Years ago I developed an oil return line failure in my cub- It was pure luck that I landed before all of my oil drained out. My wife and I would have flipped over in 5 feet of snow; I realized to never totally trust my equipment entirely. I have always crossed water with enough altitude to glide to/near land. I have been afraid to fly the coast route!
All I can say is "Respect brother". Wow. Some serious flying. The plane doesnt know its flying over water but the pilot sure does and as you said would not be the most hospitable place to go down. Beautiful terrain but must be stressful under those weather conditions. Thanks for sharing your trip Greg. Gonna check that route out on MS Flight Sim. Nice short landing there to at the end.
I really enjoyed watching your flight. I took my Husky to AK by way of the “trench,” which seemed like a much less exciting way to go. I throughly enjoyed my flight and it did not require any fuel in addition to the standard 50 gallon tanks. Thank you
Quite the adventure. Have you considered a Fladen flotation suite. They wear like a ski suite but make a ditching event way more feasible. They get you about half an hour in cold water making it possible to swim to shore or inflate your raft. They also keep you quite warm in a camping situation. Not expensive either.
That's some beautiful but nerve-racking flying!! Over water so much of the way, and even if you had to and could set her down on land then there's always those big grizzly bears. At least you've got a well thought out go bag that you keep a .44 in for protection if needed on land! Even so, I'd still be concerned! Glad you had fun and made it home safe!
Nice video. You need my new design... No worries over water... 200-300 cruise. Three place tandem with option 3 extra over spare. Land 50 ft...Tundra tires hidden in body...1/2 C-172 drag.
We did almost the same flight in the 185 at the end of August. PAHO-PAKT-KSHN at 11,500 with an RNAV approach at Shelton. 10 hours in one day. We wait for a descent weather window and stay within gliding distance of land. Flying within Canada is easier without the long legs and inclement weather of flying the coast, but ADS-B weather helps. With the exception of two years, we’ve done NV-AK-NV for 21 years. Canada was fun, but with the current state of politics, the coastal route and overflying Canada is now our choice. Loving ADS-B and ForeFlight. Edit: La Center, eh? We sometimes stop at Cedars North W58 to visit an old friend on the way.
Cool video greg. Just crossed Iliamna about 50 times finishing the season. Always is in the back of my mind what the outcome would be if the fire went out. Only god knows;) safe flying
Yeah I remember doing it in Jerry's Cub with a self inflating raft tied to the jury struts thinking the same thing. Not 50X but every time I went across in that cub I was a little nervous and the engine did bump a few times out over open water for real.
Wow! What awesome footage. Thanks for posting this. Amazing machine you have there and your airmanship and emergency preparedness is just as impressive! What an adventure your life is! can’t wait until I get a bush plane.
This summer I flew Orcas to Ketchikan in my pacer over 6 hours and had 14 gallons remaining when I landed. I thought that was impressive but PAKT to La Center is incredible. Awesome range you have.
Awesome! That takes intestinal fortitude to what you do. I’ve done 750 miles cross country flights with some of it over Timber that goes on for miles but I’m not sure what would make me more apprehensive. An engine out with a water landing or tree landing? thanks for the great videos and for being an inspiration. Keep ‘em coming.
Excellent video blog. I hope to be able to do similar long distance trips with my experimental airplane, when it's back in flying condition. I"m currently modifying and repairing it, and posting the videos on my youtube channel. You've given me some great ideas on how I'll be editing and presenting my flying videos, once I'm in the air. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to do a camping trip together. That would be great! Cheers from Winnipeg.
Amazing video as usual! A common misnomer "VFR on-top" is actually an IFR clearance. I'm trying to get the FAA officially define what you were doing "VFR above the clouds"... but they don't answer my phone calls anymore. ;) keep up the amazing content!
Non of the flying cowboys have any videos of anything like this or Alaska related think just Mike patey but draco can fly high awesome video flying sideways and low
I was curious about your route and now I know - you over fly Canada and avoid the customs hassles. I'm afraid I don't have your flying skills, nor apparently your bladder capacity to consider doing the same. Incredible flying, great video editing - thanks for sharing.
I should not sure I will since I put the tank away already. It is pretty simple though. I have a 12V automotive pump that I plug into a 12V female plug when I am ready to transfer. The fuel system other then that is just a standard right/left / off/ both selector. I have a one way check valve so I can take the hose on and off the AN fitting without having to worry about fuel going everywhere when I install the tank. Works great!
This kind of flying requires implicit trust in your engine. Do you mind me asking who does/did your engine maintenance? I'm getting ready to choose a shop to rebuild the Franklin in my M-4 Maule. Thanx & safe travels, Greg ^v^
looks like 1000 miles of scud running, at least the rain will clean the bugs off. no fuel stops in canada, what's avfulel there now, 10 bucks a liter? they charge you to land too don't they? BC stands for Bring Cash
Greg, super cool video! I haven't seen or heard people taking the coastal route, most of what i've heard is following roads up so it's cool to see another route. Gotta ask, a lot of the weather I saw in the video showed clear skies above the layer. Other than good scenery under the clouds, is there other technical reasons you weren't on top of the layer? Seems like gliding distance would be largely improved, but I could see a problem if you had an engine out above the layer and had to descend through the clouds not knowing if you were going to impact terrain halfway through the clouds. What's your take?
Amazing video, very educational and incredible performance by Bushwhacker. As someone contemplating this trip in the future, do you think having an IFR aircraft would offer any benefit or is icing in the clouds such a concern that it would be irrelevant? Epic journey, glad to see you posting youtube videos again!
Yes if you have a capable airplane for known icing conditions it would be possible to go IFR. A lot of the time you are not going to be able to get above it so IFR is a no go for me because of ice.
sweet!! thanks, my friend!!! Sitka is so nice though!!!! why not Skagway I mean I know it's inland a bit but so beautiful....but yeah prob just way outta the way and those are some tall moutans range wow, the winds! but they are always so bad through there! glad you're safe sounds like u definitely packed right! why not go on two planes with another friend!? safety in number! Do you have a belly pod!? wow crazy! buy I would so do it! bet you were beat! glad you're safe bud thx you for sharing:-) I'm so jealous!!! how many people can say they have done that?!!! sincerely a fellow enthusiast!! also don't they make a emergency inflatable pontoons?? over water safety?? you are def smart enough!! just like emergency rafts and plane ramps..who knows maybe I'm just thinking too far out of the box...stay safe cover your six!
Lots of questions:)) I usually don't do it with another plane in tow because of timing. I have to be there on a certain date and come home on a certain date. Most people (not all) would not be comfortable flying in the conditions I do. Yes I have a belly pod on. Inflatable pontoons, probably not an option as far as I know for a 2500 pound airplane.
Hey Greg, I've never flown that route. Do you still need to involve Canada if you don't land in their country? I thought that you didn't need to deal with customs if you don't land there...
No customs required, file flight plan an go. If you want you can actually avoid talking to anyone if you stay below 1200 feet going through Vancouver and Victoria airspace.
It was my understanding Maules were certified aircraft. Do you have a video explaining how you converted it to experimental? Or was it a scratch build?
Yes a Maule is certified and I use to just say experimental 9013U taking off or landing but most pilots see it as a Maule so I call it experimental Maule. It is register as Bushwacker. And I am the builder. I took some Maule parts in 2003 and made a list of all my changes, ran it by the head of the Portland FSDO at the time and he said go for it. By 2004 I had completed the build and had it signed off. It is a lot different than a Maule in so many ways but it still looks like a Maule because of the shape of the fuselage. Anyway that is how Bushwacker started life. For the most part it was built from scratch.
@@mauleguy Gotcha. Sometimes you'll see a certified cub that's been torn down for rebuild and they're looking to get rid of the project. I've always wondered if you could use the parts as donors and rebuild it as an experimental.. not sure what the regs say about that
Cool video Greg! Out of curiosity, why not take the inland route through Canada? Definitely some pretty country but the coastal route is notorious for shitty weather. If you went down in that water, I don't have to tell you how cold it is and it's unlikely you'd be able to swim out, especially if injured. Thoughts?
Inland I could not make it overflying Canada, would have to do customs. I don't think you can fly through Canada (land) because of Covid, last time I checked it was a no go unless you lived in Alaska.
I have done the inland route as many times maybe more and would prefer it even though it takes and extra day although I do hate dealing with customs on both ends.
Great video, thanks for sharing. Quick question, when you are down low along the coast line for those long stretches of time are you hand flying the entire stretch or do use the autopilot at all?
speechless and in awe at every video. This is what real flying is about. Respect from Brittany.
Thanks for taking us along Greg!! Amazing scenery!! That is a ballsy trip!!!
Years ago I developed an oil return line failure in my cub- It was pure luck that I landed before all of my oil drained out. My wife and I would have flipped over in 5 feet of snow; I realized to never totally trust my equipment entirely. I have always crossed water with enough altitude to glide to/near land. I have been afraid to fly the coast route!
One of the best flight videos ever posted to youtube. Well done. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, thanks!
Hi Greg,
Thank you for sharing your trip with us.
Take care,
Be safe.
I was half expecting the cheering section to be greeting you as you stepped down from the plane... Or was it, "Honey, I'm home!"
All I can say is "Respect brother". Wow. Some serious flying. The plane doesnt know its flying over water but the pilot sure does and as you said would not be the most hospitable place to go down. Beautiful terrain but must be stressful under those weather conditions. Thanks for sharing your trip Greg. Gonna check that route out on MS Flight Sim. Nice short landing there to at the end.
I really enjoyed watching your flight. I took my Husky to AK by way of the “trench,” which seemed like a much less exciting way to go. I throughly enjoyed my flight and it did not require any fuel in addition to the standard 50 gallon tanks. Thank you
Challenging conditions topped off by your precarious home airstrip.
Outstanding
Thanks for posting oly boy living in kansas.
awesome to see you go through some familiar country! I live on Prince Of Wales Island! Just a hop away from ketchikan
Thanks man definitely gives me something to throw on the bucket list
Quite the adventure. Have you considered a Fladen flotation suite. They wear like a ski suite but make a ditching event way more feasible. They get you about half an hour in cold water making it possible to swim to shore or inflate your raft. They also keep you quite warm in a camping situation. Not expensive either.
That's some beautiful but nerve-racking flying!! Over water so much of the way, and even if you had to and could set her down on land then there's always those big grizzly bears. At least you've got a well thought out go bag that you keep a .44 in for protection if needed on land!
Even so, I'd still be concerned! Glad you had fun and made it home safe!
Nice video. You need my new design... No worries over water... 200-300 cruise. Three place tandem with option 3 extra over spare. Land 50 ft...Tundra tires hidden in body...1/2 C-172 drag.
Thanks Greg for sharing your flight.
Very interesting weather along the way, really enjoy what you are showing us,
Cheers from Canada
Your welcome
I wish I was that confident to fly like you.
Home sweet home. Man I bet it was nice to finally shut it down and extract yourself from the cabin
Extract was exactly how it felt!!!
Pretty cool, you flew right over Perry Island, out of Whittier. Camped in the twin bays many a night. Put a big smile to see it again.
Glad I could do that for you!
Live in Juneau Alaska thanks for the flight, 👍
Great technical info-Thanks!
We did almost the same flight in the 185 at the end of August. PAHO-PAKT-KSHN at 11,500 with an RNAV approach at Shelton. 10 hours in one day. We wait for a descent weather window and stay within gliding distance of land. Flying within Canada is easier without the long legs and inclement weather of flying the coast, but ADS-B weather helps.
With the exception of two years, we’ve done NV-AK-NV for 21 years. Canada was fun, but with the current state of politics, the coastal route and overflying Canada is now our choice. Loving ADS-B and ForeFlight.
Edit: La Center, eh? We sometimes stop at Cedars North W58 to visit an old friend on the way.
I use to keep my airplane at Cedars a few years ago.
Pretty crappy weather to be flying in.
Lucky you are a bit use to it on the west Coast. Cheers
Living the Dream!
Cool video greg. Just crossed Iliamna about 50 times finishing the season. Always is in the back of my mind what the outcome would be if the fire went out. Only god knows;) safe flying
Yeah I remember doing it in Jerry's Cub with a self inflating raft tied to the jury struts thinking the same thing. Not 50X but every time I went across in that cub I was a little nervous and the engine did bump a few times out over open water for real.
Wow! What awesome footage. Thanks for posting this. Amazing machine you have there and your airmanship and emergency preparedness is just as impressive! What an adventure your life is! can’t wait until I get a bush plane.
Hadn’t seen a video for a while, figured you were up here hunting. Thanks for sharing!
This summer I flew Orcas to Ketchikan in my pacer over 6 hours and had 14 gallons remaining when I landed. I thought that was impressive but PAKT to La Center is incredible. Awesome range you have.
That is a good run in a Pacer for sure. Must have also had some kind of ferry tank or did a mid air refueling:))
@@mauleguy I have the 30.5 atlee dodge tanks. They are a great upgrade from the stock tanks. No need for ferry tank until I try to cross the atlantic.
Had to watch… gonna do the same trip this summer!
Awesome...in 20 minutes. I bet you are whipped by the time you get home. That has to be tiring as all get out! It is beautiful though!
Yeah, I was beat and ready for a break from flying by the time I got home. I don't think I got back in an airplane for a whole week:))
Awesome! That takes intestinal fortitude to what you do. I’ve done 750 miles cross country flights with some of it over Timber that goes on for miles but I’m not sure what would make me more apprehensive. An engine out with a water landing or tree landing? thanks for the great videos and for being an inspiration. Keep ‘em coming.
Excellent video blog. I hope to be able to do similar long distance trips with my experimental airplane, when it's back in flying condition. I"m currently modifying and repairing it, and posting the videos on my youtube channel. You've given me some great ideas on how I'll be editing and presenting my flying videos, once I'm in the air. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to do a camping trip together. That would be great! Cheers from Winnipeg.
Cheers Peter, keep it up and you will be flying in no time!
Great video mate.
Outstanding video, really enjoyed being able to see this trip. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing video as usual! A common misnomer "VFR on-top" is actually an IFR clearance. I'm trying to get the FAA officially define what you were doing "VFR above the clouds"... but they don't answer my phone calls anymore. ;) keep up the amazing content!
VFR over the top
Someday im gonna do this!
Non of the flying cowboys have any videos of anything like this or Alaska related think just Mike patey but draco can fly high awesome video flying sideways and low
Draco was crashed like 2 years ago and he built a new plane.
Wonderful! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I was curious about your route and now I know - you over fly Canada and avoid the customs hassles. I'm afraid I don't have your flying skills, nor apparently your bladder capacity to consider doing the same.
Incredible flying, great video editing - thanks for sharing.
Little John for the bladder
Great video and great flying skills. Would you mind doing a video showing your fuel set and explain how everything works?? Thanks.
I should not sure I will since I put the tank away already. It is pretty simple though. I have a 12V automotive pump that I plug into a 12V female plug when I am ready to transfer. The fuel system other then that is just a standard right/left / off/ both selector. I have a one way check valve so I can take the hose on and off the AN fitting without having to worry about fuel going everywhere when I install the tank. Works great!
That last leg from Ketchikan Alaska to La Centre is 28 hours by car according to GPS ..easily a three day drive and you did it in one leg
Yes sir, my legs barely worked when I got out too!
This kind of flying requires implicit trust in your engine. Do you mind me asking who does/did your engine maintenance? I'm getting ready to choose a shop to rebuild the Franklin in my M-4 Maule. Thanx & safe travels, Greg ^v^
looks like 1000 miles of scud running, at least the rain will clean the bugs off. no fuel stops in canada, what's avfulel there now, 10 bucks a liter? they charge you to land too don't they? BC stands for Bring Cash
No fuel or landing in Canada
Wow
Greg, super cool video! I haven't seen or heard people taking the coastal route, most of what i've heard is following roads up so it's cool to see another route. Gotta ask, a lot of the weather I saw in the video showed clear skies above the layer. Other than good scenery under the clouds, is there other technical reasons you weren't on top of the layer? Seems like gliding distance would be largely improved, but I could see a problem if you had an engine out above the layer and had to descend through the clouds not knowing if you were going to impact terrain halfway through the clouds. What's your take?
I only go on top (like after I passed Bella Bella ) when I know the conditions or I have an out.
Amazing video, very educational and incredible performance by Bushwhacker. As someone contemplating this trip in the future, do you think having an IFR aircraft would offer any benefit or is icing in the clouds such a concern that it would be irrelevant? Epic journey, glad to see you posting youtube videos again!
Yes if you have a capable airplane for known icing conditions it would be possible to go IFR. A lot of the time you are not going to be able to get above it so IFR is a no go for me because of ice.
@@mauleguy Thanks for answering!
sweet!! thanks, my friend!!!
Sitka is so nice though!!!! why not Skagway I mean I know it's inland a bit but so beautiful....but yeah prob just way outta the way and those are some tall moutans range wow, the winds! but they are always so bad through there! glad you're safe sounds like u definitely packed right! why not go on two planes with another friend!? safety in number! Do you have a belly pod!? wow crazy! buy I would so do it! bet you were beat! glad you're safe bud thx you for sharing:-) I'm so jealous!!! how many people can say they have done that?!!! sincerely a fellow enthusiast!! also don't they make a emergency inflatable pontoons?? over water safety?? you are def smart enough!! just like emergency rafts and plane ramps..who knows maybe I'm just thinking too far out of the box...stay safe cover your six!
Lots of questions:)) I usually don't do it with another plane in tow because of timing. I have to be there on a certain date and come home on a certain date. Most people (not all) would not be comfortable flying in the conditions I do. Yes I have a belly pod on. Inflatable pontoons, probably not an option as far as I know for a 2500 pound airplane.
@@mauleguy yeah never thought about the weight! thx for response to my dumb questions!!:}
Hey Greg, I've never flown that route. Do you still need to involve Canada if you don't land in their country? I thought that you didn't need to deal with customs if you don't land there...
No customs required, file flight plan an go. If you want you can actually avoid talking to anyone if you stay below 1200 feet going through Vancouver and Victoria airspace.
@@mauleguy appreciate the feedback.
It was my understanding Maules were certified aircraft. Do you have a video explaining how you converted it to experimental? Or was it a scratch build?
Yes a Maule is certified and I use to just say experimental 9013U taking off or landing but most pilots see it as a Maule so I call it experimental Maule. It is register as Bushwacker. And I am the builder. I took some Maule parts in 2003 and made a list of all my changes, ran it by the head of the Portland FSDO at the time and he said go for it. By 2004 I had completed the build and had it signed off. It is a lot different than a Maule in so many ways but it still looks like a Maule because of the shape of the fuselage. Anyway that is how Bushwacker started life. For the most part it was built from scratch.
@@mauleguy Gotcha. Sometimes you'll see a certified cub that's been torn down for rebuild and they're looking to get rid of the project. I've always wondered if you could use the parts as donors and rebuild it as an experimental.. not sure what the regs say about that
Cool video Greg! Out of curiosity, why not take the inland route through Canada? Definitely some pretty country but the coastal route is notorious for shitty weather. If you went down in that water, I don't have to tell you how cold it is and it's unlikely you'd be able to swim out, especially if injured. Thoughts?
Inland I could not make it overflying Canada, would have to do customs. I don't think you can fly through Canada (land) because of Covid, last time I checked it was a no go unless you lived in Alaska.
I have done the inland route as many times maybe more and would prefer it even though it takes and extra day although I do hate dealing with customs on both ends.
@@mauleguy I wanna see you stick around for a while and keep making videos. Hope the stay in AK was a good one!
Great video, thanks for sharing. Quick question, when you are down low along the coast line for those long stretches of time are you hand flying the entire stretch or do use the autopilot at all?
No autopilot in airplane which is probably a good thing since I would probably fall asleep:))
@@mauleguy yep, that makes sense. That terrain will really keep you on your toes. Thanks again for sharing. Your videos are fantastic.
A route only for the bold and fear controlled.
What helmet is that?
Tungsten steel Balls