Driving In To The Valdez Fly-In - Part 2

Now for the actual Fly-In photos...

What a great Alaskan experience. Park right in front of the airport (albeit a small bush airport), walk right to the tarmac, and even right ONTO the tarmac with minimal security watching your every move. I felt like I was once again experiencing what life USED to be like when people were actually responsible for their own actions and... get this... survived! What a concept.

First, let's get our bearings...

The Valdez Airport is sort of tucked in a valley among several mountains and right up against one of those mountains. It's on the north end of Prince William Sound, and Valdez is the terminus of the Alaska Oil Pipeline. So on the map above, we were sitting on the south side of the runway looking toward the mountains that are just above the words "Valdez Airport". Now that you have your bearings...

First we got to see some aerobatics. Pretty neat with the mountains as a backdrop! And so much snow remains... wow.

The view toward Valdez Glacier. So pretty!

More aerobatics... with remote controlled planes! They were pretty cool.

Check out the cheesy smile on this "pilot's" face.

One of the attractions at the Fly-In was helicopter rides being offered. I've been on bush planes several times, but never on a helicopter. So we took advantage.

This is where the "walk onto the runway" part comes in... we just walked past this sign and I admit it felt a little strange not having to convince anyone we were supposed to (or allowed to) do so! This is one of the many things I really appreciate about Alaska.

Our ride... and check out the snow bank in the background! It IS mid-May, right?!

We're settled in and looking back toward where all the action is. These planes you see here belong to people that flew in for this event... most of them camp right here through the weekend.

Helicopter controls

Here's a video of us taking off... a very different experience than in a plane!

And we're off! Flying toward Valdez Glacier. Down this road is a campground which we considered camping at this weekend. Ha... it's under several feet of snow! Good thing we had an alternate plan.

Here's the beginning (actually the end, if you want to be technical about it) of the glacier. Notice that spot that looks like the opening to a cave. There's a closer photo of that toward the end of the tour.

I love the aqua pools of water on the glacier. So pretty.

The glacier... a true "river of ice".

Closer view of the glacier

I love the mountains around here... they're not joking around! Looks kinda rugged to me.

Here's a video to give you a better feel for the terrain in this area:

There's a glacier under there somewhere...

More close-ups of the glacier. There's so much detail that you can't see when looking at the "big picture"!

Here's another video as we're heading back toward the airport...

I know... it's hard to get any perspective of size. It's not any easier being there in person! It's part of what's crazy and mysterious about Alaska.

 There's the "cave" again. I'm fairly certain I could walk in there with no problem (size-wise, anyway... other hazards notwithstanding!)

Flying back to the airport... just follow that road!

A better overview of the airport looking toward the west/southwest.

And here's the view as we're coming in for a landing. Pretty neat!

That was an awesome experience! And now back to the entertainment on the ground... after we returned from our helicopter tour, there was the part of the weekend that everyone was waiting for: The STOL competition! STOL stands for Short Take-Offs and Landings, and these are important skills for Alaska bush pilots to have as there aren't always formal runways to land on/take off from. People really get into it! Some planes take off quickly but can't stop quickly, while others take awhile to get off the ground but can stop in a very short distance. So there's a line on the runway, and the front wheels of the plane have to start behind that line. When the official says to go, the pilot takes off as fast as possible. Where the front wheels first leave the ground, the officials measure that distance from the starting line. Then the pilot flies around in a circle and comes in for a landing. The front wheels must first touch the ground behind the starting line, and the officials measure the distance from where they first touch down to where they come to a complete stop. Then they add the two distances together and compare to all the other competitors.

Some of the pilots come in so gradually that it looks like they'll surely disqualify themselves. Quite entertaining!

JUST leaving the ground...

Perhaps a video of this would be helpful. Still photos just aren't capturing it. So here's an example of a takeoff:

And here's an example of a landing:

One plane landing and the next one queued up ready to go.

Alaska. :)

It was neat to see all the different types of planes and wheels and everything. I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience this very Alaskan event, even though I don't share the camaraderie that all these pilots (and most of the attendees other than us) share. 'Til next time...