8/24: Climbing out from Kodiak on the way to Unalaska's Dutch Harbor airport. Since the runway at Kodiak butts up against that big hill, I chose to depart in the opposite direction, toward the east, then circle in the climb, and pass back over the airport. I dunno why, but I really enjoy getting one last look at the airport I've just left, when the opportunity arises.
Down safe at Dutch Harbor / Unalaska airport. Whew! That approach was harder work than expected. The fun memory, for me, about this town, is that when I was using Microsoft Flight Simulator X, they had a "challenge" which involved flying the
NDB approach to Dutch Harbor in miserable weather, in their King Air turboprop simulator model.
Someone captured their attempt at that approach on YouTube here. That approach proved to be a real challenge for me, with my rusty instrument flying skills, and my unfamiliarity with the King Air and the airport, and it took me several tries, before I was comfortable with it. All that practice was very helpful, as I tried to recreate those same awful weather conditions (low ceiling and heavy snow), for a similar challenge on this trip in the SF50 jet, at the end of a long flight from Kodiak. I thought I'd relax and let the jet's very sophisticated autopilot fly the approach, only to discover that it wanted to do the wrong thing (turn outbound) on the inbound leg to the NDB, so I had to take over and fly the approach manually.
I've taxied back for takeoff at Unalaska, loaded up with full tanks (320 gallons - an estimated 4hr of fuel at cruise), and am ready for the next leg, to Adak, Alaska. This flight is only 386 NM, well within the zero-wind range of the SF50. Back in the early 1980s, a fellow pilot in one of my flying clubs told us a fascinating story about his attempt to circumnavigate the world in his Piper Cub. His flight ended on a sad note, as he was unable to find Adak airport, when flying eastbound from Japan. Back in those days, GPS was just a gleam in some engineer's eye, so he was using ded reckoning to navigate - using magnetic headings and indicated airspeeds for the aircraft vector, and forecast winds for the wind vector. That's often not very accurate, when the actual winds are not well known. He got blown off course without knowing it, until Adak didn't show up at the expected time, and ended up ditching in the Pacific Ocean. Hours before he ran out of fuel, he was able to contact the Coast Guard, who were able to home in on his radio signal, and intercept him in the air with a C-130 search aircraft. They helped him verify his position, which unfortunately was too far out to sea, to make it to the airport with his remaining fuel. After he climbed into his survival suit, and ditched in the ocean, they guided a surface vessel to his location to rescue him in just a few hours, as I recall.
8/24: Climbing out from Kodiak on the way to Unalaska's Dutch Harbor airport. Since the runway at Kodiak butts up against that big hill, I chose to depart in the opposite direction, toward the east, then circle in the climb, and pass back over the airport. I dunno why, but I really enjoy getting one last look at the airport I've just left, when the opportunity arises.
Down safe at Dutch Harbor / Unalaska airport. Whew! That approach was harder work than expected. The fun memory, for me, about this town, is that when I was using Microsoft Flight Simulator X, they had a "challenge" which involved flying the NDB approach to Dutch Harbor in miserable weather, in their King Air turboprop simulator model. Someone captured their attempt at that approach on YouTube here. That approach proved to be a real challenge for me, with my rusty instrument flying skills, and my unfamiliarity with the King Air and the airport, and it took me several tries, before I was comfortable with it. All that practice was very helpful, as I tried to recreate those same awful weather conditions (low ceiling and heavy snow), for a similar challenge on this trip in the SF50 jet, at the end of a long flight from Kodiak. I thought I'd relax and let the jet's very sophisticated autopilot fly the approach, only to discover that it wanted to do the wrong thing (turn outbound) on the inbound leg to the NDB, so I had to take over and fly the approach manually.
I've taxied back for takeoff at Unalaska, loaded up with full tanks (320 gallons - an estimated 4hr of fuel at cruise), and am ready for the next leg, to Adak, Alaska. This flight is only 386 NM, well within the zero-wind range of the SF50. Back in the early 1980s, a fellow pilot in one of my flying clubs told us a fascinating story about his attempt to circumnavigate the world in his Piper Cub. His flight ended on a sad note, as he was unable to find Adak airport, when flying eastbound from Japan. Back in those days, GPS was just a gleam in some engineer's eye, so he was using ded reckoning to navigate - using magnetic headings and indicated airspeeds for the aircraft vector, and forecast winds for the wind vector. That's often not very accurate, when the actual winds are not well known. He got blown off course without knowing it, until Adak didn't show up at the expected time, and ended up ditching in the Pacific Ocean. Hours before he ran out of fuel, he was able to contact the Coast Guard, who were able to home in on his radio signal, and intercept him in the air with a C-130 search aircraft. They helped him verify his position, which unfortunately was too far out to sea, to make it to the airport with his remaining fuel. After he climbed into his survival suit, and ditched in the ocean, they guided a surface vessel to his location to rescue him in just a few hours, as I recall.
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