Backcountry Pilot

[Headoutdaplane offline]

One of the villages we fly into 3-5 times a day. The runway is curved built on a sandbar. The state tried to shut it down by not funding it, but the Post Office threatened to file suit. village on a hill on one side, a small mountain and the river on the other end. The pink book says 1800 feet but it ain't all usable. Look at the wind sock, when the wind is cranking out of the lagoon (the same direction as in the video, but stronger), it makes it really interesting cause you are trying to stay in the center of the runway but the crosswind is trying to lift your wing. I have flown in Mexico, Zambia, and all over the states, this is the funniest municipal runway I have encountered. Nowadays the mist from the ocean waves freezes and makes it a skating rink. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUy0pyRX ... re=related

[GumpAir offline]

I think some of the most fun I've ever had in an airplane is landing/taking off from slick ice runways with a good crosswind.

Everything is done in a crab and you steer with the throttle. Pulling towards the runway edge, less gas. Pushing away from the middle towards the downwind edge, more gas.

Yee Haw!!!!

Gump

[ASW offline]

Who lives there? Why? How many people? Tell me more about this remote village, and why you fly in there. Are most small coastal villages like Nanwalek?

ASW.

[GumpAir offline]

Welcome to Bush Alaska... And Canada, and Siberia.

The people live where the food is and they can get to it. Along rivers, and coastlines that jut out into the ocean forcing the migrating animals to swim close to shore. I've never been to Nanwalek, but I guarantee you it's the same as Kivalina, Wainwright, or any of the others.

When you first start flying up there you ask yourself, "Why in the hell would anybody live in a place like this?" Then after you get to know the village and the people you find yourself saying, "I love this place, and I could make this home."

Gump

[scout offline]

Good response Gump,
Nanwalek is a very fertile area and for sure the natives lived there long before they saw Russian sails.
Believe it or not there is a nice school close to the strip. Headout------you fly some nice country. How did the pilot and pasengers make out that went down close to there a few years ago? I prayed for that gal. Just about every native village has a strip but I would say some on the south coast of AK at shorter and trickier than most on the north side, most of them can accomodate a Herc...

[Matt 7GCBC offline]

I was/am interested in going to Nanwalek and other village locations and saw the requirement to call ahead for permission. (I think Nanwalek is still listed under English Bay in most aviation info) I know some of the villages are more open to visitors than others and wondered about the request for permission. Does someplace like this (Nanwalek is out by the point of the Kenai penninsula I think - good fishing / scenery) have to make that requirement to keep from being overrun by tourism or do they literally not want any outsiders and behave such if you show up, even with permission? I was given some info about the villages up by Kotzebue last year and was told to avoid some but others would be nice places to stop in. Curious about others experiences landing at a village airstrip when they're not the local 135 guy or part of some tour.

[mtv offline]

Every village in Alaska has a distinct character. Sometimes several of em... .

The villages that "require" you to have permission to land, for the most part have no authority to do so. MOST of the village airstrips (and this may not apply to Nanwalek) are actually built and maintained by the State, and require that they be open to anyone. That said, step off the airport itself and you might not be real welcome. So, it's always a good idea to check in with a local prior to visiting, if at all possible. Also, it's a great idea to contact the local air service that carries the mail there, and visit with them a bit prior to a visit.

There are a lot of alcohol problems in most villages, and its not a good idea to be around when folks are drinking a lot. Most villages are much safer for outsiders than most big cities, but one should use some common sense, and contacting someone in the village prior to a visit helps to avoid arriving during a big funeral potlatch, etc.

On a number of occasions, I've landed in one village or another and had someone come up to me and let me know "it's not a good time to visit". There are a lot of really good people in the villages, and most of them will try to help you out.

And, some villages are trying to generate some revenues by trying to charge "landing fees". Again, MOST of the strips are state operated, and fees are prohibited. That said, some still charge a landing fee.

MTV

[GumpAir offline]

Every village in Alaska has a distinct character. Sometimes several of em... .
There are a lot of alcohol problems in most villages, and its not a good idea to be around when folks are drinking a lot.

And don't bring booze in to a "dry" village. Even in your survival pack. You could end up in jail, and your airplane property of the state of Alaska.

Gump

[chickenair offline]

One other thing to consider flying into some of these remote villages. Unless your well known and liked.....like Gump, you risk the chance of having parts stripped off your plane if you over night. Pay one of the local kids to keep an eye on it for you and you stand a better chance.

[TexasNick offline]

Sounds like the small towns in Mexico. Only difference is the weather.

[mtv offline]

Well, I parked airplanes overnight in a number of villages over the years, and only once did I have anything missing in the AM. In that case, the survival kits were taken out of three airplanes. I found the VPSO, explained the situation to him, and by noon the survival kits were back in the planes, four youngsters were writing official apologies, and none the worse for wear. It does help to know the VPSO if there is one. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer of the small villages have VPSOs nowadays.

I parked airplanes on the ramp overnight in Dysfunction Junction (officially known as Fort Yukon) dozens of times, and nobody messed with them, though the ramp area is wide open to everyone.

Most folks in Alaska villages sincerely appreciate the importance and the seriousness of messing with airplanes, and it just isn't done, at least in villages I worked around.

Now, around the time of the D-2 legislation, at least one Park Service airplane was sabotaged in Eagle, but Eagle isn't a Native village. Nobody got hurt in that case, but it could have been serious but for a thorough pre-flight.


Most villages, though, I wouldn't worry too much. There are, however, villages that are pretty well known not to welcome outsiders. The air taxi folks can tell you which ones those are.

I put on school programs a couple times a year in six or seven villages, and even in a couple of the villages that don't like outsiders, they welcomed me, and the airplane was always safe overnight, parked next to the school. They sincerely appreciated anyone trying to help the kids' education. They even waived the "landing fee"...

MTV

[GumpAir offline]

The key to any "native" village is the same as most things in life...

Can the attitude, shut the mouth, open the eyes and ears and heart, and realize that everyone has their place in the world and something to teach you. There are some truly wonderful people out there in the middle of nowhere, who, out in the "real world" would be treated like shit and ridiculed for being different and slow, who, in all actuality, are absolutely brilliant and have a shining light of goodness to them. And, there's some real dipshits out there too who just need to be drug down to the crick and drowned.

Of all the pilots I worked with up North, the good ones all figured that out and "fit." The arrogant ones never cared, and never tried, and left as soon as they had the hours to move up the ladder. Seeing those guys go was good riddance.

One of my proudest moments up there was one blizzardly Spring day in Kivalina. I was unloading mail into Russell Adams' sled, and he and I were talking about the weather. I told him that I missed Winter already, and how that was my favorite time of year in the Arctic. He looked at me kind of funny and then said, "You not like the other pilots here. You understand this place." I asked what he meant, and he said, "You're not here to take anything. You're here because you belong here." He was right, as Russell was always right, and coming from that short, rolly polly little Eskimo man, that meant the world to me.

Gump

[kg offline]

Thanks Headouta.... I used to fly there every day.... brings back memories. And thanks for putting me back in touch with James and Carol!

I just showed this video to my girlfriend. She said, "let's move to Alaska." I said, "it's a hard place to live." She replied, correctly, "Atlanta is a hard place to live....."

Thanks again,

KG

[Headoutdaplane offline]

Wow, I never thought that would get that much interest. Nanwalek is a little over 200 folks these days, and growing. The school is 74 kids this year. It is a damp village meaning that one can bring in alcohol for personal use but not sell it. There are 7 whites living there that I know of and they are all associated with the school. The villagers are incredibily nice and welcoming. Having said that it would be 'noticed' if you flew in there and went fishing without talking to anyone ahead of time. If you want to fly in PM me and I can hook up a cabin for you to stay in, great (not kidding) really great fly fishing, rainbows, and Dolly Varden. Nanwalek can be tricky depending on the direction of the winds, a strong southeast wind can be deadly, there have been 4 wrecks that I know of in the last 6 years 2 of them fatal. The local electric company won't even fly in there in a fixed wing, they charter a helicopter even to go read meters. The point being, talk to a local pilot before attempting it, that isn't bravado, just fact.

What do we do fly there? Nanwalek is a fly-in only village for about 1/2 the winter, meaning everything that goes in or out goes by 206. It has one store, and all of its merchandise comes through us. Mail, UPS, FedEx personal freight all through us. The school kids, when they go to play volley ball or basketball get on our planes to go to other villages or to Homer to get on the bus. The Villagers literally grow up on the 206, I take pregnant girls out and four days later bring them and their babies back. They all have more hours as passengers in a 206 than Gump, MTV, me and the rest of our staff combined as pilots (a slight exageration but not much). When there is an accident or an illness we take out the seats and put the stretcher in the plane for the medevac. I have carried dogs, bald eagles, sea otters, dead bodies, and, soda pop, lots and lots of soda pop, I can tell you exactly what 1100 lbs of Coca Cola looks like.

I love my job, I have been around long enough that I am seeing babies I brought back from teh hospital now walking and talking. I know all the families in the villages we serve. When I have a moment and walk around town it is like being a rock star, people offering coffee and food. I have one of the best jobs in the flying world. It cracks me up when I talk to airline pilots and they ask me if I am buidling hours. I have been a corporate pilot in a Gulfstream for three years , it is boring and isn't challenging. Flying in Alaska is fun, challenging sometimes really, really scary. And pays really well....

Gump, I was was doing the ice dance today, getting blown towards the snow bank slideing sideways squirting throttle to get in the center, trying to brake, repeat as necessary.

[GumpAir offline]

Gump, I was was doing the ice dance today, getting blown towards the snow bank slideing sideways squirting throttle to get in the center, trying to brake, repeat as necessary.

Kick ass fun isn't it, and amazing how much crosswind you can play in with wet ice. I bet you get funny looks and Lower 48 guys don't believe you when you try and explain it!!!

Gump

[58Skylane offline]

Gump, I was was doing the ice dance today, getting blown towards the snow bank slideing sideways squirting throttle to get in the center, trying to brake, repeat as necessary.

Kick ass fun isn't it, and amazing how much crosswind you can play in with wet ice. I bet you get funny looks and Lower 48 guys don't believe you when you try and explain it!!!

Gump

Yeah right......Ice Dancing with your plane......... What kind of stuff are you guy's smoking????




Just kidding!! One of these days I'd like to make it up to Alaska and fly with you guys or any Alaska Bush pilots you'd reccomend. Sounds like a good challenge and a of course fun (well, sometimes maybe not a whole lot of fun). Anyway, great story's!! Love reading stuff like this!

[M6RV6 offline]

TokSok Bay. SkyVan. Long TJI"S sticking out the back, Slick Ice covering the runway, 35 mph 90 degree crosswind, Most hairiest ride I ever took and the guy flyin it smiled and said not to bad to day.
Then went and flew 6 more loads in for me. I just rode the first one out!!!!
When he landed he was like watching a one handed paper hanger on a broken pair of stilts. He was amazing.
Was right then and there that I decided no matter what I did I was not ever going to get my self in a position to have to fly a Skyvan like that!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas
GT

[GumpAir offline]

Got a big, fancy, new runway at Toksook now. You could land sideways on it and still have room left over. Not like the old one jammed up on the hillside. Eek's new too.

Gump

[shortfielder offline]

The key to any "native" village is the same as most things in life...

Can the attitude, shut the mouth, open the eyes and ears and heart, and realize that everyone has their place in the world and something to teach you. There are some truly wonderful people out there in the middle of nowhere, who, out in the "real world" would be treated like shit and ridiculed for being different and slow, who, in all actuality, are absolutely brilliant and have a shining light of goodness to them. And, there's some real dipshits out there too who just need to be drug down to the crick and drowned.

Of all the pilots I worked with up North, the good ones all figured that out and "fit." The arrogant ones never cared, and never tried, and left as soon as they had the hours to move up the ladder. Seeing those guys go was good riddance.

One of my proudest moments up there was one blizzardly Spring day in Kivalina. I was unloading mail into Russell Adams' sled, and he and I were talking about the weather. I told him that I missed Winter already, and how that was my favorite time of year in the Arctic. He looked at me kind of funny and then said, "You not like the other pilots here. You understand this place." I asked what he meant, and he said, "You're not here to take anything. You're here because you belong here." He was right, as Russell was always right, and coming from that short, rolly polly little Eskimo man, that meant the world to me.

Great story Gump

Merry Christmas

Gary

[M6RV6 offline]

Damn Gump!
I'm getting old, When you said they had a new runway I started counting back to when I was there???
Used all of my fingers and then all of my toes?? still didn't have enough so said the hell with it, that's to many anyway!!!
Fond memories from there, thats where I was medivac'd out of and had my back fused in a couple of places, spent 3 days in a home made bed in the 1/2 built washateria with homemade traction! Wonerful Wonerful. Coastal Blow at the time. If it was anywhere else they would have called it Hurricane force winds? at minus 15??
I spent Christmas there that year thawing out over a mile of frozen waterline!
Damn I'm glad I don't do that any more!!
Like you said tho, some of the most outstanding people you will ever meet!!
If you ever had to be lost and have to survive on your own it sure would be good to have a couple of those guys with you !!!!!!A little fermented seal oil and a few crackers and muktuk!
Would go along way on keeping you alive??
Good to look back on from my warm room with the sun shining.
Merry Christmas to All
GT