My Brother – Blue Ice Aviation

Photos of the Day–It’s Been a Good Couple Days

Blue Ice Aviation — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 06:21:19 +0000

It’s amazing how the summer fly’s by. It’s August 1st today, which means hunting season is just around the corner. This time next week we will be hauling sheep hunters into the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains. This time next month and the leaves on the trees will be yellow and falling. I love this time of year because it’s still summer, but you can feel the change in the air.

The last couple of days have been beautiful. Yesterday my brother and I flew around in the Chugach all afternoon landing in various places and thoroughly enjoying each minute. We have been busy flying for the gold mine, and doing NOLS re-rations. This afternoon we flew 15 people off of an strip using the super cubs. Then we grilled up some salmon and reindeer sausage for dinner. I do love Alaskan summers and all the cool people we get to meet.

NOLS AKX6 near the Tonsina Glacier.

Taxing for departure.

Zach landing at one of our favorite Chugach strips.

On the glacier.

AK-23 in the hangar this evening.

Alaskan Summer.

Photos on the Road — Pavlov Volcano and the Bro

Blue Ice Aviation — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 05:12:55 +0000

We were hard at work yesterday when Pavlov Volcano blew up just a few miles away. Volcanic ash made it to more than 20,000 foot. I can still see ash spewing into the sky looking out my window right now. Fortunately the winds have worked in our favor so far, so the ash has not been an issue for the machinery.

Also, my brother and his family are home from the Philippines for a few months and he was able to make it down to Cold Bay last night and fly around Unimak Island with me today. The map shows where we were located. Looks like a few days of wind and rain are in the forecast but we can’t complain, it’s been beautiful.

Mo’ betta’ Philippine video via Vimeo

Blue Ice Aviation — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 02:59:15 +0000

This is a video of my trip to the Philippines to visit my brother and his family.

New Blue Ice Aviation Video! … Sorta’

Blue Ice Aviation — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:02:00 +0000

A short video of some of the fun we had in the Philippines.

For more info on what my brother is doing in the Philippines, go here.

Philippine Photo Dump. 55 pictures of the trip.

Blue Ice Aviation — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:59:09 +0000

After moving into the house on December 22, and having Christmas with the family, I headed to the Philippines to spend a couple weeks visiting my brother, and his family. If you read my post from November 27th you know that my brother flies a helicopter on Northern Luzon, but he headed South towards ground zero to help out after the Super Typhoon devastated portions of the central Philippines in mid November. Zach returned with the helicopter to Northern Luzon in mid-December to resume his normal flight schedule to the surrounding tribes. I arrived in Manila on New Year’s eve to meet up with my brother and enjoyed the craziest fire works display of my life. The entire city was engulfed in haze so thick that jetliners are often diverted due to reduced visibility in smoke. Explosions can be heard through out the day, but after dark, on the 31st, there is a constant thump of explosions. By 1130pm the sky was lit by fireworks in a 360 degree display from the guesthouse roof top. I’ve never experienced anything like it, it was almost scary, and sounded like a war zone.

We flew to Tuguegarao city on the morning of Jan 1st to join up with Zach’s family and experience his flight operations. I spent nearly two weeks hanging out with them and got to fly out to three different tribes. It was one of the highlights of my life, and I thoroughly enjoyed each day. Zach and I also put several hundred miles on the dirt bikes as we explored the surrounding roads and mountains. Zach had heard a rumor of a mountain hot spring and one afternoon we explored with the bikes until we found it. This involved crossing a river … in a wooden canoe, pushed along by a dude with really good balance and a bamboo stick. Zach and I balanced on our dirt bikes with our feet braced on the sides, pretty stressful for this Alaska boy, but it was awesome. We also visited Santa Ana on the North Shore of Luzon. I guess this was where Survivor was recently filmed. The beach was perfect and it took a bangka boat to access it, totally amazing. I think we saw 4 other people on this mile long beach, and we were there all day!

It was a perfect trip. I love the country, the people, and the winter temperature. I look forward to another visit. But since words cannot begin to describe another country, and it’s culture, here is a photo dump of a few of the highlights.

Typhoon Haiyan, My Studly Brother, and a Thankgiving reminder (15 photos)

Blue Ice Aviation — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 07:18:16 +0000

That’s my bro.

That’s him again, did I mention that’s my brother :o)

For those of you that have been following the blog for a number of years you may remember that my brother is a missionary in the Philippines. He and his wife and kids have been living in the Philippines for several years. Zach and I grew up in Alaska and have shared a love of aviation together our whole life. We both went to school to be missionary pilot/mechanics. I am still here in Alaska, but Zach ended up overseas. If you have a TV or a computer you are probably aware that earlier this month the Philippine islands were hit with the worst tropical storm to ever make landfall in recorded history. My brother and his family were on the outskirts of the storm and only experience moderate winds and rain. My brother Zach is a helicopter pilot. His day to day job is supporting missionary families and native Filipinos in remote villages in the Northern Philippines with an R44 helicopter. After the hurricane devastated central and southern Philippines my brother flew 600 miles south to aid in relief efforts with the R44. To fly a helicopter across a country with very little avgas or aviation infrastructure is an adventure in itself, not to mention his destination was a total disaster area. The trip went mostly flawless with one unplanned overnight due to weather. Eventually he met up with a few of my college buddies from Moody Aviation who are also currently flying for the same mission in Cessna 185’s in the Philippines. They are using two Cessna 185s and one R44 to aid the islands.

I normally talk to my brother 2-3 times per week, but I have pretty much lost any contact with him since he headed South on the 12th of November. I know he is safe, and happy, and he is flying a lot. I did manage to get a 2 minute phone call with him last week and he said, “it is pretty amazing to be the last link in the chain of relief efforts”. He said, “I’m the guy that actually gets to unload the helicopter full of rice to hundreds of people that did not know I was coming, and are very hungry”. Hearing him say that made me so happy, I know he is in element, he loves helping people, and he is one gifted individual. As I am typing this my computer is bleeping at me letting me know that Zach has just lifted off on another flight, to another island, my screen looks something like this …

They have put more than 160 hours on their aircraft and have moved more than 44,000 lbs of supplies to the surrounding islands. I am sitting at my computer right now watching him on flight tracker as he flies from island to island. The islands are so remote and un-land-able that they read tide charts to determine when they can land on beaches to deliver supplies. I am headed over to see him at the end of December, and I can hardly wait, I wish I could leave right now. Zach was also in Haiti shortly after the earthquake in 2010. He does not go looking for these disasters, but twice he has been in the right place at the right time with a helicopter and a unique skill set.

My wonderful sister-in-law Jane spends her days keeping an eye on Zach with this flight tracker program. Without her support I know my brother could never be there helping like he is. Jane is an amazing support, and is still in the Northern Philippines at their home base taking care of the home front with the kiddos.

So as you enjoy Thanksgiving this season, it may not hurt to remember how blessed we are. Dave Forney, another Moody graduate that is there helping with my brother said it so well on his blog post here.

Phew … he made it!

We love you guys and are praying for you all daily. You make us proud.

Photos of the Day — Snow on the Airstrip

Blue Ice Aviation — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 04:48:00 +0000

The Winter of 2011-2012 was a good one for us Alaskans. The snow fell continuously, the wind blew less than recent years, and the temperature stayed between -20F and 20F… for the most part. In Palmer and Anchorage we set record snow fall levels and in June and July we are still feeling the effects. This particular airstrip was covered in snow when we needed to use it, so the clients had to wait two days for the snow to melt. Fortunately, the sun came out and did much of the hard work for them. The snow cover shown in the mountains below was chest deep and made hiking over the higher passes challenging at best.

A good friend of mine from college (pictured below talking with Mike Meekin) spent 5 days working with us. Brian flies Cessna 185’s on nasty strips in the Philippines and is exploring the option of putting bigger tires on their planes. Between Mike and I we have all the standard tires and wheels used in off-field operations for 185’s. We run the standard 8.50’s with 6″ wheels, we also run 8.50’s with the 10″ gar aero adapter, 10×10 Alaskan bushwheels, and 29″ Alaskan Bushweels on a 6″ wheel. We were able to flight test the different options to help him in the decision process. We really wanted to simulate the wet grass conditions that so often exist in the Philippines but unfortunately as the photos show below … there was no grass available in the middle of June, because it was all covered with snow.

(Here is a video of some of Brian’s flying in the Philippines)

Photo of the Day — My Brother and I

Blue Ice Aviation — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:36:48 +0000

This is a photo of my brother and I from a couple of years ago. We were out cruising around and set down on this gravel-bar to stomp around a bit. Zach and his small family are now living in the Philippines. He is currently in language school in Manila learning the local language of Tagalog, and hopes to be flying helicopters there in the near future. This is a huge challenge as he and his team set up a flight program for the Robinson R-44 helicopter that recently arrived (pictures of the R-44 arriving) Zach is a commercial, fixed wing, helicopter, CFI, and a dang good IA mechanic. It just kills me to have him so far away, but I believe in what he is doing. I just saw this picture and liked it, and wanted to share it. I’m on the left and my brother is on the right.

Here is a complete list of blog posts about my brother. Most of them are from his efforts in Haiti after the earthquake.

Photos of the Day — Zach in the Phillipines

Blue Ice Aviation — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:21:00 +0000

For those of you who were following the blog in late January you will remember my brother, Zach, was flying a helicopter in Haiti after the earthquake. You can see numerous pictures and read the full report of his time in Haiti in these 10 blog posts from last year.

After returning from Haiti, Zach, Jane, and their three small children moved to the Philippines. They are currently in language school studying the local language of Tagalog a minimum of 8 hours per day. They have already been in Manila for 6 months and will likely continue their language study for another 8-10 months. After that time Zach and the other local missionaries hope to begin a flight program with the helicopter in order to provide transport into the remote areas. Zach took a week off from language studies recently to help uncrate and assemble the Robinson R44 helicopter that had just arrived from Arizona. This was a sizable chore, but was successfully accomplished. They are now waiting for the paperwork to clear the local “FAA” office so they can proceed.

To read more about my brother and his family, and learn what they are doing, go here.

I totally forgot to mention that Zach was there for the Super Typhoon that hit the Philippines two weeks ago today. It was/is a real mess, and here are a couple of photos he sent me. He said the people there are amazing, because nobody was standing around whining and waiting for the government to fix it. They simply went to work to fix what they could, and got on with life. I wish americans had not lost their “git’ ‘er done” mentality. We’re all too focused on filling out the proper permits, and trying not to get sued, to get much done anymore.

Zach is Home, This is His Last Report of Haiti

Blue Ice Aviation — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:34:00 +0000

I am home at last and it feels good to be back in America. We safely flew 70 plus hours in 3 weeks. By Gods grace I was healthy the whole time and the helicopter worked flawlessly. We flew 18 people to the hospital for medical emergencies. We also flew medical supplies, food, and medical teams. We did several survey flights to assess the need for medical attention and water in remote villages, and just a couple of beach landings to take a quick swim. It was an amazing experience, that I feel privileged to have been a part of.

It was hard to see so much pain and suffering day after day. The devastation in Port-a-Prince is overwhelming. We would usually take off from the airport and head south west over the worst of it. I couldn’t help but think, as we flew over miles of densely packed and destroyed houses, how many sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers lay buried beneath all the rubble.

There is hope for Haiti though. The last day I flew over the streets of Port-a-Prince, they were packed with people gathered together to pray and worship God. It might seem that this terrible earthquake would cause the Haitian people to curse God and turn further from Him, but instead, they are being drawn to Him. The hope for Haiti is the same hope that is available to the whole world. His Son, Jesus Christ. Keep praying for the people of Haiti.