I don't know haw many of you fellow BCP members have ever dreamed of moving to Alaska, but it has been a life long dream of mine and it looks like I finally have been handed an opportunity of a lifetime. I recently applied for a job with the state and after leveling up from a phone interview to a face to face interview which took place today, the division will be handing me an offer tomorrow. While I still need to ponder the details, the offer includes relocation benefits. The location is Ketchikan and I am truly excited. I would ultimately like more to live in interior Alaska, but I am a marine engineer and this is where the job is so southeast is likely going to my new home.

Not too many places to keep my tailwheel converted 172 other than the international airport. It costs about $150 a month to tie down outside. I currently live in an airpark in NC and own a hangar home so leaving y bird outside is a bit of a change for m, but this whole deal is all about about change so I'm going to have to embrace it. Maybe get a Keenan cockpit cover and try to keep it dry (lots of rain here).

If anyone has any thoughts about where else to keep a plane in this area or anything else about the region and living in Southeast Alaska I sure would like to know. I suppose I may need a new BCP handle too as OBX is short for Outer Banks.

Your fired up on the move...

As for a new BCP handle..."Cheechako"

Best of luck!!!

AKT

Where you at in the OBX? I'm from JoCo - coming out to Nags Head in about a month or so with my J3 for a week for the Manteo bluegrass festival.

Can't help you w/ AK other than to say congrats and hope it's what you dreamed it will be.

Great news! Good luck and keep us posted!!

Livin my dream, Man! Though I'ld never get my wife up there...

SE Alaska is beautiful (and wet), but as i'm sure you noticed, it's either big rocks or water and not much in between. Putting floats on is likely the only way to increase your parking options. The other issue with the airport is the ferry. It's the only option to get there and it runs both ways only twice an hour. I don't recall how much it costs, but if your flying frequently, it can add up.

Soy,

My airport and home (for now) is KONX. I'm about 30 miles from Nags Head and 20 from Manteo, and I'm also a lover of Blue Grass. I'd love to meet up with you but I have a feeling I will need to be in AK. Funny, I saw one of your posts recently that you visited Washington Island. I have been working in Door County on the lakes for the last month working as a consultant to a company that is building ships in a yard in Sturgeon Bay. Enjoy the festival and make a stop in Ocracoke Island and land right at one of the best beaches in the country. Hatteras has a strip on the beach too but you have to walk a long distance (or cross a runway on foot) to access the beach.

slowhawk wrote:SE Alaska is beautiful (and wet), but as i'm sure you noticed, it's either big rocks or water and not much in between. Putting floats on is likely the only way to increase your parking options. The other issue with the airport is the ferry. It's the only option to get there and it runs both ways only twice an hour. I don't recall how much it costs, but if your flying frequently, it can add up.

Yeah, I hear ya. The ferry is $5 for you and $6 for the car. I am seeking a better alternative, and maybe I can find a gravel strip in the area, but the chart shows nothing but an abandoned strip on Annette Island. It rains so much, I doubt It'll cost me all that much. Maybe I can live another dream and buy a float plane.

Anyone looking for a nice Airpark home and hangar in the Outer Banks?

One word! Housing..... Or the lack of. If the employer doesn't have a handle (guaranteed housing) you'll need plan A. Plan A: RV of some sort. Plan B: Plan on living in an RV while driving pile. That is...most good building sites are gone or are really, really expensive. Lots with muskeg are available but you'll need to drive piling to build upon. Use the ferry system to bring your wheels. The Alaska ferry system leaves from Bellingham once every three days.... I think. Pay for berthing even if is for one night. Don't know about the barge schedule for house hold goods. Call Alaska logistics. Check into the availability of standing timber for local residents. 21 years ago I could fall two tamarack...enough lumber for a mansion or three. Prince of Whales Island and perhaps in the Ketchikan may still have portable saw mills every few miles? Black bear tastes good there.. They're herbivores. Deer bag limit was two in possession.

Aircraft: If I lived in the area again......definitely something on straight floats and burns mogas. Just about every village is on the shore line with decent docks and a gas pump nearby to feed Das boots. Just thought of something....Tongas national forest at one time was the largest producer of timber....if logging isn't what it once was? Look into finding one of the logging camp homes. You'll need a float plane to find one. There're portable....and move quite often...... They are built on log rafts and are absolutely beautiful. 2k square feet would be a small one! Find a floating camp...land and ask? Any for sale? A local could find someone to drag the house to some out of the way cove or lagoon... Don't recall which end of Ketchikan you could tie up a house?

Beautiful area! When a pot hole dies and goes to heaven..... You find it in south east Alaska......Gravel roads suck! Plan on trashing your suspension....just remember...things don't wear out! People just get tired of fixing them.
Mark M
Platinum Ak.

m_moyle wrote:One word! Housing..... Or the lack of. If the employer doesn't have a handle (guaranteed housing) you'll need plan A. Plan A: RV of some sort. Plan B: Plan on living in an RV while driving pile. That is...most good building sites are gone or are really, really expensive. Lots with muskeg are available but you'll need to drive piling to build upon. Use the ferry system to bring your wheels. The Alaska ferry system leaves from Bellingham once every three days.... I think. Pay for berthing even if is for one night. Don't know about the barge schedule for house hold goods. Call Alaska logistics. Check into the availability of standing timber for local residents. 21 years ago I could fall two tamarack...enough lumber for a mansion or three. Prince of Whales Island and perhaps in the Ketchikan may still have portable saw mills every few miles? Black bear tastes good there.. They're herbivores. Deer bag limit was two in possession.

Aircraft: If I lived in the area again......definitely something on straight floats and burns mogas. Just about every village is on the shore line with decent docks and a gas pump nearby to feed Das boots. Just thought of something....Tongas national forest at one time was the largest producer of timber....if logging isn't what it once was? Look into finding one of the logging camp homes. You'll need a float plane to find one. There're portable....and move quite often...... They are built on log rafts and are absolutely beautiful. 2k square feet would be a small one! Find a floating camp...land and ask? Any for sale? A local could find someone to drag the house to some out of the way cove or lagoon... Don't recall which end of Ketchikan you could tie up a house?

Beautiful area! When a pot hole dies and goes to heaven..... You find it in south east Alaska......Gravel roads suck! Plan on trashing your suspension....just remember...things don't wear out! People just get tired of fixing them.
Mark M
Platinum Ak.

Thanks Mark, (my name is Mark too)

It may have been a while since you've been here. There is no real shortage of housing and there is actually more going on this town than where I am now. Schools, hospital, library, Rec center and condos are all here now. The road here is about 35 miles of pavement and then you have to get on plane or ferry. Logging isn't what it used to be. No more pulp mill. 7or 8 cruise ships a week in the summer with thousands of tourists milling about. A hundred restaurants and 500 gift shops and many hotels. I'll be working in an office in town so I won't be able to live in the bush. Maybe a nice camp somewhere out there though for the weekend getaways.

Save whatever receipts you have from relocating, plane tickets, etc. Start a file with them that's labeled "Permanent Fund Dividend".
Cheers,
-DP

Maybe a boat in your future?
We lived on Long Island, just West of Prince of Whales, we had every bit as much fun in that boat exploring and fishing as I've had in my plane!

Welcome to SE, OBX! It's been a very wet Aug., been getting an inch a day or more the last 3-4 days here in the northern panhandle, I imagine its the same or more around KTN. I am personally getting a bit weary of it after 20 years here.

Are you going to be working on the two new ferry boat projects? I read in the news that the state has asked for a proposal. Should be interesting, many opinions floating around out there regarding the new vessels.

There's quite a bit of stuff to do down there. Good shrimping and salmon fishing. Deer hunting on POW is top-notch. The temps are very mild, not much snow. That part is nice.

If you're situation permits, you might consider leaving your 172 down south the first winter. Give you time to see if you'll have the time or the inclination to deal with your airplane. On top of being wet, the KTN area is a serious wind blow - hole.

Good luck with your new adventure. There's still a lot of opportunity in this state for those who are willing to work.

First, a caveat: I've never lived in Southeast (short for Southeast Alaska). But I did live in Kodiak for eight years. I believe Ketchikan gets some more rain than Kodiak, but in Kodiak, it's hard to measure, cause it's moving horizontal a lot.

Frankly, a boat is probably one of the best recreational tools for that part of the world. A wheel plane.....not so much. A seaplane (and a 172 makes a decent one or two pax seaplane) also greatly improves mobility, but scud running is a way of life in all that country......more than a little daunting for the newbie.

Anyway, a boat, even a relatively small one, can open a lot of opportunities.

Becoming "rock happy" is a real issue for a lot of folks in these isolated communities. Having a means to get out of Dodge, even for a short while, can be a real asset to mental health. Also, you need to get out and about, even if the weather is a little wet. Folks who spend their whole lives inside in these places are rarely happy campers.

FWIW

MTV

gbflyer wrote:Welcome to SE, OBX! It's been a very wet Aug., been getting an inch a day or more the last 3-4 days here in the northern panhandle, I imagine its the same or more around KTN. I am personally getting a bit weary of it after 20 years here.

Are you going to be working on the two new ferry boat projects? I read in the news that the state has asked for a proposal. Should be interesting, many opinions floating around out there regarding the new vessels.

There's quite a bit of stuff to do down there. Good shrimping and salmon fishing. Deer hunting on POW is top-notch. The temps are very mild, not much snow. That part is nice.

If you're situation permits, you might consider leaving your 172 down south the first winter. Give you time to see if you'll have the time or the inclination to deal with your airplane. On top of being wet, the KTN area is a serious wind blow - hole.

Good luck with your new adventure. There's still a lot of opportunity in this state for those who are willing to work.

Thanks gb,

I will be working for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), but the Alaska class ferries are on another Vessel Construction Manger's desk. The position I applied for is also Vessel Construction Manager. I met the guy who was tasked with the two new builds. Not really sure what I'll be working with just yet.


To those who suggested a boat: I'm all about that. I'm already staring to look at boats. Some folks in the office use them to get to work as they live on a Gravina Island (sp?) and they commute right to the office which is in Ward Cove.

Thanks to all for the support and information.

I just got back from flying all over SE ak. I don't live there but I do go there every year for a few weeks.
I would bring my airplane for sure! There are not that many places to go besides the towns with airports. I think it's worth it for that reason. If you want to go to juneau it's only a few hour 172 flight rather then all day with the ferry or a bunch of money on ak airlines. You can zip over to POW. Up to Haines, Skagway.
if you are worried about your airplane being outside it's not going to be any better with a floatplane or down there it will be a true seaplane parked in the ocean on the harbor dock. Everyone else flys Cherokees and 207 all over.
If you can afford it bring it. Insurance is probably 3 to 4 times what you are use to. 100ll is 6.79 in ktn right now. Tie downs and hangers are expensive almost anywhere in ak but 150 is super high for outside. Maybe talk to island air and see if they have any room.
Weather is crap but can be timed. You have to be wiling to fly the weather window for that good Vfr, extend your trip a week to wait for it or just cancel and do something else. Unless you are willing to fly super low in mvfr witch is probably the same as flying at 5k since there is no where to land in an emergency anyways.

Unless you are willing to fly super low in mvfr witch is probably the same as flying at 5k since there is no where to land in an emergency anyways.

Welcome to AK flying OBX

Yup... Nice thing about scud running in the rock down there, you got a whole lot less time to worry about how much it's gonna hurt when ya smack something than you do sitting way up high.

Gump

Which reminds me of a trip from Anchorage to Kodiak in a Beaver. ~ 40 miles of cold water. Vis was good, but ceiling was ~ 800 feet. One of the guys from our aircraft division had a daughter in Kodiak, and this was Friday, so he asked if he could hitch a ride....I said sure.

Pretty big seas out in Shelikof Straight, like 25 - 30 foot seas. Augering along at 300 or 400 feet, my passenger asked if I'd get a little higher. I opined that getting 400 feet higher would simply mean we die hitting that wave as opposed to this one.....his response: "I know it won't make a difference if the engine quits, i just want those waves to LOOK smaller"

MTV

Being instrument rated, I tend to avoid scud running. However, from my short time in ketchikan, I see that ceilings can be pretty low (near or below minimums more than not) and just finding an alternate is an issue as there tends not to be any nearby airports. I certainly don't intend to fulfil my dream of living in Alaska and then go and kill myself trying to fly in marginal weather. I wonder how often the tower gets requests for Special VFR each day.

That airspace around the airport is busier than a lot of Class B airports too. There area more seaplanes there then any other place I've seen in Alaska and I've traveled extensively here. Even Lake Hood seems to have less traffic. That is something I would need to get used to as well.

I got a great deal on insurance this year and it covers flying in Alaska, but assumes that I hangar in NC. I can see the rates skyrocketing once the location is changed. Seaplane insurance would kill me as I only have enough of that to get the rating. Would need to go uninsured, which I am not opposed to. Insurance is a freakin scam. No matter how many (much) ratings, hours , endorsements and training you have, you will always pay for the novice risk takers that bend up airplanes. When I bought my first airplane 17 years ago, and had 60hrs of PPL, I paid a third of what I pay today as an instrument rated multi-engine commercial Single engine private, Seaplane, with bush pilot training course and unusual attitude training course under my belt and tail wheel,complex and high performance endorsements. Okay it's turned into a rant. Sorry.

The premise that scud running is dangerous is based on the assumption that it is a failure to manage risks appropriately. An instrument rating does provide another window into a different way to manage risks. But with the terrain and icing conditions in Alaska, it really can be safer to fly in what you may have learned to regard as marginal conditions by keeping beneath the clouds.

If you want a pretty good explanation of how to do it safely, as well as how to manage the risks associated with it, my friend Bob Adkins did a great job of explaining it in his book Panhandle Pilot.