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

Friday, June 20, 2014

Lloydminster to Swift Current, SK - June 20, 2014

We made a slight change in plans today.

Flying our original plan southeast from Lloydminster just wasn't in the cards as the weather to the east was not going to cooperate for several days.

We reviewed our options and decided to head south and cross the border and go through customs in Williston, ND and not on the Minnesota/North Dakota line in Pembina, ND.

I've filed the necessary border crossing forms tonight and received the confirmation number I need and I've received an e-mail which clears us for departure in the morning with clearance to land at Williston.

With any luck, we'll breeze through customs and be on our merry way hoping to spend tomorrow night somewhere in Nebraska (Columbus maybe?) and then a final 2 leg journey on home to Arkansas on Sunday.

I must admit we're looking forward to getting home and sleeping in our own bed.

I'll do my best to write something tomorrow night and update those following the blog.


Jim & Cindy


The view out our motel room window this morning.  It was so thick, this bird had no excuse for being out in this mess.  I really had no hope of leaving today to fly anywhere but the ceiling lifted enough for us to scoot out of town and head south.


As we flew south, we skirted the weather to the east that was blocking our progress east.  Having weather in the cockpit really helps define where you can go and more importantly.....can't go.  There was a lot of rain further east of our route.



Looking out my side of Mighty Mouse to the east with a visual of what the Garmin 796 was showing us inside the cockpit.


We landed in Swift Current, SK after a 1.9 hour flight from Lloydminster.  Swift Current will be our final resting place in Canada.  Weather permitting, we'll launch from here about 10:00 in the morning, headed to Williston, ND and our appointment with customs.



Mighty Mouse tied down in a nice shady spot for the night.  Tomorrow, we head to the US of A and all things considered......very close to home.

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