AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2025 - 104

PILOTS
Sandy Bredin
He flies for adventure
BY BARRY SCHIFF
LOGBOOK /
WHO / Sandy Bredin, retired United Airlines Boeing 747
captain whose passion involves flying general aviation
airplanes all over the world. His favorite layover as an airline
pilot was Fairbanks, Alaska, because it enabled him to go
seaplane flying during his visits.
RATINGS / ATP SES, SEL, MEL, helicopter, B-747, B-747-
400, B-767, B-757, B-737, DC-10, DC-3, flight engineer
(turbojet).
TOTAL FLIGHT TIME / 13,000-plus hours.
AIRCRAFT / " My favorite jetliner was a McDonnell Douglas
DC-10, but for sheer fun, I love my Cessna 185. "
EXTRA / " I first flew a DC-3 when hired to fly for actor
Cary Grant. His airplane had JATO (jet-assisted takeoff),
and it was the first time I got to log jet time (about a
minute per flight). "
One of his most exciting flights was in 1983 when he flew
a Conroy Tri-Turbo-Three-the only DC-3 in the world with
three turboprop engines-to the base of the Vinson Massif,
the tallest mountain in Antarctica and one of the so-called
Seven Summits. This was to accommodate a group of eight
mountain climbers wanting to become first to climb the tallest
mountain on each of all seven continents. This also was
the first-ever assault on Mount Vinson. " It was an extremely
complex operation involving a rough ski landing on snow
and ice. It was an even rougher takeoff at 10,000 feet msl that
seemed to take forever. Range of the 'Gooney' was increased
by shutting down the nose-mounted engine and reducing
cruise speed from 230 to 180 mph. "
Having flown to Antarctica, Bredin thought it perfectly
reasonable to fly a Cessna 185 to the North Pole. So, a group
of three Cessnas made the flight in April 1995. " We didn't
go in the summer because the ice might be melting or too
thin. It would be a bad place to get stuck. There's no fuel up
there, of course, so we had to have several barrels of avgas
positioned at Eureka Aerodrome (and weather station) on
Ellesmere Island the year before.
" The temperature on the ice when we landed was minus
WHEN HE WAS 12, Sandy Bredin decided he would become
a truck driver, a train engineer, or an airline pilot. He says
that he opted for flying because trucks and trains didn't
have " stewardesses. "
He didn't learn to fly, however, until he was 24. This is
when he developed an interest in falconry. He and three
friends purchased a Citabria to gain access to the sea cliffs
in Mexico where they could capture young peregrine
falcons to train at home.
104
AOPA PILOT / January 2025
41 degrees, so we only stayed an hour. Staying much longer could have
made it difficult or impossible to restart our engines.
" Some of my most fascinating flights involved flying Orbis
International's DC-10. This was their Flying Eye Hospital, complete
with a state-of-the-art operating room to train eye-care professionals
all over the world. The most interesting missions involved flying
to such out-of-the way places as Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia,
the coldest capital in the world. Being part of the Orbis program was
extremely gratifying. " barryschiff.com
DAVID TULIS
http://www.barryschiff.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2025

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