SO WHY ALASKA?

That's a question I've been asked frequently as I talk with family and friends about our upcoming flying adventure to that great big state up North.

I never really thought much about it other than I've always wanted to go to Alaska. I think it started about the time I first heard the Johnny Horton song "North To Alaska" sometime when I was around nine. Sounded to me like Big Sam (the character in the song) made a good move when he left Seattle and headed north.

On top of that I love to fly. From my first ride in a DC3 when I was eleven years old, to flying gliders in outback Australia, to piloting my own Piper Archer to the Bahamas, renting a Turbo Arrow in Australia and flying around that big continent... I guess flying has been a pretty big part of my life esepecially the last 20 years.

So like many pilots, I had this dream of ONE DAY... flying to Alaska. That one day never came, mostly because I didn't want to do the trip solo and couldn't find anyone interested enough, brave enough, or stupid enough to go with me. Until Cousin Chris came along.

I guess it is good karma in a way because I take credit for introducing Cousin Chris to aviation on one of my visits to Australia in the late nineties. I took him for a flight at the local airport and he was hooked. Since then he's become the owner of a Yak 52, does aerobatics and formation flying, and generally has made aviation as big a part of his life as it is mine.

So when I suggested flying to Alaska, instead of the usual excuses I got from the few others I had asked, I got a great big "Hell yeah! When do we leave?"

So here we are, about to set off on this great flying adventure from Massachusetts to Alaska.

We'll try to post a daily update here and also some pics.

Another question we get is "What are you going to do when you get there?" I guess the process of getting there is so much fun, I haven't given much thought to that. I'd like to catch a big king salmon though and I think Cousin Chris has got a desire to visit Wasilla for some reason.

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