n43143 shout out to ak tribe

[Dan Mahalak]

hey AK.
just a shout out. I am on floats now. Met chris, sorta on my annual just after a fresh paint job. He stuck his head in but did not introduce himself. On the other hand, i mety a a7p working locally whom turned out to be your son dick...nice man he turned out after all. been thinking about yo Jim and steve...been traveling between seward and anchorage for work three days a week. sucks as i have a new four month old...

Lance desaw..never met ya but i hope yoru having a hell of a fishing season,....paradise open.

Dan Mahalak.

[matsuthunder200]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Dan
I wont be fishing untill around the 17th or so but it looks good.
planes in for a annual. Im also on floats. Had to change the elavaters due to rust. I seen it comming so i had a complete set of tail feathers made new.
well almost new they had to use one little part from each one so it was called a repair. Alaska air frames dose a great job.
all of the Alaska tribe should get together this summer. I have boats at big river lakes across fron Kenai might be fun catch some salmon and see the bears.

[Steve Long]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Hi Guys,

I've just moved to a different location in Anch. Moving is such a time hog and I'm still looking for things. But, I'm getting floats on this Thurs. and am anxious to go to some good fishing holes, etc. So, tell us when the kings or reds are running over there at Big River Lakes, Lance, and we can fly over to have some fun. Glad you're getting in some flying too, Dan, even though that commute to Anch. for work must be a drag.I'm still hoping to go with you to find mushrooms this summer. Keep in touch both of you and we'll hope to hear about Dick and Jim also. Steve

[Dan Mahalak]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

okay, shall we all meet up at longmere lake adn then on to the mushrooms grounds?
I have picked approx 2lbs already. Slow start, but maybe they are coming in hard now.

[matsuthunder200]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

The fishing for reds should start getting real good by the 25th of june at big river lakes.

[astjp2]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Well this last weekend, I went on my first real bush trip. I met up with a friend that was in Fairbanks and we flew out on Sat. morning. We stopped first at Lake Minchumina to see if there was still an active lodge there. Well when we finally met up with a local there, she told us that the lodge was closed....so it was off to McGrath. On the way to McGrath, we saw the wreckage of that Brooks Fuel plane that crashed last week.

h**p://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1198726AFACBECF8&p_docnum=2

Well we had an uneventful landing in McGrath. When we got there, it was off to search for fuel. Presently there is no fuel on the airport because of the construction. 2 local gentlemen gave my partner and I a ride into town to get some autofuel and they even loaned us a couple of more cans. Well it was $5.25 per gallon...so $80.00 for 15 gallon, oh yeah, and the gas station was closed last Sunday so no fuel on the return home. The only place we could get a bite to eat was the local bar next to the A/C store...and it was a 12 in pizza for $12.00.

After a nice chat with the Local flight service attendant there in McGrath, we were off to the strip that was about 5 miles west of Big River. We flew over the strip a couple of times and determined it was still safe and I made the decision to land. Well on short final, I was a little fast, about 60kias and the gps told me we were doing about 79 kts ground speed. Thank god it was a 1/2 mile long strip. It was a fairly uneventful landing and only some minor branches in the lift struts and gear. Well we parked the airplane and got it tied down for the night then went exploring.

I have no Idea how they could get a WWII era 2-1/2 ton truck up that mountain but it was there along with about 3-400 empty 55 gallon drums. There is all kinds of equipment there along with a marker for the man that owned the mine and died in 1974. The strip about a 1/2 mile long and is part of an abandon gold mine that was 2600' msl up a mountain side and about 50 miles south of McGrath.

After we went exploring, we decided to remove some of the Alders that were growing on the strip. About an hour into pulling trees, I was looking up and out came this black head from a large sow black bear, then her cub came into view...I was kinda feeling stupid since I had left my gun back at the plane. My flying buddy had his .410 with slugs along but I was not feeling too confident. So what does he decide to do? He raises his hands and starts yelling at the bear to go away. This scared the cub off but the sow just looked at him and walked down the strip and back into the bushes.

We finished our weeding of the strip and finished setting up our camp and went to bed around 1 am. I was still daylight then. During the night it started to rain, and I mean pour, for a couple of hours. I woke up at around 6 am and looked out my tent and yelled to my partner that we weren't going anywhere for a while.....50 foot visibility from the fog. After a quick bathroom break it was back into the sleeping bag.

Around 9 am we got up and started to move around. We went up onto the top of the mountain to see if my handheld ICOM radio would pic up the weather. I was huffin and puffin as we went up the hill from being out of shape....and we never got anything on my radio either. So it was back down the hill, by then the fog was beginning to rise.

Well when we got back to camp it was time for breakfast, eggs and canned ham. We then packed up camp and put everything back into the airplane. After looking at the GPS, it said that we were only about 250 miles from Fairbanks and I had 3.5 hours of fuel onboard so we went directly back to Fairbanks. 2.9 hour later we were back to civilization. Well I hope that I didn’t bore everyone too much but it was a fabulous weekend. Well I hope that I get to meet up with some more of the Alaska tribe....Till next time. Tim

[N95179]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Hey I'm sorry, I would've said Hi, but you looked busy. You have a great looking airplane! I like the little starter. I'm lucky if I fly mine a couple times a week right now. Stuck at work 10-12 hrs every day. 206's are ok, but T-crafting is way mo better!

Off topic but I got a call from my folks at 4am this morning. Turned out a moose calf got caught in one of our setnets we had set out for mending. As I showed up to help, a neighbor drove his truck between the cow and calf, tackled the calf while my dad cut the net away with scissors. All the activity spooked our horses, they jumped the fence and we still can't find them as I'm writing this. .... Made for an eventful morning!

[Dan Mahalak]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Hey Chris...let me apologize....I was out of line with slamming you. Not the way to be in the bush. Truthfully, I had a few drinks before logging on.

Morels for all alaskans......emaill me and I will tell you where they are....i cant make this years harvest as i too am working way too much.
[email protected]
Dano.

Thanks for the kudos on the paint job...did it over a long weekend....serious.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Morels for all alaskans......emaill me and I will tell you where they are....i cant make this years harvest as i too am working way too much.
[email protected]
Dano.

Listen I will fly my T-Craft up from the lower 48 for a solid location of Morels!
Larry

[N95179]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Not quite flying related, but I just finished a wood stove for my wall tent. Heats the place up nicely! Made it out of an old propane tank.




-Chris

[Steve Long]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Yes Dan, I could meet you at Longmere Lake to go get some mushrooms. Let me know when its a good time for you. Is it far from there? I might need to refuel somewhere. Nice woodstove, Chris, looks like you're quite a craftsman. Steve.

[Dan Mahalak]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Sunday evening works for me. anytime after the convective winds die down, and waves. Although, seastate can always be remedied by working in the lea.

[Len Petterson]

Re: n43143 shout out to ak tribe

Not a Taylorcraft but there is a C 180 on amphibs with a 0 time Continetal O 470 for sale in Niagara Falls Ontario. If interested send me an E-mail.
A hangar mate owns it. In my estimation the Aircraft 8-9 inside and out.
[email protected].
Len Petterson