Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her porch...
Last Frontier - Alaska!!
- Thread starter charliefoster
- Start date
Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her porch...
- 10,830
It was Tina Fey on SNL impersonating Sarah Palin. It was a great impersonation though!
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If a twin engine Cessna it is pretty old technology as the last year they made a twin was 1985. But many of the planes flown in Alaska are single engine...both Av-Gas & turbo-props. The majority of which are pretty old model/designs. But a new Cirrus/Cessna TTx would not do well in the back country
But these older planes are very well maintained & do quite well there. I'd like to earn my float rating on a plane in Alaska. I've actually looked into it & could easily do it in a week from what I've read. Some of the best pilots in the world fly in Alaska. It is amazing the skill set they have to get into/out of some pretty tight places. Plus the weather there changes so fast! They have my utmost respect!
She called it a "little Cessna type plane"... lol. So Im sure it was not an actual Cessna. But it was a small twin engine turbo prop of some kind.
Ive flown in a Beechcraft before. I would love to get my pilots license once day. Takes lots of hours to get it though.... then there is the whole buying and maintaining an airplane thing...
Float planes are very cool. Im sure landing on those small lakes is extremely hard. I have a friend who was a hunting guide in AK for a while and they would use float planes almost exclusively to get in and out of the brush.
- 15,041
It isn't always just Alaska either that you get stuck on these small planes.
A friend works in IT at FedEx. There is some town in Arkansas he has to fly to on a single engine 12 seater. Takes about an hour to fly or 5 to drive. After one particularly bad experience he will never fly on it again if the weather is bad.
- 882
I know that plane he flew in. It is a Cessna, Grand Caravan. FedEx uses them a lot in rural areas like the Upper Penn of MI, Alaska, Hawaii, etc. GREAT plane & very reliable. I flew on one a number of times from Jackson, TN to Nashville.
I had two ladies on one trip that had no idea their trip would be on such a small plane. Both of them put jackets over their heads. So I talked to them & told them: hey, if a plane is ever going to crash, then this is the plane I'd want to be in. It can land in those fields below us vs. a RJ [regional jet] that would have all sorts of problems in an off airport crash.
This plane is powered by a single engine Turbo Prop, not a gas engine. Same family as Jet engines so it is extremely reliable. Only issue in my mind is the pilots flying them are young, working on building up their hours so they can move up to the big jets. They guys that flew mine we young, but really good in cross wind situations. Noisy plane? Yes, and not pressurized either so it tends to fly from 4000-9000 feet max with passengers on board though legally, they could fly as high as 15,000 feet with no O2 for the passengers
- 15,041
I know that plane he flew in. It is a Cessna, Grand Caravan. FedEx uses them a lot in rural areas like the Upper Penn of MI, Alaska, Hawaii, etc. GREAT plane & very reliable. I flew on one a number of times from Jackson, TN to Nashville.
I had two ladies on one trip that had no idea their trip would be on such a small plane. Both of them put jackets over their heads. So I talked to them & told them: hey, if a plane is ever going to crash, then this is the plane I'd want to be in. It can land in those fields below us vs. a RJ [regional jet] that would have all sorts of problems in an off airport crash.
This plane is powered by a single engine Turbo Prop, not a gas engine. Same family as Jet engines so it is extremely reliable. Only issue in my mind is the pilots flying them are young, working on building up their hours so they can move up to the big jets. They guys that flew mine we young, but really good in cross wind situations. Noisy plane? Yes, and not pressurized either so it tends to fly from 4000-9000 feet max with passengers on board though legally, they could fly as high as 15,000 feet with no O2 for the passengers
Close, but not quite. I knew I should have been clearer.
He works for FedEx, but this is commerical service. It is one of those rural service flights that everyone got up in arms about a few years ago. FedEx got a lot tighter back in the 90s about jumpseating. Since 9/11, I imagine they probably only let pilots do it anymore.
Federal Express Flight 705 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- 634
I lived in Fairbanks. I really miss it, I would think one cold calling in the winter up there would have a high contact ratio.
BTW- is this the record for most post in an intro thread?
- 26,136
I remember having to break suction on my seat after doing a crab landing on Shemia Island during a williwaw. The down draft raises the flight attendant off the ground. We circled for what seemed like an hour till there was enough clearance for the pilot to see the run way. because of icing and wind we were only on the ground for minutes. Landing on Attu was less fun. Reeve Aleutian Airways, Those people were frecken nuts.
If a twin engine Cessna it is pretty old technology as the last year they made a twin was 1985. But many of the planes flown in Alaska are single engine...both Av-Gas & turbo-props. The majority of which are pretty old model/designs. But a new Cirrus/Cessna TTx would not do well in the back country
But these older planes are very well maintained & do quite well there. I'd like to earn my float rating on a plane in Alaska. I've actually looked into it & could easily do it in a week from what I've read. Some of the best pilots in the world fly in Alaska. It is amazing the skill set they have to get into/out of some pretty tight places. Plus the weather there changes so fast! They have my utmost respect!
- 0
I think the original poster got everyone's attention when he said he lived in Wasilla and could see Sarah Palin's rack from his house.
He might refudiate that though.
- 15,319
I think the original poster got everyone's attention when he said he lived in Wasilla and could see Sarah Palin's rack from his house.
He might refudiate that though.
You're just posting here to pad your count.
Rick
- 0
Absolutely, I have made ten posts and the count still shows as zero.
I am hoping that Sam will post a link to the forum calculator so that we can use it to do our income tax.
