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7-19-17: MT-Propeller receives STC for MT-Propellers on Twin Commander Series 690/695! Read more...
Monday, September 16, 2013: Day 23 - Petropavlovsk-Fairbanks, Alaska
This morning we awoke to a dreary day; rain and low clouds obscured the mountains that I had hoped to see better today after last night's late arrival. Today is a short day because of the time zone change; we lose 4 hours, which means that we arrive late again in
to Fairbanks. When we arrived at the airport, it was just a few minutes through security and then onto the aircraft for a daily inspection in the light rain. After start up we had a "follow me" truck (photo left) lead us in the rain to the long 11,158 ft runway for a back taxi to the end for takeoff. We climbed up to 25,000 feet into beautiful clear skies that lay just above the overcast. The further north we travelled the skies became clearer, with the Pacific Ocean on our right and the coast of Russia on the left. The scenery is amazing! It's like flying over Arizona with a coastline. So far we have been talking with Petropavlovsk Control on VHF, which is clear and very understandable. With now just over an hour to Anadyr, I feel like the trip is coming to an end. There have been so many wonderful times and adventures behind us. Mike Collins has been a great traveling companion and
great friend, plus our trip will be professionally documented with wonderful photos. We are now 30 minutes from Anadyr; ATIS says we have 10 miles visability and base is 490. I am not sure whether that is meters or feet but either way it will be fine and better than the forecasted TEMP of 300 feet overcast. As we joined the localiser we could see the runway at 27,000 so it was an easy approach. (Photo right: Wicked wind shear on arrival to Anadyr.) Within about 10 minutes we were greeted by customs and a great many others--I'm not sure who they all were--I felt more than a little intimidated by all of the officials present. There was a lot of paper work and questions, but all was okay. We were now allowed to take on fuel while our passports were being stamped and our release paperwork was in process. By the time we were fueled, customs was back with our passports and we were good to go. After startup, Anadyr Tower cleared us for taxi and take off, and we were on our way--next stop USA. I wonder what sort of reception will we get there from our authorities. Cruising at 25,000 feet we're now heading across the Bering Sea towards Alaska. The OAT says -40 degrees C; it's time to see how N50ET and the MT-props like these temps, because I have just such a reading with the Hartzells that I used to have on N50ET. I had to increase the power setting to take this reading, so I matched the fuel flows from my previous reading that was 40 gallons a side, temp, altitude and fuel on board was the same. My Hartzell reading was 318 knots TAS and my MT-Prop reading is 316 knots TAS.
We have just now crossed the FIR boundary into US airspace and the International Date Line (photo left), so instead of it being Monday it is now Sunday again. Talking with Anchorage Control makes you appreciate what we have in the US with respect to aviation services. However, I must admit this trip has not been too hard, but it is all about the planning and preparation!Our approach into Fairbanks was visual--it was beautiful evening--and we landed just before 10:00 PM. Our customs man was waiting for us, and he was the nicest one that I have ever met. We fueled and went to hotel for a good night's rest. It's great to be back in the US!