Lake Hood to home,
After a summer flying in Alaska I made it back home, it is a good feeling to be back in the same hanger you started in. I took off out of Lake Hood on September 30, it was a beautiful day the first in about two weeks so nice that I just climbed up and went straight for Tok Junction, about a 2 hour flight over some pretty rugged looking mountains, not to many places to go for the first 40 minutes but nothing new. I stopped at Tok for fuel manly becaus my 53 only carries 55 gallons and with my P Ponk I was burning about 13.2 GPH at 2300 RPM and 19 inches, so I like to keep the tanks full as best I can. After Tok it was Northway where I filled out my eAPIS and filed my flight plane. One thing to remember is that the Northway FSS has no internet, but the ladies were very nice and let me log on to file, I also called CANPASS to let them know my arrival time in Whitehorse. I flew direct Whitehorse, about anthother 2 hours, here again I was over lots of roadless area but clear sky’s made it easy. I stayed in Whitehorse for the night having gotten a late start out of Lake Hood in the morning. There is a hotel right across from the airport, not bad and I was able to walk back to my plane in the morning. I found my plane all frosted up so it took till 11:00 before the sun had done its job, fueled up and next stop was Watson Lake. Here again the sky was clean and I went direct, about 2 hours. More gas at Watson lake and I did kind of a dog leg to Prince George with the knee being Mackenzie some where around 3 hours. There was an amazing sight out of Watson Lake, there must be a million acres of burned forest, I can only imagine the fire that was there this summer and still smoking. I got fuel and made Watson Lake before sunset. Met a fellow pilot at the airport who flies an turbine otter in the Arctic and offered me a bed for the night, you meet all sorts of new friends along the way. The weather did not look good for the next day but in the morning it was good enough so I thought, so after removing the snow and ice from my plane, which is a pain, off I went and in about 30 minites out I had to turn around, snow and low clouds. Upon returning to the airport I went in search of a hanger, I did not find hanger space but did fine a friendly mechanic named Ian, (250-305-7767) he lent me a heater and extension cord for my plane and offered to de ice my plane when I was ready to leave. Snow moved in and I spent the day at Willams Lake in a hotel. Next day the was weather good so I started my plane, got fuel and taxied down to Ian's hanger where we put my plane to de frost, great guy. Once de iced, about 11:00 I was off direct to Penticton, about 1:45. Had to do my eAPIS again but the internet at the terminal was spotty so I went next door to the helicopter training center where they were nice enough to let me log in to complete the eAPIS, flled my flight plan gave customs an hour and cleared at Dorthy Scott airfield, good customs, then direct home. Right back where I started. Now it is time to get back to work fixing a gearbox and tweeting my 180. It was a great summer but maybe a little to long away from home, there’s no place like home and a good x country. If you know the feeling of coming home to a dog you have left for a week, that is the welcome I got from my two boys, could not make a father happier, and my wife is so amazing as well.
Sometime you have to step away and come back to realize what you have.