Bill Rusk
BENEFACTOR
Sandpoint, Idaho
PART 1
Folks
As you may remember from my post on the "Building a Javron" thread, I did a super thorough annual condition inspection on the Cub this winter and made a few additions and hopefully improvements. I sorta ran out of time so when I departed on this trip I was a little behind the power curve and did not have enough test time to catch all the little things that can crop up after a pretty big rebuild. We also had some lousy weather and that delayed things so I got a late start and had some maintenance issues at the start of the trip. Not a very auspicious start.
I had a oil leak where the oil heat valve went into the oil cooler. They recommend that you use steel fittings on a aluminum oil cooler. This is a pipe thread. When you put steel into aluminum pipe threads it is going to elongate, deform, and enlarge the threads. This could mean that if you remove and replace the fitting you may have problems getting a good seal on the threads. So, I had a small oil leak starting the trip. A little oil is like a little blood, it goes a long way. Looked like the end of the world to me but was probably about 2 ounces on a 3 hour leg, maybe even less, but boy it looked bad down the side of the fuselage. After a long day, and a pretty average overnight in the lounge at Roundup Montana (I do not recommend this as an overnight) I made Spokane the second day.
Mike Scalera and John helped me try to get the leak stopped and I fixed a broken wire on my radio, and did a couple of other things. Unfortunately this also delayed me another night.
Following I90 through the mountains of Montana. Very pretty.
In my hangar in Spokane doing maintenance.
The next day I headed North across the border to Kamloops, shown here, to clear customs. Since I did not have a firearm it was just a phone call clearance. It seems that if you have a firearm they are going to be there for the full monte Vs no firearm often results in a phone clearance. The Canadians remain very friendly and easy to work with. You can clear customs here by landing in the river if you are on straight floats.
After getting to Kamloops I discovered that our work in Spokane had not solved the oil leak. I went to a shop on the field, Mountainaire Services, and asked for help. At this point all I wanted to do was bypass my oil heat valve and get on with the trip. So they had a standard 45 degree pipe fitting and we installed it in the oil cooler and.....yup......it threaded in with no resistance. This was when I discovered the threads in the oil cooler were shot. Trouble in paradise! There was a gent there that says "well, we can put a helicoil in there". I did not know you could helicoil a pipe thread. Learn something new every day. They did a great job, very carefully, so as not to get shavings in my oil cooler, and 5 hours later I was once again on my way. But now even later. My weather window was closing. I made Mackinzie that evening. And yes, you guessed it....still some oil on the fuselage.....less but still there.....residual?? Hopefully. The next morning the wx was down. I was stuck. Oh well. The folks at Trench Fuels in Mackinzie were awesome (as always) and took are of getting me to the hotel and squared away. Great folks.
Two days later......finally......I was on my way again but at this point I had missed the "Alaska Airmans Trade Show" and visiting with all my friends there.
BIG TIME BUMMER!!
This is Mackinzie (runway on the right) and looking into the Trench at Lake Williston.
This is Scoop Lake at the north end of the Trench still about 80 miles from Watson Lake. It is a possible stop and if you call in advance they may have fuel. Great folks, but call first. Still frozen so turned out not to be an option for me. This was plan C that turned out to be a no go. No big deal as I still had plan D, E, and F. Weather at Watson Lake still iffy. The dirt runways at Scoop Lake would be fine for bushwheels but I did not want to try on the small amphib tires. And with the fuel pod I had plenty of fuel.
Customs!!! Arggggg, I guess I have still not broken the code. I have trouble with US customs every time. No problem with the Canadians, ALWAYS with the US. According to the "on a power trip" agent you MUST file to Northway even if they are not going to be there. Then they can give you "permission" to bypass Northway and go to Tok for fuel then clear at Anchorage Intl (which is a 24 hour operation). Be sure to call customs in advance and try to get details on how they want you to do all this. It seems to change every time, or with every different agent. Be SURE to write down the name of the agent you talk to. When I got to Anchorage, it seemed the only thing they cared about was the name of the agent who cleared me and at what time he did so. This is following the highway after Tok going towards Anchorage. Pretty country.
Also when you file your flight plan (you must be on a flight plan when you cross the border, going and coming) the guys at the FSS have a waiver for a fuel stop at Tok but not Gulkanna. So.......you will file Tok then Anchorage.......if you do not clear at Northway.....between the hours of 9-3. (window keeps getting smaller) but don't file until you get permission from customs. Got all that? If you are still confused...so am I.
Finally, on final to Anchorage Intl to clear customs. This was a long day of flying. 14.9 hours in the air. Thank heavens for Tylenol and Advil.
I got in about 2130 Sunday evening. Mike Woodson, Gary and Sue Drean, Joe and Kim came out to meet me. How cool is that? Thanks guys!!!
On Monday I found and fixed a few more problems and finally got the airplane all squared away. Thanks to Dave Caulkins for his help. Supercub.org folks are the best. So..... I made it to Anchorage, a day late and a couple of dollars short, but I'm there and I got the airplane all fixed up.
Here is a short 2 minute video
Hope this is worth your time
Bill
Folks
As you may remember from my post on the "Building a Javron" thread, I did a super thorough annual condition inspection on the Cub this winter and made a few additions and hopefully improvements. I sorta ran out of time so when I departed on this trip I was a little behind the power curve and did not have enough test time to catch all the little things that can crop up after a pretty big rebuild. We also had some lousy weather and that delayed things so I got a late start and had some maintenance issues at the start of the trip. Not a very auspicious start.
I had a oil leak where the oil heat valve went into the oil cooler. They recommend that you use steel fittings on a aluminum oil cooler. This is a pipe thread. When you put steel into aluminum pipe threads it is going to elongate, deform, and enlarge the threads. This could mean that if you remove and replace the fitting you may have problems getting a good seal on the threads. So, I had a small oil leak starting the trip. A little oil is like a little blood, it goes a long way. Looked like the end of the world to me but was probably about 2 ounces on a 3 hour leg, maybe even less, but boy it looked bad down the side of the fuselage. After a long day, and a pretty average overnight in the lounge at Roundup Montana (I do not recommend this as an overnight) I made Spokane the second day.
Mike Scalera and John helped me try to get the leak stopped and I fixed a broken wire on my radio, and did a couple of other things. Unfortunately this also delayed me another night.
Following I90 through the mountains of Montana. Very pretty.
In my hangar in Spokane doing maintenance.
The next day I headed North across the border to Kamloops, shown here, to clear customs. Since I did not have a firearm it was just a phone call clearance. It seems that if you have a firearm they are going to be there for the full monte Vs no firearm often results in a phone clearance. The Canadians remain very friendly and easy to work with. You can clear customs here by landing in the river if you are on straight floats.
After getting to Kamloops I discovered that our work in Spokane had not solved the oil leak. I went to a shop on the field, Mountainaire Services, and asked for help. At this point all I wanted to do was bypass my oil heat valve and get on with the trip. So they had a standard 45 degree pipe fitting and we installed it in the oil cooler and.....yup......it threaded in with no resistance. This was when I discovered the threads in the oil cooler were shot. Trouble in paradise! There was a gent there that says "well, we can put a helicoil in there". I did not know you could helicoil a pipe thread. Learn something new every day. They did a great job, very carefully, so as not to get shavings in my oil cooler, and 5 hours later I was once again on my way. But now even later. My weather window was closing. I made Mackinzie that evening. And yes, you guessed it....still some oil on the fuselage.....less but still there.....residual?? Hopefully. The next morning the wx was down. I was stuck. Oh well. The folks at Trench Fuels in Mackinzie were awesome (as always) and took are of getting me to the hotel and squared away. Great folks.
Two days later......finally......I was on my way again but at this point I had missed the "Alaska Airmans Trade Show" and visiting with all my friends there.
BIG TIME BUMMER!!
This is Mackinzie (runway on the right) and looking into the Trench at Lake Williston.
This is Scoop Lake at the north end of the Trench still about 80 miles from Watson Lake. It is a possible stop and if you call in advance they may have fuel. Great folks, but call first. Still frozen so turned out not to be an option for me. This was plan C that turned out to be a no go. No big deal as I still had plan D, E, and F. Weather at Watson Lake still iffy. The dirt runways at Scoop Lake would be fine for bushwheels but I did not want to try on the small amphib tires. And with the fuel pod I had plenty of fuel.
Customs!!! Arggggg, I guess I have still not broken the code. I have trouble with US customs every time. No problem with the Canadians, ALWAYS with the US. According to the "on a power trip" agent you MUST file to Northway even if they are not going to be there. Then they can give you "permission" to bypass Northway and go to Tok for fuel then clear at Anchorage Intl (which is a 24 hour operation). Be sure to call customs in advance and try to get details on how they want you to do all this. It seems to change every time, or with every different agent. Be SURE to write down the name of the agent you talk to. When I got to Anchorage, it seemed the only thing they cared about was the name of the agent who cleared me and at what time he did so. This is following the highway after Tok going towards Anchorage. Pretty country.
Also when you file your flight plan (you must be on a flight plan when you cross the border, going and coming) the guys at the FSS have a waiver for a fuel stop at Tok but not Gulkanna. So.......you will file Tok then Anchorage.......if you do not clear at Northway.....between the hours of 9-3. (window keeps getting smaller) but don't file until you get permission from customs. Got all that? If you are still confused...so am I.
Finally, on final to Anchorage Intl to clear customs. This was a long day of flying. 14.9 hours in the air. Thank heavens for Tylenol and Advil.
I got in about 2130 Sunday evening. Mike Woodson, Gary and Sue Drean, Joe and Kim came out to meet me. How cool is that? Thanks guys!!!
On Monday I found and fixed a few more problems and finally got the airplane all squared away. Thanks to Dave Caulkins for his help. Supercub.org folks are the best. So..... I made it to Anchorage, a day late and a couple of dollars short, but I'm there and I got the airplane all fixed up.
Here is a short 2 minute video
Hope this is worth your time
Bill
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