AlaskaAV
GONE WEST
Mission, TX
For construction work in north Alaska for projects like road and especially airport construction, usually it involves going in on unbroken ground, laying insulation (because of the permafrost) and other materials and than hauling in maybe 5 or more foot of gravel and crushed rock for compaction (hint, hint, word for the day). After laying asphalt, the runways were painted a light color so they would reflect the sun heat. Than the area is set aside for a year or two before being covered with asphalt. Lets everything settle down. This procedure was started after Alaska got smart and turned to the methods used by our great neighbors, Canada. Come on canucks, how about a here, here, here? 
A perfect example is the state runway at Barrow, Alaska in early 70s. I will have to be very careful how I say this so just bare with me and read between the lines, OK?
I was there when the work first started. Wien had always used the Air Force airport at Point Barrow and we were really looking for forward to our own terminal and runway very close to town.
Will Rogers and Wily Post, on their final trip, used a small lake some 12 miles southwest of Barrow.
Since I had done a lot of work early on helping to build sections of the Interstate Highway system in Nebraska and Kansas, I had learned, thanks to a great superintendent, a lot about compaction and how it was supposed to be done when overseen properly by inspectors.
What really got to the Wien operation was that the Point Barrow airport was under construction at the same time due to a storm and no choice, the city runway was being constructed at the same time. As I have said before, I had to bounce back and forth trying to figure out the best runway to use on any given day and sometimes I didn't know until the aircraft was maybe a half hour out which runway to use. I was the only person to determine that. I always paid special attention to compaction (oh how I wish I could explain that but can't afford a law suit) and would often get out of my pickup and walk a soft spot, and there were a lot of soft spots, before I decided where to land. Thank goodness for my pilot background.
How about this: for a 9 AM arrival, I would have to inspect the runway at 4 AM. Talk about long days. No wonder no more children. :-?
We were using both the C-46 and the F-27 into Barrow depending on how I felt about the runway. The C-46 could land about anywhere because of the big tires but the F-27 was something else. Considering the weight of the aircraft and tire footprint, I figured the F-27 was about the heaviest aircraft flying in those days, far heavier than a C-5 fully loaded and especially the AN-225 which has landed many times in Anchorage.
http://images.google.com/images?q="an=225"&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en
Just picture the difference between a factory shod Super Cub and one with Bushmasters when it comes to landing on something soft.
Anyway, the Barrow runway got built and was set aside for the two years (thanks to Canada, here, here, here) before paving it. During that time, I was transferred into Fairbanks as director of cargo and another station manager came in. Later, I was reassigned back to Barrow as station manager.
Somehow, and I have no way to know for , the runway started to loosen up in some areas and would become very soft, especially with a little rain or at breakup. Lack of proper mixture of crushed rock I suspect. Gee, wonder how that happened During construction?
At that point, we had a really great safety Captain that often flew into Barrow. He kept feeding in his reports to the company and to the state about runway conditions which usually hit the preverbal stone wall. Conditions right on the edge of not being acceptable to operate out of actually.
What really got to me since I had been there from the start and had filed many reports to Wien that it took a landing like this before management would listen.
Finally one day, he was bringing in a scheduled F-27 flight on a normal operation and on roll out, the left main gear hit one of those soft spots. It kind of stopped in just a few feet but the other side kept moving. Aircraft ended up at about a 45 degree angle to the runway with the main gear axle below ground level and a deep ditch where the nose gear had been forced to the left. Sorry guys, photos of this were also lost in a flood at Galena years later. Maybe if my friend is reading this, he just might be talked into posting a photo if he has one.
It turned out to be quite a project just to get the aircraft out of the "sink hole" and to the terminal. I am not real sure on this but because of the stress, mechanics may have been flown in to check the aircraft over. That had to have been lots of side stress.
Yes, we also got a 737 stuck on a soft runway at the ARCO strip at Prudhoe Bay too. What an operation to get that back out and lucky no damage.
When Boeing was doing the testing on the gravel kits for the 737s, they were using one of our aircraft and using the Fort Yukon strip. I understand they got one stuck there too. To me that is only hearsay since I wasn't there to see it so take it with a grain of salt.
Getting a 737 or any Wien aircraft stuck in a snow drift was a daily operation in the winter. Still, aviation in Alaska has to be the best anywhere. Every day was something new for sure and it was always something to look forward to when waking up in the morning if you were lucky enough to get some sleep.
A perfect example is the state runway at Barrow, Alaska in early 70s. I will have to be very careful how I say this so just bare with me and read between the lines, OK?
I was there when the work first started. Wien had always used the Air Force airport at Point Barrow and we were really looking for forward to our own terminal and runway very close to town.
Will Rogers and Wily Post, on their final trip, used a small lake some 12 miles southwest of Barrow.
Since I had done a lot of work early on helping to build sections of the Interstate Highway system in Nebraska and Kansas, I had learned, thanks to a great superintendent, a lot about compaction and how it was supposed to be done when overseen properly by inspectors.
What really got to the Wien operation was that the Point Barrow airport was under construction at the same time due to a storm and no choice, the city runway was being constructed at the same time. As I have said before, I had to bounce back and forth trying to figure out the best runway to use on any given day and sometimes I didn't know until the aircraft was maybe a half hour out which runway to use. I was the only person to determine that. I always paid special attention to compaction (oh how I wish I could explain that but can't afford a law suit) and would often get out of my pickup and walk a soft spot, and there were a lot of soft spots, before I decided where to land. Thank goodness for my pilot background.
How about this: for a 9 AM arrival, I would have to inspect the runway at 4 AM. Talk about long days. No wonder no more children. :-?
We were using both the C-46 and the F-27 into Barrow depending on how I felt about the runway. The C-46 could land about anywhere because of the big tires but the F-27 was something else. Considering the weight of the aircraft and tire footprint, I figured the F-27 was about the heaviest aircraft flying in those days, far heavier than a C-5 fully loaded and especially the AN-225 which has landed many times in Anchorage.
http://images.google.com/images?q="an=225"&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en
Just picture the difference between a factory shod Super Cub and one with Bushmasters when it comes to landing on something soft.
Anyway, the Barrow runway got built and was set aside for the two years (thanks to Canada, here, here, here) before paving it. During that time, I was transferred into Fairbanks as director of cargo and another station manager came in. Later, I was reassigned back to Barrow as station manager.
Somehow, and I have no way to know for , the runway started to loosen up in some areas and would become very soft, especially with a little rain or at breakup. Lack of proper mixture of crushed rock I suspect. Gee, wonder how that happened During construction?
At that point, we had a really great safety Captain that often flew into Barrow. He kept feeding in his reports to the company and to the state about runway conditions which usually hit the preverbal stone wall. Conditions right on the edge of not being acceptable to operate out of actually.
What really got to me since I had been there from the start and had filed many reports to Wien that it took a landing like this before management would listen.
Finally one day, he was bringing in a scheduled F-27 flight on a normal operation and on roll out, the left main gear hit one of those soft spots. It kind of stopped in just a few feet but the other side kept moving. Aircraft ended up at about a 45 degree angle to the runway with the main gear axle below ground level and a deep ditch where the nose gear had been forced to the left. Sorry guys, photos of this were also lost in a flood at Galena years later. Maybe if my friend is reading this, he just might be talked into posting a photo if he has one.
It turned out to be quite a project just to get the aircraft out of the "sink hole" and to the terminal. I am not real sure on this but because of the stress, mechanics may have been flown in to check the aircraft over. That had to have been lots of side stress.
Yes, we also got a 737 stuck on a soft runway at the ARCO strip at Prudhoe Bay too. What an operation to get that back out and lucky no damage.
When Boeing was doing the testing on the gravel kits for the 737s, they were using one of our aircraft and using the Fort Yukon strip. I understand they got one stuck there too. To me that is only hearsay since I wasn't there to see it so take it with a grain of salt.
Getting a 737 or any Wien aircraft stuck in a snow drift was a daily operation in the winter. Still, aviation in Alaska has to be the best anywhere. Every day was something new for sure and it was always something to look forward to when waking up in the morning if you were lucky enough to get some sleep.
