Alaska Journal

[FrankinCA]

Thank you for posting this. I've been following this thread.

[GJM]

Last morning, for a while, flying Cubs here.

[GJM]

Epic weather in town this evening.

[Clusterfrack]

Beautiful pictures. Is Astro wearing a GPS collar?

[GJM]

Beautiful pictures. Is Astro wearing a GPS collar?

That is "whistle" -- a combination fit bit and GPS locator.

[GJM]

So never a dull moment in aviation. We left AK well before dawn headed for lower 48. First thing we heard on the center frequency was them moving airliners to another runway at Anchorage International because there was a bear on the runway. We had a pretty nice flight for three hours. Then an hour out of Bozeman at 43,000 feet we had a left engine failure over Southern British Columbia. Not wanting to creating an international incident landing in Canada with three dozen firearms, fortunately we were only 125 miles from KGPI, Glacier Park International near Kalispell. Got to descend through the ice, shoot an ILS, and have a nice uneventful landing with the fire engine waiting. Big mess of oil over the back of the left engine and fuselage. Rented a van and making the six hour drive now.

[Cheap Shot]

So never a dull moment in aviation. We left AK well before dawn headed for lower 48. First thing we heard on the center frequency was them moving airliners to another runway at Anchorage International because there was a bear on the runway. We had a pretty nice flight for three hours. Then an hour out of Bozeman at 43,000 feet we had a left engine failure over Southern British Columbia. Not wanting to creating an international incident landing in Canada with three dozen firearms, fortunately we were only 125 miles from KGPI, Glacier Park International near Kalispell. Got to descend through the ice, shoot an ILS, and have a nice uneventful landing with the fire engine waiting. Big mess of oil over the back of the left engine and fuselage. Rented a van and making the six hour drive now.

Wow. Glad things turned out well.

[Doc_Glock]

So never a dull moment in aviation. We left AK well before dawn headed for lower 48. First thing we heard on the center frequency was them moving airliners to another runway at Anchorage International because there was a bear on the runway. We had a pretty nice flight for three hours. Then an hour out of Bozeman at 43,000 feet we had a left engine failure over Southern British Columbia. Not wanting to creating an international incident landing in Canada with three dozen firearms, fortunately we were only 125 miles from KGPI, Glacier Park International near Kalispell. Got to descend through the ice, shoot an ILS, and have a nice uneventful landing with the fire engine waiting. Big mess of oil over the back of the left engine and fuselage. Rented a van and making the six hour drive now.

What the heck were you flying? Glad you are safe!

[SteveB]

So never a dull moment in aviation. We left AK well before dawn headed for lower 48. First thing we heard on the center frequency was them moving airliners to another runway at Anchorage International because there was a bear on the runway. We had a pretty nice flight for three hours. Then an hour out of Bozeman at 43,000 feet we had a left engine failure over Southern British Columbia. Not wanting to creating an international incident landing in Canada with three dozen firearms, fortunately we were only 125 miles from KGPI, Glacier Park International near Kalispell. Got to descend through the ice, shoot an ILS, and have a nice uneventful landing with the fire engine waiting. Big mess of oil over the back of the left engine and fuselage. Rented a van and making the six hour drive now.

Guess all that sim training comes in handy now and then. Course 10,000+ hours of PIC flying doesn’t hurt either. Now I want to hear about the laugh-in-the-face-of-death drive to Bozeman in the rental van with the blinking engine oil and tire pressure lights.

[GJM]

The fun has started again -- just about 2,000 miles further south.