Alaska Wing Men

[Smoothice]

Is there a thread on this already?

Did anyone see that new show on Nat Geo??

Anyway, there was a segment in it featuring a CAP 182 and a Cadet doing her first x-c solo.

There were a few things that caught my attention about it....

1. The two pilots (senior member and the cadet) had on the green flight suits. They had the CAP Command Patch on the shoulder...is that wrong?
2. The CAP call sign did not seem to match the tail number of the plane.

other than that, it was a cool segment...good to see our pretty planes out there!

[jeders]

I didn't see it, but I would like to see the CAP segment. As far as your questions, the command patch should be on the chest, not shoulder, but other than that it seems fine. The CAP callsign has nothing to do with the tail number. For example, the plane at my squadron is CAP 4243, which has nothing to do with its tail number.

[Smoothice]

Thanks for the reply. I guess our squadron just made it easier using the last 2 numbers of the tail for the callsign...I did not realize there were other options.

It was a really great segment. In fact, my wife asked me "do your CAP planes really look like that?" when I said they did, she said they "looked pretty"    :clap:

[Fubar]

It looks like two aircraft were used and through the magic of editing they made it look like one aircraft figuring nobody would be watching tail numbers

[Smoothice]

It looks like two aircraft were used and through the magic of editing they probably made it look like one aircraft figuring nobody would be watching tail numbers

thats funny...in fact, in another segment of that show, they kept showing either a TURBINE version, or RADIAL version of what was supposed to be the SAME plane....ha!     

[jeders]

To the pretty planes, awesome.

As for the callsign, there is a 4 digit callsign supplied to every aircraft by national. The first two digits correspond to the wing that the aircraft is assigned to. The last two digits are assigned by wing. Then CAP (not CAP Flight, like it used to be) is used before the 4-digit identifier.

[Smoothice]

To the pretty planes, awesome.

As for the callsign, there is a 4 digit callsign supplied to every aircraft by national. The first two digits correspond to the wing that the aircraft is assigned to. The last two digits are assigned by wing. Then CAP (not CAP Flight, like it used to be) is used before the 4-digit identifier.

yeah, we use the first two numbers which are the numbers for our wing, and the last two numbers, we take the last two numbers from the tail....it works.

[ol'fido]

Wondered how long it would take for someone on here to go on about the uniforms. :angel: I saw that show and the other two episodes so far. As for the call signs, you never know when they filmed something like this. It could take two-three years for the production, editing and selling this to some network so at that time they may have still been using the CAPFlight call. OTOH, a lot of people still use it without thinking because it just kind of rolls of the tounge and the change is recent.

The part of the show that fascinated me was the fact that it is perfectly legal in AK to land on active highways in non-emergency situations. The fact that you can do it while giving a flying lesson to a 19 yr old student was interesting to say the least.

BTW. Did anyone see the show "L-Birds: The Little Planes That Did" on the Military Channel(DISH 195). Not directly or even indirectly related to CAP but it did highlight the kinds of aircraft that CAP flew in the early days. It also showed the "guts not glory" of those pilots.

[SARDOC]

The part of the show that fascinated me was the fact that it is perfectly legal in AK to land on active highways in non-emergency situations. The fact that you can do it while giving a flying lesson to a 19 yr old student was interesting to say the least.

I did see that...They mentioned that the person must be a qualified "Bush Pilot".  I thought that was really cool.  In the CAP segment I saw the fact that the student was taking off and landing on gravel runways too. 

It was great to see the Cadet doing her first solo.  As far as the uniforms...yeah not exactly to reg...that's as far as I'm going with that.  I liked to see they were keeping consistent with the mission of Civil Air Patrol.

[Mark_Wheeler]

As for the callsign, there is a 4 digit callsign supplied to every aircraft by national. The first two digits correspond to the wing that the aircraft is assigned to. The last two digits are assigned by wing. Then CAP (not CAP Flight, like it used to be) is used before the 4-digit identifier.

Not all wings have 4 digit CAP callsigns, It CAWG the airplanes are 4XX where the last 2 digits change.

Mark

[cap235629]

Arkansas's are 320-329

[bosshawk]

I haven't seen the show, but one comment was made to the effect that a radial engined airplane was shown.  Alaska Wing has a number of U-6(DHC-2) Beavers and they are radial engined.  In a lot of cases, the civilian world has modified Beavers to have turbine engines: perhaps that contributed to the confusion.  Those Beavers were built in the 50s, BTW.

[researchdoc]

Did anyone catch the names of the SM and Cadet?
Thanks.

[ol'fido]

I haven't seen the show, but one comment was made to the effect that a radial engined airplane was shown.  Alaska Wing has a number of U-6(DHC-2) Beavers and they are radial engined.  In a lot of cases, the civilian world has modified Beavers to have turbine engines: perhaps that contributed to the confusion.  Those Beavers were built in the 50s, BTW.

If it's the one shot I'm thinking of the A/C in question is a turbine engine Beaver but the scene was edited in such a way that it was supposed to multiple angles of the same A/C flashed real quickly onto the screen. Unfortunately, one of the flashes was of a normal radial engine Beaver in about the same paint scheme. Probably an editor or production assistant that didn't know the difference.

I've found that articles or shows about airplanes are kind of like ones about guns... They by definition have a mistake in them.

[indygreg]

Is there a thread on this already?

Did anyone see that new show on Nat Geo??

Anyway, there was a segment in it featuring a CAP 182 and a Cadet doing her first x-c solo.

There were a few things that caught my attention about it....

1. The two pilots (senior member and the cadet) had on the green flight suits. They had the CAP Command Patch on the shoulder...is that wrong?
2. The CAP call sign did not seem to match the tail number of the plane.

other than that, it was a cool segment...good to see our pretty planes out there!

Just watched that.  I didn't think you could fly a CAP plane until you were 18.  Also, are you allowed to teach soemone to fly in a CAP plane?

[researchdoc]

From what I can tell, Capt Morthorpe is the Director of Safety of the Alaskan Wing.. or maybe a Asst. Director.  Anyway I am going to try to interview him for my squadron podcast (see signature below).  I contacted the AK Wing to ask for their contact info for the interview and am waiting for a response.  I hope they call back and do the interview... should be good.  At least it has brought attention to CAP. 

Could it be that the call they used was in their personal equipment?  But, they filmed the outside of the CAP Cessna?

I have a copy of the episode I will post here when I get the chance.

[Al Sayre]

Just watched that.  I didn't think you could fly a CAP plane until you were 18.  Also, are you allowed to teach soemone to fly in a CAP plane?

The answers you seek are in CAPR 60-1. 

Basic answer:
1.  Must be 18 for Air Force Assigned Missions as Aircrew.  Otherwise have a CAPF5 and you can do C-17 all you want.

2.  Yes you can - basic flight training for caders only or for SM's under certain circumstances that are likely only in Alaska with a whole bunch of permissions.

[a2capt]

The leading two digits of the CAP flight numbers are the state number in alphabetical order.
Arkansas 03, California 04, etc. In cases of leading zeros, they are just omitted.

[SarDragon]

The leading two digits of the CAP flight numbers are the state number in alphabetical order.
Arkansas 03, California 04, etc. In cases of leading zeros, they are just omitted.

That's mostly correct.

Nat Cap is in there, and Alaska (50), Hawai'i (51), and Puerto Rico (52) fill it out at the end.

[indygreg]

Just watched that.  I didn't think you could fly a CAP plane until you were 18.  Also, are you allowed to teach soemone to fly in a CAP plane?

The answers you seek are in CAPR 60-1. 

Basic answer:
1.  Must be 18 for Air Force Assigned Missions as Aircrew.  Otherwise have a CAPF5 and you can do C-17 all you want.

2.  Yes you can - basic flight training for caders only or for SM's under certain circumstances that are likely only in Alaska with a whole bunch of permissions.

OK.  I was just curious.

[DG]

I was surprised that no one commented on the shoes.

Or the ball cap.

Hey folks, this is an Air Force style uniform.

Also, it is nice duty if you can get it -- receiving flight instruction in a 182.

But I must give credit to the two of them.  Father  - daughter, CFI - student pilot.  My daughter was the best of the best in her flight traiing with CAP.  But when it came to the father - daughter flight training, it was always, "I know Dad."  So she got to be trained up by another (and better) CFI.   So kudos to the AKWG father - daughter who made it work so well.

[bosshawk]

I haven't checked in several years, but I know that at one time, the GA-8 Airvans all had call signs which started with 99(99XX), since they were all assigned to National.

[SarDragon]

I haven't checked in several years, but I know that at one time, the GA-8 Airvans all had call signs which started with 99(99XX), since they were all assigned to National.

That is, to the best of my knowledge, still true. Also, A/C assigned directly to the regions (if any) woulf have 9XXX call signs.

[DG]

I haven't checked in several years, but I know that at one time, the GA-8 Airvans all had call signs which started with 99(99XX), since they were all assigned to National.

That is, to the best of my knowledge, still true. Also, A/C assigned directly to the regions (if any) woulf have 9XXX call signs.

Now ours is using the region call sign.  GA-8 N613CP.

For the first several years, it was CPF 9913.

Now it is assigned to NER, and it is CAP 9113.

[SarDragon]

There you go.

[baronet68]

The leading two digits of the CAP flight numbers are the state number in alphabetical order.
Arkansas 03, California 04, etc. In cases of leading zeros, they are just omitted.

That's mostly correct.

Nat Cap is in there, and Alaska (50), Hawai'i (51), and Puerto Rico (52) fill it out at the end.

They were originally arranged in alpha-numeric order for the first 49 wings (the 48 states of the union during WWII plus National Capital).   Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico were added later.  Old charter numbers used to start with these digits... my Washington Wing squadron as a cadet was 46046.

Wings:

Alabama (1)
Arizona (2)
Arkansas (3)
California (4)
Colorado (5)
Connecticut (6)
Delaware (7)
Florida (8)
Georgia (9)
Idaho (10)
Illinois (11)
Indiana (12)
Iowa (13)
Kansas (14)
Kentucky (15)
Louisiana (16)
Maine (17)
Maryland (18)
Massachusetts (19)
Michigan (20)
Minnesota (21)
Mississippi (22)
Missouri (23)
Montana (24)
National Capital (25)
Nebraska (26)
Nevada (27)
New Hampshire (28)
New Jersey (29)
New Mexico (30)
New York (31)
North Carolina (32)
North Dakota (33)
Ohio (34)
Oklahoma (35)
Oregon (36)
Pennsylvania (37)
Rhode Island (38)
South Carolina (39)
South Dakota (40)
Tennessee (41)
Texas (42)
Utah (43)
Vermont (44)
Virginia (45)
Washington (46)
West Virginia (47)
Wisconsin (48)
Wyoming (49)
Alaska (50)
Hawaii (51)
Puerto Rico (52)


Regions:

Northeast (91)
Middle East  (92)
Great Lakes (93)
Southeast (94)
North Central  (95)
Southwest (96)
Rocky Mountain (97)
Pacific (98)

[bosshawk]

Whew: sure glad that we got that all straightened out.  Now back to our regularly scheduled uniform thread.

Seriously, good info on the call sign numbers.

[PhotogPilot]

Most likely the producer asked them to swap the wing and majcom patches so the Alaska patch was visible to the camera.

Both this show and Sarah Palin's Alaska were chock full of aeronautical editing boo boos. Cuts between turbine and recip aircraft that should have been the same plane, mirror image shots where the shot was flipped in Avid to maintain continuity of direction and sound editing with piston sound over a turbine aircraft and vice versa. Kind of like the movie "Airplane!". I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley.

[Al Sayre]

Most likely the producer asked them to swap the wing and majcom patches so the Alaska patch was visible to the camera.

Both this show and Sarah Palin's Alaska were chock full of aeronautical editing boo boos. Cuts between turbine and recip aircraft that should have been the same plane, mirror image shots where the shot was flipped in Avid to maintain continuity of direction and sound editing with piston sound over a turbine aircraft and vice versa. Kind of like the movie "Airplane!". I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley.

That's one reason I haven't watched Sarah Palin's Alaska much.  The first couple of shows I watched had me going "WTH? That Beaver had an R-1820 when they departed and now it's got a PT-6 when it lands???"

[indygreg]

All I know is that as much as I love flying, there's no way I'd want to do some of the stuff that bush pilots have to do.

[RiverAux]

FYI, the Discovery Channel recently launched a new series called "Flying Wild Alaska" that focuses on the operations of a bush airline up there. 

[Mustang]

Most likely the producer asked them to swap the wing and majcom patches so the Alaska patch was visible to the camera.

Both this show and Sarah Palin's Alaska were chock full of aeronautical editing boo boos. Cuts between turbine and recip aircraft that should have been the same plane, mirror image shots where the shot was flipped in Avid to maintain continuity of direction and sound editing with piston sound over a turbine aircraft and vice versa. Kind of like the movie "Airplane!". I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley.

That's one reason I haven't watched Sarah Palin's Alaska much.  The first couple of shows I watched had me going "WTH? That Beaver had an R-1820 when they departed and now it's got a PT-6 when it lands???"

Anything Sarah Palin-related generally requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief.

[NIN]

FYI, the Discovery Channel recently launched a new series called "Flying Wild Alaska" that focuses on the operations of a bush airline up there.

And its actually fairly watchable.

[Ed Bos]

From what I can tell, Capt Morthorpe is the Director of Safety of the Alaskan Wing.. or maybe a Asst. Director.  Anyway I am going to try to interview him for my squadron podcast (see signature below).  I contacted the AK Wing to ask for their contact info for the interview and am waiting for a response.  I hope they call back and do the interview... should be good.  At least it has brought attention to CAP. 

Could it be that the call they used was in their personal equipment?  But, they filmed the outside of the CAP Cessna?

I have a copy of the episode I will post here when I get the chance.

Has anyone gotten back to you on this yet?

[Ed Bos]

I'm glad to see some folks enjoyed the program.

For all concerned, the uniform discrepancies have been addressed ; D

The networks are interested in more filming with CAP in Alaska, so please be on the lookout for more and better segments.

[researchdoc]

Ed,
Thanks for asking.. no I have not gotten a return from my message on this..  I see you are AK-001.. I left a message there at Wing requesting assistance.  As you know Eservices won't allow me to get the contact info on them and it appears their phone number is unlisted.. albeit, I did find the home address.. if they do not wish to do a phone interview, no problem.. but it would be a shame..
Obviously, I don't want to just barge in on their personal life for an interview without them knowing ahead of time.. and thought it would be appropriate to let your Wing brass know what I had planned to do as well. 
I think this is very worthy of as much publicity as possible.  It is a great CAP story.. father/daughter team.. father an instructor for CAP, the daughter a cadet soloing in ALASKA! Where there is bush piloting!  It is a massive success story.. and really shows the analogy I hear a lot of the cadets of the CAP are like the Boy Scouts is way off (with all due respect to the Scouts as they are a great organization!).... Our cadets FLY! And in AK! 
It is a great story...   uniform discrepancies or not.. it is great marketing for CAP.   Not to mention it shows how serious and professional our cadets are.
If there is anything you can do to help me, I sure would appreciate it.. you can send me a PM or email if you wish.
Again, thank you for asking.

[Major Carrales]

Most likely the producer asked them to swap the wing and majcom patches so the Alaska patch was visible to the camera.

Both this show and Sarah Palin's Alaska were chock full of aeronautical editing boo boos. Cuts between turbine and recip aircraft that should have been the same plane, mirror image shots where the shot was flipped in Avid to maintain continuity of direction and sound editing with piston sound over a turbine aircraft and vice versa. Kind of like the movie "Airplane!". I'm not joking. And don't call me Shirley.

That's one reason I haven't watched Sarah Palin's Alaska much.  The first couple of shows I watched had me going "WTH? That Beaver had an R-1820 when they departed and now it's got a PT-6 when it lands???"

Anything Sarah Palin-related generally requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief.

C'mon, Mustang, let's keep it clean of politics around here.