Flying Wild Alaska

Not sure I'd care to have cameras cluttering my dash and having my every move recorded on video during my solos.

The last few minutes of the season finale seemed to me to do a decent job of communicating the joy of flying.
 
Jim Logajan said:
The last few minutes of the season finale seemed to me to do a decent job of communicating the joy of flying.
Click to expand...
It brought back the feeling of my first solo. There isn't any feeling in the world like it.
 
DavidWhite said:
It brought back the feeling of my first solo. There isn't any feeling in the world like it.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% David.....

If someone could bottle up the emotions that flow through our body during the "first " solo flight and sell it as 'liquid' adrenaline that person would be the richest guy/ gal in the world. They would make Bill Gates look like a homeless person.:yesnod::yesnod::wink2::D..
IMHO.
Ben.
 
I thought her comment about starting to learn to fly because her family flew but then realizing the true joy of flying was interesting. She might actually be able to complete her ticket with her own motivation.
 
She did really well but I wonder, was that really her first solo or was it her first solo for the TV show :wink2: All of those cameras in the cockpit and the pressure to perform for TV doesn't seem like a wise decision for a first solo! Seems like an added distraction to me.
 
Originally Posted by Jim Logajan
Ron Tweto, brother of Jim Tweto, who died a few years ago still appears in the FAA database.
Click to expand...
Anymouse said:
BTW... This is the accident:

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20021230X05644&ntsbno=FTW03FA059&akey=1
Click to expand...

From his bio, Jim had an accident too that broke his neck:

Jim is respected across the state as one of the best small plane pilots, and has logged over 30,000 hours behind the yoke of an aircraft. But flying small planes in Alaska can be a dangerous profession, so it is rare for a pilot to rack up so many hours of flying in the bush without a mishap. Jim has only had one accident during his many years of flying, during a 2007 off airport landing in his Super Cub. Although Jim's neck was broken in the accident, within months he was back to work, loading planes with essential supplies and flying the wilds of bush Alaska.
 
redtail said:
She did really well but I wonder, was that really her first solo or was it her first solo for the TV show :wink2: All of those cameras in the cockpit and the pressure to perform for TV doesn't seem like a wise decision for a first solo! Seems like an added distraction to me.
Click to expand...

When she is standing on the ramp talking about her about to solo, she is wearing a green shirt. When she is showing flying solo, she is wearing a red shirt. :dunno:
 
CJones said:
When she is standing on the ramp talking about her about to solo, she is wearing a green shirt. When she is showing flying solo, she is wearing a red shirt. :dunno:
Click to expand...

A lot of the time if not most, 'talking' shots (where they are discussing something) are done at a different time than other shots. That shot could have been done any number of days before or after the solo. It could just be that.
 
BrianNC said:
A lot of the time if not most, 'talking' shots (where they are discussing something) are done at a different time than other shots. That shot could have been done any number of days before or after the solo. It could just be that.
Click to expand...

Very true. The way she was talking, though, it sounded like 1) She was going to be flying that day or 2) They were trying to make it sound like it was the day she was going to be flying.
 
BrianNC said:
A lot of the time if not most, 'talking' shots (where they are discussing something) are done at a different time than other shots. That shot could have been done any number of days before or after the solo. It could just be that.
Click to expand...
Notice in all the "one-shots" of her in the hangar with the 150 in the background, she is wearing the same thing. They likely did the whole season's worth of those in one session.

Also, in her opening "Don't try this at home" scene she's leaning on the prop spinner of a new C-172 -- and the sun angle looks suspiciously more like SoCal than Unalakleet.
 
CJones said:
When she is standing on the ramp talking about her about to solo, she is wearing a green shirt. When she is showing flying solo, she is wearing a red shirt. :dunno:
Click to expand...

BrianNC said:
A lot of the time if not most, 'talking' shots (where they are discussing something) are done at a different time than other shots. That shot could have been done any number of days before or after the solo. It could just be that.
Click to expand...

CJones said:
Very true. The way she was talking, though, it sounded like 1) She was going to be flying that day or 2) They were trying to make it sound like it was the day she was going to be flying.
Click to expand...

So explain why they took off dual on runway 5 and flew the pattern and announced landing on runway 33.

Jim says at the ened that everyone flies including Ferno.

It looked a lot to me like they were wrapping up because this was the final episode.
 
Jim Logajan said:
Elaine is another daughter who has not appeared on the show.

I could not find an FAA database record for Ferno under either her maiden name (which appears to have been Ryan) or Tweto.
Click to expand...

The legal name for 'Ferno' is Loretta Joyce Tweto. She obtained her license in dec 1980, 8 years before she got married to Jim. She comes up under her maiden name of Ryan with the last medical in 1985. No point updating the FAA database with your married name if you dont fly anymore.
 
The show has flaws, but I still enjoy it. You can pick apart the details and drive yourself crazy, I'll just watch it.

I like Ice Pilots better. The show makes it seems like their C46s are really unreliable though. :confused:
 
:D Ferno: "Is she going to land in this?"
No, Mom, she's going to stay up until somebody goes up to get her.
 
CJones said:
Very true. The way she was talking, though, it sounded like 1) She was going to be flying that day or 2) They were trying to make it sound like it was the day she was going to be flying.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's part of the non-reality portion of a scripted reality show.
 
mikea said:
:D Ferno: "Is she going to land in this?"
No, Mom, she's going to stay up until somebody goes up to get her.
Click to expand...

No, a better question would be why she didn't switch to the crosswind runway. It's 1900' long, plenty long for someone who has landed on skis!
 
mikea said:
So explain why they took off dual on runway 5 and flew the pattern and announced landing on runway 33.

Jim says at the ened that everyone flies including Ferno.

It looked a lot to me like they were wrapping up because this was the final episode.
Click to expand...

If Discovery wraps the series up, it wont be because of poor ratings:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratin...s-for-second-week-653215/20111107discovery02/

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ng-persons-and-men-25-5418-49-ratings/114255/

With regard to continuity - I noticed the flaps were doing a lot of flapping. Alternate shots of allegedly the same flight only seconds apart showed the flaps extended in some and retracted in others.
 
Like a lot of the show, that whole sudden crosswind solo was staged. But, it's entertaining, and I'll continue to tune in if the show comes back for another season.
 
Last edited:
Anything with a 180 in the bush will get watched on my TV as long as its in production.

The fast forward button does wonders for the dumb stuff.
 
I have to say this thread got me watching season 1 on Neflix, and it is quite enjoyable. My wife watches a lot of reality TV which I find annoying, but I can tune most of the dramatic crap out.

Stuff like "the pilot is following the river below to his destination - this is known as 'Dead Reckoning'" is kind of annoying... Can't they have someone, well, catch that stuff in post-production?
 
ChrisK said:
Stuff like "the pilot is following the river below to his destination - this is known as 'Dead Reckoning'" is kind of annoying... Can't they have someone, well, catch that stuff in post-production?
Click to expand...
Yes, the technical aspects of the show are dumbed-down for the masses, and it's frustrating for us (those awful animations of airflow over the wing drive me nuts). But if they tried to 'splain things with the accuracy and detail to which we are accustomed, the whole series would turn into one big John & Martha King video, and there go the ratings.
 
I'd watch a John and Martha channel. Especially if the commercials were for the Slap Chop. LOL.
 
I'd watch a John and Martha channel. Especially if the commercials were for the Slap Chop. LOL.
Click to expand...

No such luck. The commercials would be for Yodice Associates law firm and ANN magazine.
 
The podcast Oddball Pilots (on iTunes) has two interviews with Era Alaska personnel, one of which, Doug Doherty, has been featured in a few episodes as a 1900 captain, and also on the Reims 406, I believe. He makes it sound like once you pay your dues up there, it can be a pretty decent job. But you gotta like living there....and he does.

As has been mentioned before, Jim's PA12 Super Cruiser keeps being referred to as a Super Cub- but it's got alot of 'tundra mods' on it that disguise it somewhat, like the cowling. That wide back seat is the only way Jim could have gotten those two girls in the back of that thing and hauled them up to the cabin.
 
Last edited:
at least the events around the aviation make it more interesting. ice pilots and the aviators bore me so much i'd rather not even watch the aviation portion.
 
DaveA said:
The podcast Oddball Pilots (on iTunes) has two interviews with Era Alaska personnel, one of which, Doug Doherty, has been featured in a few episodes as a 1900 captain, and also on the Reims 406, I believe. He makes it sound like once you pay your dues up there, it can be a pretty decent job. But you gotta like living there....and he does.

As has been mentioned before, Jim's PA12 Super Cruiser keeps being referred to as a Super Cub- but it's got alot of 'tundra mods' on it that disguise it somewhat, like the cowling. That wide back seat is the only way Jim could have gotten those two girls in the back of that thing and hauled them up to the cabin.
Click to expand...

The Super cruiser really isn't a super cruiser either, it has a big lake 2300# pound wide body fuselage, bat wings, PA 18 horizontal & elevators, X brace, extended gear, extended tanks, extended baggage, belly pod, fuel gauges in the wing butt, removable rear stick, battery mod putting it under the front seat, flap extensions, VGs, and probably 100 other mods I don't know about.
 
BrianNC said:
From his bio, Jim had an accident too that broke his neck:

Jim is respected across the state as one of the best small plane pilots, and has logged over 30,000 hours behind the yoke of an aircraft. But flying small planes in Alaska can be a dangerous profession, so it is rare for a pilot to rack up so many hours of flying in the bush without a mishap. Jim has only had one accident during his many years of flying, during a 2007 off airport landing in his Super Cub. Although Jim's neck was broken in the accident, within months he was back to work, loading planes with essential supplies and flying the wilds of bush Alaska.
Click to expand...

This one, I think...

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20070622X00783&ntsbno=ANC07LA044&akey=1
 
Is the season over? I haven't seen the last episode yet and couldn't quickly find any details on the discovery channel website.
 
pilotod said:
Is the season over? I haven't seen the last episode yet and couldn't quickly find any details on the discovery channel website.
Click to expand...
I believe so. I seem to recall that the Ariel solo episode was the last of the season.
 
What is the purpose of that metal pole that is always seen hanging under the tail of the 208 when they are on the ramp ?
 
As I recall, it keeps the tail from striking the ground while the airplane is being loaded on the ground.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top