Stick and Rudder..

TC_ABM said:
With all the discussion going on, I looked up the pilot, Greg Miller, based on the data given on his web page for the "Big Rocks, Long Props" video series.

The pilot has a CPL and PPL priveledges for SES as well. It looks like he built the aircraft he's flying, a Bushwhacker SuperCub variant, serial #001.

According to the kit manufacturer, the SuperCubXP kit with an O-233 has a 1700fpm climb, 100 ft t/o roll, and a 200 ft landing roll.

Seems to me he's operating the aircraft within its limits and within his piloting capabilities/limits.

Oh yeah, he's not Alaskan, and the DVD it came from, while off airport, isn't Alaska.

If we're going to discuss/debate/beat up/judge lets at least get the facts straight so we can deride bush pilots as a whole and not just Alaska aviation.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion here. Me personally, the clips I've sen of his flying looks more safe than the night IMC A/Rs with Iragi fireworks that we were doing over southern Irag during the opening of OIF.

Those were safe and within our operating limits, too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Click to expand...
He apparently has different volumes of dvds from the desert to other locales. I am going to order this one for fun from Amazon that I saw:

Join Greg Miller on his Alaskan Adventure. Greg flies his experimental Maule a.k.a. Bushwacker to Alaska in the winter of 2008. The setting for this adventure is the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park.
After learning about ski flying from Paul Claus on his previous trip (BRLP Vol. 3 ON ICE), he brings Bushwacker up to Alaska to put use what he has learned and test his abilities. Over his two week stay at Ultima Thule Lodge, Greg joins up with Paul and some new friends on may exciting and challenging adventures.

You'll see Greg landing his ski-equipped airplane on snow, ice, rock, and water. Come along as he climbs an ice fall, skins up mountain peaks, and skis down virgin snow-covered mountains. There is no other setting quite as breathtaking as the Wrangell Mountains and Greg pulls out all the stops.

v4_cover_small.jpg



​
 
Honestly, Seggy. Has there ever been anything that you're not only qualified to comment upon, but Utterly Right about, to the point of going down in a pyre of burning self-righteousness, however ludicrous your claim? If there has been, please put it on the Internet, next time.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Honestly, Seggy. Has there ever been anything that you're not only qualified to comment upon, but Utterly Right about, to the point of going down in a pyre of burning self-righteousness, however ludicrous your claim? If there has been, please put it on the Internet, next time.
Click to expand...

Hahhahaha now that is funny for a myriad of reasons.
 
TC_ABM said:
@A Life Aloft: I think Santa is bringing me all five.

I


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Click to expand...
I hate you!!! lmao They look wonderful. If you cannot have a little fun, a little freedom and a little adventure, then what the hell is life about?

The pile of books, maps, articles, guides, videos and crap I have been compiling on AK over the last year is overtaking my den. I promised my wife I would clear a specific space in there and stick them in one area soon.
 
A Life Aloft said:
Seggy....as for Alaska flying which the discussion evolved to fairly quickly......have you ever watched the tv shows such as Mountain Men, Flying Wild Alaska, Alaska State Troopers, Ice Pilots, Wild West Guns Alaska, Alaska's Toughest Pilots, Buying Alaska, Alaska Wing Men, Tougher in Alaska?? These are shows which air and many have aired around the world and many in several seasons. They have details and examples of the type of flying done in Alaska, the Yukon and in Northern Canada.

Now here you have entire tv shows showing the type of flying in all kinds of wx, conditions,terrain, winds, hell you name it, throughout Alaska, the Yukon and Northern Canada and you are upset over one You Tube video which demonstrates the same thing seen on many of these shows?
Click to expand...

Yes I have seen parts of these shows. I do think it is very foolish for the pilots to put themselves out there so people can be entertained. We are professionals, not wanna be TV stars.

You do realize that the type of flying shown in that video happens often up there.......that is just for example for, hunters, fisherman, skiers, geologists, climbers, gold miners, an array of scientists, hikers, goods and supplies, the mail and packages, rescuers, sightseers, campers, the inspections done by fish and game, pipeline workers, remote tiny villages or locations (yes people live out in the middle of nowhere up there where their nearest neighbor might be 150 miles away) that must be serviced, people who must be taken to larger cities for health reasons, and much more are brought to and from remote locations in the state which include the necessity of landing on the sides of mountains, on ice fields, on sand and gravel bars, river banks, on grass strips or fields, on home made runways which can be covered with snow, slipping through mountain passes and valleys,and that there are thousands of locales in Alaska which can only be traversed by air?? And that it has been this way since the first bush pilots flew there?
Click to expand...

Yes I am WELL aware that the flying up there is different. Did you not see what I posted earlier? Putting yourself out there publicaly though is foolish. Like the old say goes, if your Chief Pilot doesn't know who you are, you are doing a good job. Same things with these self pontificating videos and TV shows. Once again, nothing wrong with a picture from the road or a neat youtube video of a special flight, but why is more needed?

A pilot who can do what this pilot did with his plane and the skill that he obviously has, will be less likely to have a serious incident IMO, because he can pull something like this off if he has too. It does not mean that he flies like this all the time. It shows what he is capable of doing and how his aircraft can perform when or if he needs it to.
Click to expand...

Or they think they can get out of anything and the next thing they know they are in a real sticky situation.

If nothing else, Alaska is the ultimate flight training environment. Many, many pilots there are also airframe and power plant mechanics. They have to be. They know the performance limits, can effect repairs, can modify and maintain their planes far better than most pilots in the lower 48.
Click to expand...

No argument from me on this.

According to the Alaska Department of Transportation, there is something like one registered pilot for every 58 residents there! There are 6 times the pilots there than anywhere else in the United States. One has to look at the extreme conditions, the smaller aircraft use, the extreme wx and terrain, and the types of flying done, when looking at accident/incident rates there.

I can bet you that pilots who have flown for years there, have better stick and rudder skills, judgement, and have had to deal with a more wider range of issues and conditions than most pilots in most other locales in the lower 48 have.
Click to expand...

Once again no argument with the above.

It's very disappointing to me that with no experience in the type of flying done in AK, you seem so ready to dismiss the history of aviation up there, the conditions, the aircraft, the nature of the flying there and those members here who do that type of flying for a living whom I admire, respect and enjoy listening to them. I try to learn something from them, and very much enjoy the videos and photos that they post here and their bank of knowledge on the types of flying, the various locations and in the equipment that they fly in AK and the advice, discussions and support they have given me about many things in AK, as I intend to have my own little adventure/life time dream there when I retire.

Take the blinders and the mindset off for a moment.
Click to expand...

Thanks for putting words in my mouth. I am not dismissing the history, conditions, yada yada yada. I am saying if you are stupid enough to show your skills in a video like this, you are asking for trouble. The safety culture and horrific accident rate up there points to the fact that if people were a little more reserved, maybe, just maybe the accident rates would be lower.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Oh, don't be coy, you scamp! Dish! Share the hilarity!
Click to expand...


I don't know a lot about a lot of things. One thing being military aviation. While others pretend they know a ton about the real dynamics of military aviation from what they have learned from the Military Channel, they don't know squat. I know I don't know squat (except every branch thinks they are best). I also know very little about Part 91 Flight Departments or 135 Flight Departments. So nice try with the theatrics.

I do know a lot about safety related and industrial related topics though which cross pollinate across a variety of aviation back grounds.

Another reason why I find your post hysterical is that you LOVE to get on a soap box when you really don't have a leg to stand on. So great job of the pot calling the kettle black. Perfect example is your dive and drive defense and your 'I would never land short like the Asiana Pilots!'.
 
What's your excuse Seggy?
So far, I count 5 people that are current or former Alaskan 135 pilots. (I'd say we earned our soapboxes) Each one telling you how it is. Not just someone who watches the discovery channel.

You have a safety background, fascinating. We don't talk about safety as a paid member of a union at a conference, we live it on a daily basis.

What is unsafe about that specific video?

What ifs/ semantics don't validate debates, so have at it.
What is dangerous about an 1800lbs plane hydroplaning, that a 180,000lbs 737 does on a hourly basis around the world?
What is unsafe about landing on rocks, which he rolls over easily?

Like I said earlier, take a cruise to Alaska. You'll enjoy it. But don't go on any aerial sightseeing tours. You'll have a heart attack.
 
Seggy, the aviators on the shows I mentioned above, aren't flying the way they fly for anyone's entertainment. They have no need to do that. It's the way they operate there. I cannot believe that you think otherwise. It is also incredibly off balance and mind boggling that you judge all of them as not being professional because they are in some tv shows? Really? Compared to who? These are highly skilled, valued professionals. I am very experienced, have decades of hours and have flown internationally in all sorts of wx, conditions, had emergencies and flown in and out of some the busiest of airports on the planet and I consider myself to be a pretty skilled pilot. I believe I have very good hand skills. Those guys could most likely fly rings around me in the type of flying that they do and in the conditions and circumstances that they fly in. Without the training, mindset, and experience I could never attempt what they do. (plus I'd need to be a lot younger lol)

And you then have missed all the dialogue that they have spoken in regards to the conditions there, the equipment, their experience, safety and more then because that is a large part of many of those shows.

As for Chief Pilots, apparently you have not seen the very well respected, very experienced and beloved, (RIP) Arnie Schreder CP at Buffalo Airways, fly. Further the group/pilot who makes the the Big Rocks Long Props does not have a CP to report to. Are you also aware that there have been and currently are just dozens of mainline pilots at the major carriers who perform in their own planes at various shows across the country and they all have videos on You Tube, on their websites and various other websites? Terry Smith, the former CP for Alaskan Airlines, who was very, very experienced in flying in AK crashed his plane and died back in 2010. Have you read any interviews with for example, Lee Ryan the CP at Ryan Air or are you familiar with his philosophy and thoughts about safety and flying in AK and what he has accomplished at his company? I doubt it. Are you familiar with Terry Holiday? I doubt it.

RE: Mr. Holiday ....
"Fifteen minutes later, we were at the base of the Knik Glacier. Holliday descended until we were flying low over a luminously blue stretch of water choked with car-size chunks of ice. On one side rose a vertical rock face; on the other, a sheer wall of blue ice. Holliday drove down the gap like a cabbie down Park Avenue. It was one of the most breathtaking experiences I'd ever had, but if the engine failed, there would be only two possible outcomes: quick and hot or slow and cold.

The engine held, and Holliday swooped up and banked sharply, diving and landing on mud flats beside a glacial lake. We climbed out, our hair ruffled by the cold katabatic wind flowing down over the ice. High above us, mountain goats stood out as white dots on a looming rock face. Standing in this spot was the best argument I could think of for bush flying. So, if technology is not the way to make this kind of flying safer, I asked Holliday, what is?

"Common sense," he answered. "It's not something you can teach. You need a certain amount of luck and you need a certain amount of experience. If you get away with something once, you have to be smart enough not to try to get away with it twice."

You keep going back to the accident rates yet ignoring the reasons in another post that made on this thread. This makes no sense.

You hyperbole when you assume "Or they think they can get out of anything and the next thing they know they are in a real sticky situation."

And you are dismissing, not willing to listen, too recalcitrant too learn plus being disrespectful to the pilots on this forum that fly for a living in AK. I find this the most bothersome. You can dismiss me, as I have never flown there (yet) , but they have and do. Are every single one of them wrong?

I am going to repeat something from my earlier post in this thread....something that I do not believe you will ever be able to really comprehend/understand.

In an age of electronic marvels, we tend to look to technology to solve our problems. When it stands in for expertise, however, it puts itself between us and the world around us. It mediates and insulates. At its best, technology can empower. There is no one freer than a pilot in Alaska with an airplane. When you take off, you can have thousands of square miles entirely to yourself. There is no mediation. It is a matter of you, your machine and the wilderness. And that's pure freedom.
 
Last edited:
Nark said:
What's your excuse Seggy?
So far, I count 5 people that are current or former Alaskan 135 pilots. (I'd say we earned our soapboxes) Each one telling you how it is. Not just someone who watches the discovery channel.

You have a safety background, fascinating. We don't talk about safety as a paid member of a union at a conference, we live it on a daily basis.

What is unsafe about that specific video?

What ifs/ semantics don't validate debates, so have at it.
What is dangerous about an 1800lbs plane hydroplaning, that a 180,000lbs 737 does on a hourly basis around the world?
What is unsafe about landing on rocks, which he rolls over easily?

Like I said earlier, take a cruise to Alaska. You'll enjoy it. But don't go on any aerial sightseeing tours. You'll have a heart attack.
Click to expand...


Did you "learn " to put the PT6s in reverse in flight in Alaska?

http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/turbine-donts.151827/page-2#post-1964682
 
A Life Aloft said:
Seggy, the aviators on the shows I mentioned above, aren't flying the way they fly for anyone's entertainment.
Click to expand...

Then why are they on TV on a show that is obviously dramatized for entertainment?


They have no need to do that. It's the way they operate there. I cannot believe that you think otherwise. It is also incredibly off balance and mind boggling that you judge all of them as not being professional because they are in some tv shows? Really? Compared to who? These are highly skilled, valued professionals. I am very experienced, have decades of hours and have flown internationally in all sorts of wx, conditions, had emergencies and flown in and out of some the busiest of airports on the planet and I consider myself to be a pretty skilled pilot. I believe I have very good hand skills. Those guys could most likely fly rings around me in the type of flying that they do and in the conditions and circumstances that they fly in. Without the training, mindset, and experience I could never attempt what they do. (plus I'd need to be a lot younger lol)
Click to expand...

Let's be clear, they do a different type of flying. Would I attempt to do what they do? No. Could I? Yes.

And you then have missed all the dialogue that they have spoken in regards to the conditions there, the equipment, their experience, safety and more then because that is a large part of many of those shows.
Click to expand...

No I did not miss it.

As for Chief Pilots, apparently you have not seen the very well respected, very experienced and beloved, (RIP) Arnie Schreder CP at Buffalo Airways, fly.
Click to expand...

I met a guy who used to work at Buffalo Airways. Have you?

And you are dismissing, not willing to listen, too recalcitrant too learn plus being disrespectful to the pilots on this forum that fly for a living in AK. I find this the most bothersome. You can dismiss me, as I have never flown there (yet) , but they have and do. Are every single one of them wrong?
Click to expand...

Once again you are putting words in my mouth. I am saying the flying they do is different. No need to make YouTube videos off it and try to sell DVDs.


I am going to repeat something from my earlier post in this thread....something that I do not believe you will ever be able to really comprehend/understand.

In an age of electronic marvels, we tend to look to technology to solve our problems. When it stands in for expertise, however, it puts itself between us and the world around us. It mediates and insulates. At its best, technology can empower. There is no one freer than a pilot in Alaska with an airplane. When you take off, you can have thousands of square miles entirely to yourself. There is no mediation. It is a matter of you, your machine and the wilderness. And that's pure freedom.
Click to expand...

No I get that. But when some says "watch this" in aviation, bad things happen more often than not.
 
Last edited:
You met a guy who worked at Buffalo......and????? Also you are now assuming that pilots there would have issues in a crew environment as well. Further, you believe that you could do all the different types of flying that pilots in AK do. Oh Lord. Help me. Really, this conversation has gotten more pathetic by the moment. Your responses are just ridiculous. I give up.

All you former and current mainliners who perform at airshows......take down your You Tube videos quick!
 
Last edited:
A Life Aloft said:
You met a guy who worked at Buffalo......and?????
Click to expand...

You can't believe everything you see on TV.

Also you are now assuming that pilots there would have issues in a crew environment as well.
Click to expand...

I edited that.

Further, you believe now that you could do all the different types of flying that pilots in AK do.
Click to expand...

With proper training and experience of course I can do it. 99% of posters on here could. Would I go around posting on YouTube or making DVDs though...? Nope.

Oh Lord. Help me. Really, this conversation has gotten more pathetic by the moment. Your responses are just ridiculous. I give up.
Click to expand...

Maybe if you stop putting words in my mouth you'd see it differently.
 
@Seggy I am still waiting for you to support your claim so you take my inquires "seriously." However:

What is exactly unsafe about the video?
Where do you define sticky situation that you can't get out of based on this type of flying?
How would you improve safety in "bush" flying?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top