I got a call from a mutual friend who had gotten his plane stuck in the Alaska Range. The hydraulic wheel ski had malfunctioned and left him stranded in a snow bank. He managed to walk out after spending nearly two days trying to fix it. Bad weather had kept him from returning to the scene for nearly a week, and we were uncertain of what we would find. The weather forecast was decent for today so we launched first thing this morning. Once we arrived we spent 4.5 hours digging it out of the snow drifts and fixing the ski. 50 mph winds had blown during the week and it’s amazing that the airplane was not more drifted in. He had done a good job tieing the plane down to snow anchors, and the plane was in perfect condition.
It was an awesome day to be outside working on a project like this, and I enjoyed every minute. Things went very smoothly and with the help of a handy-man jack, a come-along, and some cable, we even made it home in time for dinner.