I went to the Valdez Fly In this weekend and got my first taste of beach landing down at Hinchinbrook Island and I am hooked.

I know now about having to land while the tide is going out so that the sand is harder and keeping the airplane on the darkest sand, but what do you do for overnight stays?

Besides Hincinbrook, can any Alaska flyers point me in the right direction for public use cabins on beaches?

The forest service has cabins all over the place.

Go to the link here for starters :http://www.alaskacenters.gov/cabins.cfm

or this one: http://www.bellsalaska.com/myalaska/forestservice.html

HB island is a great spot. Spent many days out there with surf boards and helicopters. Its only a 10 minute flight from Cordova.

AKT

907Pilot wrote:I went to the Valdez Fly In this weekend and got my first taste of beach landing down at Hinchinbrook Island and I am hooked.

I know now about having to land while the tide is going out so that the sand is harder and keeping the airplane on the darkest sand, but what do you do for overnight stays?

Besides Hincinbrook, can any Alaska flyers point me in the right direction for public use cabins on beaches?

Not a problem get a tide book.............

So you only stay on the ground between high tides?

Any other beach landing tips for me out there? I did a wheel landing when I went out, which was frowned on by the 185 in the group but as I was watching most people did the same as me... is this not a good idea on my 8.50x6s?

907Pilot wrote:So you only stay on the ground between high tides?

No disrespect, but did you really just ask that??

Most carry extra gas so that when the tide comes in they can get up in the air and fly around for 6 hours or so until the tide goes out again...

Come on now...

AKT

Sarcasm doesn't read well in text.

If I were to go out and spend the night out there say at Hinchinbrook, I need to time my take off and landing at low tide so that the beach is nice and hard right? That is the real question, as I understand the dried out sand is pretty soft for trying to take off out of.

If you're going to do many beach landings, you would do well to look into larger tires. There are lots of surprises on most beaches. Big tires won't protect you from all of them, but they'll help get you through many. Buried kelp is just one of those.

MTV

mtv wrote:If you're going to do many beach landings, you would do well to look into larger tires. There are lots of surprises on most beaches. Big tires won't protect you from all of them, but they'll help get you through many. Buried kelp is just one of those.

MTV

I'll second that. In addition, the big tires will get you into softer sand and open up your beach landing options. Pictured below are our Huskys on the beach south of Cordova close to the Tsiu River where the Silver salmon fishing is world class.

Among the drift wood.


Unlimited landing areas.

Beach landings at low tide is a lot of fun. When spending the night make sure your up above the high water mark. Keep the plane up to the brush line. It helps to protect it from the wind as well. Larger wheels are a great help. They will distribute the weight better, and helps to keep the prop out of the rocks and sticks. With the large wheels you can let air out some to add in a larger foot print. But when you do that it also creates a drag. Take a come along and rope . For you will get stuck at some point. I hope this helps. Have fun and be safe.

Ken in Alaska

907 - I was going to link one of Greg's videos that showed our high water mark one morning, but he has it off the internet I see.

On this video of mine from the same trip, at around 01:30 it shows where I dug my wheels into the sand to hold in the 40 mph winds coming in off Bristol Bay. We had tide tables, but did not account for the long all night winds that stacked up the waves. It was within 3-6 "horizontal" feet of our planes and tents during the night. The tables showed the following tides on the rise so we got out of there.

Patrol Guy , are you planning on a outing like the one you have shown on here soon? I would like to get with others for doing things like this. Take care ...

Ken in Alaska

akflyer, We were hoping for 2012 trip, but with these gas prices, maybe not??

I'm looking into 8.50x10 AK Tundra Tires, I think that will be big enough for the sand and the gravel?

Anyone going clamming this week in cook inlet? We are thinking of hitting Polly Creek on Tues and Weds.

907Pilot wrote:I'm looking into 8.50x10 AK Tundra Tires, I think that will be big enough for the sand and the gravel?

I flew those tires on three different airplanes (Maule, C170B, and C182) and really liked them -- highly recommend. And they hold up well on asphalt pavement.

I had the 8.50X10 on one of my Stinsons. They work well and are a stiffer tire then the bush wheels. I went to the Bush wheels for they are a taller tire.

These are great...

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery ... G_4892.JPG

However, getting (29 or 31 BW very soon) Is there really that big of a difference between the 29 vs 31's?

AKT

There is not a lot of noticeable difference in the 29 verse the 31. The big difference is in the price. The 31s are just a little taller.

907 - hey it's back! This is the video that shows the high water mark that surprised us. It is around 04:50 in this video:

...and at 06:07 in this video is a Tide Table lesson on how to use one.

907Pilot wrote:I'm looking into 8.50x10 AK Tundra Tires, I think that will be big enough for the sand and the gravel?

Anyone going clamming this week in cook inlet? We are thinking of hitting Polly Creek on Tues and Weds.

If you're getting the 10" wheels, get the 29x11x10 tires. I actually prefer the 8.5x10s EXCEPT for the sand. If I was just out to Utah or other slightly rough stuff, the weight difference and the change in cruise speed would keep me away from the 29s. After the first summer in AK with the 8.5x10s and too many close calls on the beaches -on the "wet" sand, I went to the 29s and was VERY happy to carry the weight at a slower speed. Sand, even between the tide marks, is FULL of surprises and your tires are your safety margin. How big of a safety margin do you want?