Second flight of the year taking some 1,100 pounds of camping equipment into the river at the head of Chinitna Bay. My wife got to come along and video'd the landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5wV0x6abeM

Killing me! Wish i had a bunch of savings to go get a bunch of float time and land a float flying job.
Love the videos, keep em coming

The only way that could be better would be if it was in an endless loop. There is nothing sweeter then the sound of a 450, and what a beautiful gorgeous day. Thanks for sharing the vid. I like your job.

Great stuff!

I don't know anything about float ops. How deep does a river need to be before one can consider landing a loaded Beaver on floats? How about a 180 or a Super Cub?

This river is pretty deep with really soft mud banks, I try to go in about half hour before high tide. I don't really land in any shallow stuff, fully loaded my floats are in the water about 22.5"

It's a tough job but, somebody's got to do it.

My little Scout...

At about 2150# with gear and rudders up my draft is about 1' only. I put gear down around rocks and unfriendly bottoms, as a buffer, when taxiing. I love pulling up on boat ramps and taxiing around the parking lot. Amphibs are a trip for sure.

Headoutdaplane wrote:Second flight of the year taking some 1,100 pounds of camping equipment into the river at the head of Chinitna Bay. My wife got to come along and video'd the landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5wV0x6abeM

Yeah, your wife "got to go along" to help unload that gear.

The only down side to working a Beaver is that they carry a LOT of "stuff" and the pilot is often the loader/unloader. Been there.

No finer seaplane on the planet, however.

MTV

I would love to be flying around Alaska in a beaver like you.

Nice!!! Wish I had video of an afternoon with Charlie Hammonds down in LA in his 185. I can still hear him telling me to make sure to stay centered so we didn't hit any trees that lined the slot we were landing in just off the intracoastal waterway. He let me land and step taxi through some water that was curvy like the river you showed also. Probably the most fun day of floats I ever had and I was wringing wet with sweat when we quit.

mtv wrote:

Headoutdaplane wrote:Second flight of the year taking some 1,100 pounds of camping equipment into the river at the head of Chinitna Bay. My wife got to come along and video'd the landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5wV0x6abeM

Yeah, your wife "got to go along" to help unload that gear.

The only down side to working a Beaver is that they carry a LOT of "stuff" and the pilot is often the loader/unloader. Been there.

No finer seaplane on the planet, however.

MTV

I'm with you there, I thought the turbine otter was the greatest plane on the planet, until I helped load and unload it a few times!

1100 lbs? geeze do you have pictures of what all that gear looks like inside or out of your bird?

It's a wonderful thing, if you can make a living doing the something you love. Makes everyday a joy, and fulfillment of purpose.

Thanks, the sound alone brought back some memories...and shivers...

Now please post the real work video, jeans full of moose and caribou blood with ice on the floats, sore back from twisting as you lift carcasses into the a/c, the odd slip into the frozen lake and the 1/2 mile vis on the way to pick up the hunting party that has been stranded three days overdue.

The real satisfaction at the end of the day...you Americans sure tipped well and in US dollars !!!! lol

Wait a minute!!! you got tips????

How else do you think a 19 year old Beaver pilot in Sub Arctic could survive?
We spent many hours on 0/0 days wondering if we would ever be able to go to the US and marry one of them rich daughters.
The money they paid to hunt up there even to this day was outrageous they said it was cheap compared to their African trips !!!
Please post more videos.

I tipped the kid who let me ride in the right seat when I was up there. He was a good sport having a camera stuck in his face and fielding questions from a private pilot.

Damn, Zane....you're establishing a bad precedent..

MTV

That's the spirit Zane, you ever make it up here I'll take you flying and we can keep the tradition alive. lol