Checkin' in from Up North...

[Dick Smith]

The Wx in Alaska has been pretty crummy for quite a while. We had measureable precipitation for about 30 days in a row here in South Central.
This last week we got a break. Flew several trips hauling freight to a remote cabin site. On one of the trips I felt like I was flying a "time machine"... at about 1700 feet, I looked down and saw a C-46 flying about 500 feet off the water and then a little later, I heard a DC-6 report coming out of Lake Clark Pass at 5500 feet. My 1947 Taylorcraft seemed not so out of place! The C-46 goes by the name of "Salmon Ella"...as it has hauled a lot of commercially-caught salmon and has a picture of a mermaid named "Ella" painted on the nose! The name seems to fit right in what with the big egg concern.
Here are a few pix of the trip over to the lake. Dick

[Robert Lees]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Nice pictures, Dick. Keep us posted with more Alaskan adventures...it's nice to hear what's going up there.

The C46 is a beauty...I was watching the Canadian Ice Pilots series, and thought it the best of the bunch (They've been over to the UK this summer, and are buying up all the Electras they can get their hands on. I suppose tankering Avgas has become too expensive).

I still mean to make it over to Alaska one year....

[guns68]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

do they still have the "Maid 'O Money" flying out Kenai as well? I know they used to make the trip into Kodiak, but I have not seen them in a while.

[Steve Long]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Good to hear you're getting in some air time Dick. Are you working on your own cabin over on the West side or someone else's? I'm managing to get out a little more since the weather has been nicer and headed up north for some fishing last week. I'll call if I get a chance to come down your way. Steve.

[Dick Smith]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Leroy, regarding the "Maid of Money" C-46...it hit a ridge on Dec. 20, 2000, about 5 miles from where we are working on setting up a cabin across Cook Inlet. The crew of 2 was returning from a village fuel delivery, heading directly for Kenai. Terrible wind conditions on that day. They impacted the last ridge about 10 feet below the ridge line. The copilot was my neighbor kid when he was growing up. I probably gave him his first ride in a Taylorcraft back in the late 70's. He and 2 other young fellows loved to fly their Taylorcrafts around on the beaches and sandbars. That was a tough one. It always is. The pilots who haul freight and fuel dayin and dayout up here are an invaluable part of our lifestyle. Shades of the "Burma Hump"! Dick

[Dick Smith]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Steve, we are moving an existing cabin that was built by a longtime friend. It sustained some roof damage from a falling tree that had succumbed to spruce bark beetles. He suggested we move it over to our parcel, so 3 of my boys and two friends disassembled it and moved it last winter. We have started reassembling it. I was amazed by the amount of work those fellows put out...I felt like a Shetland pony hitched to a "single-tree" with a Clydesdale hooked on the other end! You couldn't balance the load if you wanted to. Yesterday I turned 67...I guess that's what happens to your old carcass eventually!
Give me a call when you have a chance.
We have used a Cub along with the Taylorcraft to haul tools and people.

[guns68]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

I'm sorry Dick... I did not know.

[Dick Smith]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Leroy, no problem...I should have called you on the phone...It's hard to be aware of everything that happens up here. Later, Dick

[AKbrew]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

Hey Steve...If you go visit Dick call me up. I'd like to go along!

[Steve Long]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

I will do that Jim. I had a cool experience on Weds. A friend of mine is captain for Conoco/Phillips and flies their 737/700 to and from the slope. He got me a ride in the jumpseat on the jet Weds. morning and I sat right behind he and the copilot. The only controls I could touch was the volume to my headset, but it was a really fun ride. We came back at about 22k ft. between Denali and Foraker and the view was fantastic. Those guys are real professionals and the runway is only 56oo ft and Deadhorse which as you can see looks a little short on final. We had to hold for a T-Craft to take off before us coming out - Roger got on the horn and said it was a pleasure to hold for a Taylorcraft. He's owned a few of them.

[AKbrew]

Re: Checkin' in from Up North...

AWESOME! Thanks for sharing the pics.