Winter Flying

[[email protected]]

Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
it? What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
is covered with snow and everything looks different? How are you going
to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways? Have
you ever considered the humps left by snowplows, that freeze and lurk
to get your prop tips or wrinkle nose gears? Blown snow that can snag
your wing tips as you taxi down the "tunnel" to the runway..... What
are you doing to pre-heat your engine and cabin (and instruments)?
Are you equipped and prepared for an emergency landing when it may take
hours/days for help to get to you even if they know where you are? Do
you know how to prepare for a winter XC in terms of facilities where
you land? Do they have shelter or cover for your aircraft or heat and
snow removal equipment?
Can you determine how deep the new snow is on a runway and can you make
a soft field landing without disappearing in several feet of snow....if
you are wrong?
How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
filter gets clogged by snow. Are you prepared for a slippery runway
with fresh snow? No matter what you do, the airplane just reacts to
gravity and laws of physics while you sit and haplessly flop the
controls around and slide/slip off the runway/taxiway.
Yahoooooo....it's winter time and snow is on the ground. Lets go play
in the snow!!!
Ol Shy & Bashful - Hero CFII (;) with the big stirring stick and having
fun

[OtisWinslow]

This is pretty normal stuff for those of us who fly in the frozen
north. Of more concern would be those venturing into areas
of winter weather who don't deal with it regularly.Your checklist
of things should give them a guideline.




> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
> it? What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
> is covered with snow and everything looks different? How are you going
> to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways? Have
> you ever considered the humps left by snowplows, that freeze and lurk
> to get your prop tips or wrinkle nose gears? Blown snow that can snag
> your wing tips as you taxi down the "tunnel" to the runway..... What
> are you doing to pre-heat your engine and cabin (and instruments)?
> Are you equipped and prepared for an emergency landing when it may take
> hours/days for help to get to you even if they know where you are? Do
> you know how to prepare for a winter XC in terms of facilities where
> you land? Do they have shelter or cover for your aircraft or heat and
> snow removal equipment?
> Can you determine how deep the new snow is on a runway and can you make
> a soft field landing without disappearing in several feet of snow....if
> you are wrong?
> How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
> end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
> filter gets clogged by snow. Are you prepared for a slippery runway
> with fresh snow? No matter what you do, the airplane just reacts to
> gravity and laws of physics while you sit and haplessly flop the
> controls around and slide/slip off the runway/taxiway.
> Yahoooooo....it's winter time and snow is on the ground. Lets go play
> in the snow!!!
> Ol Shy & Bashful - Hero CFII (;) with the big stirring stick and having
> fun
>

[G.R. Patterson III]

wrote:
>
> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
> it?

I bought a new furnace two years ago. It works real well. Got a few cords of
wood for the fireplace too. :-)

> What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
> is covered with snow and everything looks different?

They all look the same to my LORAN.

> How are you going
> to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways?

My taildragger is just as skittish on the ground when it's dry.

> Have
> you ever considered the humps left by snowplows, that freeze and lurk
> to get your prop tips or wrinkle nose gears?

Not a problem for me.

> Blown snow that can snag
> your wing tips as you taxi down the "tunnel" to the runway.....

It would have to be nearly 6' deep to snag mine. So far, I've never flown into a
place with drifts that high.

> What
> are you doing to pre-heat your engine and cabin (and instruments)?

I have a portable propane heater. It does a good job on the engine. Puts out too
much moisture to use on the cabin (I tried it once).

> Are you equipped and prepared for an emergency landing when it may take
> hours/days for help to get to you even if they know where you are?

Yep. Got an extensive emergency kit in a "seat locker" hung on my seat. Given
the poor quality of what Maule calls a "heater", I'm always dressed for the
weather.

> Do
> you know how to prepare for a winter XC in terms of facilities where
> you land? Do they have shelter or cover for your aircraft or heat and
> snow removal equipment?

So far, yes.

> Can you determine how deep the new snow is on a runway and can you make
> a soft field landing without disappearing in several feet of snow....if
> you are wrong?

Nope. So I haven't tried landing on new snow.

> How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
> end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
> filter gets clogged by snow.

I don't fly IFR, but my carb heat is also alternate air.

> Are you prepared for a slippery runway
> with fresh snow? No matter what you do, the airplane just reacts to
> gravity and laws of physics while you sit and haplessly flop the
> controls around and slide/slip off the runway/taxiway.

Sounds like one of my normal landings. :-)

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

[Dylan Smith]

In article >, G.R. Patterson III wrote:
>> What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
>> is covered with snow and everything looks different?
>
> They all look the same to my LORAN.

Some checkpoints are easier to find if the snow isn't brand new and the
snow ploughs have been out. Roads stand out really well against the
white.

The interesting thing I thought about flying through a snow shower was
how the "Hyperspace effect" snow appeared to be coming from a point just
below the nose.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

[[email protected]]

Otis
Pretty much what I intended when I posted this. There are those things
that are strange to the pilots from up north who come to the areas
where jungle is normal! I had hoped to start posting things that make
pilots think a little no matter where they normally fly, or what they
fly.
Best Christmas regards
Ol Shy & Bashful

[[email protected]]

> How are you going to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways
and runways?

My suggestion is STOP before turning! You can always add power to get
going, but unless you have a reversing prop... If you can't stop, you
probably aren't going to turn very well.

If you act like it's no big deal, wait until you have to explain how
you bent an airplane when you turned left/right "n" degrees and the
plane slid into ____ at the (end of the runway, end of the taxi-way)?
Later,
Steve.T
PP ASEL/Instrument

[Icebound]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
....snip...
> How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
> end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
> filter gets clogged by snow. ...

Watch out for that "not-quite-frozen" stuff. At the correct temperature,
just a fraction of a degree above freezing, snow will react more like
freezing rain, rather than "normal" cold snow.

That is to say, it does not follow the airstream, but will splat and stick.
So a suggestion not to fly too close to the freezing level in snow. Either
stay well down in the above-freezing temperatures.... or go right up into
the cold (where you now have to remain clear of ICGIC, of course).

[[email protected]]

All well and good, but you missed the most important one: How do you
keep the PILOT warm? Once you figger that out, all the rest of the
stuff you bring up looks *easy*.
Mind you, I'm flying a Stearman these days... :-)


Dave Russell
N2S-3

[Bob Fry]

writes:

> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
> it?

"Snow" and "ice"? I cope by living in California :-)

[[email protected]]

Bob
I appreciate your tongue in cheek but Alturas CA is one damned cold
place in winter and I had to get some moving van pads to toss over my
engines, then get some heat flowing under them after my engines got
cold soaked at about -10f on a goose hunting charter!
Lots of places there get some nasty winter weather....lemme see....as I
recall there was a pretty good snow storm there in Julian just outside
San Diego a few weeks ago? And up in the Grapevine area there are a few
strips I used to fly into that get regular snow.
Still, CA has some nice weather for the most part unless you forget the
Tule fog in the San Joaquin right about now.....<ggg>
BTW, I based in CA for about 20 years.
Ol Shy & Bashful

[PJ Hunt]

Up here in Alaska we never fly without some sort of warming system for both
the aircraft and the pilot.

I carry an electric or gas heater depending on where I'm going and how long
I'll be there. Of course we always use Engine cowl blankets and wing covers.

For my personal comfort, I always try to take my girlfriend. She's a little
more expensive than a heater but a whole lot more fun.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
> it? What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
> is covered with snow and everything looks different? How are you going
> to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways? Have
> you ever considered the humps left by snowplows, that freeze and lurk
> to get your prop tips or wrinkle nose gears? Blown snow that can snag
> your wing tips as you taxi down the "tunnel" to the runway..... What
> are you doing to pre-heat your engine and cabin (and instruments)?
> Are you equipped and prepared for an emergency landing when it may take
> hours/days for help to get to you even if they know where you are? Do
> you know how to prepare for a winter XC in terms of facilities where
> you land? Do they have shelter or cover for your aircraft or heat and
> snow removal equipment?
> Can you determine how deep the new snow is on a runway and can you make
> a soft field landing without disappearing in several feet of snow....if
> you are wrong?
> How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
> end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
> filter gets clogged by snow. Are you prepared for a slippery runway
> with fresh snow? No matter what you do, the airplane just reacts to
> gravity and laws of physics while you sit and haplessly flop the
> controls around and slide/slip off the runway/taxiway.
> Yahoooooo....it's winter time and snow is on the ground. Lets go play
> in the snow!!!
> Ol Shy & Bashful - Hero CFII (;) with the big stirring stick and having
> fun
>

[Morgans]

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> Up here in Alaska we never fly without some sort of warming system for
both
> the aircraft and the pilot.
>
> I carry an electric or gas heater depending on where I'm going and how
long
> I'll be there. Of course we always use Engine cowl blankets and wing
covers.
>
> For my personal comfort, I always try to take my girlfriend. She's a
little
> more expensive than a heater but a whole lot more fun.
>
> PJ
>
What area of Alaska are you in? My wife has always wanted to visit Alaska.

It sure looks beautiful in all of the TV shows.
--
Jim in NC

[[email protected]]

Dave
When I was flying Stearmans years back, I put on as many clothes as I
could wear and still climb into the airplane! Was teaching crop dusting
in them in both Colorado and central California. Wasn't much different
when doing frost control in helicopters and no cabin heat. I dressed in
my warmest stuff and that was from my days flying in Canada!
Ol Shy & Bashful

[Corky Scott]

Our FBO hands us a sheet of Winter flying rules and recommendations
that they require us to read and sign, if we want to rent from them.

The sheet suggests the pilot bring a survival bag with warm clothes,
hiking boots, extra water and food etc etc.

The suggestions make sense for those who are going on a cross country
as there are lots of places that are extremely rugged here in Northern
New England. All of my winter flying so far has been currency flying
during which I basically stay in the pattern, so I haven't bothered
bringing any survival gear.

Corky Scott

[PJ Hunt]

Hi Jim,

Typically I get sent all over the state on various contracts.

Currently I'm in Dutch Harbor and have been here since late Sept.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"Morgans" > wrote in message
...
>
> "PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Up here in Alaska we never fly without some sort of warming system for
> both
> > the aircraft and the pilot.
> >
> > I carry an electric or gas heater depending on where I'm going and how
> long
> > I'll be there. Of course we always use Engine cowl blankets and wing
> covers.
> >
> > For my personal comfort, I always try to take my girlfriend. She's a
> little
> > more expensive than a heater but a whole lot more fun.
> >
> > PJ
> >
> What area of Alaska are you in? My wife has always wanted to visit
Alaska.
>
> It sure looks beautiful in all of the TV shows.
> --
> Jim in NC
>
>

[Morgans]

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Jim,
>
> Typically I get sent all over the state on various contracts.
>
> Currently I'm in Dutch Harbor and have been here since late Sept.
>
> PJ
>
Mighty dark up there, right about now, isn't it? :-)
--
Jim in NC

[PJ Hunt]

Actually it's not too bad. Out on Aleutian chain we're so far west that we
have longer days than in Anchorage.

Right now it starts getting dark about 6:30. In Anchorage it's getting dark
around 4:30.

The good news? In just a few more days the days will begin getting longer
again and before you know it we'll have more day light than you know what to
do with.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"Morgans" > wrote in message
...
>
> "PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi Jim,
> >
> > Typically I get sent all over the state on various contracts.
> >
> > Currently I'm in Dutch Harbor and have been here since late Sept.
> >
> > PJ
> >
> Mighty dark up there, right about now, isn't it? :-)
> --
> Jim in NC
>
>

[Dave]

Hmmmm...

...can't fault your logic on the personal comfort section...


Dave


On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 18:32:45 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
> wrote:

>Up here in Alaska we never fly without some sort of warming system for both
>the aircraft and the pilot.
>
>I carry an electric or gas heater depending on where I'm going and how long
>I'll be there. Of course we always use Engine cowl blankets and wing covers.
>
>For my personal comfort, I always try to take my girlfriend. She's a little
>more expensive than a heater but a whole lot more fun.
>
>PJ
>
>============================================
>Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
>May sometime another year, we all be back together.
> JJW
>============================================
>
> wrote in message
ups.com...
>> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
>> it? What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
>> is covered with snow and everything looks different? How are you going
>> to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways? Have
>> you ever considered the humps left by snowplows, that freeze and lurk
>> to get your prop tips or wrinkle nose gears? Blown snow that can snag
>> your wing tips as you taxi down the "tunnel" to the runway..... What
>> are you doing to pre-heat your engine and cabin (and instruments)?
>> Are you equipped and prepared for an emergency landing when it may take
>> hours/days for help to get to you even if they know where you are? Do
>> you know how to prepare for a winter XC in terms of facilities where
>> you land? Do they have shelter or cover for your aircraft or heat and
>> snow removal equipment?
>> Can you determine how deep the new snow is on a runway and can you make
>> a soft field landing without disappearing in several feet of snow....if
>> you are wrong?
>> How about flying in light snow showers that suddenly get heavy and you
>> end up IFR and then hurting for alternate air when the engine air
>> filter gets clogged by snow. Are you prepared for a slippery runway
>> with fresh snow? No matter what you do, the airplane just reacts to
>> gravity and laws of physics while you sit and haplessly flop the
>> controls around and slide/slip off the runway/taxiway.
>> Yahoooooo....it's winter time and snow is on the ground. Lets go play
>> in the snow!!!
>> Ol Shy & Bashful - Hero CFII (;) with the big stirring stick and having
>> fun
>>
>

[Corky Scott]

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:04:48 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
> wrote:

> In Anchorage it's getting dark
>around 4:30.

Well hell, that's what's happening down here in Vermont!

Corky Scott

[PJ Hunt]

Yep, everyone thinks it's dark 24 hours a day up here in the winter time.

I just keep letting most of em think that. It keeps the riff raff out.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"Corky Scott" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:04:48 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
> > wrote:
>
> > In Anchorage it's getting dark
> >around 4:30.
>
> Well hell, that's what's happening down here in Vermont!
>
> Corky Scott

[C Kingsbury]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Since we are well into winter and snow and ice, how are you coping with
> it? What are you doing to pick out XC checkpoints now that the ground
> is covered with snow and everything looks different? How are you going
> to handle taxiing on slick or ice covered taxiways and runways?

Winter before last I had a Warrior scheduled for a few hours the morning
after we got about 18" dumped on us. Stunningly clear day and air as still
as a pond. I got out to the field and ended up spending about 30 minutes
helping dig planes out and watching the FBO owner grimace constantly as a
pair of big front loaders danced in and out of the parking area loading snow
into dump trucks. The runway had been plowed but only down to a depth of
2-3" with an icy layer underneath. Nosewheel sterring and braking action was
crap, but if you had airspeed the rudder would turn your nose. Only problem
is that all that accomlished was to send you skidding (literally) sideways
down the runway. Having grown up driving pickups in upstate NY this was a
familiar sensation. Even the Citations were getting a bit of a sleigh ride
on rollout. Whatever direction you were headed when you touched down, that's
where you were going to be going.

-cwk.

[[email protected]]

I do have a question. First a little background.

I fly a PA28-180. It is hangered.

Sometimes we fly in the late afternoon and land just after dark at our
destination. We come back to the plane to find the wings covered with a
light coating of frost and we need to depart ASAP for different
reasons. This is not a good thing (the frost).

Is there some product that can be carried and sprayed on the wings and
tail surfaces to immediately de-ice the plane? I have been looking at
various catalogs and haven't seen anything.
Regards,
Steve.T
PP ASEL/Instrument

[john smith]

Buy yourself some gallon jugs of isopropal alcohol and and pour it on.
The warmer/hotter it is, the faster it will melt and absorb the water
and evaporate.

wrote:
> I do have a question. First a little background.
>
> I fly a PA28-180. It is hangered.
>
> Sometimes we fly in the late afternoon and land just after dark at our
> destination. We come back to the plane to find the wings covered with a
> light coating of frost and we need to depart ASAP for different
> reasons. This is not a good thing (the frost).
>
> Is there some product that can be carried and sprayed on the wings and
> tail surfaces to immediately de-ice the plane? I have been looking at
> various catalogs and haven't seen anything.
> Regards,
> Steve.T
> PP ASEL/Instrument
>

[C Kingsbury]

Hmm... just a light misting of frost on a Cherokee wing? Probably not worth
losing too much sleep over unless you really need every last drop of
performance. I understand it's much more important on wings that rely on
more laminar flow like a Cirrus or Mooney.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I do have a question. First a little background.
>
> I fly a PA28-180. It is hangered.
>
> Sometimes we fly in the late afternoon and land just after dark at our
> destination. We come back to the plane to find the wings covered with a
> light coating of frost and we need to depart ASAP for different
> reasons. This is not a good thing (the frost).
>
> Is there some product that can be carried and sprayed on the wings and
> tail surfaces to immediately de-ice the plane? I have been looking at
> various catalogs and haven't seen anything.
> Regards,
> Steve.T
> PP ASEL/Instrument
>

[Mike Rapoport]

It is interesting how we always think of AK as "put the compass on N and
keep going". Cold Bay is a 283 course from here in N Idaho.

Mike
MU-2

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> Yep, everyone thinks it's dark 24 hours a day up here in the winter time.
>
> I just keep letting most of em think that. It keeps the riff raff out.
>
> PJ
>
> ============================================
> Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
> May sometime another year, we all be back together.
> JJW
> ============================================
>
> "Corky Scott" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:04:48 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
>> > wrote:
>>
>> > In Anchorage it's getting dark
>> >around 4:30.
>>
>> Well hell, that's what's happening down here in Vermont!
>>
>> Corky Scott
>
>

[PJ Hunt]

"Mike Rapoport" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> It is interesting how we always think of AK as "put the compass on N and
> keep going". Cold Bay is a 283 course from here in N Idaho.

That's right Mike, and get this. I'm in Dutch Harbor which is about 180
miles S/W of Cold Bay on a heading of 238 degrees and 800 miles from
Anchorage, which is basically in central Alaska.

We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state with more coastline
that the entire lower 48 combined, about 3 times the size of Texas and if
Alaska was placed on top of the lower 48 it would just about cover from the
west coast to the east coast. We have something along the lines of 3
million lakes, and 7000 river systems and Mt McKinley (Denali) at 20,320
feet. Denali park alone is over 6 Million acres.

Some of the best fishing, hunting, climbing, kayaking, skiing, and flying to
be found anywhere in the world.

All this an only a little over 600,00 people in the entire state.

But I wouldn't recommend coming here, it really sucks.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

>
> Mike
> MU-2
>
> "PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Yep, everyone thinks it's dark 24 hours a day up here in the winter
time.
> >
> > I just keep letting most of em think that. It keeps the riff raff out.
> >
> > PJ
> >
> > ============================================
> > Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
> > May sometime another year, we all be back together.
> > JJW
> > ============================================
> >
> > "Corky Scott" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:04:48 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> > In Anchorage it's getting dark
> >> >around 4:30.
> >>
> >> Well hell, that's what's happening down here in Vermont!
> >>
> >> Corky Scott
> >
> >
>
>

[Morgans]

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message

> Some of the best fishing, hunting, climbing, kayaking, skiing, and flying
to
> be found anywhere in the world.
>
> All this an only a little over 600,00 people in the entire state.
>
> But I wouldn't recommend coming here, it really sucks.
>
> PJ

My wife wants to go for a visit, some summer, but it would be like a death
penalty if she had to live there.

I think I would love living there, but couldn't say for sure, since I have
never been there. I do like different places, though. We spent a week in
the rain forests of Ecuador, and I loved it. We couldn't be more different
in a lot of ways, but they say that opposites attract!
--
Jim in NC

[G.R. Patterson III]

PJ Hunt wrote:
>
> We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state ....

and the furthest *Eastern* State as well.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

[Newps]

G.R. Patterson III wrote:
>
> PJ Hunt wrote:
>
>>We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state ....
>
>
> and the furthest *Eastern* State as well.
>

And Red too.

[Blueskies]

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message ...
> "Mike Rapoport" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>> It is interesting how we always think of AK as "put the compass on N and
>> keep going". Cold Bay is a 283 course from here in N Idaho.
>
> That's right Mike, and get this. I'm in Dutch Harbor which is about 180
> miles S/W of Cold Bay on a heading of 238 degrees and 800 miles from
> Anchorage, which is basically in central Alaska.
>
> We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state with more coastline
> that the entire lower 48 combined, about 3 times the size of Texas and if
> Alaska was placed on top of the lower 48 it would just about cover from the
> west coast to the east coast. We have something along the lines of 3
> million lakes, and 7000 river systems and Mt McKinley (Denali) at 20,320
> feet. Denali park alone is over 6 Million acres.
>
> Some of the best fishing, hunting, climbing, kayaking, skiing, and flying to
> be found anywhere in the world.
>
> All this an only a little over 600,00 people in the entire state.
>
> But I wouldn't recommend coming here, it really sucks.
>
> PJ
>
> ============================================
> Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
> May sometime another year, we all be back together.
> JJW
> ============================================
>
>>
>> Mike
>> MU-2
>>
>> "PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Yep, everyone thinks it's dark 24 hours a day up here in the winter
> time.
>> >
>> > I just keep letting most of em think that. It keeps the riff raff out.
>> >
>> > PJ
>> >
>> > ============================================
>> > Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
>> > May sometime another year, we all be back together.
>> > JJW
>> > ============================================
>> >
>> > "Corky Scott" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> >> On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:04:48 -0900, "PJ Hunt"
>> >> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > In Anchorage it's getting dark
>> >> >around 4:30.
>> >>
>> >> Well hell, that's what's happening down here in Vermont!
>> >>
>> >> Corky Scott
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

I saw the Blue Angles in Anchorage last summer...

Indeed a beautiful state. Some of the biggest flowers I've ever seen in the park there...

[Mike Rapoport]

"PJ Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> All this an only a little over 600,00 people in the entire state.
>
>
> PJ

600,000 in the winter but close to 2,000,000 in the summer!

Mike
MU-2

[steve.t]

Well, I can tell you from personal experience that at 6500 MSL, at
80Knots in a climb it flys like a pig with light rime. So with the same
thing on the ground, I'm not too inspired to put 3 passengers and me
into it and depart. And that's with >5K of runway.

Old pilots, bold pilots. No old bold pilots. And I don't know enough to
be a test pilot.

Later,
Steve.T
PP ASEL/Instrument

[Roger]

On 24 Dec 2004 05:25:47 -0800, "steve.t" >
wrote:

>Well, I can tell you from personal experience that at 6500 MSL, at
>80Knots in a climb it flys like a pig with light rime. So with the same
>thing on the ground, I'm not too inspired to put 3 passengers and me
>into it and depart. And that's with >5K of runway.
>
You don't even want frost on the wings. Clean it off first.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

>Old pilots, bold pilots. No old bold pilots. And I don't know enough to
>be a test pilot.
>
>Later,
>Steve.T
>PP ASEL/Instrument

[David CL Francis]

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 at 22:26:44 in message >,
PJ Hunt > wrote:
>We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state with more coastline
>that the entire lower 48 combined, about 3 times the size of Texas and if
>Alaska was placed on top of the lower 48 it would just about cover from the
>west coast to the east coast. We have something along the lines of 3
>million lakes, and 7000 river systems and Mt McKinley (Denali) at 20,320
>feet. Denali park alone is over 6 Million acres.

According to the Times World Atlas (it just happened to be handy!):

USA 3,614,170 sq miles 100%
Alaska 570,680 sq miles 15.79%
Texas 261,950 sq miles 7.25%
California 156,260 sq miles 4,32%
Montana 145,350 sq miles 4.02%
New Mexico 121,300 sq miles 3.36%

Alaska is VERY BIG but not quite that big. Equivalent to Texas,
California and Montana combined.

I don't think there is any standard way of measuring coastlines? I
presume your 'coverage' includes the long line of the Aleutian Islands?
--
David CL Francis

[Jürgen Exner]

David CL Francis wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 at 22:26:44 in message >,
> According to the Times World Atlas (it just happened to be handy!):
>
> USA 3,614,170 sq miles 100%
> Alaska 570,680 sq miles 15.79%
> Texas 261,950 sq miles 7.25%
> California 156,260 sq miles 4,32%
> Montana 145,350 sq miles 4.02%
> New Mexico 121,300 sq miles 3.36%
>
> Alaska is VERY BIG but not quite that big. Equivalent to Texas,
> California and Montana combined.

A friend of mine put it in a different way:
When Alaska became a state the Texans were quite 'displeased', because they
weren't the largest state any more. Luckily Alaska wasn't split in two equal
pieces, because then Texas would have been only number 3 and then the Texans
would have been really ****ed.

jue

[Blueskies]

"David CL Francis" > wrote in message ...
> On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 at 22:26:44 in message >, PJ Hunt > wrote:
>>We're the furthest North and the furthest Western state with more coastline
>>that the entire lower 48 combined, about 3 times the size of Texas and if
>>Alaska was placed on top of the lower 48 it would just about cover from the
>>west coast to the east coast. We have something along the lines of 3
>>million lakes, and 7000 river systems and Mt McKinley (Denali) at 20,320
>>feet. Denali park alone is over 6 Million acres.
>
> According to the Times World Atlas (it just happened to be handy!):
>
> USA 3,614,170 sq miles 100%
> Alaska 570,680 sq miles 15.79%
> Texas 261,950 sq miles 7.25%
> California 156,260 sq miles 4,32%
> Montana 145,350 sq miles 4.02%
> New Mexico 121,300 sq miles 3.36%
>
> Alaska is VERY BIG but not quite that big. Equivalent to Texas, California and Montana combined.
>
> I don't think there is any standard way of measuring coastlines? I presume your 'coverage' includes the long line of
> the Aleutian Islands?
> --
> David CL Francis
>

Those numbers are land mass. I saw an overlay somewhere that had the main body of AK along the eastern seaboard, and the
Aleutians swung all the way out almost to California...

[[email protected]]

Well, I can tell you from personal experience that at 6500 MSL, at
80Knots in a climb it flys like a pig with light rime. So with the same
thing on the ground, I'm not too inspired to put 3 passengers and me
into it and depart. And that's with >5K of runway.

Old pilots, bold pilots. No old bold pilots. And I don't know enough to
be a test pilot.

Later,
Steve.T
PP ASEL/Instrument