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Stuck in the middle of nowhere, alone...

Yes, if you think you know something about survival, read that book!

it is an amazing survival story
!

MTV
 
I carry High Altitude center freqs. with me in remote areas.......might be able to contact a smoker.
 
Still Alive!

After posting here about a planned trip to Idaho I was contacted by a member here who lived half way across the country and wanted to know if he could tag along. He did and we had an epic trip. Hearing him yelling "I'm alive" so loud upon his first off airport landing at Nokai Dome you could hear him above the engine was awesome. We have made several trips together and always picked up others who have never been where we have, wanting to learn from our experience. Got to hang out with him at ArkanSTOL recently and it was nice to catch up.
 
Regarding the High Altitude Freq- Double check that you have the right frequencies. I called the FSS for the frequencies and was given one or two. After sheep hunting I bumped into a 747 pilot and I asked him what freq he monitored. I had the wrong freq given to me- so double check with other pilot friends. Of course if I had a real emergency I would try 121.5, but I wanted a freq that I could send a message in a pseudo-emergency situation (like I'm O.K. but I do need help!). My oil return line ruptured while flying, and after I got on the ground I contacted my friend/mechanic who flew out the necessary oil hoses and oil.
 
Regarding the High Altitude Freq- Double check that you have the right frequencies. I called the FSS for the frequencies and was given one or two. After sheep hunting I bumped into a 747 pilot and I asked him what freq he monitored. I had the wrong freq given to me- so double check with other pilot friends. Of course if I had a real emergency I would try 121.5, but I wanted a freq that I could send a message in a pseudo-emergency situation (like I'm O.K. but I do need help!). My oil return line ruptured while flying, and after I got on the ground I contacted my friend/mechanic who flew out the necessary oil hoses and oil.

In that place and situation, I’d rather use an In Reach or SPOT, but I sure wouldn’t hesitate to put out a call in the blind on 121.5. Get me and my plane back safe, and I’ll happily apologize to whomever for using the emergency frequency.

And, trust me, I’ve seen some actual abuses of that frequency. What you described wouldn’t be one.

MTV
 
Last week I read the two accounts mentioned in my previous post. The survivors were found 49 and 59 days after they went down in the winter. The searches were stopped long before they were found and it was just luck they were spotted by other aircraft flying near them.

Today we have technology that should make these long, long rescues a thing of the past, at least in North America. These include: 406ELT, 406PLB, cell phones, sat phones, trackers and communicators like InReach, Spot, Spidertracks, aircraft and handheld radios, radar, ABSB Out. Some are passive, some require activation and some are both.

It reminded me of some fairly recent long searches like Steve Fossett in 2007. He was missing over a year. And in December of 2013 a Bonanza went down near Johnson Creek, Idaho and wasn’t found for over a month.

Yesterday I had planned to fly to Meadow Creek in Montana on skis. Blue skis at home when I left but a common winter stratus layer turned me back. So I changed plans and tried to get into Idaho. Trouble at the state line pushed me back again.

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Yesterday on the Montana/Idaho border.

My wife thought I was going to the South Fork and told me I needed to update her link to my InReach. I did and that got me to thinking about the communication advances mentioned.


 

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Nothing like winter time ski flying to really make a guy think about this subject. One thing I started carrying a couple years ago is one of those light weight battery jumper packs. Very useful for recharging my cell phone, for days if need be, or jump starting a beater courtesy car, plus the strobe flashlite is pretty cool also though I sure hope I never need that feature.
 

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When I came to arctic Canada as a radio op (later called FSS op) there would be the occasional pilot to whom we'd have to give a DF steer. With the advent of GPS and satellite-based communication/location devices that just doesn't happen nowadays. Properly equipped with these gadgets you won't be spending much time in the bush and you'll save the taxpayer a bundle.

Your airplane might not be so lucky - depending on location, the cost of recovery and repair might exceed its value.
 
Today we have technology that should make these long, long rescues a thing of the past, at least in North America. These include: 406ELT, 406PLB, cell phones, sat phones, trackers and communicators like InReach, Spot, Spidertracks, aircraft and handheld radios, radar, ABSB Out. Some are passive, some require activation and some are both.


I agree that we all have technology available that can and will make rescue faster/better or even possible (in places that would not have been feasible years ago). But each of these systems need to be installed and maintained correctly. I.e., a 406 ELT that does not trigger on impact or a sat phone with dead batteries is just junk along for the ride. And are you able to employ the system during an emergency? If you are sitting here, right now, warm and comfy and you need to think for a minute on how to activate an emergency system, then you may not be able to do that when you are alone, cold, and bleeding. There is a reason that systems such as ELTs activate automatically or with a simple flip of a switch.

My experience (both civilian and military) tells me that most of us simply gloss over the details of emergency gear. Spinner's example above shows that we need to take more care in the 'normal' day to day procedures that WILL help keep us out of serious trouble. When you have a change of plans, do you make positive contact with some one each and every time that happens? That needs to happen whether by radio, phone, inreach, etc. Remember, positive contact, means they reply to your contact. Not only is this important to direct rescuers to your location in an emergency it also prevents a search party from looking for you when you divert for fuel/weather or even stop by a buddies strip for coffee.

This doesn't just apply to operations in wide open areas. If you crash just off the end of the runway in darkness or bad weather, 'they' may not know your location immediately or even that you've crashed, if you don't have a means of communicating. In these situations an ELT signal should tell the world that you have crashed. But if you have a radio or phone working (with the correct numbers pre programmed) you can contact emergency services directly and provide information that will get them to your location without searching and with the correct emergency equipment. Minutes can save lives, maybe even yours.

You do a walk around before each flight, do you do a daily or weekly inspection of your emergency systems? Do you follow the ELT manufacturers instructions for periodic functions checks? Is your sat phone fully charged, right this minute? Does your portable equipment such as inreach or even your portable gps have a fresh set of batteries, right now? Do you have a schedule for changing batteries or do you just let them run down? Sure you want to be on the ground with half dead batteries?

I'm from Alaska, so I don't have an issue with some one risking their own safety. Lots of us live by the standard of 'it's your ass'. But, what if you've just crashed and have a friend or family member that needs immediate medical care? Trust me, you do not want to watch that scenario play out in slow motion.

Web
 
Discussions of survival always remind me of a story Tom Wardleigh told about his early fifties Alaska experience: Tom came to work as the “new guy” at Fish and Wildlife Services Lake Hood base. One Monday morning, Tom’s boss, Theron Smith, told Tom to “Take that Widgeon to Fairbanks, pick up Frank Glaser and take him wherever he wants to go.” Glaser was a well known wolf hunter for FWS (see Jim Rearden’s book: “Alaska’s Wolf Man, Frank Glaser’s 1915-1955 Adventures in Alaska”). Tom had never been north of the Alaska Range, but picked up Glaser, who told him he needed to go north to the North Slope. They headed up there, and overnighted at Barter Island. Next morning, weather was awful, with classic low fog all along the Arctic coast. This went on for a few days, with Tom checking weather frequently and Glaser reading a book. Finally, they could just see under the fog, so they saddled up, and launched, planning to fly low up one of the rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean from the Brooks Range. Weather in the mountains was clear.

Tom said he was right on the water, winding up the braided river and sweating bullets. He said at one point Glaser, who’d been snoozing in the right seat, woke up, looked around and looked at Wardleigh. He said “Sonny, stop worrying. If you’ve got to crash this thing, just crash her nice and gentle, I’ll build us a fire, kill a caribou, and we’ll have steaks for dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll make us some new caribou skin boots and we’ll walk back to Barter Island and get another airplane. But stop worrying....yer making me nervous!”

The best tool in your “survival kit” is your brain. Familiarity with the other tools and confidence you can deploy them will save you in almost any circumstance.

MTV
 
Love that story! I had the great privilege of doing my initial flight training with Tom Wardleigh. Listening to his stories on our cross-country flight was something I'll never forget.
 
My lasting takeaway from a Tom Wardleigh flight safety meeting...if stuck in or over weather with issues request the nearest clear area and routing.

Gary
 
Love that story! I had the great privilege of doing my initial flight training with Tom Wardleigh. Listening to his stories on our cross-country flight was something I'll never forget.

You were certainly blessed to train with Tom....what a class act! And, stories!!! I miss him!

MTV
 
He had a lyrical way of speaking. Similar to Jay Hammond in that respect. My fav Tom story was about icing up all 4 engines on a DC-6 somewhere near Juneau, and riding it down into warmer air to get them restarted.

He sure could fly a 180. He introduced me to face-bender turns up against the mountain above Lake George. He told me he had 36,000 hours logged but he'd quit logging about 10 years prior. Those were fun flights.

The good old days had Reuben Eaton doing Aviation Weather on channel 7 with Tom and Ginny doing Hangar Talk during the intermission. All three of them were special.
 
Mindset is everything. If you want to play in the backcountry make your backcountry home. Learn your machine and carry the necessary tools/parts for common minor repairs.

I have had to walk home a couple times. The longest was after I Totaled a PA 12 on a ridgetop no injuries. No sat phone. It was back at the lodge. It took 16 hours travel time and an overnight 35 miles in the Alaska Range with 2 large glacial rivers to cross. It was a good walk. I needed some time to cool off and properly chastise myself before I dealt with anyone.

Being a good boy scout, prepared, is essential.

InReach is good however no substitute for an Iridium SAT phone. Spot is useless.

Be sure to have good first aid kit focused on trauma repairs.
 
I agree that the SPOT is useless or close in Alaska. In at least parts of the Lower 48, it kinda works, but there's no doubt that In Reach, and as noted above, an Iridium Satellite phone are far, far better tools.

But, as noted, technology is great, but you still need to have some basic skills and use your brain.

MTV
 
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