michigan to alaska.
29.5 hours
3100 miles
7 days total. 2 were spent on the ground, and only 1 of the other 5 was a whole day of flying. i saw 40 kt winds, 1 mile vis, snow, rain, turbulence, and headwinds. but i also saw calm, smooth, severe clear winter days in the mountains with a tailwind. it was the greatest thing i have ever done, and i learned an infinite amount about me, my airplane, and the planet we fly around.
i had 1 breakdown in montana, and would like to thank jeremy and montana maule for all their help. the local fbo was also a great help. it seems my prop governor decided to go 'tango uniform' as we departed montana for canada. so we turned around and landed and made some phone calls. an overhaul/exchange was only a day away. and that day was spent bucking rivets in the air scoop box that had somehow developed a few cracks. with that patched back up, and the arrival of the prop gov early the next morning (which is a bit of a rarity in that part of the world i hear) i was running up, making final adjustments, and blasting off for canada by late morning. it only slowed us down long enough to meet a whole bunch of really great people, and have the first cook out of the spring. luckily montana was our warmest stop by far at 55 degrees. that compared favorably to the upper highway where it was usually 10 below, and 20 below a few times (coulda been a lot worse
)as far as the rest of the trip: the canadian rockies are beautiful- even though we spent most of that part of the trip up at 10 grand due to weather down below, canadian av gas was less than i was expecting, the maule cabin heaters worked better than i was expecting, customs was a breeze- even with a rifle on board, and i found out that my friendly little grass strip loving taildragger is a serious trans-continental flying machine.
now that we are here we have been doing a lot of ski flying with friends (mostly super cubs), and just enjoying the other end of the airspeed indicator. i even landed on the lake in front of the grocery store this weekend to buy groceries
its been an adventure, and i look forward to meeting lots more of you, and doing lots more fun flying. i'll get a few pics up when i get a chance.
