AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2024 - 18

ON COURSE
Way off airport
Sandbars beckon in Alaska's Yentna River
BY KOLLIN STAGNITO / Editor in Chief
AOPA Foundation Legacy Society member
I TOOK A commercial flight to Alaska to present AOPA's national
and Alaskan advocacy initiatives at an AOPA Pilot Town Hall held
during the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering-an event I've always
wanted to attend.
AOPA Alaska Regional Manager Tom George organized an
Airport Support Network (ASN) volunteer breakfast at the Turkey
Red restaurant in Palmer, and I introduced myself as a Cessna 170B
owner who pretends to fly backcountry, mostly landing at grass
strips in the eastern United States. Wasilla Airport ASN volunteer
David Roper was sitting to my left. " If you want to land off-airport
in Alaska, " he said, " we can go flying tomorrow in my Cessna
180. " He's a longtime friend of Cliff Gurske (who won the AOPA
Sweepstakes Cessna 170) and flew to Arizona to check Cliff out in
the airplane. Good enough for me-I was in.
We met at 7 a.m. the next morning. David's polished aluminum
and red-trimmed 1953 Cessna 180 is largely unmodified except for
the requisite 29-inch Alaskan Bushwheel tires. He's owned it for 22
years, and his mastery of the aircraft was evident from engine start.
It was spring in Alaska and the ice had finally broken on the
rivers; large chunks floated in the swift current. David was looking
for a sandbar to land on, but the melting snow and ice had raised
the water level and reduced our potential landing spots. We flew
at 500 feet; I was looking for moose and bears, David was focusing
his trained eyes on the length and quality of sandbars. We had
a satellite-based tracking device onboard and there were plenty
of emergency landing areas nearby.
Sixty miles south of breathtaking Denali-glaciers creeping
down its 20,310-foot-tall peak in every direction-David spotted a
promising sandbar at the confluence of the Yentna and Skwentna
Rivers. We flew a low, tight pattern and approached the sandbar
from the southeast. One hundred feet above the river on short final
David said, " This isn't going to work. " His discernment has been
honed by decades of backcountry experience. " See those ridges
in the sand? It's not smooth enough to land. " We performed a low
approach and go-around, and immediately set up for an approach
to another sandbar. " I saw it in my peripheral vision as we were
approaching the first sandbar, " said David, " This one looks better. "
Most sandbars are a combination of sand and gravel, and the
proportions can be crucial. Gravel is generally better than sand,
as long as the rocks are not too large. Sand will work if it's firm
18
AOPA PILOT / July 2024
enough to keep the tires from sinking in. We landed on the sandy
part of the bar and David kept some power on until we rolled onto
the gravel portion. He pulled the mixture and the engine shuddered
to a stop. I jumped out and was immediately aware of the
silence, the cool air, the huge chunks of ice drifting down the river,
the sight of the airplane that had made this moment possible.
It's this ability of a properly equipped airplane flown by a
well-trained pilot to land in a natural setting that has made GA
such a staple of Alaskan life. During my too-brief stay, I visited
Lake Hood Airport (PALH), Merrill Field (PAMR), Birchwood
Airport (PABV), Palmer Municipal Airport (PAAQ), Wasilla
Airport (PAWS), and several private fields and was stunned at the
quantity and variety of airplanes on the ramps. Some 2,457 aircraft
are based at just these five airports, according to the AOPA
Airport Directory. It was a bountiful sight that would make most
airports in the lower 48 envious: airplanes on floats, skis, and big
tires actively flying to airports, lakes, rivers, fields, and any other
surface flat enough to land. These aircraft serve as transportation,
supply chain, and emergency services-missions difficult or impossible
in Alaska using land-based vehicles.
David and I walked the sandbar to make certain no hidden
obstacles or soft sand would hamper our takeoff run. He shared a
lot of hard-won backcountry flying wisdom during that walk that
will benefit my " backcountry " flying in the future.
We jumped back in the 180. David taxied to the end of the
sandbar in a wide arc to prevent the main tires from digging into
the sand and upon lining up for takeoff pushed full forward on
the control wheel to lift the tailwheel out of the sand (just two
of many tips he shared that morning). Too soon we approached
Wasilla Airport and landed on its shorter gravel runway to preserve
David's bush tires.
I asked David how we did transforming the AOPA Sweepstakes
170 into a backcountry beast. He loved the performance, and only
thought we should have removed the hat shelf and added an
extended baggage area. Oh,
and the tires were not big
enough. I can't wait to fly
my own airplane to Alaska-
once I get the big tires.
kollin.stagnito@aopa.org
KOLLIN STAGNITO, AOPA
senior vice president of media,
is a commercial pilot, ground
instructor, and owner of a
1953 Cessna 170B.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2024

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