Duct Tape to the Rescue
 

Check it out after the bear attack!

Matronics Email Lists :: View topic - Don't leave your Piet unguarded

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I got that e-mail also. I bet that happens alot up there. Several years ago I had to recover a rudder for a guy after his dog chewed holes into it.

So, repair the rudder and kill the bastard...!:D

Looks like they used a few hundred feet of tape at a minimum.....what is the standard amount to keep on hand? LOL
I wonder how it flew afterwards.....

For years my dad was an aircraft maintenance engineer in Northern Canada (Northwest Territories, etc, working on twin otters, beavers, etc), and has a ton of stories and pics similar.

One of his roles was to fly in to a "crash" site where he'd fix the disabled plane or helicopter, and then fly it back to base for proper repairs.

He used to call it "100 mph tape", for self-evident reasons.

The only real "code brown" was when they had to reclassify it from 110 mph tape to 100 mph tape, mid-flight.

Some of his stories sounded like complete fabrications, until he whipped out the 35mm slides and show us the pics.

Is that a rifle case on the left side, or a fabricated turret? :D

My dad was an Alaska Bush Pilot. That's real flying, real stick-n-rudder skills.

Anyone can fly military aircraft like myself and Seahawk. Only the studs can fly in the bush.

if only I had a buck for every time I heard that...

Many years ago before I got my IA rating, I used to do a thorough "100 hr inspection" on my airplane with my AP rating, then paid an old local guy to come and do the "annual inspection". He had worked as an aircraft mechanic for many years in Alaska prior to moving back down here. He always made a point to give the wings a good shove up and down as he once had an airplane FLY in for service in Alaska and while working on it, he noticed the wings were being held on by some screwdrivers shoved thru the bolt holes instead of the proper bolts/nuts. :eek:

It is common practice when initially hanging wings back on a plane to use pin punches or screwdrivers to temporarily hold the wing in place..... apparently someone had done this and never went back to install the bolts.

I have heard of many a wild story about how aviation "gets done" up there. ;)

My wife's first husband (deceased), once tried a roll in a CGS Hawk ultralight and ended up buckling an aluminum tube in the wing. He landed in a wheat field and straightened the tube then gingerly flew it back home at very low airspeed.

Ho...thanks...I have 1200 hours of 185 and Beaver under my belt...Nothing is better than a taildragger...I learned to fly on a T-craft...and almost never flew a mother-in-law nose wheeled aircraft.:)

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Now you are talking! Nothing like a taildragger in the bush. This was one of the thousands of gravel bars we land on while in Alaska.

In a very remote part of Alaska a few years ago, I came upon a lone old Cessna 206 next to a gravel strip, and thought how sad to see this derelect airplane abandoned here. Looking through the clouded windows, I could see the ground through holes in the floor. Parts missing. Oily grime covering the belly. Half the instruments and switches in the panel were broken or missing.

I wandered away.

A little while later, I heard an airplane's engine fire up, and it sounded as if an airplane was about to take off. Strange, because I sure would have noticed if another airplane had landed on that small strip.

Boy was I suprised when I saw that the ratty 206 was actually airborne, and flying away.

Yup. Another day of aviation in alaska.

awesome photo, great looking bush plane.
Are pontoons more common on bush planes?

Depends on if you're near water or inland.:D

Depends on where and what season you are flying in. Its about time for floats and wheels to be switched over to ski's in many places. Just depends on where you are and when the first snow starts flying.

As far as the gun on the wing goes i would guess its out in the open in case the bear came back to see if there was any more fish to feast on..
You might be able to get off a few rounds

True.

The things that are strapped on airplanes in the bush is unbelieveable. I kept looking the other way at some things they do up there. Most of them survive the flight but some unfortunately do not. I do not push the limits but thats me....

Born and raised in Alaska and have a fair amount of time in cubs, Citabras and 185s. My uncle still has a Dehavilland Beaver in Kodiak. Those things are amazing with how much they can carry. The old saying goes " if they float, they'll fly" ...