VansAirForceForums  
Home > VansAirForceForums

- POSTING RULES
- Donate yearly (please).
- Advertise in here!

- Today's Posts | Insert Pics

  #31  
Old 07-24-2014, 09:51 PM
TroyBranch's Avatar
TroyBranch TroyBranch is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Calgary Alberta Canada
Posts: 456
Default

I was watching you and the weather through this flight. When I saw you at 8500 and overcast 1800 at your destination, IFR at others, I wondered if you would find holes;-). I guess you did some how. Maybe you have magical powers to make them! Lol.
__________________
Troy Branch

RV10 Built and Flying Since Feb 2009
950hrs Plus
CC EX-2 Flying
SuperSTOL Built and Sold
RV9 Built and Sold
Avid Aerobat Built and Sold
Dues paid Nov 2019
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 07-24-2014, 09:53 PM
Vlad's Avatar
Vlad Vlad is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,151
Default

The Goose left minding his own business. I followed on mine...






It doesn't matter how good you think you are, doesn't matter if you train everyday in harsh simulated conditions, Alaska will show you who is the boss there.


Leaving Ketchikan for Sitka and looking for a hole in the skies. If those grey clouds look heavy they are heavy. Stay away.






There is a sliver of blue over there. It's a pretty wide patch. Clear of airport surface area let's go. Up to the top of VFR altitude...






Interesting phenomenon briefly occured on the way up. Why half of the wing is of different color? Will it be reversed on the way down?






Here is Sitka. An Elmendorf aircraft was ready to depart via .... the same point I was arriving... I tell them I am out of his way but he still asks if I have a transponder. Visibility was enough to request SVFR.






RV, say reason for deviation on final...
Birds sir...
We have them plenty here...





It was enough for today. Tomorrow weather don't promise to be better.






FBO people gave me a ride to a downtown hotel.











The hotel was quiet, clean and very nice but I couldn't sleep well. Probably too much adrenaline today. Or maybe because usual darkness never came and biological clock was shifted. Will see what tomorrow brings plan A is still a go...
__________________
Where is N666BK?

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.

Last edited by Vlad : 07-25-2014 at 05:04 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 07-25-2014, 04:58 AM
gongreg gongreg is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: S?o Paulo Brasil
Posts: 55
Default WOW!

Wow, low clouds, low vis and ice...
This is not a trip report, it's a thriller!
Thank you Vlad, for sharing your brilliant adventures!
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 07-25-2014, 07:10 AM
tc1234c's Avatar
tc1234c tc1234c is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Port Orange, FL
Posts: 1,020
Default

Now I see why you did not push on. It is an adventure and not a sightseeing tour.
__________________
Ted Chang, VAF #681
RV-9A #91048, flying since 8/2006. 2,050 hrs.

2018 Due paid
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 07-25-2014, 07:45 AM
Low Pass's Avatar
Low Pass Low Pass is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,012
Default

You're my kind of pilot, Vlad!!! Clouds and sky all look the same from 10-15,000'. Enjoying the sights like you do is one of the best things about flying in an RV. Thanks for sharing that with us all.
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 07-25-2014, 09:07 AM
rockwoodrv9 rockwoodrv9 is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Meridian ID, Aspen CO, Okemos MI
Posts: 2,645
Default

Very interesting the two tone wing on the way up that reverses on the way down. Crazy weather up in that part of the world!
__________________
rockwoodrv9a
Williamston MI
O-320 D2A
Awaiting DAR Inspection
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old 07-25-2014, 09:28 AM
BillL BillL is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central IL
Posts: 5,516
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockwoodrv9 View Post
Very interesting the two tone wing on the way up that reverses on the way down. Crazy weather up in that part of the world!
Yes it is. I makes one think that a full length fuel tank would be a good anti icing device! Hmmmm - - or bad if going from cold to wet/warmer.

Great pictures as usual Vlad!! Having been caught in cloud once, flying under low clouds along the coast give me the puckers!

Be Safe.
__________________
Bill

RV-7
Lord Kelvin:
“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about,
and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you
cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge
is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.”
Reply With Quote
  #38  
Old 07-26-2014, 07:36 PM
Vlad's Avatar
Vlad Vlad is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,151
Default Departing Sitka for Yakutat

Tomorrow has come. Calls were made and weather charts studied. I even asked a very native looking front desk lady if she knows any shaman who can beat a drum for a hole in the sky for me. That's how it looks from a Sitka hotel window at 6 am.





Nice FBO people sent a van for me and here I am at the airport waiting several hours for that promised MVFR to come. RV is fueled and ready too.







And it's raining again...






Three hours have passed fast. MVFR!! A Coast Guard helicopter is getting ready to depart the same direction I am going. Good sign...






Time to go. Are you ready to race cruise ship?!






Bye Sitka I might be back in 5 hours if weather doesn't cooperate on the other end. I have fuel onboard for 5+ hours...










It took me 40 minutes to get out of this mess...






GC helo was still tracking shoreline down low.







Still a long way to Yakutat and it cleared a bit over the water. Dive under maybe?


__________________
Where is N666BK?

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.
Reply With Quote
  #39  
Old 07-26-2014, 07:55 PM
Vlad's Avatar
Vlad Vlad is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,151
Default Glaciers!!

You gotta be kidding me! What is this? Where am I?





No jokes it is a glacier.





RV turns toward it against my will.










Just WOW! I have no other comments.
















A close sight of a soaring bold eagle put everything in place. OUT!!







Back to the shoreline back on track to Yakutat it looks like weather there is very good. It's still more then an hour to go ...
__________________
Where is N666BK?

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.
Reply With Quote
  #40  
Old 07-26-2014, 07:58 PM
Vlad's Avatar
Vlad Vlad is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Utah
Posts: 8,151
Default

Another valley. It has a captivating power it just draws you in and you can't do anything about that. You are so fascinated with views that you stop scanning for emergency sites.









The air is surprisingly smooth not a single bump. A paradox.












I've never seen water of that color.







Somewhere here where glaciers' waters enter the Gulf a whale was feeding. Camera crapped...















I was dehydrated and completely forgot about liquids management. Finished the whole bottle of water...









Somehow sites became less pretty. It's still almost an hour to my destination and my emergency P-bottle is buried somewhere at the back.







Let's see what's on the ground. I knew there is a cluster of unimproved airfields somewhere here. I have an axe, a flare and a bear horn to scare a grizzly...








Can you guess which airfield I chose to land on?
__________________
Where is N666BK?

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.

Last edited by Vlad : 07-26-2014 at 08:25 PM.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:50 AM.


The VAFForums come to you courtesy Delta Romeo, LLC. By viewing and participating in them you agree to build your plane using standardized methods and practices and to fly it safely and in accordance with the laws governing the country you are located in.