I was looking around Anchorage in google maps and found this oddly shaped lake. I switched to satellite view and WOW, I've never seen so many float planes before. Have a look and be sure to zoom in to see just how many planes there are, and almost every bit of shore has either a plane, or parts of a plane on it. A good Alaska Flight challenge would be "Walk around and find your plane"

 

Hopefully this lake is well represented in Alaska. Also, I hope the fact that they mention 137 floatplane bases means they are going to give us a float plane to use. MS wouldn't make us tool around Alaska in the Icon, would they?

This is Lake Hood the biggest seaplane base in the world.

MS wouldn't make us tool around Alaska in the Icon

You wouldn't get very far

Flew in and out of Hood for more than a week. Great place to hang out when not flying and check out the aircraft of every kind.

 

A very interesting place to visit if you are in Anchorage and Lake Hood is this Air Museum. Tons of planes to look at.

 

http://www.alaskaairmuseum.org/

Lake Hood... haha, that's interesting. I have of course seen many pictures of float planes at "Lake Hood", though I had no idea there were THAT many. For some reason I equated this with Mt. Hood, and thought it was somewhere near Portland, OR. I've often thought that I'd hop on the motorcycle one day and ride down to check it out. I guess it will be a longer ride than I orignally thought, however I have always wanted to ride to Alaska...

Lake Hood... haha, that's interesting. I have of course seen many pictures of float planes at "Lake Hood", though I had no idea there were THAT many. For some reason I equated this with Mt. Hood, and thought it was somewhere near Seattle. I've often thought that I'd hop on the motorcycle one day and ride down to check it out. I guess it will be a longer ride than I orignally thought, however I have always wanted to ride to Alaska...

 

The planes are lined up and parked all around the lake, one next to the other. Here is a shot I took which is typical spacing.

 

 

 

 

Here is the C-182 I flew. It had a float kit installed in it which upped the horsepower by 35 and reinforced the windshield area, so that the weight of the floats would not cause the windshield to "pop out".

How do you park it prop out? Do you have to get out and rotate the airplane by hand?

 

Best regards.

Luis

Really long oars.

for those still inclined to fly FSX as well as the new flight alaska,a great version of lake hood is included in aerosoft's Anchorage X. there's PANC, lake hood, and lake hood's GA strip all in the package.

How do you park it prop out? Do you have to get out and rotate the airplane by hand?

 

Best regards.

Luis

 

Yup!!!!!

Great pictures, thanks. In the satellite picture, I assume that is ice? What do you do then? Nothing?

Great pictures, thanks. In the satellite picture, I assume that is ice? What do you do then? Nothing?

 

If you zoom fully in you can see wheel tracks on the ice. Many seaplanes are actually amphibian (e.g. Grumman Goose, PBY-6 Catalina, Cessna Caravan and even the Maule M-7 seaplane variant). The float only versions are probably converted to wheels/skis during the cold season. Also looking more closely there seem to be several sets of disassembled floats sitting on the high ground whereas the aircraft nearby definitely don't have floats attached.

 

I'm not familiar with float plane operations during the cold season in the high latitudes but I would assume that's the way they are doing it.

If you zoom fully in you can see wheel tracks on the ice. Many seaplanes are actually amphibian (e.g. Grumman Goose, PBY-6 Catalina, Cessna Caravan and even the Maule M-7 seaplane variant). The float only versions are probably converted to wheels/skis during the cold season. Also looking more closely there seem to be several sets of disassembled floats sitting on the high ground whereas the aircraft nearby definitely don't have floats attached.

 

I'm not familiar with float plane operations during the cold season in the high latitudes but I would assume that's the way they are doing it.

 

Many of the planes have both floats and skis and change them with the seasons. Some floats have landing gear wheels built in that can be actuated from the cockpit via cables, so you can also land on a runway.

 

http://www.wipaire.com/wipline/index.php

I hope they do it as good as the version I have in FSX:

 

The PBY Catalina on display at the Alaska Air Museum has metal skin damage where it was clawed by a bear!

 

I've spent hours and hours wandering around the shores of Lake Hood...endless vistas of floatplanes (and landplanes too). Was a great vacation trip.

 

John