THE FLIGHT OF A LIFETIME





This is my very first attempt at blogging so I hope this flows smoothly and we can all enjoy it.


This week, we (my best friend, co-pilot and wife) will be flying from Northwest Arkansas to Anchorage, Alaska via American Airlines to pick up Cessna 63082...a Cessna 150.


This plane was nicknamed "Mighty Mouse" some time back as this is no ordinary, run of the mill Cessna 150.

This is a 150-150 which means the stock Continental, 100 horsepower engine was removed and then upgraded to the Lycoming O-320 with 150 horsepower.

Additionally, Mighty Mouse has the full Horton STOL kit installed and 39 gallon long range fuel tanks.

Another big plus with this conversion is the 160 gross weight increase.

Mighty Mouse is a 1976 model with about 2,500 hours total time on the airframe and a new, zero timed, Lycoming factory rebuilt engine.




Here's a picture of Mighty Mouse in Alaska.










Cindy and I will be flying with (following actually) our good friend Terry Dickinson from Big Lake, Alaska.

Terry has two planes. One is a Piper Super Cub (on floats this time of year) and the other is a Cessna 152 which is affectionately known as Mosquito or......"Skeeter" for short.

Terry has a need/desire to reposition Skeeter to his winter home in the desert of Nevada and we (Cindy and I) have a need to travel with a highly experienced bush pilot (who also just happens to be a CFI) from the Alaskan wilderness, through the Canadian Rockies and on home.

Our generic plan will have us crossing back into the lower 48 at Great Falls, Montana and at this point (probably) we'll separate where Terry will turn right to the southwest and head to Nevada and we'll turn left to the southeast and head to Arkansas.




Here's Mosquito (Skeeter) parked next to Mighty Mouse at Big Lake, AK




All three of us consider this to be the ultimate flying adventure of a lifetime and we'll do our best to document this trip for not only our enjoyment but yours as well.





Jim & Cindy

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013


Friday morning arrived with continued low ceilings and visibilities but the forecast called for some improvements later in the day which did happen.....not perfect by any means but good enough to fire up Mighty Mouse and get some flying in.

Terry and I flew two flights today, the first one lasted about an hour and we flew close to the Big Lake Airport after which we landed and topped the tanks off to check our fuel burn.

The second flight was a little more adventurous lasting over two hours.  We followed the highway up to Talkeetna, turned around and headed to Wasilla and then the fun began.

With Mighty Mouse flying well and the engine purring like a kitten, our confidence in the plane is increasing.  In life, there's nothing worse than flying an airplane you don't trust but Mighty Mouse is holding up his end of the bargain so far and we're starting to become "friends".  By the time we get back to the lower 48 and on to Arkansas, we'll be intimate friends.

Flight to Talkeetna sandwiched between the clouds and Mother Earth

Headed to snow capped mountains and our first Glaciers

Mountains on the left

 Mountains on the right

And on the nose......Knik Glacier

Awesome view of ice that is thousands of years old


The clarity of glacier water is cloudy due to silt caused by the glacier "grinding" up the rocks as it passes over the earth turning it (the rock) into a very fine powder.   The mountain runoff water and snow melt is clear. 





These picture were from yesterday (Friday) and we're hopeful that we'll get more flying in today.



Jim & Cindy
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Thursday, August 29, 2013



The weather hasn't been "bad" but it has been low and scuzzy, meaning low ceilings and visibilities.

This puts a damper on doing much flying but there was enough of a break so Terry could reposition his Super Cub from his slip in Anchorage to his home on Marion Lake where he wants to keep it while he's gone on this trip.  He has a commercial flight back to Alaska from Las Vegas on September 25 so his Cub will remain here now until his return.

Cindy flew back with Terry while his wonder dog Bella sat in her lap.  This was Cindy's first ever flight in a plane on floats and she fell in love with it.

I did caution her not to fall too deeply in love with this type of flying as it's not on our horizon.......we're stuck with tires on our planes and we'll always need "Terra Firma" for our kind of flying.

So, while Terry and Cindy are enjoying the scenic tour home over water, yours truly got to fly back to Marion Lake 18" off the ground via Terry's airport Subaru that he leaves at his slip for ground transportation whenever he goes to Anchorage.  It's a 1.5 hour road trip versus 20 minutes via Super Cub.....which would you choose???

Mighty Mouse did not break ground today but the weather forecast for tomorrow is encouraging...we'll see.


This is Terry's Super Cub secured in his slip in Anchorage.


While Terry pre-flights the Cub.....Cindy stays warm and somewhat dry.

   
Terry doing his pre-flight check.


And they're off to Marion Lake.      


Stay tuned.....more to follow.



Jim & Cindy
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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

We arrived Anchorage (in the rain) last evening following an uneventful, on time flight....which is always a good thing.

We then road the shuttle, checked into a motel and pretty much crashed.

So, I'm wearing my favorite hat from the Cessna 150-152 Club on the plane yesterday and a flight attendant named Steve comments: "Like your hat".......hmmmmm, must be a pilot and turns out he is.  Had a nice conversation with him (several actually) regarding our adventure at hand.  It's always fun to talk that pilot stuff and it helped make a long flight more enjoyable. 

While waiting for our luggage we looked over the Polar Bear display at the Anchorage airport.  Awesome predators these guys are especially when viewed in terms of the "food chain".




Cindy & Polar Bear at ANC



Polar Bear Display at ANC


Rain is in the forecast today and tomorrow so probably no flying will take place until it's over and the weather improves.

Terry will be picking us up this morning here in Anchorage and we'll head to Big Lake (where he and his wife Charlene live and where Skeeter and Mighty Mouse call home) so at least we'll get some face time with this new (new to us) Mighty Mouse.


The journey is well underway and there's no turning back now, but then again, why would we want to?

 More to follow as things progress.



Jim & Cindy


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