The Journey Back We landed at Yakutat Airport (PAYA) for one of our planned fuel stops and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the restaurant on the field. Tere are many places where cell coverage is not available, and Yakutat is one of them. No cell, no XM weather, but blue sky in Yakutat—I figured the weather would be good for the next leg, which would be another 200-plus mi. We were approximately 80 nautical miles (nm) from our
destination when we started noticing overcast weather and then rain. We continued on course down the coastline. About 70 nm from our destination, the ceilings started to come down: 1,000 ft., 500 ft., and getting lower as we inched along. At that point, I knew we had to land. From what I saw
during the flight up in clear skies, we didn’t have many options for landing zones—glacier, timber, and salt water, in that order. I saw very few beaches that offered suitable landing sites.
RON on the Beach I came to a stop at Palma Bay on the Gulf of Alaska, which offered a beach landing up by the tree line and far enough from salt water at high tide. Tis was a rocky beach—in fact, the only wet sand we saw, near the shore, had fresh bear tracks in it. I managed to get out a text message via a satellite tracking
system to our director of maintenance. I’m religious about checking in with him about our location and status. I’d turn on the aircraft’s battery about every hour and 15 minutes for METAR and TAF reports and a look at the weather cams. We waited patiently, hoping for a break in the weather,
weather briefings (METARs and TAFs) and ICAO flight plans through Canada. We also used FIS-B weather in flight when available, as well as weather cameras when we had cell service. I asked our director of maintenance to check into the availability of the SiriusXM channel, and, sure enough, SiriusXM Aviation is not currently offered in Alaska. We completed our little job after sitting in instrument
meteorological conditions (IMC) for a few days and began our trip back to the Lower 48. Te weather briefing looked great. Te low-pressure system that had created the IMC a few days earlier appeared to have moved offshore.
until 9 pm, when conditions worsened. At that point, we knew we were RON (remain overnight). Te first order of business was to get a fire going. I’ve built plenty of fires in my time—although my wife is better than me at this skill—but none were built out of waterlogged wood. And with all the bears we saw before we arrived at our anything-but-cozy beach, I wasn’t about to go hiking through the forest looking for tinder. Luckily, we brought our own fire starter—in our fuel
tank. I sumped approximately 8 oz. of Jet A into our sump jar. If you’re not in the habit of sumping your fuel, it’s never too late to start. Tis skill comes in handy in a variety of situations! We then cut strips of a microfiber towel and soaked it
in the Jet A to use for kindling. It worked quite well. Now that we had a blazing fire, it was time to settle in
for the night. I brought a .45-70 rifle with me for wildlife protection, hoping that I wouldn’t have to get it out of the
SEPTEMBER 2023 ROTOR 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
