Much of Alaska is accessible only by air due to a combination of the state's size and its lack of roads. And when we say talk about planes we're not talking about 757s!
Float planes, like the ones pictured in this blog, are everywhere. On Lake Spenard in Anchorage, immediately behind the Millenium Hotel where we stayed, there were probably between 20 and 30 of these planes visible from one vantage point moored in the lake.
We started to walk around the lake. A pickup came toward us and parked next to one of the planes. We asked if we could watch their take-off. Over the next hour, we got to know some really wonderful people, Hap and Barbie. They were planning to spend the Memorial Day weekend at their cabin near Glenallen. They estimated the flight would take an hour. Both of them donned their waders and began to load weekend provisions in the plane. When everything was aboard, they climbed in and we waved goodbye, taking pictures as they taxied to the end of their watery runway and took off.
Their plane is a 1961 Cessna 185, which has been repowered with a bigger engine. Gross weight capability is 3600 pounds, of which 2100 pounds is the plane itself.
While Hap and Barbie were readying their plane, we watched a red Twin Otter take off. Hap told us that this is the top of the "food chain" among float planes in Alaska. He indicated that this Otter was owned and flown by one of the best bush pilots in Alaska. By the way, the Otter is equipped with prop blades that pitch to allow the plane to back up.
While most of the planes that we saw were float planes, all of them fall into the category of bush planes. Some bush planes are equipped with skis, others, with just wheels.
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