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 13, 2014

Watson Lake to Fort Nelson - June 13, 2014 - Part 2

I've segregated our flight from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson into two segments.  Part 1 is posted and now for the good part as this section today had us flying through the Muncho Lake Provincial Park.

I can't, Cindy can't and our camera can't reveal what we experienced flying through this section today. None of the three have the ability to even remotely relate to you the beauty of this part of our journey. 

Simply Google "Muncho Lake" and enjoy what you find.  I believe this section of the journey probably had the passes that were the most narrow but 5,500' was ample to maneuver through this spectacular, massive and beautiful section.  

The wind was calm, visibility was excellent and any clouds were above us and/or way off to either side.  It was a most welcome day to trespass through this stunning country.

We flew past Muncho Lake and made a left turn to the east on the south end of the lake.  At that point we had about another 70 miles to get through the last pass and Summit Lake when we'd have the Canadian Rockies in our rear view mirror.

One part of us was sad that we reached the end of this beauty but the other side had us relieved that we didn't have to deal with and plan our every move around the fickle mountain weather.  I have to admit, I'm glad we'll be through the Rocky Mountain foot hills tomorrow and out into the prairies.  This is the environment that I've flown around for over 3 decades so it is a welcome relief to be back on my own "turf" so to speak.

We wanted to get to Dawson Creek today but the weather briefer told us there was a broken to solid line of thunderstorms blocking our path so Fort Nelson gets out money tonight.  The weather in the morning is supposed to be much, much better.


Jim & Cindy......Mighty Mouse, too.


What beauty this massive rugged land is.

Cindy taking over for a while and logging some stick time.
Muncho Lake flying north to south.  The Alcan is seen on the left (east) side of the lake.
Muncho Lake from straight down.
Muncho Lake with clouds reflecting off the stunning turquoise blue water.
Side view of butte.
Looking back at the butte with the zoom lens.
The Canadian Rockies slipping away behind us as we fly over the foothills.

Even the foothills have their own style of beauty.
Mighty Mouse tied down at Fort Nelson.
Over an hour after we landed I took this picture looking west from where we came.  The briefer said we needed to get through these 300+ miles before noon and it appears he knew what he was talking about.

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 13, 2014 at 9:24 PM

    Awesome adventure and even better documentation. Thanks so much for sharing!
    Ed Figuli

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 13, 2014 at 9:24 PM

    Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eldon ZorinskyJune 18, 2014 at 4:35 PM

    Wow! Wonder what sort of fish you could catch in that lake? Last time we did that, you caught 6 trout and I caught a cold.

    ReplyDelete

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