General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: colmbo on September 25, 2018, 10:32:42 AM
Title: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: colmbo on September 25, 2018, 10:32:42 AM
You can tell by the number of plane crashes!
My job at Anchorage International was a dual-role gig, law enforcement and Crash/Fire/Rescue (Now called Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting).
Spring and Fall were busy times. All those guys that didn't fly fly during the winter coming out in the spring who weren't current, airplanes that had been idle for several months and stuff happens. Float planes crashing into the shore, engine failures shortly after takeoff (you really gotta drain the sumps well), just mistakes made in technique, etc.
In the fall it was very heavy loads trying to get all the hunters into moose camp and get that same load back to town with the moose you have taken. Watched a 206 on floats make 4 attempts to take off....each time the roar of the Continental but he could quite get the airplane up on step do back to the dock and throw a couple boxes out and try again. On his third try I parked by patrol car and got the rescue boat out and called a partner over to give me a hand. He finally made it on the 5th try but used all of Lake Hood and Lake Spenard? Lots of crashes out in the bush taking off heavy where they would hit the trees after staggering into the air. Lots of poor decisions - and I really hate to second guess guys but.....
This year isn't looking good. 5 dead in just a week or so. Another 5 when they hit a mountain near Denali at 11,000'. Pilot survived long enough to made a couple sat phone calls -- they were on a sight seeing flight and sounds like they were in the clouds when they hit the mountain - not sure what they were seeing. Single pilot in a 206 trying to get through Rainy Pass, very notorious we know killer, you fly into it and it has a 90 degree turn into a very narrow gap you can't see through until turning - if it's blocked you might not be able to do the 180.
Now I've made some mistakes, once did the "continued VFR into IMC" when the wife and I were scud running near Slave Lake in Alberta. I had kept working the altitude down to maintain ground contact and finally that big flashing red light that all pilots should have started flashing --- the once that says "hey stupid, you're going to kill your wife and have to spend eternity listening to her!" We had just flown over a cabin with a short strip, I make it on the GPS and told her I was making a 180, to follow our position on the sectional (she was good at that) and did the basic 180 RLH. About 5 long minutes later we were back on CAVU conditions and spent the night at the Slave Lake Lodge were we had a great dinner of Sambuca Shrimp and a couple rums. :)
It saddens me to see guys making the dumb decisions, especially the guys flying Part 135. The money just isn't worth it, the job isn't worth it. So very sad.
[Kicks that thing away I was standing on but can't remember because of this friggin brain cancer (which has improved from the radiation:)
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: Oldman731 on September 25, 2018, 10:44:57 AM
It saddens me to see guys making the dumb decisions, especially the guys flying Part 135.
We were up there in the summer of 2011 (including at your lovely town of Seward). While on Kodiak, we took a flight in this guy's Widgeon:
http://www.ptialaska.net/~smharvey/airplane.html
During the flight, he told me that there wasn't a lot of IFR flying to be done there, simply because the navaids, radar and radio ranges didn't work out. Scary stuff.
Glad to hear that the radiation has improved something, keep it up.
- oldman
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: Mister Fork on September 25, 2018, 02:58:25 PM
My buddy I used to work with did S&R volunteer work - he flew rescue heli's mostly for recovery efforts. He was telling me that here in Banff and around Calgary the biggest pilot error killer here is the mountain blending effect (what he called it). You're flying VFR and not following the suggested flight pathways (they're there for a reason), and you see a nice big mountain in front of you miles away. What you miss is the fact is that there is a much closer second mountain in between you and the mountain far off is blending in with the mountain that you're now closing in on at 200mph.
Most pilots who fall for the blending effect don't even notice and either fly straight into the side of a cliff face on the mountain (cause they're probably on auto and doing stuff), or they desperately try to avoid with seconds to spare and end up glancing off it in a steep climb and turn.
He was telling me about the stories of him flying onto sides of mountains, and this one time on the side of a mountain out by Banff a 206 had flown into the side of a mountain at 14000 ft with a 3000 foot drop-off in the middle of this basin of mountains. He had to hover in his helicopter for around 35 minutes with no where to land and repelled a SAR tech down trying to recover pieces of the aircraft and remains to ID the aircraft and crew. They brought back a side piece of the aircraft with the registration number and some remains. And that's where they remain today - sometimes the danger of retrieving the aircraft pieces and the remains are too dangerous. Interesting, but not fun work. Alberta averages around 20 of those a year. :frown:
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: 1stpar3 on September 25, 2018, 04:40:46 PM
Guess its like that every where..where Hunting and Fishing are forms of religion. Its a variance of CRACK HEAD type circumstances(sell any thing to achieve near term goals). In south...Best time to buy a 4-Wheeler....March -August. Best time to buy a boat....August till December. Some changes to this can be noticed at times, usually more about the TYPE of boats sold or saught after. Duck season may have some slight up tick of BOAT purchases in December, just like 4 wheelers may be looked for around Early March due to Turkey Season. Same with fire arms which follow the same time cycles! :x
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: pembquist on September 25, 2018, 07:12:41 PM
Best (and worst) time to buy a boat is when a hurricane is forcast to make landfall in a couple days.
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: Sabre on September 26, 2018, 12:54:15 PM
Duck season, or wabbit season??? :neener:
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: Mister Fork on September 26, 2018, 01:16:15 PM
Title: Re: It's hunting season in Alaska
Post by: 1stpar3 on September 26, 2018, 03:25:26 PM
:rofl Pretty much! At the RIGHT time...buying stuff from a RED NECK is equivalent to buying from a Crack Head. Duck Boat(G3 Aluminum boat with 90hp Mercury, $3,000 2years old) Remington Model 700 in .270 with Leopold 4 x 12 scope..$400.00...used once and only boresighted(never fired more than twice). Polaris 500cc Four wheeler(used 1 deer season, maybe 10 hours run time....$2500.00). I started feeling guilty about it...almost :devil Yes I could go on.... :rofl