Winter Flying

Here is what the YK delta looks like in the winter. I went flying with Eric as he made his rounds delivering mail, food, and passengers around the delta. The date was February 16, and the weather was pretty mild. I believe it was around zero to 10 below, but with no wind, that feels pretty balmy during that time of the year.

Eric dropped off over 1,500 pounds of soda pop to the village of Kongiginak. The entire plane was full of soda. The town was excited since they were out.... The most popular soda flavors are Pepsi, Orange Crush, and Mountain Dew. Since there is no running water in most of the villages, children and adults go crazy for soda. So how do people get water you ask? Well, most villages have a "washeteria" which holds washing machines, and it also has a water tank for people to bring buckets to fill. A lot of people just gather rain water in garbage buckets and use as needed. Many go to the ponds for their water.

As you can see, the runways are very short, and gravel (or snow covered for the winter). Some runways have lights, and some do not. The runways are not maintained, so Eric must be very careful when he lands. A few weeks ago he was flying, and since it is "spring" here, everything has turned to mud. Eric got stuck in the mud, so he told his passengers to get out of the plane and push it out of the mud. You just can't get this experiences in the lower 48!

Another thing Eric and I did that day was fly a girl's basketball team from one village to another. Since there are no roads out here, planes are the "cars". In order for teams to play against each other, they must be flown from one place to the next. To me it is pretty crazy!

Since it is so cold here in the winter, Eric must cover the prop every time he lands in a village. Even if he only stops for 15-20 minutes to unload his plane, he must put blankets on the prop, or it will freeze, and that is a very bad thing. At the end of each night, the plane must be plugged in so the engine doesn't freeze, and wing covers must put on. Eric said when it's 50 below, and blowing like crazy, it is very painful to stand out there to put the plane away for the night.