The weather on the 4th was pretty nice and we've been having some super warm weather for Alaska this week. I decided to go out for a bit and do some exploring for the afternoon since I had a bit of free time. I went south from Birchwood into the mountains mostly just following my nose. The air was smooth and a bit cooler at 6K feet which was nice on a hot day. It was one of those rare days when the air was super still around the mountains and you could run the ridges and fly

I promised more and here’s a little more. This weekend produced some fan-freakin-tastic weather! Saturday and Sunday pretty much all ran together so I’ll just go with weekend. I had a little avgas left in the tanks I needed to get out so I burned it, in the Rotax. Saturday was pretty and the wind at Birchwood was swirly and a tad weird which makes for fun approaches. When your stick is at the stops and you’re waiting for a response you know you’re slow and the wind is weird.

First, I know I’ve been slacking on the updates, I’m going to try to do better I promise. The weather finally cleared up, it’s been a super miserable spring here in Anchorage this year. Windy and cold and all around generally sucky weather. Today however was amazing. I got to put some time on the new Duc Helices prop. It’s all carbon fiber and super light weight. It’s so smooth it’s almost ridiculous, love it! It took a few times to dial in the correct pitch but it isn’t hard

I was looking through my videos from this summer and found a video of my brother and me chasing Rob up the Matanuska Glacier. It was a gorgeous summer afternoon, what could possibly be better than glacier flying? Seems like every time I turn around I’m saying this is the most fun I’ve had all summer, this was one of those days. #Snow #Mountains #Landing #AKBushWheels #Alaska #SuperStol #Catto #Cabin #Highlander #Experimental #EAA #JustAircraft #STOL #Flying #Glacier #iPhone

Long weekends are the best, they’re even better when you have a Superstol. A small group of us left Birchwood around 10am-ish and headed west. The weather Saturday morning was perfect but we knew it wasn’t going to last very long. After a little aerial tour around Big Lake we decided to check out the strip on the top of Mt. Susitna. Does anyone know what the buildings were used for up there? I’m asking because I don’t know. If I was going to guess I’d say possibly an old mili

My brother and I have been wanting to do some deer hunting on Montague Island down in Prince William Sound for a while now so we decided that now was a good time. We invited Robby to go along and he graciously helped flying gear and people around. Rob and I flew from Birchwood to Seward and met my brother who drove his truck down with more gear. With a cabin reserved on the island we were pretty much “glamping”, airplane style. The airplanes were loaded up and we headed out i

Robby had some friends up from NC so he asked if I’d like to help show them around this evening. The wind was flat calm so we headed up Knik hoping the crud wasn’t too low, it was just high enough to let us out over the glacier for a quick look. We stopped a few places to get out and look around. I was impressed with how much colder it was up close to the glacier tonight. It had to be at least 20 colder than a couple miles down stream. Rob does an incredible job demoing what

I had some time last weekend to go play in the wind up the river. It was blowing maybe 18-20 mph so slowed me down quite a bit. Most of my landings were consistently 20′ or less, I did have a couple 10-12′ landings which is way more fun than it should be. It took me an hour to get comfortable in the wind, I figured if I don’t practice I’ll never learn. Learning how to fly this Superstol has been a ton of fun! I wasn’t getting on the brakes hard but did use them some. It was r

Rob and I spent a couple hours playing around the mud strip near Lake George. I was practicing dragging my tail wheel the whole way up the strip without letting mains touch, fun and challenging. On the way home Rob found a nice runway on this gravel bar. This bar looks long enough with some wind except that Rob was landing across it side ways. I need to find a better way to take photos when I’m also trying to fly. Robby Pedersen and me. This is a pretty clear example of the “

When you wanna see bear you have to go where they are, they’re in Katmai. Rob and Kristi loaded the airplanes with our junk and wayyy too much food (thanks Kristi) and headed south. Rob wanted to look at Redoubt on the way south, it’s big and icy. You know how I know? I was there, looking right at it. Mount Redoubt, it’s big and icy. We found a beautiful beach to camp on for the night. Bear tracks and food, who says they don’t mix? By mid morning we had company. After shooing

I’ve always wanted to go to Kayak Island so Rob and I piled all our crap into the airplanes and left Birchwood. The weather was nice so we went straight over Eklutna Lake and over the Chugach right into Prince William Sound. It’s amazing what you think you hear your engine doing when you’re at 9,000′ over ice and rocks. The Rotax 912 is an amazing engine and hasn’t given me any problems at all but still, ahh it’s just in my head. We stopped for a pit stop in Heather Bay. The

Rob and I decided to make a long weekend out of it and headed out from Birchwood with the Superstols. We flew down the west side of Cook Inlet for starters not really knowing where me might end up for the night. That’s the fun part right? We crossed the inlet from the west toward Kenai and headed south to Homer. We stopped I Homer for lunch and to look at nick nacks on the spit, and refuel the coffee tank. After Homer we headed southeast and looked for a pass to get through t

The nephews were out from Nome soaking up some “big city” and got in on a little Superstol action while in town. We went up the Knik river looking for moose and other furry things to look at. A good time was had by all. Either I’m getting smaller or Carol is feeding these guys miracle grow. #JustAircraft #Experimental #River #Mountains #Landing #AKBushWheels #Highlander #EAA #Catto #Alaska #SuperStol #Flying #STOL #iPhone

My birthday present to my self was to wash my airplane and go flying. I found myself up the Knik River bar hopping on maybe the nicest day of the entire summer. All I can say is that it was spectacular! The learning curve is a riot. #STOL #SuperStol #Catto #Alaska #EAA #Flying #Beach #Snow #Tundra #Glacier #Highlander #Landing #AKBushWheels #Mountains #River #JustAircraft #iPhone #Experimental

Kev and I fueled up and went exploring today. We stopped in Skwentna to check out the fuel situation then headed up to Chelatna Lake. We stopped and looked around for a while before heading back south. Chelatna Lake is spectacular! The water is like glass. #Mountains #River #Highlander #AKBushWheels #Tundra #JustAircraft #iPhone #Experimental #Snow #Beach #Flying #Landing #EAA #Glacier #Catto #Alaska #SuperStol #STOL

One thing I learned quickly was just how much weight you can stuff in the Superstol. My brother and I jammed the airplane full of fuel and then loaded all of our camping gear, fishing gear, rifles and the kitchen sink and headed out fishing for the day. We still only used about 220′ for take off and landing was 150′ maybe, this is going to be a fishing and hunting machine! #STOL #SuperStol #Cabin #EAA #Catto #Alaska #Beach #Flying #Snow #Experimental #JustAircraft #Tundra #Gl

Dad was with me for my first off airport landing in my Superstol. It wasn’t anything to write home about but certainly a special memory. We flew up the Knik River to the glacier and landed at a well known strip at the top of the river. It was super fun to have dad along for the ride. #Mountains #River #Highlander #Landing #AKBushWheels #JustAircraft #iPhone #Experimental #Snow #Flying #Beach #EAA #Catto #Alaska #SuperStol #Supercub #STOL #Glacier

I helped Rob build some “super secret squirrel Superstol” airplane mods for his Valdez competition. It was a lot of fun to be part of his pit crew this year. Rob won the LSA bracket this year, and depending who you talk to, you may learn that he did far better than that! He had the shortest landing of the day at 27′. Don’t let anyone kid you, the Superstol is one competitive airplane! #STOL #SuperStol #Alaska #Catto #EAA #Flying #Snow #Experimental #iPhone #JustAircraft #Land

I trailered my Superstol back to Alaska on a 20′ deck over flatbed trailer with an old Chevy Tahoe. The trip was boring and uneventful, exactly the way you’d want it when pulling and airplane for 5000 miles. #SuperStol #STOL #Alaska #Catto #EAA #Experimental #JustAircraft #Flying #iPhone #AKBushWheels #Landing #Mountains #Highlander

This winter, with Rob Pedersen’s assistance I built a Just Aircraft Superstol. I received my kit January 10th and 10 weeks later I was ready to run the engine. To be fair, I had no life and was working 12-16 hr days seven days a week on my build. The kit is fantastic and over all the building process was an excellent experience. The build was straight forward and I’m sure it helped that we were building two airplanes at the same time. When you don’t have to stand around and s