Memory of Fall in Alaska

This photo is from our extended Fall season collection. We were blessed to have such a long Autumn this year. A good thing to remember on going into January!

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Neat Clouds

Smooth flying here, but look below. That terrain is helping the air mass over it create what are called 'Roll' clouds. Named for their shape and how they form. Like 'Lenticular' clouds, these are in a category I call "visible turbulance". To be avoided, and occasionally photographed when the opportunity presents itself.

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What Goat?!

Just kidding, there is no goat. Just a rock peeking out of that cloud. We are well above it, and it looked cool down there, doing it's best to hide.

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Merry Christmas!

Have a great day everyone! Know that we are thinking of you all and would wish you well in person if we could.

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Big Iron

Nice shot of Asiana Cargo on final in Anchorage. Not really a desire of mine to fly a bird so big, but I can sure appreciate the engineering feat of something that large flying through the air. Amazing. As I recall these planes at gross takeoff weight are about 750,000 pounds. That's 375 Tons. Or more than 7 DC-6's at gross weight. Guess that's why they call them "heavy".

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The Forecast is...

You just know it will be a great day when this is view before you even depart!

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Entrepreneur (at the day job)

Entrepreneur Steve at his day job of flight engineer for us. He's working on his collapsible, hollow walking stick design. Good luck with that buddy. Don't quit your day job just yet!

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Engine Analyzer

This is an oscilloscope used by us as an 'engine analyzer'. Each airplane has it's own installed so that we can see any spark plug in any cylinder. At 36 plugs per engine, and four engines, that means we can see any one of 144 at spark plugs while they are running. This is an abnormal pattern showing an open secondary on one cylinder. Usually caused by a bad spark plug or lead. The other side looked fine so we kept on going, and left this engine running!

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On Village Time

SO the other day we go to Barrow with a load of mail. Our return flight is slated to be a full load of drill tools back to Deadhorse. We had already taken a half load back the other day and the rest was left on the ramp. When we arrive in Barrow, the loader operator ( a Mexican man by the name Ted) and I have this conversation....

Ted- 'hey, you gonna take those pipe?'

Me - 'you mean tools?'

T- yeah

M- well yeah, whatever will fit...

Ted then looks where the tools should be, then back at me and asks 'well where they go?'

Keep in mind that it is winter in full up here. Those tools and pallets were right where Ted left them. Only now they were under a six foot drift of snow. The size of the load? If you picture four big Buicks all clumped together, with six feet of hard-packed drifted snow on top, that would about do it.

I tell Ted that the tools are right there where he left them. He looks back at the snow drift, then up at me with a pained expression, cold winter wind blowing in his face, and says "Oh man, somebody gonna haf to dig them out!"

The humor here is that the station knew we were coming, knew the tools were buried, and knew they would need to get a bucket loader going to move that snow. That's the difference between 'normal' time and 'village' time. "It will happen when it happens...or maybe not...whatever." We then waited about 35 minutes or so for them to round up a couple bucket loaders and clear away the snow for us/themselves. We got the job done though, and everyone won!

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Fresh layer on an Ice Field

What you are looking at is the reason I won't panic about glaciers melting. Snow falls, packs down, turns to glacier and moves on out. All winter this happens, and remember that winter up here usually goes from October to May. Early this fall we were seeing evidence of this process.
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Quieter than Normal

A great view this morning returning from Bethel. Guess our captain decided he had seen it all before and opted for the power snooze. Which was fine with the flight engineer and I, as we were tired of listening to Captain Cantankerous gripe anyway.

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The River

Clear view of the river. The hidden image being the cloud shadows on the water. Such a nice day!

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Fresh Steam

Fresh steam off the top of the mountain today. A whiff of sulfur in the air too. Hope she keeps her temper!

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Rainbow Propeller

 The humidity was just so, and the sunlight as well, and we get this neat looking rainbow effect aound the prop. Glad my camera could pick it up in the daybright.

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The Terrain Below

Just taking in the view makes this job fun. Notice the way the fog in the lower photos is funneled into the valleys? Sometimes if the temperature or wind is just right, the movement is visible even at 9 thousand feet. Nothing like seeing miles of rolling fog down there.

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Weather front in action

 Every once in a while you get to see weather in action. This was one of those times.  You can see clear definition of the front. This layer was only pretty thin, and there was just a hint of turbulence when we crossed that line. Once we flew out from underneath, the Sun was there to greet us and I came away with this great photo!

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Puffy Cloud

 You thought there would be more to say...but there isn't.

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Glaciers

  
On the airway to Dillingham,  are these glaciers. Most of the time they are obscured by clouds, but the last couple of times they were out in the open. Our favorite is the group of four that flow together in the lower picture.

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The "S" Word

   Well folks it's official! At the high altitudes at least. There is snow. Summer is over, pack it in, stick a fork in it, game over, whatever you want to call it.
   This is Mt. Redoubt with a fresh layer of "termination dust" on top. Why "termination"? Because it usually marks the termination of summer up here. Luckily we have been having an extended fall this year, so we will be well prepared when winter drops to our level.

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Rainbow in the Sky

Looking out the front windshield.

Another Great Day Flying

Nice day flying in the warm AK sunlight. Smooth air, with the occasional cloud. Rainy Pass Lodge passing under us in this segment as we head back to Anchorage. These are the days we look forward to!
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Kobuk ~ Dahl Creek

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Crater in the Backwoods

You never know what you'll see. Take this crater for example. Interesting to look at, and wonder how it came to be. It's on the way to Dahl Creek from Kotzebue.
Alaska has such geographic diversity that after a while, you always know where you are. That's really something when you consider the size of our state!
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Unalakleet from Above

So this is Unalakleet passing under us on our way to Nome. The airway takes us right over the top. If it's one the three nice days a year at this location, then we enjoy the view. A very cold and windy place in the winter.
You t.v. watchers out there will recognize the name of this village from a popular Alaska aviation program. Legally I can't promote the show, but you know the one.
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Descending into Nome

If I remember right, this is on short final into Nome. Always a good setup for photos if the sun is right. Gotta love the shadow shots!
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Running Smooth

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What's Missing?

My seat that's what! The height adjustment malfunctioned and I was stuck with my seat all the way up for the whole flight back. To fix it they took it out and repaired the adjusting rod that had broken. Looked pretty funny with no seat there, and we got to clean up two years worth of stale cheetos and pistachio shells.
No Mom, I did not fly it with no seat installed but thanks for wondering!
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North of the Kuskokwim Mountains

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Mt. Redoubt

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Life on the River

Pretty sure this little gem is Aniak. Another tiny village on the river. Pretty too, with some small mountains to the North and East and rolling tundra to the West and South.
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Unloading a Trailer in Point Lay

Our Engineer was willing to go the extra mile to secure this trailer for offloading. He was also the lightest of our crew and so the obvious choice for a delicate balancing act. Good job Brian!
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