Under a Shiny Wing

Under a shiny wing a great mountain can be seen. Denali East view from 6,500 feet.

Kotlik

Kotlik 63°02′09″N 163°33′37″W. 

Kotlik is located on the east bank of the Kotlik Slough, 35 miles northeast of Emmonak in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. 

Kotlik population 604.

Good Morning from Fairbanks

Good day to fly west and back again.

Morning Flight Home

Morning flight home from Emmonak.

How was your morning?

DC-6 Press Book

Great Commercial Flight Home

Great photo of Mt. Mckinkey and Mt. Foraker.

In True Alaska Fashion

We are true recyclers or junk collectors, you choose which you think might best describe our habits. But keep in mind Alaskans do not value their wealth by the cost of the things that they own, but instead their wealth is based on the pure tonnage of their belongings. A man with tonnage is a rich man indeed.


***

Nice Fall Day

Video from two months ago but still worth sharing.

Viewing this on a mobile device?  You will have to go to YouTube, follow this link.

A Nice Fall Day for a Fight

The Brooks Range

CRM ~ Cockpit Resource Management

Cockpit resource management looks good on paper but what if your resources are always a bit behind the power curve?  Some days its work... work... work!

C-46

N54514 was the first C-46 certificated on the 121 TFS certificate back in 1998. Maid in Japan was once owned by the Japanese, given to them by the U.S. as part of the assistance program after WWII.  It was later purchased by Cliff Everts and flown back across the Pacific to Alaska.  I think in the 1970's but don't quote me.  Today it flies fuel and cargo around this great state.

Beautiful Day for Flying

Does it get any better than a day spent out flying with a first class Captain?  I can think of no better way to occupy the day.  Happy Anniversary Captain Kenny!

WWII Beer Run

In the lighter moments of WWII, the Spitfire was used
in an unorthodox role: bringing beer kegs to the men
in Normandy.

During the war, the Heneger and Constable brewery donated free beer to the troops. After D-Day, supplying the invasion troops in Normandy with vital supplies was already a challenge. Obviously, there was no room in the logistics chain for such luxuries as beer or other types of refreshments. Some men, often called 'sourcers', were able to get wine or other niceties from the land or rather from the locals. RAF Spitfire pilots came up with an even better idea.

The Spitfire Mk IX was an evolved version of the Spitfire, with pylons under the wings for bombs or tanks. It was discovered that the bomb pylons could also be modified to carry beer kegs. According to pictures that can be found, various sizes of kegs were used. Whether the kegs could be jettisoned in case of emergency is unknown. If the Spitfire flew high enough, the cold air at altitude would even refresh the beer, making it ready for consumption upon arrival.

A variation was a long range fuel tank modified to carry beer instead of fuel. The modification even received the official designation Mod. XXX.  Propaganda services were quick to pick up on this, which probably explains the official designation. 

A staged shot of the Mod. XXX tank being filled.

As a result, Spitfires equipped with Mod XXX or keg-carrying pylons were often sent back to Great Britain for maintenance or liaison duties. They would then return to Normandy with full beer kegs fitted under the wings. 

The Spitfire had very little ground clearance with the larger beer kegs.

Typically, the British Revenue of Ministry and Excise stepped in, notifying the brewery that they were in violation of the law by exporting beer without paying the relevant taxes. It seems that Mod. XXX was terminated then, but various squadrons found different ways to refurbish their stocks, most often done with the unofficial approval of higher echelons.

In his book Dancing in the Skies, Tony Jonsson, the only Icelancer pilot in the RAF, recalled beer runs while he was flying with 65 Squadron. Every week a pilot was sent back to the UK to fill some cleaned-up drop tanks with beer and return to the squadron. Jonsson hated the beer runs as every man on the squadron would be watching you upon arrival. Anyone who made a rough landing and dropped the tanks would be the most hated man on the squadron for an entire week.