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Old 01-26-2021, 12:06 AM
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Kevin WS Kevin WS is offline
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Thanks for the photos Mike. Nice to see you posting the aviation-related pics again!

PS The C-26's are hot stuff. More more!
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Old 01-26-2021, 12:14 AM
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mbauer mbauer is offline
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2nd Flight Cont. 24Jan21-The Flight Home

Heading home to Kenai:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0091.jpg

Screenshot and then used the snipping tool to show where the Kenai Airport is, big white area inside the red boundary. Now you know why the brakes better not be frozen solid when landing:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-kenai-airport.jpg

Mt Spur again:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0109.jpg

A couple of more photos of the sun going down, Augustine to the left of sun in this photo, Iliamna and Redoubt. Not mentioned so far is the Island near Redoubt is Kalgin Island, the mountain you can see way past Augustine is part of the range that leads towards the Aleutian Island Chain:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0125.jpg

My favorite photo of these:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0127.jpg

Now the fun begins.

Landing just as it gets dark, I had a real nice surprise waiting for me. The runway was visible until about 10ft off the ground. What?

Yep, there was a fog layer that was forming. Above it was real thin you couldn't see it until, you were in it looking horizontal through the layers. Add the darkness and the last ten feet was done without reference, good thing I know my airplane and how it feels close to the ground! One of the best landings this year! Nice and smooth, tower could not tell it was fog, they are too high. It looked like a light haze layer from above. My strobe lights did cause an issue with vision once in it. Good thing I didn't have a landing light!

By the time My RV-6 was tied down and wing covers back on, well here is what it looked like, 15-minutes to get everything on and tied down:
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0159.jpg

Finally decided to take this photo showing how I parked it. Note that the old spot is just starting to re-freeze. Decided a good idea to park on top of the ice, not in it!
Like to fly and Take photos-24JAN2021 Photos-dsc_0162.jpg

There you go. 2.3 hours total flying time.

Just in case you think about the final moments, sure am glad I poured the gas on, if that fog layer had been any worse the field would have gone IFR and the tower would not let me land. That means I probably would have to find a near by airport that wasn't fogged in, in the dark! Won't be doing these kind of flights so close to dark for awhile. Luck was on my side, and that is not the way to fly, there are two kinds of Luck.

One final note on the landing, I read a book The Sky Beyond by Sir Gordon Taylor he flew with Kingsford Smith as his navigator. This was in the Southern Cross, a famous airplane that set several records in Australia. The reason I mention this is he described what it was like to land a PBY in total darkness on water with no references of any kind, during WWII. It was during the final moments of my landing that I knew what to do from his description. Hold what you got and don't search for the landing, let it gently reach for you. If the landing was setup properly and you don't freak out, worked every time for him. Haven't thought about that book in a long time, but when there was an issue my mind brought it up. My stall speed is 55mph.....Perfect three pointer!

Hope you enjoy the view as much as I did.

Mike

Last edited by mbauer; 01-26-2021 at 01:02 AM. Reason: Luck
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