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Something you hate to see.

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Posted

Out flying this weekend, saw something that makes you feel pretty sick.  Danny knows the previous owner; just sold this Supercub and the new owner was just getting familiar with it.  He had a friend with him and fortunately they both survived and I think the injuries were not real bad.  There were two other planes flying with them so they got them to the hospital quickly.  Plane is pretty totaled though. Sheared off the gear, sheared off the carburetor, both wings and struts bent, fuselage bent about everywhere but the tail, prop bent back so think the engine was not running?  have not heard what happened but it looked like he might have just taken off and the engine quit or forgot to turn on the fuel.

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Posted

Yeah, we all hate to see something like that. Unfortunately it does happen, hope they are alright.  Never really thought about it, but in that part of the country flying alone might not be such a good idea. I've heard stories of crashes that have never been found in Alaska. Beautiful place, but very unforgiving.

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Posted

It doesn't even take a place like Alaska for a plane to go down and be very hard to find or very hard to walk out of assuming you can walk.

i fly up the Columbia River a lot where I live. When I fly low over the water I can easily see both sides, the islands and boats. It seems very "small" and sort of like no big deal. Then when I am out in my ski boat, the river grows in size to where i can't imagine actually being able to swim from the middle to the side. 

I have to constantly remind myself just how big (and unforgiving) the world really is when it seems so "contained" when I am up flying. It is very deceptive.

 

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Posted

damn, hate to see that.  Been a bad year for aviation so far up here and the hunting season is still in full swing yet.  

It only takes minutes to find yourself remote and in trouble.  I know within 5 minutes of the Soldotna airport I can be looking at having to be choppered out or having someone with horses come get me.  

wish the guys a speedy recovery and that the bird sees the air again one day.

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Posted

Boy would that suck!! Really suck if you totaled your bird in the middle of no where like you say.

And being above the water. I was thinking that when I rode around with a buddy in a J3 over the Mississippi river. Down here it can be a mile wide depending on the stage.

Hope they heal up okay!

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Posted

That's one of the reasons I don't fly in wintertime. Around here you would be a popcicle for a coyote before you walked out. If you were able to walk.

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Posted

That's one of the reasons I don't fly in wintertime. Around here you would be a popcicle for a coyote before you walked out. If you were able to walk.

In the winter I fly with what I plan on crashing in.. As in, heavy boots, good cold weather gear etc.  The survival gear is always in the plane, boat/ side x side etc as well. If you are playing remote, a PLB is prudent to have for many reasons. 

:BC:

 

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Posted

At 6' and 140, if I wore enough to keep warm, I couldn't get in the dang plane. Talk about looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy or the Staypuff marshmellow man!

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Posted

you would be surprised what proper layers will do for you quite comfortably.  Its not the 1930s and our options are not limited to wool and down.  A good base layer (think high tech long johns, fleece pants / shirt and a good shell and your good to go and there is no more bulk than putting on your jacket for a sunday stroll.

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Posted

Another one tonight.  Not a good place to land a Cessna 150 trigear, although I can't imagine someone would have intentionally tried it there.  Sorry for the poor pictures, it was a bit dusky and my camera would just not get a  good fast shutter speed.

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Posted

Expect they didn't land there on purpose! Must be those new upturning droop tips. Strange, never seen on installed on just one side. Must be a new Alaskan Mod.

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Posted

What's that heli salvage mission out gonna cost?

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Posted (edited)

Looks like an active access trail, might be able to put it on a trailer and haul it out.  Sucks to see another one down.

I will say that in my early years, I was putting a 152 into places I had no business going into.  Got damn lucky to get back out of some of those places.

Edited by akflyer

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Posted

There are a lot of swamp and creek crossings so I  think a trailer  will be tough but maybe not impossible especially if they wait until things freeze up; and it might be easier then since it would probably have a lot less parts to haul out.  It is not too far flying time so a local helicopter would be quick and easy for the minimum charge.  It cost me $2500 to have an R44 from Fairbanks fly mine out of the Healy area but I had to pull the motor first to get it light enough for him to be able to carry enough gas and the plane.  I think it will take something bigger for this; most cubs I have seen slung out around here have been with a Huey, and I'll bet the minimum is $4-5k.

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Posted

Randy, what is your story with having to have the plane take a heli ride? You can message me if you don't want to post up. I hadn't heard about that one. 

Glad those guys are okay. I know from experience that when the engine quits you do what you have to, but being that remote may make survival much more interesting and challenging. 

 

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Posted


Mine was in 2014; I landed on a ridge to pick up a caribou.  The landing area was plenty smooth but my left landing gear leg evidently had a crack in the tube right where the bungee wraps at the weld to the tube coming from the axle.  It was just ready to let go at that time  I had used larger and heavier tubing in that area so had a false confidence that it would not break there and did not have my safety cables run inside the V created by these tubes.  It would have saved the day; instead it cost me a few $K to get it out and to do the repairs. The repairs included inserting 3/4" x 3/8" wall tubes inside the 7/8" outer tubes in that area and plug welding them to hold them in place so there is no weld through both inner and outer tubed in that location to propagate a crack.  And I also ran the safety cables inside the V. Maybe others can benefit from my lesson on this one.

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