Ted Stevens Int'l, Anchorage, AK, USA - 17/04/2008

After our visit to the E-3D at Elmendorf AFB, Skippy had arranged for us to undertake a ramp tour at Ted Stevens Int'l. Basically we got taken out by one of the Ops staff in his 4X4, we told him where we wanted to go, he'd stop, let us get out and shoot what we wanted, before we moved on to the next position. All airports should operate such a scheme!!

This rather forlorn looking C-119 is apparently owned by Brooks Fuel up at Fairbanks.

We struck it really lucky while we were out by the runway, catching one of the HC-130Ns and an Alaska Airlines 'special'.

Among the items of interest on the otherside of the runway were this Electra and Dakota.

The undoubted star, however, was the C-133A Cargomaster - N199AB. This was my first encounter with this behemoth and when we visited it was still hoped that she'd remain a (admittedly infrequent) flyer, but back in September she made her last journey to the museum at Travis AFB in California. She was the last airworthy C-133 in the world, and could only be operated in Alaska on government contracts. When we visited she's not flown for about 18 months.

Also of interest were this Goose - the only turbo-prop driven example in the world, and this Desert Air Convair VT-29B.

Unfortunately our host had to cut our visit short at this point as he needed to go and pick his son up from school, but we were more than happy with what we'd got.

All that was left was for one final visit to the mound before we headed to the terminal to check-in for our homeward journey.

When we arrived in Chicago early the next morning to catch our connection, we soon became aware that all was not well, and before we knew it American Airlines cancelled our transatlantic flight, leaving us stranded for a further twelve hours.

Despite that, what a trip it had been. Absolutely no complaints. Just brilliant from start to finish. Alaska is definitely one of those places that all aviation enthusiasts must visit. It has everything. The people are great and are only to happy to help you out too. This one really is going to take some beating!