Alaska! Up North and to the Left

by Steven Swaks

  Glossary

  I truly apologize in advance to the aviation purists for the crudeness of the following definitions. They are only meant to ease the reading of this book by the non-aviation savvy and by no means replace any official (or unofficial) publications. I therefore decline any responsibility in what’s written below!

  207 (Cessna 207 “Sled”):

  Single engine piston, six passengers, one pilot. Nicknamed bush version of the Cessna 207 Stationair, the 207 “Sled” is equipped with much larger “tundra” tires and “V” shaped float plane braces behind the windshield to improve the structural integrity of the aircraft.

  ATC:

  Air Traffic Control. The men and women who try -and succeed most of the time-to tell the pilots what to do.

  Approach:

  An Instrument approach is a procedure which guides a pilot to a runway for landing (especially under reduced visibility and/ or low ceiling).

  ATIS:

  Automated Terminal Information Service. Recording that announces airport information to incoming or departing pilots (weather, runway, approach in use and so on).

  ASOS:

  Automated Surface Observing System. A ground station coupled with a computer generated voice which gives the current weather.

  Base:

  Segment of a visual approach perpendicular to the landing runway.

  Caravan (Cessna 208):

  Turbine powered, single engine, nine passengers, one pilot.

  Ceiling:

  The lower layer of clouds that is either broken or overcast.

  Center:

  Air traffic controllers mostly in charge of the in route portion of a flight.

  Checkride:

  Oral and in flight examination designed to deliver or renew a certificate or license.

  DME:

  Distance Measuring Equipment. An onboard instrument which indicates the distance between a plane and a ground based station.

  Downwind:

  Segment of a visual approach parallel to the runway, and heading opposite to the direction of landing.

  Exhaust Gaze Temperature (EGT):

  Tells the pilot the temperature of the engine. It is a very valuable piece of information which becomes critical on a turbine engine.

  Final:

  Last segment of a visual or instrument approach before landing.

  Go-around:

  A rejected landing followed by a climb. This maneuver is used if the impending landing appears unsafe or for training purposes.

  Gusik:

  Refers to Caucasians in the native Yupik Eskimo language.

  IFR:

  Instrument Flight Rules. Allows qualified pilots and properly equipped aircrafts to mostly fly without outside visibility.

  ILS:

  Instrument Landing System which guides the pilots down to the runway.

  King Air (Beechcraft):

  Turbine powered, twin engine, freighter (for Norton Aviation), one pilot.

  Marine radio:

  See VHF.

  Navajo (Piper PA-31):

  Piston powered, twin engine, 9 passengers, one pilot.

  NDB:

  At the time of writing, the NDB was a rapidly fading navigation technology still used in Alaska, but mostly ignored by the rest of the country. It was a small needle in the cockpit stubbornly pointing at a ground based station.

  Pax:

  Passengers in Norton lingo.

  Ramp:

  Parking for aircrafts.

  RMT:

  Radio Medical Traffic. RMTs are faxes sent from the villages to the physicians in the Bethel hospital by the health aids regarding current patients. The doctor usually answers back by fax to authorize a procedure or the administration of medications. They can also call via land line to verify the status of a patient.

  Scud running:

  The very bad tendencies some pilots have to fly very low in order to avoid poor weather conditions.

  Short SC-7 Skyvan:

  Turbine powered, twin engine, freighter, one pilot.

  Sled:

  Nickname for the Cessna 207 Stationair in Bush Alaska.

  SVFR:

  A special authorization by Air Traffic Control to allow Visual Flight Rules (VFR) planes to enter a designated airspace below VFR minimums (3 miles visibility and/ or 1000 feet broken or overcast).

  VFR:

  Visual Flight Rules. Minimum weather conditions for pilots operating with outside references (3 miles visibility minimum and/ or 1000 feet broken or overcast for most relevant airspaces).

  Turbine:

  It’s the end of the book and I am getting tired… a turbine is like a giant vacuum cleaner that sucks air, compresses it, and expels it at high velocity. It is also the type of flight time that novice pilots really wish they could log, often without being able to!

  VHF:

  Very High Frequency Radio (or marine radio). This radio is still widely used in the Yupik villages.

  VOR:

  A ground based navigation equipment.

  Steven Swaks is a licensed airline pilot and flight instructor. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter, and bratty canine.