John Wayne Jones
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- May 9, 2017
- Messages
- 29
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After leaving the Air Force and going through a particularly nasty divorce from my first wife, I did the pilot version of "going walkabout". I took my then-three year old daughter, and we bounced around the globe for several years.
I worked as a bush pilot in Alaska for awhile- absolutely beautiful place to fly, just...awe-inspiring. Quite deadly as well, I lost 11 friends in 10 months, all pilots who succumbed to Alaska's tricks. Ice fog, white outs, severe up and downdrafts, funky compass readings, long, long stretches (thousand miles or more) of NOTHING, not a soul in sight, constant darkness (up north) in winter...it's amazing how many ways Alaska tries to kill you. Then after fighting all of that for a 14 hour duty day, you have to cover your plane with a sheet that keeps the windshield clear of hoar frost overnight and put blankets over the nose or nacelles to keep engine heat in, and then plug the plane into an electrical outlet so the heaters will keep the oil from freezing. You're tired, it's dark, it's minus 40 F, your hands hurt like hell...and the hobbs isn't turning, so you're working for free.
Still...greatest flying on earth. I had flights in Alaska I wouldn't trade for another flight in my beloved F-15C. If you don't mind a story, here's one flight:
One of my favorite flights happened out of Point Barrow. I flew everything from Supercubs and Beavers to Twotters and B1900's in Alaska, and this flight happened in a 1900. The company I flew for was cheap- really cheap- when it came to copilots. Alaskans see no need for a two man crew, it is a waste of money. I was making $109/hr, my copilot was making $14/hr. I flew about 850-900 hours per year, FO's flew MAYBE 300. It downright sucked to be an FO at this company, more so than usual.I had come in as a captain, so I really felt sympathy for these guys. I let them fly all they wanted- I was an instructor, at that time, with probably 3000 hours or more of dual given, so I was very comfortable letting them fly tough approaches. It surprised me how many of the FO's avoided flying with me because I "asked too much of them". I didn't ask anything of them- I simply let them fly all they wanted. They could hand the plane back anytime.
So we're in Barrow, and my co-pilot, Louis, is a great kid. He's from the DR, about 20 years old, a good stick- particularly since he only has 600 hours, most of that in single engine Cessnas as a CFI, or as a student.
It is cold and dark, minus 55F back in Fairbanks, where we are headed, and minus 30F here in Barrow- the sea keeps the temps moderate, comparatively, anyway. It's snowing like hell, and if we don't get out quick, we may be stuck here for days. The weather is seriously turning to ****e, and is forecast to get worse over the next 4 or 5 days.
Finally we're buttoned up and ready, de-iced, and the viz drops below company min RVR. I taxied to the end anyway. We waited about 10 minutes, finally the viz was up right at the go mark, and we launched.
Louis set us up in a stable climb, on course. It was seriously bumpy, I was glad everyone aboard was an Alaskan...Cheechakos would be crying and raising hell about now. It was dark and rough and cold- the plane was slowly beating back the temperature, but it was still pretty chilly in the cabin.
Then, at about 21,000 ft, we broke out. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen- all the way back to Fairbanks, until we descended back into the goop, it surrounded us...
The Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights. We saw them pretty much every night, but usually it was nothing more than a green tint to the sky or something equally uninteresting. Tonight was different.
The cloud deck below us was flat, and was reflecting the Aurora back up at us. Overhead, it was more active than I had ever seen- reds and yellows and greens and blues, like colored fire in the sky- and because of the reflections off of the cloud deck below, it looked and felt as if we were surrounded by it. It must be what piloting a spaceship through a Nebula is like.
Alaskans are hard to impress, but everyone on board was silently gazing out the windows the entire flight. After we landed, everyone applauded like crazy- as if I had hired the Aurora to entertain them, which was odd, but I just applauded as well.
This is just one of the awesome things I witnessed at the top of the world...if you have the chance, go experience it. You will not be disappointed.
Cheers!
I worked as a bush pilot in Alaska for awhile- absolutely beautiful place to fly, just...awe-inspiring. Quite deadly as well, I lost 11 friends in 10 months, all pilots who succumbed to Alaska's tricks. Ice fog, white outs, severe up and downdrafts, funky compass readings, long, long stretches (thousand miles or more) of NOTHING, not a soul in sight, constant darkness (up north) in winter...it's amazing how many ways Alaska tries to kill you. Then after fighting all of that for a 14 hour duty day, you have to cover your plane with a sheet that keeps the windshield clear of hoar frost overnight and put blankets over the nose or nacelles to keep engine heat in, and then plug the plane into an electrical outlet so the heaters will keep the oil from freezing. You're tired, it's dark, it's minus 40 F, your hands hurt like hell...and the hobbs isn't turning, so you're working for free.
Still...greatest flying on earth. I had flights in Alaska I wouldn't trade for another flight in my beloved F-15C. If you don't mind a story, here's one flight:
One of my favorite flights happened out of Point Barrow. I flew everything from Supercubs and Beavers to Twotters and B1900's in Alaska, and this flight happened in a 1900. The company I flew for was cheap- really cheap- when it came to copilots. Alaskans see no need for a two man crew, it is a waste of money. I was making $109/hr, my copilot was making $14/hr. I flew about 850-900 hours per year, FO's flew MAYBE 300. It downright sucked to be an FO at this company, more so than usual.I had come in as a captain, so I really felt sympathy for these guys. I let them fly all they wanted- I was an instructor, at that time, with probably 3000 hours or more of dual given, so I was very comfortable letting them fly tough approaches. It surprised me how many of the FO's avoided flying with me because I "asked too much of them". I didn't ask anything of them- I simply let them fly all they wanted. They could hand the plane back anytime.
So we're in Barrow, and my co-pilot, Louis, is a great kid. He's from the DR, about 20 years old, a good stick- particularly since he only has 600 hours, most of that in single engine Cessnas as a CFI, or as a student.
It is cold and dark, minus 55F back in Fairbanks, where we are headed, and minus 30F here in Barrow- the sea keeps the temps moderate, comparatively, anyway. It's snowing like hell, and if we don't get out quick, we may be stuck here for days. The weather is seriously turning to ****e, and is forecast to get worse over the next 4 or 5 days.
Finally we're buttoned up and ready, de-iced, and the viz drops below company min RVR. I taxied to the end anyway. We waited about 10 minutes, finally the viz was up right at the go mark, and we launched.
Louis set us up in a stable climb, on course. It was seriously bumpy, I was glad everyone aboard was an Alaskan...Cheechakos would be crying and raising hell about now. It was dark and rough and cold- the plane was slowly beating back the temperature, but it was still pretty chilly in the cabin.
Then, at about 21,000 ft, we broke out. It was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen- all the way back to Fairbanks, until we descended back into the goop, it surrounded us...
The Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights. We saw them pretty much every night, but usually it was nothing more than a green tint to the sky or something equally uninteresting. Tonight was different.
The cloud deck below us was flat, and was reflecting the Aurora back up at us. Overhead, it was more active than I had ever seen- reds and yellows and greens and blues, like colored fire in the sky- and because of the reflections off of the cloud deck below, it looked and felt as if we were surrounded by it. It must be what piloting a spaceship through a Nebula is like.
Alaskans are hard to impress, but everyone on board was silently gazing out the windows the entire flight. After we landed, everyone applauded like crazy- as if I had hired the Aurora to entertain them, which was odd, but I just applauded as well.
This is just one of the awesome things I witnessed at the top of the world...if you have the chance, go experience it. You will not be disappointed.
Cheers!
