A taste: (http://photos-422.facebook.com/ip006/v41/97/124/38407499/n38407499_31042422_8545.jpg)
There are some shots of there of icing before and after blowing the boots on a known ice aircraft. I'll post those ones specifically. One of the pictures is actually during the blow cycle, the inboard ice has blown off and the outboard half of the wing still has it.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 08:54:34 PM
If you look at the spinner, you can see the ice build up forming on it as well. There is a thin layer over the whole spinner, with a dome starting to form on the tip.
Less ice on the wing: (http://photos-387.facebook.com/ip006/v41/97/124/38407499/n38407499_31042387_617.jpg)
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 08:57:08 PM
Katmi Lodge (southern Alaska, west of Anchorage by a few hundred miles): (http://photos-434.facebook.com/ip006/v41/97/124/38407499/n38407499_31042434_3972.jpg)
If you look straight ahead you'll see a brown V shape with the point towards the right. The entire V is a "runway." It doesn't merit dirt road status IMO.
I couldn't get any pictures closer to the airport, things happen too fast at that one...
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 09:09:49 PM
On the ground in Gambel, AK on St. Lawrence Island, 40 miles from the Russian mainland.
Gambel from the air: (http://photos-425.facebook.com/ip006/v41/97/124/38407499/n38407499_31042425_9916.jpg)
If you look at the inland lake towards the center of the picture, the runway is on the first half of that narrow strip between that and the ocean.
L-100 Hurcules (L-100 is the civilian variant of the C-130) on the ground in Anchorage. I havn't seen this one move, but I'm told it does sometimes. (http://photos-436.facebook.com/ip006/v41/97/124/38407499/n38407499_31042436_4903.jpg)
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 09:12:33 PM
The Tundra on the North Slope, endless flat nothingness...
It's a pity I can't show y'all the original pictures, they look much better than the shots on the photo CD. Drug store photoprocessing is just not that great when it comes to putting film onto CD....
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Frank N. O. on September 01, 2006, 09:25:57 PM
The pictures still look fantastic, thank you very much for sharing so we can get at least a glimpse of the fantastic view |:)\ There at Denali, is that really a mountain-range sticking up in the background seemingly blended perfectly with the colour of the clouds?? That looks scary. That L-100 looks pretty long doesn't it? How much can they be stretched those Hercs?
Frank
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: fireflyr on September 01, 2006, 09:32:09 PM
Great pictures, great scenery, Alaska is a GRRRREAT place to visit. |:)\ Too bad I never got to take any icing pictures but being a frieght dog flying at night, well, there went all the photo ops............... :-\ The first time Charmaine was ever in an airplane was a Beech 99 freighter enroute to Seattle (snuck her on board) and we were in moderate freezing precip over southern Oregon, I was kind of white knuckling it and trying to be casual but she was pretty nervous----everthing wound up OK I guess cause she married me anyway.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 11:28:00 PM
The pictures still look fantastic, thank you very much for sharing so we can get at least a glimpse of the fantastic view |:)\ There at Denali, is that really a mountain-range sticking up in the background seemingly blended perfectly with the colour of the clouds?? That looks scary. That L-100 looks pretty long doesn't it? How much can they be stretched those Hercs?
Frank
Which picture of Denali? There are two pictures showing denali. ;) Depending on which direction we are going, Denali is about up at our altitude when we are in cruise passing it! We usually are cruising at 200 one way and 210 the other... It's quite a sight. Some days the entire mountain is in the clouds, some days the lower ones are with tops peeking through. You don't want to be running around randomly in the clouds in that area. ;)
The herc does look pretty long to me as well. The engines look pretty small too, it's also only got 3 blade props as well. I don't get to see the J models next to it, so it's hard to compare. I don't know if maybe the A models are more slender than the newer ones possibly?
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 01, 2006, 11:39:47 PM
Great pictures, great scenery, Alaska is a GRRRREAT place to visit. |:)\ Too bad I never got to take any icing pictures but being a frieght dog flying at night, well, there went all the photo ops............... :-\ The first time Charmaine was ever in an airplane was a Beech 99 freighter enroute to Seattle (snuck her on board) and we were in moderate freezing precip over southern Oregon, I was kind of white knuckling it and trying to be casual but she was pretty nervous----everthing wound up OK I guess cause she married me anyway.
I'd never even heard of a Beech 99 until I got up here. Company has two of them though. They are based in Barrow. Poor 99 crews. ;) Those guys get a guaranteed 2 week on/off schedule though and get a daily guarantee and per diem (we get neither down here) as well as company provided housing. I'm perfectly happy to get paid less and pay for housing and *not* live in Barrow personally. ;)
Did you have a cargo pod on the 99? Ours do, mainly because you can't put baggage in the cabin on a 99! It's a technicality that the FAA hasn't gotten over yet. Normally an aircraft is certified for "Passengers and/or Cargo" in the cabin. The Beech 99 is certified for "Passengers or Cargo" in the cabin. So the FAA says we can have either passengers or cargo, not both. Wonder how we'd transport passengers' luggage without a cargo pod! ??? I bet we're working on an STC to add the "and" in there. ::)
Trade-A-Plane had an AN-2 Colt for sale in the Anchorage area in the current issue. Someone needs to buy that! I think it was only $40,000... dirt cheap for the worlds' largest biplane (just under the type rating requirements). Stall speed is supposedly below what the airspeed indicator can indicate...
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: BrianGMFS on September 02, 2006, 02:04:04 AM
That L-100 looks pretty long doesn't it? How much can they be stretched those Hercs?
Actually its not a C-130... It's a Douglas C-133 Globemaster II. They were used to haul Atlas Missles around the Country in the 60's (as well as other USAF freight work) it is much larger than the Herk. the aircraft that replaced it was the C-141 Starlifter. they apparently had some wing spar problems with them and they were retired early. I checked the FAA registry and there are only 4 on the registry and 2 are in Alaska hauling freight. The other two are in California in storage.
(Yes I'm an airplane Trivia Nut ;D ;D ;D ;D )
You sure get around Alaska in those 1900's...
Brian
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 02, 2006, 03:16:29 AM
[ Actually its not a C-130... It's a Douglas C-133 Globemaster II. They were used to haul Atlas Missles around the Country in the 60's (as well as other USAF freight work) it is much larger than the Herk. the aircraft that replaced it was the C-141 Starlifter. they apparently had some wing spar problems with them and they were retired early. I checked the FAA registry and there are only 4 on the registry and 2 are in Alaska hauling freight. The other two are in California in storage.
(Yes I'm an airplane Trivia Nut ;D ;D ;D ;D )
You sure get around Alaska in those 1900's...
Brian
It's the tail isn't it? I did aircraft ID with flight team, looks like I found the next aircraft to send pics down of. I already need to get some weird angle shots of a 1900 to try to throw them off. I need to know what to look for (other than it looking long for an A model). I did note that I thought the engines looked really weird for a C-130, going to have to investigate that further... even in person I didn't notice the size difference from a Herc, although I can't see them side by side. I did notice the nose looked longer than I expected for an A, more like a J model but knew it wasn't that. It does look a bit more slender than I remembered the A models being (that's the other thing, not seeing A models very often). Lyndon Air Transport uses L-100s, but I havn't seen those ones in person.
Some of the runs are deceptive and we don't go all of those places with the 1900. I havn't been to some of the Anchorage destinations yet that the 1900 does serve (only been to Aniak and Bethel out of Anchorage).
The 1900 goes up the slope but it doesn't make a circle. Goes from Fairbanks-Barter-Deadhorse-Nuiqsik-Barrow and reverse back down. That and there's a direct Fairbanks-Barrow run. We go to the Island from Nome on our daily trip out there, but the smaller destinations there are for Navajos. For Kotzebue the 1900 goes to Point Hope and occassionally goes to Noatak (it's usually run by a Navajo). 1900 crew bases are in Fairbanks and Anchorage (the largest being in Fairbanks), each day always ends back at the crew's base. Galena-Kaltag-Nulato is twice a day and usually run by a 1900. Ruby and Koyukuk are 1900 as required and otherwise Navajos and Ft. Yukon is a 1900 run. Most other destinations can be a 1900 run if required for charter or
Distances are deceptive. Anchorage is an hour away from Fairbanks, same with Galena. Kotz, Nome, and Barrow are around 2 hours away (Barrow can be longer).
The slope run, as well as the 3 other long runs are once a day, all others are at least twice a day. Keep in mind the map is not to scale (so some distances appear incorrectly). We cover a large footprint if you were to overlay our route map on the continental US (Alaska would stretch from Florida to Canada and to California if you counted the Aluetians and the pan handle). At least that's how I remember the map overlay I was shown...
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Frank N. O. on September 02, 2006, 10:20:43 AM
I actually meant both pictures of Denali since there seems to be a mountain in the back of both. Fantastic view though on all pictures |:)\
I actually did think the nose on that L-100 didn't really look tall enough to be a Herc, but I don't have that much knowledge about that type of planes, luckily someone else here does |:)\
Frank
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: fireflyr on September 02, 2006, 10:39:15 AM
Baradium, the first 99s we got did not have cargo pods or autopilots, we flew them single pilot which was pretty tiresome on the OAK-SEA runs in the winter time. :-\ Brian, I'm here to tell you that the A model Hercs have "some spar problems" too, I lost 3 friends a couple of years back on a fire in California when their Herc shed both wings :'( Don't believe I'd set foot in one of them sumbitches!
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 02, 2006, 06:36:54 PM
I actually meant both pictures of Denali since there seems to be a mountain in the back of both. Fantastic view though on all pictures |:)\
I actually did think the nose on that L-100 didn't really look tall enough to be a Herc, but I don't have that much knowledge about that type of planes, luckily someone else here does |:)\
Frank
Oh, you mean the one to the left? I forget the name of that mountain, but it's a mountain there. It's actually supposed to be tougher to climb than Denali. They've already lost some climbers on that one (not Denali) this year, seems it's much more dangerous because it's so much steeper. They get avalanches on that one that they won't see so often on the big one. It's not quite as tall as Denali (which has twin peaks), but it definately sticks out.
I just figured it was a quirk of the A model because all the ones I see are later. ;)
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: happylanding on September 02, 2006, 06:42:28 PM
WOW! the pics are gorgeous! keep em coming! :) |:)\
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 02, 2006, 06:43:48 PM
Baradium, the first 99s we got did not have cargo pods or autopilots, we flew them single pilot which was pretty tiresome on the OAK-SEA runs in the winter time. :-\ Brian, I'm here to tell you that the A model Hercs have "some spar problems" too, I lost 3 friends a couple of years back on a fire in California when their Herc shed both wings :'( Don't believe I'd set foot in one of them sumbitches!
Did they determine spar problems as the proboble cause or over stressing? I seem to remember that firefighter aircraft pull a lot of G's. I remember seeing a video of a large twin shedding a wing during an operation. :( The only reason I ask is that it seems odd to me that it'd have both wings have an unintended spar failure at the same time.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: tundra_flier on September 03, 2006, 05:14:00 AM
How about a DC-3/C-47 on skis? Taken at Palmer airport a couple years ago.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 03, 2006, 05:30:43 AM
How about a DC-3/C-47 on skis? Taken at Palmer airport a couple years ago.
I pity those on dialup just after that one picture! :p
It's now owned by a company called "Bush Air Company" out of Anchorage.
I want to know where the Douglas Tri Motor is.
We have a picture in our customer service lounge at the airport of it as well as a model of it. DC-3 converted to 3 engine with turboprops, it's also on skis.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: tundra_flier on September 03, 2006, 05:50:40 AM
Oops! Sorry, I resized the photo and edited the post. ::)
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 03, 2006, 05:54:25 AM
Oops! Sorry, I resized the photo and edited the post. ::)
All good. ;) The larger picture let me get a good copy of the tail number to look it up. ;D
Someone bought that bird last year...
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Frank N. O. on September 03, 2006, 10:25:41 AM
Nice picture of a classic that's appearently still in use today, wow. I wonder how on earth it's possible to covert one to a tri-motor configuration. Do they place the third one in an extended nose? And doesn't that upset the balance a lot?
Frank
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: cj5_pilot on September 04, 2006, 05:40:24 PM
Heh, I THOUGHT that plane in your avatar looked like Frontier! You may have been the pilot on one of my yearly hops Anchorage to Fairbanks for the annual New Years bash up at Tundra's place.
Heh, I THOUGHT that plane in your avatar looked like Frontier! You may have been the pilot on one of my yearly hops Anchorage to Fairbanks for the annual New Years bash up at Tundra's place.
Now we got to show Fairbanks in the winter:
The C-46 on the right is my old friend 22Mike. Got to love a place where you still see the old work horses working!
New Years? Not unless you are into time travel. ;) I've only been in Alaska since the middle of April. ;)
Winter... I'm from Georgia so that will be interesting. :-\
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: tundra_flier on September 05, 2006, 07:06:27 AM
Here's one Bob took last summer of a locally famous B-24. I was a bit busy at the time since we were only 50ft AGL and 75 mph. :p
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 05, 2006, 07:34:29 AM
Here's one Bob took last summer of a locally famous B-24. I was a bit busy at the time since we were only 50ft AGL and 75 mph. :p
I saw that, but it was from 5,000 ft. ;) I'd love to get a closer look someday. Captain I was with that day said that he found there's about a week each year when you can get in by air to see it.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Frank N. O. on September 05, 2006, 09:53:56 AM
Very nice pictures, but what's the story about the B-24 and it's location? Is it an actual plane-wreck or something else?
Frank
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: fireflyr on September 05, 2006, 01:54:33 PM
Nice picture of a classic that's appearently still in use today, wow. I wonder how on earth it's possible to covert one to a tri-motor configuration. Do they place the third one in an extended nose? And doesn't that upset the balance a lot?
Frank
Frank, the turbine engines were so much lighter than the original radials that they had to be moved a long way forward on the twin conversion so when they installed one on a reinforced nose they simply reduced the extension of the wing engines. The turbines weighed less then half of the radials they replaced and even with 3 engines installed the payload was about the same but with much improved performance. The US Forest Service uses a turbo DC-3 (twin) to haul smokejumpers and it's shortfield performance is impressive.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: tundra_flier on September 05, 2006, 06:31:58 PM
Very nice pictures, but what's the story about the B-24 and it's location? Is it an actual plane-wreck or something else?
Frank
I don't know the whole story, but it's an actual B-24 wreck from sometime shortly after WWII. There are quite a few WWII wrecks around Fairbanks due to all the cold weather research and Lend/Lease activity here.
Speaking of Cold weather research, the Museum at Pioneer park has photos of just about any WWII fighter you can imagine on skis. And Randy, one of the guys that runs the museum, can tell what each was like to fly. :)
Phil
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: happylanding on September 05, 2006, 10:31:44 PM
Gosh, the pic of B24 is incredible. I never thought about aircraft wrecks somewhere to be seen while you fly.......So, you live in a really interesting place and the conditions looks everyday more form the pictures demanding! |:)\ |:)\
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: tundra_flier on September 06, 2006, 12:14:10 AM
Gosh, the pic of B24 is incredible. I never thought about aircraft wrecks somewhere to be seen while you fly.......So, you live in a really interesting place and the conditions looks everyday more form the pictures demanding! |:)\ |:)\
I guess I never thought about it, but maybe it is a bit morbid, going flying to look at an old crash site. :-\
And yes, this is a very interesting place to fly or even just be an aviation enthusiast, and we haven't even gotten to "Stupid Cub Tricks" yet. ;) Although after seeing your pictures of the Swiss Alps I decided not to say anything about mountain flying in Alaska. |:)\
Phil
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: Baradium on September 06, 2006, 04:58:44 AM
I was in Nome today, we didn't go to the Island because the weather in *Nome* got low and we probobly (I think definately) wouldn't have gotten in on an IFR approach. We decided not to chance the possibility of the weather coming up (which was good because it didn't) because 14 of the passengers were doing a round trip as part of a vacation (they got rebooked for another day this week).
VFR traffic, however, was still going in and out...
And this is all legal. Special VFR clearances can make things really confusing. ;)
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: cj5_pilot on September 06, 2006, 03:14:23 PM
There's no place like Nome....Thank Providence!
Actually the strip at Kotzebue is interesting out in the sound like that. First time I was there I was riding as a passenger in a C-130....I looked out as we flared and all I saw was water :P Thought for sure we were gonna dump it in the drink!
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: cj5_pilot on September 07, 2006, 02:33:47 AM
Actually the strip at Kotzebue is interesting out in the sound like that. First time I was there I was riding as a passenger in a C-130....I looked out as we flared and all I saw was water :P Thought for sure we were gonna dump it in the drink!
Hehe, Kotz and Nome are easy strips. Savoonga is worse on the Island but it's gravel with big rocks and ruts!
Barter Island's runway is better now that the improvements have happened, still gravel and that place can get really bad *quick* too.
Our normal run is Fairbanks-Barter-Deadhorse-Nuiqsik-Barrow-Nuiqsik-Deadhorse-Barter-Fairbanks. I've already had people pay to go from Barter to Deadhorse in the morning so they could get on in Deadhorse to go to Fairbanks (through Barter) when we came back through. And that was on a clear day with the sun shining! They were worried the weather would get bad and we wouldn't get back in.
The slope in general is "special" though.
Oh, I got some pics of the tundra. It's during that "special" period up there where it's turned red but hasn't gotten covered in white stuff yet.
Title: Re: Pictures from Alaska
Post by: cj5_pilot on September 30, 2006, 02:39:01 AM
How about a DC-3/C-47 on skis? Taken at Palmer airport a couple years ago.
I pity those on dialup just after that one picture! :p
It's now owned by a company called "Bush Air Company" out of Anchorage.
I want to know where the Douglas Tri Motor is.
We have a picture in our customer service lounge at the airport of it as well as a model of it. DC-3 converted to 3 engine with turboprops, it's also on skis.
I saw the Tri-motor ONCE. It was '86, and I was 14. My dad and his boss were taking a truck and a mobile shop (built out of a step van) to Prudhoe from Soldotna. They invited me along. After we got to Prudhoe (I drove a hundred or so miles of the Dalton solo at age 14 since Dad and Glen wanted to talk--they both jumped in the step van and left the Crew Cab Flatbed F-350 to me!) we flew a "milk run" back on Alaska Airlines. The 727 stopped at Fairbanks before we flew on to Anchorage, and the tri-motor was there. Let me tell you a DC-3 with three turbines looks FUNKY! I'm told it performs like a stallion though.
Though I don't have a pic of the trimotor DC-3, here's a couple of the "Super DC-3's" that are at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage (ANC):
