madison WI aiming for a light area between precipitation cells tracked by the weather computer at the Fon Du Lac FBO. I guessed well, and other than some visibilities down to 3 miles in haze I made it to Blackhawk outside of Madison where I tied the plane down for the next two and a half weeks before I can return to pick it up and return it with me to Anchorage.
Trip Summary thus far:
7,439 Miles recorded on the GPS
86.4 hours on the Hobbs meter
510.8 Gallons of Avgas
10 US Sectionals
4 US WACS
4 US Facility Directories
5 CAD Sectionals
2 CAD WACS
1 CAD Flight Supplement
2 Oil Changes + 4 quarts of oil added
