Author Archives: Tom George

About Tom George

Tom George serves as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Regional Manager for Alaska. He resides in Fairbanks, and flies a Cessna 185. Follow Alaska aviation activities and events on Twitter at http://www.twitter/AOPAAlaska or at: http://www.aopa.org/region/ak

Mat Su Area Traffic Frequencies: Your input needed

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A group of industry and government stakeholders is working to reduce the risk of mid-air collisions in the Mat Su Valley, but they need your help to reach that objective.  Over the past five months, the working group has taken the results of last summer’s AOPA pilot survey and inputs from pilots who fly in and through the area.  The goal is to clarify the use of radio frequencies used to maintain situational awareness when operating in this busy airspace.

Home to over two hundred private and public use airports, airstrips, lakes and landing areas, the Mat Su experiences a wide range of aviation uses.  The airspace in the valley sees everything from private pilots heading to cabins or hunting and fishing areas, to commercial operators hauling visitors, groceries and supplies to remote lodges and mines. It is also used for military training flights at low-level by helicopters and C-17s, and student flight training from Anchorage and valley airports. Add to the list, those of us that fly through the Mat Su headed to more distant destinations.  One of the tools we use to share the airspace is reporting our location and listening for nearby aircraft, but on what frequency?

Rex Gray's map showing overlapping CTAF frequencies.

Rex Gray’s map showing overlapping CTAF frequencies.

During the “inventory” phase of this project, it became apparent there was a lack of agreement even among seasoned professionals on what radio frequency to use for situational awareness in different parts of this airspace.  Rex Gray, a valley resident who also serves as the President of the Alaska Airmen’s Association, took the time to sit down with the Anchorage Sectional and the Alaska Supplement and map out overlaps in CTAF coverage in the valley.  According to the AIM, a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency serves an area 10 miles around its assigned airport.  This map, coupled with other area frequency guidance in different publications highlighted the problem. Pilots who consciously used the CTAF for the airport they were headed to were often sharing airspace with aircraft on other frequencies enroute to adjacent landing areas.  A priority was identified within the working group to reduce this confusion, and promote the use of defined area frequencies, as has been done on a case by case basis in other parts of the state.

Developing a plan that would address the diversity of users is a challenge.  Over the past two months, using Google Earth as a tool, the group developed a number of scenarios to identify areas that might share a common frequency.  Subsequently, these were reduced to two scenarios which are still in need of refinement before focusing on a final course of action.

Scenario which assigns frequencies to different zones in the Mat Su Valley.

Scenario which assigns frequencies to different zones in the Mat Su Valley.

Area Frequency Scenario: This option would assign the frequency 122.9 to the zone west of the Susitna River, to the flanks of the Alaska Range. It also cuts across the lower valley, to accommodate traffic that departs Anchorage headed northwest.  A second zone, running along the Parks Highway toward Talkeetna under this scenario would use 122.8.  The zones around Palmer and Talkeetna, with part time Flight Service Stations, would use the FSS Advisory Frequency, 123.6.  These proposed zones would connect to other areas, such as the Cook Inlet Area Frequency to the west and the Knik Glacier advisory frequency, both of which use 122.7.  Northwest of Talkeetna, a Mountain Traffic Frequency of 123.65 has been in use for years to accommodate the aircraft hauling climbers and flightseeing visitors between Talkeetna and the Alaska Range.

Scenario that provides a discrete frequency above 2,000 ft to reduce congestion on 122.8.

Scenario that provides a discrete frequency above 2,000 ft to reduce congestion on 122.8.

Vertical Area Frequency Scenario:  In the second case, the zones to the west and around Palmer and Talkeetna (described above), would remain the same. The frequency 122.8 would still serve the area along the Parks Highway, but aircraft operating between 2,000 and 5,000 feet MSL would have the option to use a discrete frequency, we’ll call it 122.XX, to reduce the frequency congestion from the traffic flying in airport traffic patterns and at lower altitudes in the zone.

What happens after I leave a zone?  Several people have raised the question of what happens once you leave one of these zones. At that point, pilots would resort to the standard rules involving CTAF’s.  Chapter Four in the AIM addresses this topic. Section 4-1-9 defines the protocol for traffic advisory practices for airports without facilities:  Within 10 miles of the airport or landing area, monitor and communicate on the designated CTAF.  Section 4-1-11 indicates that an airport with no tower, FSS or Unicom should use the multi-com frequency 122.9.  Table 4-1-2 indicates that for air-to-air communication, the FCC has authorized the use of 122.75, which helps keep the chatter down on the other frequencies in congested airspace. Checking the Alaska Supplement Notices Section is a good idea, as a number of areas around the state have had special area frequencies assigned.

These scenarios are still taking shape. AOPA would like to hear your thoughts on these approaches to reducing the confusion on radio frequency usage in the Mat Su Valley. Please email your comments to: airtrafficservices@aopa.org.  If you attend the Alaska Airmen’s Great Alaskan Aviation Gathering this weekend in Anchorage, stop by the AOPA booth and look at these scenarios in more detail.  While this work continues, fly with your lights on, keep your eyes out of the cockpit and fly safe!

New “Convective Outlook” graphic planned for Alaska

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In their ongoing efforts to improve the weather forecasts for the aviation community, the National Weather Service’s Alaska Aviation Weather Unit is upgrading the seasonal “convective outlook” forecast.  These graphics are only produced during the summer convective season, and as of May 1st, the format will change.  Below is a sample showing some of the changes which include:

  • Color coding for the coverage (isolated, scatted or widespread)
  • New this year, Towering Cumulus (TCU) will be added to the product
  • The forecast bases and tops will be annotated.

sample convective outlookLink to sample product.

In addition, NWS is looking to increase temporal resolution, but in a more dynamic way. They will have the ability to produce up to eight outlook charts covering a 24 hour period, but will only generate as many as needed for the expected changes.  On very dynamic days, a user might scroll through a series of charts to see conditions develop. Under more stable conditions, fewer charts will be used to tell the story.  Check out this example  to get a better idea of what a sequence could look like.

As always, NWS would like feedback from pilots on their aviation products.  The email link at the bottom left corner of the AAWU page will let you send them an email.  Please take the time to share your thoughts—how you use them, what you like, what might be confusing.

As the snow continues to fall over parts of Alaska in April, it is nice to at least be able to anticipate summer!

Book Review: The Long Way Home

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In early December, 1941 a Pan Am fly boat commanded by Captain Robert Ford and his long way home book covercrew of ten had almost completed their scheduled flight from San Francisco across the Pacific to Auckland, New Zealand. As the radio operator scanned the airwaves, he caught an AM radio station broadcast with the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor—which they had left only three days before.  Shortly thereafter, a Morse Coded message (their only long range form of communication) instructed them to “Implement Plan A” a Top Secret, sealed document all Pan Am captains had carried in the preceding months. Once opened, they realized that their world had changed.  The arrival in Auckland was uneventful, but that would be their home for more than a week, until further instructions were received. Now they learned that it was no longer possible to return along their normal routes. The crew was directed to remove any identifiable markings from the aircraft, maintain radio silence, under no circumstances allow the aircraft to fall into enemy hands, and proceed west to Laguardia, New York.  At the time, the company had no routes established “to the west” until reaching the Atlantic, off the coast of Africa.  They also had no charts, weather, radio frequencies or other information any pilot, GA or airline, would want to undertake such a trip.  They were literally, in uncharted territory!

What follows is an adventure, which I found fascinating on several counts. The story is chronicled in the book, The Long Way Home, Revised Edition, by Ed Dover.  Based on interviews with surviving members of the crew, and illustrated with flight logs and photographs of the aircraft and crew members, it was written in 1999 and revised in 2007. A Flight Radio Officer for Pan Am’s flying boats from 1942-1948, Dover knows first-hand the technologies and procedures of the day. He transports you back to a time when a combination of dead reckoning, celestial navigation fixes, and drift sights— augmented with a new low-frequency direction finder— were their tools to navigate the 2,400 nautical miles from California to Hawaii.  While not a typical GA aircraft at 82,500 pounds pushed along by four 1,600 horsepower radial engines burning 100 octane avgas, the Boeing 314 flew in the same part of the atmosphere most of us do today.  So as they encountered a cold front on the way to Hawaii, Captain Ford descended to 500 feet to get below the cloud bases.  I found the story to provide enough information for those of us that are pilots to have a good sense of their operating conditions, while still making the narrative read like a mystery novel.  To avoid robbing anyone of the opportunity to enjoy the story themselves, let me just say that when they took off to cross Australia, Indonesia, India, to the middle East and over Africa, it is an adventure!  To give you a clue—before leaving New Zealand they went to the local library and borrowed some atlases to select a route… To help follow the story, I fired up Google Earth and reconstructed the route, for my own “situational awareness.”

long way home route graphicView Boeing Clipper route around the world in Google Maps

I have a personal connection to this story. My great uncle, Captain Gordon George, flew the flying boats for Pan Am in this same time period. His career started as a Navy pilot flying seaplanes before joining the airlines, eventually retiring from the Boeing 707.  As a young pilot, I enjoyed his stories of this period. He described encountering 80 and 100 mile an hour winds enroute across the Pacific, only to have dispatch not believe them. Their credibility improved when the jet stream was “discovered” by the meteorological community, and it was recognized that there are bands of winds that reached those velocities.  I also remember his saying at the time he retired from Pan Am that flying had become little more than “being passed from one air traffic controller to another,” and that in his mind, “that wasn’t really flying”  After reading this book, I have a better understanding of the world that he operated in, and what he meant by the statement.

For a look at the start of true global aviation, in a time that seaplanes were the norm, and a global network of land-based airports was still in the future, I recommend this book.  Aviation, adventure and a war story all wrapped into one. My thanks to Ed Dover for taking the time to research and share this rich journey with us!

 

Experimental Winds Aloft graphic for Alaska

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As pilots, we are very interested in the weather.  An early lesson one gets while learning to fly is not to put total faith in weather forecasts.  I believe it was President Reagan who made famous the phrase– trust, but verify. That certainly applies to forecasts and flying.  For the last year-and-a-half AOPA has been working with our friends at the National Weather Service in Alaska to bringing together groups of seasoned pilots from different parts of Alaska to sit down with forecasters and have a discussion about aviation weather needs, primarily focused on VFR flying.  Questions asked in these sessions typically start with, “What route do you fly to get from Fairbanks to Eagle?” followed by, “Where along that route do you encounter adverse weather?”  A lively discussion regarding the nature of the weather conditions normally follows.

Don Moore manages the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit, located on Sand Lake Road, just south of the Anchorage International Airport, and has led these discussions.  After listening to pilots describe some of the conditions that plagued them, he pulled up an experimental forecast product the weather service is working on, and asked if we thought it might be helpful.  Following a look at the product, heads started to nod around the table.  A few weeks later, an experimental winds aloft forecast was added to the AAWU website, and is available for pilots to use.

sample winds aloft graphic 1

Sample output from the experimental product, showing winds at 6,000 feet for the 12 hour time period. Users can select the altitude, set through time periods, and toggle features on and off.

This product is based on a computer model, but has finer resolution in time and space than current products we are used to seeing.  The arrows indicate the direction of the wind at an altitude selected by the pilot, but the intensity is displayed as a color.  Temperature is also displayed as a contour line, with its own color scheme. The legend at the bottom provides the color codes for each feature.  Several details about this product are worth noting:

1)      The user selects the altitude at the top of the page
2)      The tabs across the top allow you to step through different forecast periods
3)      The + and – symbols on the top left corner of the image allow you to zoom in (only one step, currently)
4)      The + symbol on the upper right edge of the product lets you toggle features on and off (click to expand)
5)      The color patches represent the area forecast for each wind speed, the vectors merely show direction.

Please give this product a try.  You will find this graphic by clicking a link at the bottom of the Winds Aloft page on the AAWU’s website (see yellow arrows, below).

page to find experimental productThis product is still in development.  For now, the National Weather Service would really appreciate receiving pilot reports to help validate this product, as well as their other forecasts.  So when you are headed out to fly, please take a few minutes and file PIREPs enroute, including an estimate of the winds aloft.  Remember– trust, but verify!

FedEx donates two 727’s to University Aviation Programs in Alaska

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The University of Alaska aviation programs at Anchorage and Fairbanks both offer maintenance training, and have airplanes to work on. But nothing like this…  In late February, FedEx donated two fully functional Boeing 727s that are being retired from their fleet – one to each program.  The aircraft will provide the students (our future mechanics) the opportunity to have hands-on training on a fully functional transport category airplane. These aircraft are part of a larger FedEx program that has distributed over sixty aircraft to schools, airports, museums or other organizations across the nation in the past couple years.  But the exciting part had to do with the arrival of the aircraft at the two Alaskan airports.

Merrill Field Arrival
The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) aviation program is located at Merrill Field, the largest GA airport in Alaska.  It took an exemption from the Municipality of Anchorage to authorize the 727 to land at there, which normally limits aircraft landing weight to 12,500 pounds.  The delivery also had to occur during the winter while the ground was frozen to accommodate the landing weight without damaging the runway.  Quite a crowd was on hand to watch the much-stripped-down aircraft make two practice approaches and then put the wheels down “on the numbers” (see the photo).  Observers indicated that the aircraft was down to taxi speed by the time it reached the control tower which according to Google Earth is about 2,100 feet, using just over half of the 4,000 runway.  (News video of the landing).

Note the touchdown marks of the 727, "on the numbers." Photo courtesy of UAA

Note the touchdown marks of the 727, “on the numbers.” (Photo courtesy of UAA)

Fairbanks International Airport Arrival
Fairbanks was a different story.  Fairbanks International Airport, where the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) aviation program is located, does it all—from the Russian Antonov An-225 freighter, to a Supercub on floats, the airport has runways that support jumbo jets, corporate, air taxi and general aviation with two paved runways, a gravel runway used by ski planes in the winter and a float pond.  The university recently acquired a hangar on the general aviation side of the airport, which provided the space to be able to accommodate the 727.  While the landing itself was not as exciting, given the 11,000 foot air carrier runway, it was the first time any jet that I am aware of was marshaled into the gate by a polar bear (See photo).  The Nanook is the mascot of UAF. No ordinary bear, this one is also a multi-talented UAF employee named Ted E. Bear, who had the credentials to perform this task. (OK, that is just the name he uses when in character.)

Nanook directing the FedEx 727 into the gate at Fairbanks International Airport. (Photo courtesy of UAF's Todd Paris).

Nanook directing the FedEx 727 into the gate at Fairbanks International Airport. (Photo courtesy of UAF’s Todd Paris).

Two records were set in Fairbanks: It was the first time any jet was marshaled by a polar bear, and the first time a FedEx jet had taxied up to a passenger jet bridge, according to David Sutton, FedEx Managing Director of Aircraft Acquisition.  The aircraft was subsequently towed across the airport, along the ski-strip to its current location on the GA side of the field.  I still do a brief double take when I drive onto the GA side of the airport, and look up to see a FedEx 727 pointed at me!

Benefits to the students
Other than having a big, shiny jet liner parked at the school, how will this help the program? The aircraft will provide hands-on training for the students on systems associated with transport category aircraft.  This is much better than only learning through computer-based training materials, according to UAF program coordinator Kevin Alexander.  Both UAA and UAF’s program have lacked large aircraft experience in the past.  UAA’s maintenance track is headed up by Paul Herrick, who indicated that their graduates have a 100 percent placement.  “They are all over the state and in high demand,” he said.

How did this happen?

Dee Hanson receiving a small token of appreciation from Kevin Alexander at an Alaska Aviation Coordination Council meeting. Signed by the students in the UAF aviation maintenance program.

Dee Hanson receiving a small token of appreciation from Kevin Alexander at an Alaska Aviation Coordination Council meeting. Signed by the students in the UAF aviation maintenance program.

We should realize this didn’t just happen.  The ball started rolling with Nicolas Yale, Senior Manager Northwest Region, FedEx Express, who serves on the UAA Aviation Advisory Board.  Dee Hanson, Executive Director of the Alaska Airmen’s Association, who also serves on the board, spoke up and asked if they didn’t have two aircraft available, so that both UAA and UAF programs could take advantage of this opportunity.  To thank her for her role in this effort, UAF presented Dee with a framed copy of a photo of the FedEx aircraft arriving in Fairbanks signed by the most important stakeholders of all—the students in the aviation technology program.  A big thank you to FedEx, and all the players that made this investment in our students, and the future of aviation!

 

A 50-year-old aviation survival story, with lessons for today…

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From the “Looking Back” section of the Feb. 11, 2013 Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

The “Looking Back” section of yesterday’s Fairbanks Daily News Miner reported that on that day fifty years ago (February 11, 1963) an aircraft from Fairbanks was the object of an search along a Canadian stretch of the Alaska Highway.  The missing aircraft, a single engine Howard, was on its way to San Francisco. As a kid growing up in Fairbanks when this story first hit the papers, I followed with the rest of the country as the search, in severe winter conditions unfolded.  Initially searchers had no luck finding the downed aircraft.  Missing was 42 year old pilot Ralph Flores and his passenger, 21 year Helen Klaben, who had been sharing expenses for what was planned to be a three-day trip from Fairbanks down the Alaska Highway.

As the days passed, searchers found no trace of the missing pair. Winter temperatures in the areas plunged to 40 below and colder, and hopes begin to fade.  After two weeks, search efforts were called off, with the assumption that no one was able to survive in those conditions.

It definitely made headlines when 49 days after their disappearance the couple was found— ALIVE!  Not equipped with conventional survival gear, the little food they were carrying had been consumed in the first few days, leaving them to survive on melted snow and a tube of toothpaste for the better part of 40 days in the sub-Arctic wilderness.  Both had sustained injuries in the crash, so how did they survive?

Years later as a relatively new pilot, I attended a seminar organized by the Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation on survival skills, taught by the late Ray Tremblay. He used the Flores/Klaben accident to illustrate several aspects of a survival situation. Having no conventional survival equipment (sleeping bags, axe, firearm, food, etc.), they managed to survive 49 days in the wilderness in sub-zero temperatures.  How did they accomplish this feat, which would today challenge seasoned professionals?  Tremblay studied the case in detail and came up with his own answers, in part from the account of the ordeal written by Helen Kalben in her book, “Hey, I’m Alive.” 

There were two aspects of this accident that Tremblay suggested held important lessons  to consider:

  1. Conventional wisdom is to stay with your airplane, in a survival situation in the wilderness.  Not only is the aircraft easier to see from the air than a human, but it may supply a wealth of materials to use if you are stuck for an extended period.  In this case, the victims could hear search aircraft, but couldn’t attract their attention due the wooded nature of the crash site.  About five weeks after the accident, they moved to a more open area, and made a signal which was spotted by a pilot making a routine flight a few days later.  His point was this: conventional wisdom is valuable, but you have to consider all the factors and come up with the best course of action for the situation you find yourself in. Had they moved sooner, rescue undoubtedly would have been earlier. Had they not moved, their survival would have been in doubt.
  2. As the ordeal progressed, Flores attempted to convert Klaben to his religion.  Both were reasonably strong willed.  The discussions and mental conflict between the two kept them occupied, and provided a continued reason not to give up.  Tremblay impressed upon us not to overlook the role mental attitude plays (not necessarily always conflict) in a survival situation.

In addition to carrying standard items like food, first aid kit, signaling devices, and a sleeping bag in my survival gear, I include reading material to occupy the mind, in the event of a forced landing.  Even in non-emergency situations, I have found it valuable to read a chapter of a book while waiting for conditions to improve, to help reduce the temptation to “push the weather.”  And if push comes to shove, I can always use the pages to light a fire…

Helen Kaben did us a favor in writing her book, published within a year of the accident, that provides a detailed first-person account of the ordeal.  There are many factors that went into the success of this situation, leading to their survival. I recommend it for those interested in survival stories.

I will be watching the “Looking Back” section of the Fairbanks paper during the weeks ahead to see if other accounts of this story surface, and how it was reported, a half century ago.

Flight Service integrates satellite trackers in Alaska

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After almost two years in the making, the Alaska Flight Service Program issued a Letter to Airmen last week, announcing a new service that combines two of the popular satellite tracking devices with VFR flight plans.  The program is called the Enhanced Special Reporting Service (eSRS), originally designed to track pilots operating over mountains or water using frequent radio calls.  Of course, in much of Alaska there aren’t nearby radio outlets to receive those calls— so enter the era of satellite tracking devices.  These units combine the features of GPS positioning and a satellite communication network to send “Help” messages to a ground facility somewhere on the planet, which forwards them to the email or text message address of our choice.  So why not send those to Flight Service, the people holding your VFR flight plan?

In a nutshell, that is what this service does.  Pilots who own either a SPOT or Spidertracks tracker may sign up to have alert messages from their devices sent directly to Flight Service. In the event of an emergency, FSS will relay the messages to the Rescue Coordination Center, including your location.  Signing up is fairly simple.  Fill out, or update, a Master Flight Plan indicating that you want to participate in the eSRS program, and list the type of satellite tracker you have. (The service is currently limited to SPOT or Spidertracks, however other devices are expected to be tested and added in the future.)  Upon receipt of that plan, Flight Service will email the information needed to add them to your contacts list.  You can still have your family or friends receive the message at the same time.  A few details to be mindful of:

  • FSS is NOT actually tracking your flight. They only expect to receive a message if you are in distress and need help.
  • This supplements, but does not take the place of the legal requirement to have an ELT.
  • There is no charge by FAA for this program; however both SPOT and Spidertracks charge an ongoing fee for their tracking and messaging services.

An example Spidertracks track from a 191 nm photo mission flight into the Alaska Range. Had anything gone wrong, FSS would have received an email with my flight track and my reported position within the last two minutes before the unit quit transmitting. It would have been hard to describe this route precisely for FSS in a flight plan.

I have used both SPOT and Spidertracks devices.  Before the FAA offered this service, my wife was my primary contact to receive a distress message. This was fine until she was riding in the airplane with me. And even though I have other friends set up to receive my messages, they don’t necessarily know where I am going, and who is on board.  So having an alert message go straight to Flight Service, where it can be matched up with my flight plan, brings the information together needed to get help headed my way.  This seems especially well suited for people flying to remote areas where there are no phones or radio outlets to close a flight plan.  While we have always had the option to file a long-duration, “round robin” flight plan, it didn’t offer much protection until we came up overdue, which might be several days.  Combined with a satellite tracking device, Flight Service will respond when they get the help message.   It also makes sense for pilots who fly on complex routes on a “round robin” flight plan where it is difficult to precisely describe to Flight Service where you intend to go.  How well this works does depend on what tracker you have, and how you chose to use it. Do your homework before investing in a device.

This program didn’t just happen.  Adam White, at the time serving as the President of the Alaska Airmen’s Association, and I approached the FAA about this concept.  It took a team of Flight Service staff from the three “parent” flight service stations (Juneau, Kenai and Fairbanks), the Alaska Flight Service Program Office in Anchorage and support from FAA headquarters to develop the concept and operational procedures.  While Adam and I served as the initial “parties in distress” to test the system, before the service was declared operational, a dozen other pilots from the interior, south central and south east Alaska participated in the beta-testing phase of the program.  Spidertracks Ltd. loaned the FAA a system for test purposes while a member of the Flight Service staff loaned their personal SPOT tracker for the test period. My thanks to all that donated their time, talents and resources to incorporate this new technology, which I hope in the future will get pilots help sooner, and reduce the time spend searching for overdue aircraft.

To learn more or to sign up, Flight Service has developed a brochure and other background information to explain how the system works.  It could someday save your bacon!

Ski pilots: Fly In to the Willow Winter Carnival

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In what may be the first Alaska fly-in of the year, ski-plane pilots are invited to fly into Willow Lake, and attend the Willow Winter Carnival.  As daylight slooowly starts to return to the north, this event provides an excuse, er good reason, to pre-heat and fly over to Willow.  The Winter Carnival is not new—it has been going on for more than 50 years.  But this year thanks to some hard work on the part of community organizer Jane Dale (one of many hats she wears), provisions were made allowing ski-planes to land on the lake, within easy walking distance of the festivities.

The first airplane to arrive at Willow Lake as part of the Winter Carnival. Mt. McKinley looms in the background.

So what is the Willow Winter Carnival?  The event takes place in and around the Community Center and includes dog sled races, ski competitions, an outhouse race, bridge tournament, extreme dog boarding (I was afraid to ask what this was), ice cream eating contest, and much more.  While I was there today the Colony High School Jazz Band entertained the crowd followed later in the day by a K9 explosive detection demonstration by the Anchorage Airport Police.  Something for everybody!

The fly-in is organized by the Alaska Airmen’s Association and the Willow Airport Support Group.  The skies were blue, and the air cool and crisp, to the tune of about -5 degrees F.  While I was there, the first aircraft landed: a classic yellow supercub.  While most people arrived by car, the community center was packed. In addition to the special events, vendors were selling food, kids faces were painted, a wide range of items were available for sale or being raffled off, including a four-wheeler.  I bought a book on Joe Redington Sr, directly from the author.

If you are looking for a break in this rather bazaar winter we are having (weather wise), consider firing up your ski-plane and flying over to Willow for a few hours.  The Carnival takes place during two back-to back weekends: Jan 26-27 and February 2-3.  If you fly, check out the Willow Winter Carnival Site Plan, showing where the ski-strip and parking areas have been placed on the lake. Be extra alert, as there are dog races and other events also occurring on the perimeter and south half of the lake.  The revenue derived from this event provides the operating funds for the community center.  Details about the carnival are found on the Willow Area Community Organization’s website.  Consider it an Alaskan version of the $50 hamburger!

Supporting Alaskan Airports—One at a Time

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Reprinted from the Alaska Airmen’s Association’s Transponder

A lot of attention is given to high-level issues in the national aviation media. Will User Fees be thrust upon us? or Is 100LL an endangered species? The headlines frequently overshadow a lot of good work that is done at the local level, often one airport at a time.  AOPA recognized the need for grass-roots efforts at a time when general aviation airports were disappearing at a frightening rate, mostly due to land-use conflicts and economic pressures.  Since airports are typically owned by local municipal governments in most of the country, it was clear that early warning of an impending threat was critical to their survival. (Alaska is an exception here, where the state directly operates 254 airports.)  To address this need, in 1997 AOPA established the Airport Support Network (ASN) Program.

Volunteers were solicited to be eyes and ears at public-use airports, to sound the alarm if a threat loomed that might harm or close the airport.  Presently AOPA has over 2,000 ASN Volunteers nationwide.  Over the years the program has progressed from just “sounding the alarm” to a much more proactive set of activities.  Alaska has twenty seven ASN Volunteers, who perform a wide range of activities that are supporting our airports.  I’ll highlight a few of those individuals, and some of the activities they are engaged in to illustrate how the program works.

Organizing a local airport group  Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is home to over 300 airplanes tied down on the GA side of the airport, and an additional 175 planes at the float pond.  In the past, tie down holders didn’t have a good way to provide input to airport management concerning issues at the field.  Early in his tenure as the ASN at Fairbanks, Ron Dearborn sat down with other GA stakeholders and, aided with some of AOPA’s materials on organizing an airport group, established the General Aviation Association (GAA) at FAI in 2005.  He chaired the group for its first couple years. By attending regular airport meetings and getting to know the airport management and control tower staff, he established the GAA as a positive voice with these stakeholders.

Ron Dearborn (left) holds the tape while Kevin Alexander marks where to paint a runway marker on the Ski Strip at Fairbanks International Airport.

Today, others have taken over the officer positions in the association, freeing Ron to work on special projects and plan future activities. Some of his current projects include serving on the airport’s Master Plan technical committee, and coordinating volunteers to help paint the “practice runway” markings on the Ski Strip.  He also helped organize an airport open house that brought approximately 2,000 members of the public to an “aviation day” last spring.  Ron is justifiably proud that the group, although not large in size, has today become an organization that the airport seeks out when looking for issues that impact general aviation.

Subtle hint to FAI based pilots: The $10/year dues to belong to this local group is a cheap price to have GA represented on airport issues. That is less than the cost of two gallons of avgas.  In addition to current information, you get really good cookies at the association meetings, held several times a year.  Please consider joining, to lend your support to this effort!

Protecting Land Use Around Airports  In 2009 Nenana’s ASN Volunteer, Adam White, learned that a community group was looking to improve the “wellness and quality of life” for their residents.  The project they wanted to undertake was certainly a worthy cause—to expand the size of their community garden from ½ to 10 acres in size. This group, which Adam is a part of, approached the city looking for some land to cultivate. A city official recommended looking at “the area off the end of the runway” as they “couldn’t do anything else with it.”  Adam contacted AOPA for help in researching the issue.  He eventually located the advisory circular on airport design, defining the different zones around a runway, and AC 150/5200-33B, Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or Near Airports. Armed with this information, he attended the next community group meeting, and was able to explain why this was not a good use of the land off the end of the runway.  Captain Sullenberger, having recently made the dramatic splashdown in the Hudson River after losing his engines due to bird strikes, certainly helped illustrate the potential of this threat.  An alternate location was found for the garden spot expansion. Today, the airport safety zone is used to harvest hay, as opposed to incurring the ongoing cost for continued brush mowing.

Adam White, seen here working on a radio translator at Ruby, uses the Nenana Airport to access numerous remote locations around the state.

An aspect of Adam’s work transcended the Nenana airport. One of the community partners in the group was an extension agent who travels around the state setting up similar gardens.  Following the meeting, Adam was able to provide the agent with copies of the FAA Advisory Circulars. The agent stated that she would make sure that none of their other projects encroached on village airports.  Adam and his family planted and harvested produce from the community garden for a number of years in Nenana, safely away from the approach path he uses at the airport.

Monitoring Merrill Field The busiest GA airport in Alaska, Merrill Field is one of only a couple dozen municipally operated airports in the state.  Surrounded by neighborhoods that are sensitive to aircraft noise, and sometimes in the path of road projects wanting to nibble away at airport property, there are many issues to track.  Jim Cieplak keeps his Cessna 182 tied down at Merrill, and has served as the ASN Volunteer since 2005.

Jim Cieplak, commanding his Cessna 182 that he keeps tied down at Merrill Field.

Along with many local governments looking for increased revenue, the Municipality of Anchorage in 2010 proposed doubling the aircraft registration tax.  If successful this action would have applied not just to aircraft at Merrill Field, but to all the aircraft in the municipality.  Jim worked with the Alaska Airmen’s Association, EAA, the Municipal Airports Aviation Advisory Commission (MAAAC) and other stakeholders to successfully oppose the tax hike.  Upon seeing the benefit of more directly influencing airport decisions, in 2011 Jim applied for and was appointed to a seat on the MAAAC, the body that advises the municipality on rules, regulations and administrative guidelines concerning Merrill Field.

Merrill Field is one of fifteen airports in the nation that was selected for air quality monitoring to quantify the amount of lead that aircraft contribute to the atmosphere.  For the past year, a sampler has been filtering the air off the south east corner of Runway 25.  Jim was tracking this effort, and when the initial results were distributed at a Commission meeting, he forwarded them to AOPA headquarters to the national team that is working the 100LL avgas issue.  The preliminary results show that aircraft on Merrill Field are coming nowhere near reaching the limits defined by the national air quality standard for lead.  This helps the national team to keep on top of the situation as they work to protect our access to 100LL, vital to much of the aviation fleet in Alaska.

Jim will continue follow the lead monitoring program, and many other issues at Merrill.   He also serves on the Airport Support Network Board of Advisers, providing input to the program at the national level.

More volunteers needed   These have been just a few examples of ASN Volunteer activities to protect or improve Alaskan airports.  There are many more accomplishments, and plenty of challenges.  The program was grown from a defensive “save the airport” stance, to a more proactive, “let’s promote the airport” effort.  Instead of waiting for trouble, investing the time to help a community understand the value of its local airport is an important activity we all need to support.  AOPA has created tools to help, such as the guide, Holding an Airport Open House. Population pressures that bring development closer to the boundary of an airport are a problem in Alaska. Getting our city, borough and state government to engage in compatible land use planning, to avoid putting schools and residential areas under the runway approach path, is critical to the long term survival of our airports.  To address this problem, AOPA has recently published a guide on how to participate in the planning process.

But it starts with one person—woman or man—who will step up and become involved with their local airport.  If you are willing to consider helping in this way, look at the ASN website for details on what you can do: www.aopa.org/asn  Find out if your airport has already has an ASN. If so, look that person up and offer your assistance. If there is no ASN Volunteer, consider signing up to fill that role, and become engaged in improving your airport.  If you need more information, please contact me directly www.aopa.org/region/ak.  The airport you save just may be your own!

Atmospheric conditions show pilots what to expect aloft

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It is a cold winter day in Fairbanks, Alaska. But some places are not as cold as others.

Temperature inversion over Fairbanks creates vivid optical effects, transforming distant mountains into greatly distorted features. Photo by Carol Lee Gho

The front page picture on the November 28th edition of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner gives a dramatic view of what is happening. A temperature inversion is holding a layer of cold in the valley bottoms, with temperatures as low as -26 degrees F. At the same time in the hills behind Fairbanks, the thermometer registers as high as +8 degrees F.

The change in air density marking the boundary of the inversion distorts the peaks of the Alaska Range, located 90 miles south of Fairbanks. Under these conditions, the normally sharp skyline– with peaks pushing above 14,000 feet– looks more like mesa’s of the south western US.

Map of surface temperatures observations show conditions as cold as -26 deg. F in valley bottoms, where hill tops register as much as +8 deg F.

During these events, local pilots know that even though it is cold at the airport, once above the surface, they can expect to be flying in warmer air. If one looks at the horizon during the climb-out, it is not uncommon to see the skyline flip-flop wildly while crossing through this boundary until solidly into the warmer air above.