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

Monday, June 9, 2014

Monday - June 9, 2014

We're still here in Watson Lake waiting for the weather between here and Fort Nelson to clear out so we've officially lost another day and will wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

I had a typo yesterday regarding the distance between Watson Lake and Fort Nelson calling it a little over 200 miles.  It's a little over 300 miles following the Alcan and I just wish I could blame my mistake on the weather.

I just learned today that 3 of our grand kids are following the blog daily with their mother, Erin.

Erin has books on Alaska and Canada and she reads the blog to them everyday and uses the books accordingly.

So, to Sammy, P.J. and Abby look what we found:


This is a picture of a bear that was in our motel lobby in Wasilla, Alaska.  He doesn't look so big and tough...does he?

He still doesn't look so big and tough.....does he???  That is until 5' 1" Grandma C C stands in front of him!!









See??  This is why the survival gear we're packing includes a 12 gauge shot gun with deer slugs as ammunition.  Grandma's head would get lost between these very large paws.....YIKES!!!!!


Stay tuned guys.....we love you and miss you.


Jim & Cindy

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