overheating... again

[akflyer 1427]

You know what they say:

"If you can crash a plane with her and she doesn't leave... "

It wasnt a crash.. it was an.. um... extremely quick precautionary landing in a very questionable location

[C5Engineer 1170]

Good to hear Leni!!

[SuberAvid 617]

Congrats Leni; she's a neat girl and very pretty. I'd be carefull about getting hitched at the lodge though; little Joey might have something to say about that. He has a pretty big crush on her!

I will try to make it out there on the 8th if the weather cooperates and see if I can land somewhere I can help you guys.

I didn't see the add for the Avid on Craig's list, but Jackak says it is the same one we looked at at Birchwood. It is pretty much complete; I can't remember exactly what is left to do but not much. It is covered, painted, fully assembled, engine and prop on, and I think it had all or most the basic instruments in it. The owner (also Jack) called me and said it also has a set of Federal skis and Avid fiberglas floats that have not been assembled yet. It should be a pretty good deal if all the paperwork is in order so you could get it registered. He sold his half of the hangar that it is in and doesn't have a place to put it any more. He has a place in Talkeetna now.

[akflyer 1427]

Well Randy, I do belive this is a different gal than the one you met up there 2 yrs ago. But Joey likes this one better so do I for that matter I got lucky this time! No drama, no jail, no baggage!!

I called the guy to see if he would sell the floats and belly pod seperate, but he does not want to at this time. He has my name and number and will call if he decides to sell them.

I will give you a call and keep you posted on what the plans are for getting in there and working on it. It may be best to just wait for freeze up, or just hope for a stiff south wind blowing to get me out of there. At any rate, I want to get the repairs done this time up there so it will be ready to go at the first chance. I really need that 800 in the nose to get me out of where I am on floats.

[EDMO 1078]

Well Randy, I do belive this is a different gal than the one you met up there 2 yrs ago. But Joey likes this one better so do I for that matter I got lucky this time! No drama, no jail, no baggage!!

I called the guy to see if he would sell the floats and belly pod seperate, but he does not want to at this time. He has my name and number and will call if he decides to sell them.

I will give you a call and keep you posted on what the plans are for getting in there and working on it. It may be best to just wait for freeze up, or just hope for a stiff south wind blowing to get me out of there. At any rate, I want to get the repairs done this time up there so it will be ready to go at the first chance. I really need that 800 in the nose to get me out of where I am on floats.

What a cutie! Makes me wish I was 50 years younger - But then, every morning, noon, and night, I wish I was 50 years younger, and still in Alaska!

Lucky You! Congrats.

Now, what is an 800 - and what about all this flooding and a cat 3 hurricane storm heading for Alaska?

ED in MO

Edited 26 Sep 2012 by Ed In Missouri

[akflyer 1427]

What a cutie! Makes me wish I was 50 years younger - But then, every morning, noon, and night, I wish I was 50 years younger, and still in Alaska!

Lucky You! Congrats.

Now, what is an 800 - and what about all this flooding and a cat 3 hurricane storm heading for Alaska?

ED in MO

Ed,

I have an Arctic Cat 800 engine that if fuel injected I have been tinkering with to go in the Avid. I can loaf the engine along at 120 HP on take off if I run it at the same RPM limits as I do the 582. (6800 max versus the 8200 max that we run it in the sleds) Basically I am looking at double the HP and double the TQ at take off RPM

yep, another big storm is headed in and just hitting the peninsula now. Kenai is reporting 22 gusting 39 and it is spose to hit 65-70 in the next few hrs and getting worse.

The Kenai river is well above flood stage and rising. The boat launch and raised walk way at the cooper landing bridge is under water now. 1/4 mile from my house its flooded back 300 - 500 yrds off the river about 3' deep.

Skwentna is only reporting 7 MPH winds right now so the plane should be OK, the last 2 storms have spared that area all the wind. When it was blowing 80 in Anchorage it only got up to 20 out at Skwenta so I have my fingers crossed again..

[EDMO 1078]

Ed,

I have an Arctic Cat 800 engine that if fuel injected I have been tinkering with to go in the Avid. I can loaf the engine along at 120 HP on take off if I run it at the same RPM limits as I do the 582. (6800 max versus the 8200 max that we run it in the sleds) Basically I am looking at double the HP and double the TQ at take off RPM

yep, another big storm is headed in and just hitting the peninsula now. Kenai is reporting 22 gusting 39 and it is spose to hit 65-70 in the next few hrs and getting worse.

The Kenai river is well above flood stage and rising. The boat launch and raised walk way at the cooper landing bridge is under water now. 1/4 mile from my house its flooded back 300 - 500 yrds off the river about 3' deep.

Skwentna is only reporting 7 MPH winds right now so the plane should be OK, the last 2 storms have spared that area all the wind. When it was blowing 80 in Anchorage it only got up to 20 out at Skwenta so I have my fingers crossed again..

Can you fit a redrive and motor mount for some other engine to it? Saw a Can-Am with vertical twin 1000cc - 90 hp, I think, and was wondering what rpm it runs - maybe 4 cycle? - then, you are on your own with redrive, etc.

The 800 sounds interesting, and powerful - hope it works - you could start a new club!

Praying that my daughters in Anchorage dont have to put floats on Durango.

Keep me posted on weather - If I wasnt a dinosaur, could probably get it on here - but tried once and damned weather channel was so aggrevating I deleted it after about 500 tries - well, after grandson came and did it.

ED in MO

Edited 27 Sep 2012 by Ed In Missouri

[SuberAvid 617]

Well Randy, I do belive this is a different gal than the one you met up there 2 yrs ago. But Joey likes this one better so do I for that matter I got lucky this time! No drama, no jail, no baggage!!

I called the guy to see if he would sell the floats and belly pod seperate, but he does not want to at this time. He has my name and number and will call if he decides to sell them.

I will give you a call and keep you posted on what the plans are for getting in there and working on it. It may be best to just wait for freeze up, or just hope for a stiff south wind blowing to get me out of there. At any rate, I want to get the repairs done this time up there so it will be ready to go at the first chance. I really need that 800 in the nose to get me out of where I am on floats.

Well Congrats again Leni, it sounds like you made a wise decision. The trouble with us guys is that wise decisions are pretty rare when those strong natural urges kick in.... oh, I'm talking about flying of course.

I know what you mean on the plane; I asked him to give me a price on teh floats as well if he wanted to sell them separately. They would work on my MKIV when I get it back flying.

That sounds good on fixing/retrieving the plane; let me know whatever I can do when you decide to do it.

[SuberAvid 617]

Can you fit a redrive and motor mount for some other engine to it? Saw a Can-Am with vertical twin 1000cc - 90 hp, I think, and was wondering what rpm it runs - maybe 4 cycle? - then, you are on your own with redrive, etc.

The 800 sounds interesting, and powerful - hope it works - you could start a new club!

Praying that my daughters in Anchorage dont have to put floats on Durango.

Keep me posted on weather - If I wasnt a dinosaur, could probably get it on here - but tried once and damned weather channel was so aggrevating I deleted it after about 500 tries - well, after grandson came and did it.

ED in MO

Ed,

Google the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper for Sept 25th. There is a story there of a couple of planes and hunters camping with their planes on a gravel bar, that had to be rescued by helicopter out of the Talkeetna River. They got caught in the flood and couldn't get off before it overran them. One of the guys, Paul Woodward, is a buddy that I worked with. He just got done totally rebuilding and upgrading his plane (the one half under water) a few years ago. That plane has had a rough life; before the rebuild he was taking off out of Merill Feild and his engine quit. He made a forced landing on 4th street in Anchorage. He survived it but the plane was in bad shape as you can imagine after taking a lot of power lines with it on the way down.

[EDMO 1078]

Ed,

Google the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper for Sept 25th. There is a story there of a couple of planes and hunters camping with their planes on a gravel bar, that had to be rescued by helicopter out of the Talkeetna River. They got caught in the flood and couldn't get off before it overran them. One of the guys, Paul Woodward, is a buddy that I worked with. He just got done totally rebuilding and upgrading his plane (the one half under water) a few years ago. That plane has had a rough life; before the rebuild he was taking off out of Merill Feild and his engine quit. He made a forced landing on 4th street in Anchorage. He survived it but the plane was in bad shape as you can imagine after taking a lot of power lines with it on the way down.

At least he made it to 4th street. I was always worried when taking off north at Merrill - Glen Hwy usually too packed with cars to make a landing on it north - then there is Cook Inlet, and I cant swim - too cold anyway.

Saw photo of Talketna river last night - BAD!

Thanks, Ed

[SuberAvid 617]

Hey Leni, I checked on your plan again tonight and it is still looking good. The water level in the lake is back down so it is sitting on the tundra again instead on in the water. Probably a good thing you got it up on the tundra or it might have been floating around free with that high water. The strip at the cabin 2 miles away looks like a great strip but man it looks like a bugger to get from there to your plane unless that guy has an Argo you could get him to let you use; otherwise it will be quite a slog through the swamp. Let me know what your plans are if you are going to attempt it next weekend.

[akflyer 1427]

Randy, Thanks for the update!

It wont be the weekend cause of the whole wedding thing, but I am hoping to try and get to it on Monday. Sounds like I better take my snowshoes for the hike across the swamp. I didnt realize the water came up high enough to hit the plane, I left it 20' off the pond dang, maybe if I wold have gotten in there when it was flooded, getting it out would be a piece of cake!

Thanks again for the update, I dont like it just sitting there not tied down

[EDMO 1078]

Randy, Thanks for the update!

It wont be the weekend cause of the whole wedding thing, but I am hoping to try and get to it on Monday. Sounds like I better take my snowshoes for the hike across the swamp. I didnt realize the water came up high enough to hit the plane, I left it 20' off the pond dang, maybe if I wold have gotten in there when it was flooded, getting it out would be a piece of cake!

Thanks again for the update, I dont like it just sitting there not tied down

And, I was told that "all Alaskan Bush Pilots" carried a tie-down kit?

I Could have flown without the extra weight?

ED in MO

[akflyer 1427]

And, I was told that "all Alaskan Bush Pilots" carried a tie-down kit?

I Could have flown without the extra weight?

ED in MO

Not much to tie down to in the swamp... the ropes on the floats dont do much good tied off to swamp..Noth much in the swamp will work unless you have a few 5 gallon buckets you can push under the muck and fill with mud to tie down to. Not much room for those in the plane

[EDMO 1078]

Not much to tie down to in the swamp... the ropes on the floats dont do much good tied off to swamp..Noth much in the swamp will work unless you have a few 5 gallon buckets you can push under the muck and fill with mud to tie down to. Not much room for those in the plane

Oh yes, floats - those things you put on with your life preserver.......never use them.

Thought maybe you were walking on water with the big Alaskan bush tires?

Duh - forgot to take my memory pill this morning!

Ed in MO

[akflyer 1427]

Float flying is some of the best! It is a toss up for me, floats of Ski's I kinda lean towards floats for fun and safety around here. My options for landing and walking away from it are pretty close to endless for the area when I am on floats.

[EDMO 1078]

Float flying is some of the best! It is a toss up for me, floats of Ski's I kinda lean towards floats for fun and safety around here. My options for landing and walking away from it are pretty close to endless for the area when I am on floats.

I know I missed out on some good float flying in AK, but not qualified, and hate cold water. We only have a couple of lakes here to fly into, and they are big. Too many trees bordering the little creeks too.

Skis? You mean those flat things that replace the wheels? I have only seen enough snow here once in the last 30 years to use them - they make funny noises on gravel and concrete - not too bad on grass tho.

Guess I will just have to spend last days flying roads and looking for cow patties to roll my tires on.

Good Luck on getting the bird with water wings out of the pond.

ED in MO

Edited 2 Oct 2012 by Ed In Missouri

[Twister 0]

I'm just a newbie cheechako from the extreme SW of the 48, but I just want to wish y'all the best and say that being a bush pilot in Alaska was my boyhood dream that I never realized. I have the greatest respect for you, and am sorry this happened to you. I wish I was capable of helping you.

[SuberAvid 617]

Hey Leni,

Thought you might want to take a latest look at your bird; here's a pic from tonight. Everything still looks good and the lake is starting to freeze. I'm heading to MT Monday and will be back on 17 Nov; if you still haven't retrieved it by then let me know, I would like to help. I buzzed the Lodge and gave a wave to Julie while I was out there. Had a blast playing on the river but will put that in another post.

Randy

[akflyer 1427]

Randy,

Thanks for checking on it. On Oct 4th when I flew up to the lodge it was fine, on the 11th when I flew back the left front float bladder was ripped out of the plane, you can see it in that shot you posted. Looks like things are freezing up nicely and I will be able to get in there in about 3 weeks when I get home. The plan will be to land on the strip that is a mile or two away and go in on foot. With the tundra frozen, I should be able to pull a small sled in there with the gear legs and ski's and a few goodies to hopefully get her back in the air and atleast flown to the lodge where I can spend some more time going over it. Later on after we get some snow, I can go in with the freight sleds and get the floats and rigging out of there

Without alot of snow, that pond is too small to land on with ski's and get stopped before the trees on the far side eat another plane. I wont risk anyone elses plane just to try and get mine so I will be playing it safe with lots of hiking in the near future I am hoping for cold clear skies for the next few week to get everything froze up solid. The last thing I need now is a big snow dump and to go interhe to find my wings laying on the tundra.

I get back home Nov. 13th so it will be some time after you get back that I will be going in to get it. I will keep you posted! Thanks again for keeping an eye on it for me!

[SuberAvid 617]

You know, I noticed the float looked a little odd in the picture but I didn't really notice it on the flybys. I guess I was juggling too many things trying to get the camera ready, low, slow and trimmed out enough, and not hit anything in the process. I did a pass just a couple of feet off the lake and you definately could not get stopped in time if it was just ice and no snow. You might be able to spin a 180 and power up backwards but not a whole lot of length to pull that manuver either.

Could that float bladder have leaked out on its own or would it have to have been damaged by something like a bear? If you are still working on it when I get back I will plan to give a hand. Hopefully it is something as simple as the radiator cap. If it is a head gasket, I don't know about changing it with the engine mounted upside down. Might be best to pull it and work on it in a nice controlled environment.

[akflyer 1427]

It cant come out of the float unless something ripped the side of the float open. My guess was a bear, but then, I would think the bladder itself would have been torn up too unless it kinda scared the lil critter when it popped out.

I flew over the lake 50 ways from sunday and if the wind was blowing hard out of the south I whink I could get the 12 in there ion floats and maybe get it back out if I was to cut down the dead trees on the south end. It just isnt much room to play with there.

I have swapped a jug with it installed so a head gasket is not a big deal. A tiny bit of lube holds it in place to put the head on. worst case is a couple hours to pull the engine, swap it and go with another one.. I will probly have parts as well as a spare with me in the support plane so I can do whatever needs to be done to get it home.

The biggest pain in the butt now will be to lift it up while I pullthe floats off and put the gear legs on. Knock down a few trees and make a tee pee over it with a come along should do the trick.

[akflyer 1427]

Got a call tonight. The guy that has the cabin and runway a couple miles from the plane was able to land on the pond today with his cub and checked the plane out. He found my note in the plane and called me! Turns out we have some mutual friends and he is a super nice cool guy. He has a track rig that he can run over there and pick the plane up for me and either let me put the ski's on it, or he will put it on the trailer behind the track rig and bring it back to his place for me to do the engine work if I cant fix it out there. In the mean time, if it snows he will keep the wings swept off... Guys like this are the reason why I live here!

[C5Engineer 1170]

It's not just Alaska I think it's the entire flying community! When I had my mishap on the mountainside in the middle of BFE Idaho I was picked up by a fellow flyer in an hour and had my airplane fixed and outta there in 36 hrs. NO WAY I could have done that without the coordination and help of several people who I barely knew. Glad to hear your bird will soon be safe!!

[akflyer 1427]

Your right Joey,

The aviation community is the best!