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Kiska and Attu

Anchorage, AK
Has anyone been there in a Super Cub?

I grew up in Nome reading about the battle there during WW2. I stopped by the Alaska Aviation Museum recently and checked out their P-40E project. It piqued my interest. I've always been curious about it and would like to see it with my own eyes. I know you can't pick up any artifacts, but can you land on either Island and tour around? Not really interested in going out there on a boat.
 
For perspective: Reeve Aleutian used to go all the way out the Chain once per month in a Lockheed Electra. Their cruise speed was a bit over 300 knots. They launched from Anchorage in the AM, stopped in CDB, then Adak, then Shemya, and finally Attu. Note that Attu is considered both the eastern most and western most "settlement" in the US, since it's actually in the eastern hemisphere. From there, they back tracked to Adak, where the crew overnighted because by then, they were out of crew duty time.

Next morning, they launched from Adak back to Anchorage.

Cold Bay is a little over 700 miles southwest of Anchorage. Attu is another 1,100 miles west of there. And, trust me, the weather would be more than a little challenging, for that entire distance. And, by the way, there are VERY few suitable landing sites on most of the Aleutians. They are very rocky, steep and heavily vegetated.

Shemya has a 10,000 foot runway, and an Air Force radar site, which I believe is still manned. I don't know how welcoming the AF would be, and I have no idea if you could have gas flown in there. The Coast Guard used to man a LORAN station on Attu until 2010, when LORAN was shut down. I doubt there's anyone out there now. If so, they are REALLY lonely.

One of the biggest issues you'd run into (other than distance and weather) would be fuel. There is avgas in Cold Bay, I'm pretty sure. There MAY be fuel in Dutch Harbor, but I would absolutely be certain of that prior to launch, and my guess is if there is any, it's jet fuel. Nikolski is about 150 miles west of Dutch, and has an airport, but a boat is required to get to the village. In any case, again, you MAY be able to have fuel delivered there. The next possible fueling site could be Adak. Peninsula Airways used to keep a cache of avgas out there when they used a Navajo to serve Atka, and whoever has the mail contract for Atka now MAY have gas out there, but It's going to be PRECIOUS...... And, again, these days, I'd bet that turbine airplanes are flying those routes. You could have fuel delivered, of course. Beyond Adak, there will be no fuel, and it's a long ways to Attu from there.

Ultimately, if you're brave enough to burn boat gas that's been stored in whatever for however long, and then fly unforgiving weather and waters.....there may be some outboard gas to be had in places like Dutch and Nikolski and maybe Adak.

The Aleutians are spectacular country, absolutely no question. I've flown out as far as Nikolski in a light airplane, and went to Attu once, but not in a light plane. Extremely challenging distances, weather and not very friendly country to land. But, it is spectacular....when you can see it.
 
When Reeve Aleutian was near the end of its life I was a Metroliner captain for Penair. We got chartered to pick up the slack hauling birdwatchers in and out of Attu. We picked the folks up in Dutch Harbor then to Adak and Attu. The spring weather was super bad and I could go on and on about the crap that happened on that trip. I used to have the procedure chart the Reeve Chief pilot gave me to get into Attu. Do the ILS into Shemya to get underneath bases OR down to pilots discretion altitude. Then fly a VOR radial that went between Agattu and Attu till south of Casco Cove NDB. Which I believe was inop and we used a gps user waypoint.

When I was a kid I wanted to see those islands in a big way. Penair gave me that chance to see them on a regular basis. Sometimes when we were empty coming back from Adak or Atka we would go low level back to Dutch Harbor. I still consider that area the coolest place I’ve seen so far in my 54 years.

That would be cool as hell to explore in a Cub. I heard of a few cubs and a pacer as far as Umnak exploring beaches and such. Personally in a single engine plane I’ve only been to Dutch Harbor.
 
Thanks for all the comments! I had an epiphany. I am able to jump seat, so I am going to jump seat into Adak this summer. I haven't done any research. Does anyone know if the little Hotel is still operating? Also does anyone rent vehicles? A UTV or ATV would be fine.
 
My paltry seniority of almost 25 years doesn’t allow me to bid the Adak flights with any regularity. In fact after getting checked out as a captain a bit over 10 yrs ago I still am not checked out to do Adak. When I was a FO I went there frequently but I’m getting forced to finally get the checkout this summer. Maybe I’ll see you in the jumpseat.
Wish I had a better pic of Attu but this is following the coast guard truck on the cross strip to get the birdwatchers who thought they were gonna ride in style to ANC in an Electra. Only to spend endless hours on the Metro and a stop to get to ANC. That trip was a screw show.
Second is of Adak airport. Third is in Atka with 20 yr old FO kid on the left that is now a veteran Captain at our Airline (Alaska). Damn I’m getting old. Fourth pic is in Dutch Harbor and an Alaska Airlines 737-200 I believe Mac Af ur was the Captain and Dawn Madera was the FO.
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My Father worked with a veteran of the Aleutian Campaign, he said they trained in the desert country east of San Diego, they all figured since they were issued desert gear, they were going to N Africa…Nope - off to fight the Japs in Alaska…in desert gear. They were soaked from head to toe for weeks. The weather caused more casualties then the Japs.
 
My paltry seniority of almost 25 years doesn’t allow me to bid the Adak flights with any regularity. In fact after getting checked out as a captain a bit over 10 yrs ago I still am not checked out to do Adak. When I was a FO I went there frequently but I’m getting forced to finally get the checkout this summer. Maybe I’ll see you in the jumpseat.
Wish I had a better pic of Attu but this is following the coast guard truck on the cross strip to get the birdwatchers who thought they were gonna ride in style to ANC in an Electra. Only to spend endless hours on the Metro and a stop to get to ANC. That trip was a screw show.
Second is of Adak airport. Third is in Atka with 20 yr old FO kid on the left that is now a veteran Captain at our Airline (Alaska). Damn I’m getting old. Fourth pic is in Dutch Harbor and an Alaska Airlines 737-200 I believe Mac Af ur was the Captain and Dawn Madera was the FO. View attachment 111281View attachment 111282View attachment 111283View attachment 111284
Nice! I think I worked with Dawn at Ryan Air back in the day. Name sounds really familiar anyway. I would love to be on your jump seat! I work for ABX Air.
 
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There’s a fellow by the name of Smith that flew his Searey from the southern hemisphere around the world.
He kept a blog at the time, which was then taken down as he wrote a book about the adventures of “the southern sun” as he called it.
But, long story shorter, he spent many a day with a family in Adak as I recall waiting for Weather, and permission from Russia to land and refuel on this trip. Never got it, so he made a few trips to Attu and left a cache of fuel in the deserted coast guard station there.
And then, with weather “ok”, and fitting his big balls inside that flying canoe, he flew out to Attu, spent a restless night there and launched out of there in the pitch black early hours of the next day with every bit of fuel he had cached. Rolling down the runway with no lights he wasn’t sure it would take off. But it did…
…..and flew direct to Japan.

There was probably a thousand people watching his spider tracks plot down the pacific. Pretty wild.
 
There’s a fellow by the name of Smith that flew his Searey from the southern hemisphere around the world.
He kept a blog at the time, which was then taken down as he wrote a book about the adventures of “the southern sun” as he called it.
But, long story shorter, he spent many a day with a family in Adak as I recall waiting for Weather, and permission from Russia to land and refuel on this trip. Never got it, so he made a few trips to Attu and left a cache of fuel in the deserted coast guard station there.
And then, with weather “ok”, and fitting his big balls inside that flying canoe, he flew out to Attu, spent a restless night there and launched out of there in the pitch black early hours of the next day with every bit of fuel he had cached. Rolling down the runway with no lights he wasn’t sure it would take off. But it did…
…..and flew direct to Japan.

There was probably a thousand people watching his spider tracks plot down the pacific. Pretty wild.
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Found a synopsis of that section of his adventure on a teaser page from 2015.

*******************

But now I needed to get my skates on, for as I hear so many folks say these days, ‘Winter is Coming’, and that's no time to be in Alaska let alone out in the Aleutians... I did a mighty 12 hour non stop flight from Minnesota to Washington, then the next day a short flight up to Seattle. It was the first of October. This was crunch time. Everyone was telling me that "it wasn't safe to fly in Alaska after September." I was spooked.

I stopped in Seattle for a few days, caught up with Steve and other Searey pilots and spent time with Walter, Ross and Ben to discuss, inspect and fly the Gweduck, which may just be the ultimate adventure plane. (www.gweduck.com) After so much time in my little Searey, she hadn't let me down and we'd done some great things together, even looking at another plane seemed like cheating on her! But one thing I've decided on this trip is I will not upgrade or change planes until a diesel/JetA1 solution is available, international travel on Avgas is just too hard. Through Asia and the Middle East my average time to refuel was 4 hours of ferrying fuel from petrol stations to inside airfields, sometimes even being made to X-ray the petrol going through security! But I digress...

I couldn't help but think I'd come as far as I should. The Russian permission still wasn't forthcoming and I was nervous about the Aleutians. But then a turning point happened. I met local commercial seaplane pilot Capt. Karen Stemco and she said "you really need to talk to Burke." So I did. A couple of times. He has been a commercial seaplane pilot flying the Alaskan islands for many many years.

He pointed out that he had for years flown out along the Aleutians all year round. It was possible to do, but there was one key ingredient for success. Patience. Yes there will be bad weather. There will be average weather. But in between, there will be glorious days. But if you take your time, accept getting stuck here and there for a few days, then you can make it. But remember he cautioned "There isn't a crashed plane in the Aleutians that doesn't have sun shining on it soon after." Wow. Gulp. Ok.

I slept on it. Then a day later I pushed on. Jumping over Canada straight to Ketchikan, Alaska - then to Anchorage for a few days of final preparations. On leaving westwards for Cold Bay I soon had to divert to Homer (where else would you go while on an Odyssey?) when I found a wall of cloud to the sea en route. My initial instinct was to fly along the cloud looking for a break, then I heard Burke's words... Yes, just go and land somewhere, soon enough this cloud will pass. In these situations I always remind myself I really want to be at my sons 21st (he's 19). The next day it was lovely as I tracked to Cold Bay, where I then got stuck for 3 dreary days, before making the leap all the way to Adak. Where I spent the next 3 weeks!
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There was plenty of nice weather in this time, but I was still waiting for Russian permission, and Japanese permission. After a week it wasn't looking good, so I had to come up with a plan B. Luckily in Anchorage I'd seen The Martian, and I knew I just had to go back to the basics and try a new plan. What did I have to work with? I tried to get permission for Midway. But no go. Could I get straight to Japan? No, it would take 22 hours, at around 1800 miles, and I could carry just on 21 hours of fuel.

But there was one option other than returning to the mainland and booking a shipping container.

Attu. The last of the Aleutian Islands. The most westerly point of the US of A. Not quite directly on the way, but if I could refuel at Attu, that would break the leg into a 6 hour and an 18 hour flight to get me to Japan.

But Attu is abandoned; no people, no power, no water, let alone fuel - just rats, big rats, lot’s of them. My Google Earth searching suggested the runway was still there and in OK condition. I decided I could ferry 6 hours of fuel in fuel cans, leave it by the runway, fly back to Adak, wait for the next weather window, then make one really big passage to Japan.

So we did. Flew out at dawn, with 6 fuel containers on the passenger seat and foot well, and 5.5 hours later arrived overhead a wet and rainy Attu. I could see that 2/3 of the cross runway into the wind was usable, and the full length of the main runway was ok. Despite there being no one to listen I made my radio calls, then landed, left the fuel in a small shed by the runway, disturbed lots of rats and took off again to make it back to Adak before sunset. So far so good.

A week later the weather was looking good again, well, as good as weather is out there come late October. The freezing level was down to 2500', and with so much moisture in the air ice was forming quickly, so I decided to just stick at 1500'. The plan was to leave Adak during the day, arrive at Attu, refuel, then take off just before sunset and fly all night; in the dark for 15-16 hours, and arrive into Japan in daylight, after 18 hours non stop and 23 hours flying for the day... What could go wrong?

Well, let's just say I'm here today to write about it, so while it was a very tough flight, it all worked out ok.
 
Thanks for all the comments! I had an epiphany. I am able to jump seat, so I am going to jump seat into Adak this summer. I haven't done any research. Does anyone know if the little Hotel is still operating? Also does anyone rent vehicles? A UTV or ATV would be fine.
Charlie, I had a job to do for the State that took me to Adak for about 5 days in April of 2024. I didn’t see any kind of Hotel but there are several outfits that rent old military housing units, mostly to hunters I believe. The outfit I stayed with was called The Adak/Aleutian Experience. The fellow in charge of the unit was quite helpful and the unit was quite comfortable. I believe they had vehicles to rent as well. I finished the job with a couple of days to spare so the Airport manager took me out exploring and bird hunting. All the Caribou were on the other side of the island so I didn’t see any while I was there. I would definitely go back if I get the chance, to hunt a Caribou.
 

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Here is a picture of the housing units with one of the rental cars. Also there is auto fuel available at a self serve pump located at the boat harbor. Probably the only fuel available that far west.
 

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It used to be to fly through Russian airspace, you had to both have a permit, AND you had to carry a Russian "navigator" (I think that's what they called them) with you. There was a fellow from South Africa who flew his Kitfox (I think) from South Africa to Oshkosh one year, through Russia to Providenya, then to Nome, etc. Had pictures of his Russian "navigator" sitting in the passenger seat next to him, with an 8 or 10 gallon fuel tank in his lap, with hoses to the airplanes systems.....big smile on his clock.

I was awakened at 2 AM in Fairbanks once by a Swiss friend who owned a 185. He was calling from Hokkaido, Japan, and wanted approach plates for Dutch Harbor. He was trying to become an Earth Rounder.....and had THOUGHT he could convince the Russians to allow him to transit without a navigator. He had his family (Son and Wife) with him, and one rear seat had been replaced with a fuel tank. Russia said NO. So, he'd jumped to Japan, and planned to fly up the Kuriles, then jump to Dutch. I told him not to even THINK about flying direct from Japan to Dutch...... I told him to go to Adak, much better approaches, and closer. I faxed him all the approach plates for Adak, and gave him the phone number for Terry Smith, who was Alaska Air's Anchorage base Chief pilot. I knew Terry had a cache of avgas in Adak at the time. I called Terry as soon as we hung up so he'd know where it was coming from.

Terry got him hooked up with fuel in Adak and a few days later, he arrived in Fairbanks. Turns out he'd jumped over to Japan without permission, landed Hokkaido to make them think he'd cleared Customs in Tokyo......and wanted to get the hey outta there before he was discovered.....hence the middle of the night calls.

He finished the World Rounder gig a few months later, Alaska to Switzerland. He thanked me profusely for telling him not to try the Japan to Dutch flight. Dutch is no place you want to HAVE to get into.....
 
It used to be to fly through Russian airspace, you had to both have a permit, AND you had to carry a Russian "navigator" (I think that's what they called them) with you. There was a fellow from South Africa who flew his Kitfox (I think) from South Africa to Oshkosh one year, through Russia to Providenya, then to Nome, etc. Had pictures of his Russian "navigator" sitting in the passenger seat next to him, with an 8 or 10 gallon fuel tank in his lap, with hoses to the airplanes systems.....big smile on his clock.

I was awakened at 2 AM in Fairbanks once by a Swiss friend who owned a 185. He was calling from Hokkaido, Japan, and wanted approach plates for Dutch Harbor. He was trying to become an Earth Rounder.....and had THOUGHT he could convince the Russians to allow him to transit without a navigator. He had his family (Son and Wife) with him, and one rear seat had been replaced with a fuel tank. Russia said NO. So, he'd jumped to Japan, and planned to fly up the Kuriles, then jump to Dutch. I told him not to even THINK about flying direct from Japan to Dutch...... I told him to go to Adak, much better approaches, and closer. I faxed him all the approach plates for Adak, and gave him the phone number for Terry Smith, who was Alaska Air's Anchorage base Chief pilot. I knew Terry had a cache of avgas in Adak at the time. I called Terry as soon as we hung up so he'd know where it was coming from.

Terry got him hooked up with fuel in Adak and a few days later, he arrived in Fairbanks. Turns out he'd jumped over to Japan without permission, landed Hokkaido to make them think he'd cleared Customs in Tokyo......and wanted to get the hey outta there before he was discovered.....hence the middle of the night calls.

He finished the World Rounder gig a few months later, Alaska to Switzerland. He thanked me profusely for telling him not to try the Japan to Dutch flight. Dutch is no place you want to HAVE to get into.....

It used to be to fly through Russian airspace, you had to both have a permit, AND you had to carry a Russian "navigator" (I think that's what they called them) with you. There was a fellow from South Africa who flew his Kitfox (I think) from South Africa to Oshkosh one year, through Russia to Providenya, then to Nome, etc. Had pictures of his Russian "navigator" sitting in the passenger seat next to him, with an 8 or 10 gallon fuel tank in his lap, with hoses to the airplanes systems.....big smile on his clock.

I was awakened at 2 AM in Fairbanks once by a Swiss friend who owned a 185. He was calling from Hokkaido, Japan, and wanted approach plates for Dutch Harbor. He was trying to become an Earth Rounder.....and had THOUGHT he could convince the Russians to allow him to transit without a navigator. He had his family (Son and Wife) with him, and one rear seat had been replaced with a fuel tank. Russia said NO. So, he'd jumped to Japan, and planned to fly up the Kuriles, then jump to Dutch. I told him not to even THINK about flying direct from Japan to Dutch...... I told him to go to Adak, much better approaches, and closer. I faxed him all the approach plates for Adak, and gave him the phone number for Terry Smith, who was Alaska Air's Anchorage base Chief pilot. I knew Terry had a cache of avgas in Adak at the time. I called Terry as soon as we hung up so he'd know where it was coming from.

Terry got him hooked up with fuel in Adak and a few days later, he arrived in Fairbanks. Turns out he'd jumped over to Japan without permission, landed Hokkaido to make them think he'd cleared Customs in Tokyo......and wanted to get the hey outta there before he was discovered.....hence the middle of the night calls.

He finished the World Rounder gig a few months later, Alaska to Switzerland. He thanked me profusely for telling him not to try the Japan to Dutch flight. Dutch is no place you want to HAVE to get into.....
Miguel Gordillo flew his Kitfox east from Madrid to Oshkosh. He sent reports each day so people could follow him. He almost got into trouble in Vietnam when he landed in a pasture due to an inflight fire and the officials thought his little round baggage pod was a bomb. That picture of the Russian navigator with the fuel tank on his lap was hilarious
 
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