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

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Watson Lake - June 8, 2014

We're still in Watson Lake waiting out the rain.  We'll be staying here again tonight and hoping for an opening tomorrow.

Watson Lake is on the western side of the Canadian Rockies and Fort Nelson, our next stop, is on the eastern side.  It's about 200 highway miles to get to Fort Nelson which should be less than two hours if this rain would push through.

We'll continue to sit tight until I have confidence that these next 200 miles are clear with no weather issues.  Once past Fort Nelson, things start to flatten out fairly quickly and the mountains will become a mere memory.

While we're waiting this out, we plan to walk to the Northern Lights Theater where we'll learn more about and experience the Aurora Borealis.  They advertize a SciDome HD projection system in a 360 degree dome theater.  Should be interesting.


Jim & Cindy



Watson Lake, YT waiting out the rain.



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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 9, 2014 at 6:46 AM

    Awesome adventure! Thanks so much for sharing this! Fly fun and fly safe!

    Ed Figuli

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 10, 2014 at 7:33 PM

      I wish I had a small percentage of your ability to produce something worth watching.....you're such a pro at it.

      We're being careful and having fun. Mighty Mouse is running flawlessly so far and we're well pleased.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJune 11, 2014 at 11:16 PM

    No worries Jim. Keep posting pictures and enjoy the ride. Fly fun and fly safe. You can tell us all about it at Clinton!

    Ed Figuli

    ReplyDelete

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