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

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Watson Lake, Day 4 - June 11, 2014

No big surprise but the weather continues to block our path through this, the final leg of our trip that meanders through the Canadian Rocky mountains.

We continue to be held up by a non moving system that is pumping copious amounts of moisture and instability into the region.

The view out the motel window from this morning:


Yuck.......looking South


Double Yuck......looking East

The weather briefing from this morning does not look all that encouraging for the rest of the week but only time will tell.

If you've been following our journey, this has to be getting as boring for you as it is for us.  It takes will power and intelligence to deflect the notion of trying to cheat and beat this weather but I know better......the odds are overwhelmingly against success and I recognize and accept this truth.   

Something has to give and improve at some point.



Jim & Cindy

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJune 11, 2014 at 6:29 PM

    Sometimes boring can be better than exciting. Fly fun and fly safe.

    Ed Figuli

    ReplyDelete

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