Flying Wild Alaska

[Jim Logajan]

Really? Ya think they get a few phone calls about landing with pax VFR in 1 mile 700 feet is legal?

If it was SVFR, wouldn't it be? Unalakleet is Class E to the surface. I believe he switched over to Anchorage center, who presumably would have been the ATC responsible for granting SVFR for PAUN.

 

[Jim Logajan]

why not? looks to me like he has good motor skills. I hope you are not suggesting that being a skateboarder & doing stunts is somehow wrong. It seems hypocritical to condemn him for excess risk taking, just as much of the public condemns aviation as risky. Dave P.S. I am not a skateboarder.

I should have used some other way to present the video; I came across it by accident and thought it interesting. For the record I see nothing wrong in his level of risk taking.

My brothers and I skateboarded back in the late 60's using a home made skateboard. We never got that extreme. I know one very active skateboarder who went on to get PhD in physics - I have no idea if he still skateboards, though.

 

[Jim Logajan]

This is a show, not much 'reality' to it. I like it because it displays the useful aspects of GA. But you can't take the contrived story lines, the fake drama and the poor sound and video editing too seriously.

While I like to complain about aspects of the show too, consider that it makes general aviation flying seem an approachable endeavor at the same time that it is exciting, noble ("only lifeline to America's last frontier,") and even heroic ("battling -40 degree winters....")

I also liked the interview and back story of how Sarah decided to become a pilot, and the enthusiasm in her voice on just how much she enjoys flying in Alaska.

 

[Jim Logajan]

"Elaine Lenore" (presumably Ferno) has Private ASEL and third-class medical dated 1/2010.

Elaine is another daughter who has not appeared on the show.

I could not find an FAA database record for Ferno under either her maiden name (which appears to have been Ryan) or Tweto.

Ron Tweto, brother of Jim Tweto, who died a few years ago still appears in the FAA database.

This 2010 story provides some tidbits:Her sister Ayla, 24, is training to be a paramedic in Anchorage but visited Unalakleet on weekends and also appears in the show. Another sister, 21-year-old Elaine, spent the fall in London. Both are pilots.
"I had written into the contract that I get to review all these episodes so I can make sure that they don't inadvertently show something that's not legal just because they took it out of context," Jim Tweto said.http://www.adn.com/2010/12/18/1611395/alaska-bush-pilots-fly-as-the.html

 

[Jim Logajan]

That makes sense. So maybe when she says "I am the last in my family to do this" she really means the last of her siblings.

All the bios I've found say Ferno is (or was) a pilot.
Such as on the Discovery web site:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/flying-wild-alaska/bios/

 

[Jim Logajan]

Not sure I'd care to have cameras cluttering my dash and having my every move recorded on video during my solos.

The last few minutes of the season finale seemed to me to do a decent job of communicating the joy of flying.

 

[Jim Logajan]

So explain why they took off dual on runway 5 and flew the pattern and announced landing on runway 33.

Jim says at the ened that everyone flies including Ferno.

It looked a lot to me like they were wrapping up because this was the final episode.

If Discovery wraps the series up, it wont be because of poor ratings:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratin...s-for-second-week-653215/20111107discovery02/

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ng-persons-and-men-25-5418-49-ratings/114255/

With regard to continuity - I noticed the flaps were doing a lot of flapping. Alternate shots of allegedly the same flight only seconds apart showed the flaps extended in some and retracted in others.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Sorry if I missed something, but without reviewing this whole thread, did she even get her PPL yet?

No. Still a student.