AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 75
ONE SHOT PASS is a
"Y
"You'll fly up here 365 days,
and every day you'll have a
different view."
-Chip Sonn
notch in the flank of
Mount Hunter that,
when weather allows,
offers aircraft the most
direct route between
Talkeetna and the
Kahiltna Glacier base
camp.
Continued from page 72
"I learned a lot about glacier flying here. This is
one of the most unique environments for it," he said,
adding that he appreciates his employer's added safety
nets of flight tracking and information sharing. "K2 is
an open book on information."
Contrast that with private pilots transiting the
area, who are on their own. "On mountain frequency,
they'll ask us lots of questions-and about snow conditions. We encourage it," he said. Sonn and his peers
have the same attitude when a pilot walks into their
office. Flight Service is helpful, too; there's a station on
Talkeetna Airport. "If anyone flies up here without adequate knowledge, it's their own fault."
Landing on a glacier, flat light conditions are most
difficult, said Stan Steck of Anchorage (see "Landing
on a Glacier," p. 73). "Flat light and bad weather are
the riskiest conditions," he said. And landing is more
complicated than a glassy-water landing in a seaplane, "especially when there are multiple slopes. A
short glassy-water landing is a better comparison."
Steck retired from the National Park Service as a
pilot at Denali National Park in 2005. When his wife
suggested in 2011 that he get a job, "I came to Talkeetna
because I love flying in the mountains. I had a skill set
that was unique to this area." Although the skills aren't
especially difficult, he said, it does take exposure,
practice, and feedback. "And you have to have fun-otherwise your passengers won't."
One of his most surprising lessons was how easy it
is to get stuck in the ice. "You're taught to land and pull
the power. In the ski world you might not want to do
that; it could lead to you getting stuck. And it takes a lot
of labor to get unstuck."
He has adapted well to flying tourists instead of
researchers. "Our mission is to put smiles on people's
faces," Steck said. "There's no sense in flying in turbulence. [Passengers] won't remember the views we give
them; they'll remember being sick."
"K2 is such a safety-oriented business, in everything
we do," Sonn added. "Company policy is built on having
ways to get out of those canyons. We can take off out of
base camp, and our way out can be shut down. There's no
forecasts; it's all experience. Are we going to have fog on
the glacier, or fog in the pass? We're always landing uphill
and taking off downhill. It takes a while to get used to it.
The landing areas are huge but we have no go-arounds."
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 75
http://www.aopa.org/pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 16A
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 17A
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 102
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 106
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 107
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 113
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 114
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 115
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 116
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 117
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - 118
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2018 - Cover4
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