Flight in a WW2 era Navy Biplane

Today I had the enormous privilege and pleasure of flying for an hour with Andy Bibber in his beautiful N3N-3 Naval Biplane out of Fairbanks International. With its huge combined wing span and  powerful Pratt and Whitney radial engine this airplane is a powerful performer. Andy demonstrated the gamut of tough aerobatic maneuvers with great skill. A few pictures follow.

(photos courtesy of Loy McManus)

Andy Bibber by his plane

A Flight from the Soggy Interior to the Dry North!

Today I flew to the Hodzana River, North of the Yukon River and found the river to be at the lowest water level I have seen in years! Many long gravel bars have been revealed by the lower water levels.
I landed on one particular scenic bar on the lower Hodzana. The following pictures show that bar and along the way, North of Fairbanks, the very high water levels in the rivers South of the Yukon, particularly the Beaver Creak Drainage.


This chapter of my flight blog is dedicated to my grandson, Calder Murray, aged 3 1/2 who wants to become my co-pilot

These first photos show the gravel bar and environs, including wild flowers,

the beauty of the stream and its side channels.

 This photo shows my touch down track on the gravel bar as I landed.

The next series of photos shows the swollen rivers that feed into the Yukon from the South.

The central Interior of Alaska has experienced very heavy rainfall this summer and the 

rivers flowing out of the White Mountains reflect this.

 The next two show the confluence of the lower mouth of the Beaver Creek where it flows into the 

Yukon River - clear water mixing with silt.

 Here are a few of the many long bars that have opened up on the Hodzana.

This is one of the reasons we love our Alaskan Bush Wheels - big rocks! Bigger tires!

Here is Victoria Mountain, like an old friend, showing the way! 

When Victoria is at 9:00 off the left wing, it's 45 minutes to home.

In the canyons of the clouds!