AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 52

We follow the Iditarod trail home to
McGrath, taking note of the current weather
conditions in a land where METARs and TAFs
are few and far between, and pilot reports and
weather cameras are king. Suddenly, over the
radio, we get a call, asking if the IAF is up. It's the
Iditarod trail breakers-a team of snowmachiners
who ride the trail first, taking care to ease the
path for the mushers and their teams behind and
place the official trail markers. They're a critical
safety component of the race and precede
the mushers on the trail by at least a day. Turns
out, the snow has been thicker than expected,
and they're low on fuel; they ask to make sure
the IAF brings some to Cripple. They wave up
in thanks as we wave our wings down to them.
This winter-bound region is now only accessible
by skiplane, dog team, or snowmobile, and transporting
fuel would take anything without wings
days. With a Skywagon, it takes a little over an
hour. For Moroney and the other IAF pilots, this
is all in a day's work. For the Iditarod, air support
like this is the reason the " last great race "
can go on at all.
Sic parvis magna
When it comes to general aviation, there is no
place like Alaska. And when it comes to sled dog
racing, there is nothing like the Iditarod. Combine
those two and you have one of the most unique
operations in all of aviation: the Iditarod Air Force.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is a nearly
1,000-mile-long endeavor that takes the most
competitive teams a little more than one week
to complete from Anchorage to Nome. Because
of the remote nature of the race, it relies almost
completely on general aviation air support. The
Iditarod Air Force is an all-volunteer group of
more than 20 pilots and their airplanes plus
support crew who coordinate and fly a variety
of supplies, veterinarians, and race officials to
and from the 20-plus mandatory checkpoints
along the race.
Chief Pilot Wes Erb oversees the whole production,
trusting his team to carry out everything
safely, and providing guidance when needed. A
FedEx pilot by day (and night), he uses up his
yearly vacation to fly for the IAF year after year.
He's deeply proud of the operation, which he
declares as professional and serious as any he's
ever flown for. A 20-year IAF veteran, he notes
that it has " taken a while to get here. "
What started with one pilot in 1973 grew
each year, and around the year 2000, the
52
AOPA PILOT / November 2024

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 102
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 106
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 107
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2024 - Cover4
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