Two days in Alaska: As a military retiree, we (wife and I) can fly space-available on military flights if there is no mission conflict. Here's some select photos from a trip to...

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

As a military retiree, we (wife and I) can fly space-available on military flights if there is no mission conflict.
Here's some select photos from a trip to Anchorage this past month. We only spent two full days there.

ANG C-17, USAF prime hauler
ANG C-17, USAF prime hauler...

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Fishing for salmon in Ship Creek, Anchorage

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Ship Creek (running salmon not visible)

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Mary Meets Moose
Mary Meets Moose...

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Inflight, headed home
Inflight, headed home...

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RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Good set.
There seems to be more leg room than what you get on some comercial flights.

tramsey Loc: Texas

I would take a C 17 over most any commercial carrier unless you want to talk first class, then that is different.

You've got some great shots for only two days. Is that you fishing on the right side of the photo?

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Very good Rhett.

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

tramsey wrote:

I would take a C 17 over most any commercial carrier unless you want to talk first class, then that is different.

You've got some great shots for only two days. Is that you fishing on the right side of the photo?

No, we were not equipped to fish. Not sure I'd want to be among those guys: they were whipping their bait in an out, in and out. Could lose an eye out there.
There were many times more people fishing up and down the creek than shown. Only saw one fish caught.

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

RichardTaylor wrote:

Good set.
There seems to be more leg room than what you get on some comercial flights.

Only way to travel. Abbreviated security check since we're all military (active and retired) with ID's. Good leg room in the center seats, and unlimited legroom with the jump seats along the fuselage.
You can get up and walk around as much as you like. I like peering out the portholes and taking photos of ground features. (see photo)

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rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

ebbote wrote:

Very good Rhett.

Thanks!

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

rdfarr wrote:

Only way to travel. Abbreviated security check since we're all military (active and retired) with ID's. Good leg room in the center seats, and unlimited legroom with the jump seats along the fuselage.
You can get up and walk around as much as you like. I like peering out the portholes and taking photos of ground features. (see photo)

Great! By the way, Mary met a caribou, not a moose (hint: hence the name Peaka Boo). Love the pic inside the cargo bay. I wondered what they looked like when set up for passenger use.

The fishermen are fishing for red salmon which do not bite when they hit freshwater. They do, however, swim upstream with their mouths opening and closing. The "bait" is a legal size hook with a piece of yarn or a plastic bead pegged just above the hook and enough weight to get it down. The constant movement of the bait is in an effort to have the weighted bait slide into the open mouth at the moment you draw the rig up tight, therefore hooking the fish (legally) in the mouth. When the salmon are running heavy there are a surprising number of fish caught this way. When they are running light, not so much. If the run you witnessed was heavy you would have seen the fishermen literally shoulder-to-shoulder, hence the name "combat fishing". All this pertains primarily to red salmon fishing.

rkramer1

why did you stay only 2 days. Any flight over 2 hours should include more than a 2 day stay. My rule is if the flight is over 6 hours you should stay at least 3 weeks. 50 years ago I took a military hop in a c130 from Panama to South Carolina it took over 8 hours because we stopped for an hour in Porto Rico which is further from Panama than South Carolina but that the way the military flight was scheduled. I had waited in the airport for 2 days for that flight. Luckily my leave didn't start until I took off and the leave ended as soon as you got to a military base any place in the world. There are advantages and disadvantages to everything but in the military there was and still is a lot of time waisted.

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

Mr. B wrote:

Great! By the way, Mary met a caribou, not a moos... (show quote)

Thanks for correcting my "moose" sighting. We actually did see a moose cross Elmendorf in the early morning. We followed him in the car.
Thanks also for explaining how those guys were fishing. No wonder so few were being caught: only saw one guy taking out a fish. In the clear water, we could see from the bridge that not many salmon were running.

rdfarr Loc: Floridian living in AL

rkramer1 wrote:

why did you stay only 2 days. Any flight over 2 h... (show quote)

We knew before leaving that the aircraft was only at the airfield for 4 days before returning in two weeks to bring everyone home. In actuality, it only stayed for 3 days, giving us two and half days in Anchorage. We had the choice of a short trip, or a long one. Having been to AK on four previous occasions, we chose the short trip. Our objective of dining at "The Moose's Tooth" and "Humphys" was met. :)

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

rdfarr wrote:

We knew before leaving that the aircraft was only at the airfield for 4 days before returning in two weeks to bring everyone home. In actuality, it only stayed for 3 days, giving us two and half days in Anchorage. We had the choice of a short trip, or a long one. Having been to AK on four previous occasions, we chose the short trip. Our objective of dining at "The Moose's Tooth" and "Humphys" was met. :)

The halibut sandwich at Humpy's is worth the trip alone!

DAVE FISHING Loc: Phoenix,Arizona

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Very nice indeed! I wasn't aware of this retiree privilege. I've flown into the Air Force bases in Anchorage and Fairbanks(in a Navy P-3).
A few years ago an Air Force pilot flew a C17 into a small GA airport in downtown Tampa(about a 3500ft rwy) thinking it was McDill which was a few miles away! He never went off the runway! LOL

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

rdfarr wrote:

As a military retiree, we (wife and I) can fly space-available on military flights if there is no mission conflict.
Here's some select photos from a trip to Anchorage this past month. We only spent two full days there.

Good to see that the system is still in place. When I was in college, I flew between school and home space available. I remember the pecking order well: 1. Emergency leave, 2 active military 3 retired military 4 college brats. Love the first photo.