The Goose Hangar

What do you guys think? Will the Goose fit?

Cheers to another unique twin engine beauty out there!

Today we celebrate the first flight anniversary of the Beechcraft Starship. The concept for the twin-turboprop business transport aircraft began in the early 1980s when Beechcraft contracted with Scaled Composites. In true Rutan-inspired fashion, the unusual aircraft has a carbon fiber composite airframe, canard design, and pusher propellers.

📸 Andrew Zaback at AirVenture 2019

Day 4, checkride day:
This is it, the last few days, the ground instruction, all the mental prep go into the practical. I have checkrides all the time at my day job, I won’t say they’re fun… but I was excited for this one.
Another gorgeous morning at Lake Hood. The examiner and I both show at 10am, and get the preliminaries knocked out before diving into the oral ground eval portion. I feel well prepared, Burke and I have covered this a lot of times, but Brent (my examiner) brings up several talking points from his 10 years of Goose experience as well. If you don’t learn something on a checkride, it’s not going right, and I’m already learning this morning! Ground eval complete, we move the plane out and do a walk around, discussing various small details of N703 and making sure she’s good for the day. Fuel is topped, oil is well above minimums. Time to go fly.
After an uneventful runup, I ramp B-81 into Lake Hood. Ramping has become one of my favorite parts… it’s just not something you see or do every day.
Departing the West Lane, we proceed out to the very familiar Figure Eight Lake. After some quick air work to warm up, we drop into the pattern. Several Beavers are in the area working various lakes, but spacing isn’t an issue. Of course… there’s a breeze. The glassy water landing isn’t so glassy 🤣. I run through each maneuver my examiner asks for, ticking off each item on the requirements. Soon, he says “That’s all I need. You can do more, or head back.” It’s generally accepted that you never do more than the examiner asks to see, but I was in a groove, and who knows the next chance I’ll have to fly this old girl. “I want two more. A normal landing to a step, then a spot landing full stop”. I wish I had enough token to stay out all day… but this isn’t my airplane, and it’s a checkride after all. We had back to Lake Hood for one to a full stop, and I’m proud to say my last landing was one of my very best in N703. Coming off the step, I slide my window open as I crank the gear down, and I hear Brent say “You’re a Goose pilot now, open that window and let your elbow out!”… I’m a Goose Pilot!
Ramping out of the lake goes the best yet, and I’m in a bit of shock taxiing B-81 back home. As I shut her down, Brent offers a handshake, a compliment and a congratulations. Multi-Engine Seaplane complete!

This rating means the world to me. Warbird flying is a huge passion of mine, and flying the Goose has been an incredible opportunity. A huge thank you to John, for offering his beautiful N703 up for MES training. Thank you to Burke, for having the patience and wisdom to quickly find the way a hard-headed guy like me needs to be taught. Thank you to Brent, for bringing a different Goose perspective, and making the checkride relaxed, fun and memorable! Thank you to my work, for giving me the leeway to increase my airmanship through this new rating. And most of all, to my better half, Rebecca, who coordinated this all with Burke last summer, offered up the greenbacks to pay for it, and continues to share in my joy for old airplanes.
What a day… sorry there’s not more photos from today, I was too distracted soaking it all in…

-Chris
B-81/N703 MES Rating student #24

Checkride day!

MES Flying Day 3
Woke up to a perfect day. Barely a breath of wind, and plentiful sunshine welcomed me as I pulled up to The Goose Hangar. The doors were already open, and after a preliminary brief, Burke and I hopped in to get the sortie going. Today was cleanup day: do every maneuver we could and fine tune things going into tomorrows practical exam.
After briefing the taxi, runup and departure plan while warming the oil, we taxied out and swung into the runup area. No sooner than we had done this, we realized we were contributing to quite the traffic jam between a 185 and a Cub trying to cross in front of us. We try not to hold folks up, but it’s tough to stay out of the way in a Goose sometimes. 🤣
The runup, ramping and taxi were uneventful, and even the takeoff mostly went smoothly. Still need to work on that transition into the step….
After getting to Figure Eight Lake, Burke gave me a simulated engine failure entering the pattern. 90kts, turn toward the lake, 90kts, identify-verify-feather-90kts… landing assured, now flaps…
The wind out here is much higher, 15 or so again. Enough to make it a challenge. After running through a spot landing and glassy water profile, we shut down for lunch. Sitting atop the Goose, chatting with Burke for 30 minutes while we eat is truly one of my favorite parts of this entire experience.
After halftime, we do some crosswind work, then climb up for air work before heading home. Two patterns on the West lane, then a full stop. Ramping went better today, so at least there’s that ☺️. Checkride tomorrow… let’s do this!

-Chris

MES Flying Day 2:
Today was a different schedule. Due to other commitments for both Burke and B-81, we started later today. However, this presented an exceptional opportunity: I asked, and was granted the chance to bring my girls along on my training flight today. Out of the norm for sure, but a once-in-a-lifetime chance. With the weather being fantastic (lights winds with unrestricted vis) and a HIGHLY experienced instructor in the right seat, we agreed this was a great opportunity.
With the Goose already being out, we headed to the ANC cell phone waiting lot. Brilliantly located, it provides a chance to catch all of the LHD action. And we were lucky enough to catch some photos and videos of the Goose through several splashes!
With the Goose full stopping, we raced to the hangar to get ready. After briefing, I took Rebecca and Piper out, letting them walk around the airplane, Piper watching as I worked through a walk around. That complete, we loaded up and joined the bustle of a busy Sunday on LHD.
After departing on the West Route, we proceeded out to work on Glassy Water and Normal Landings. With the winds light out of the southwest, it was also a great chance to work on my step taxiing, which needed quite a bit of work after Day 1. After my best attempt to keep the girls from getting seasick, we realized we had inadvertently left the cabin heater on. Despite shutting that off, we decided it was the right time to shut down on the lake and take it all in for a moment.
We enjoyed sitting on the lake, no one else but us, but the afternoon was moving on and we decided to get back at it. A single engine approach and several other patterns later, we headed back. The pattern was empty, so an accommodating LHD allowed us a splash and go, which was fortunate. You never know who may be watching, and this time The Aviation Nut caught us as we returned. Nothing like your last landing being caught on film!
Ramping today made for an entertaining sight I’m sure, as I gave the tail quite a wag coming out of the water. Never a dull moment when you’re driving a Goose 😉.
Today was a phenomenal day, one I never dreamt I’d be able to share with my family. I owe a huge thank you to John for sharing his airplane, Burke for sharing his incredible experience and instruction, and my Rebecca for putting up with (and funding) my wholly impractical warbird obsession.
Day 3 tomorrow, time to clean up for the checkride.

Also, we have an exceptional amount of photos and videos from today, so watch this page as we slowly clean them up and get them on here.

-Chris

MES flying, Day 1:
The weather did not show promise when I woke up. Low overcast and rain. But Alaska weather is a funny thing, they say if you don’t like it, just wait 5 minutes. Burke and I were both checking the weather, and agreed to meet at the hangar as planned. By the time I got into Lake Hood, it was clear we made the correct choice. The clouds were clearing, winds like out of the north and showers cleared out.
After a preflight brief, we began the process of preparing N703. Airplanes out of the hangar. Plugs installed, walk around complete, 220 gallons of avgas into the airplane. Finally we were all ready.

Starting a goose the first time seems complex, but understanding the flow starts to free up other brain bites during the start process. The placement of the two R985s right next to your head makes for an assault on your hearing, and I honestly have no clue how people flew these with ANR headsets 🤣. We brief the run up, lake entry and taxi procedures while we wait for the oil to warm above 40 degrees C. With 985s, you make sure the oil is at least 40 before going above idle, and the CHTs above 100 before takeoff. These engines are tough, but you have to take care of them.
With temps good we taxi out to the runway runup area. Being able to do the run up on land, with brakes, makes the process a lot easier. Taxiing takes some getting used to though. A free-castering tailwheel makes taxiing with brakes and differential power an illustration of just how good experienced Goose drivers are, both on land and in the water. Smaller more frequent corrections make for a much smoother ride than my large, aggressive corrections. I need to work on that….
Taxiing into the water the first time is an epic feeling. Rolling down the ramp and feeling the airplane float off is a thrill, one I didn’t expect to notice until I was doing it. After cranking the wheels up (40 cranks), I had plenty of taxi practice through the slow canal to set up for a west departure.
The takeoff technique is a complex one if your unprepared, so Burke demonstrated while talking through. Of course, he makes it look insanely easy. Turns out I’d need more practice…
We flew out to Figure 8 lake, finding the northwest winds to be 15-20kts on this side of the Susitna Valley. After some air work (she handles as expected with those big flight controls) we drop down into the water pattern. Land-step taxi-takeoff. The wind makes for some rough water work, but hey, you get what you get and deal with it.
After a few patterns, we practice downwind taxi, sailing and shut down for a few minutes. The quiet, mental break of sitting on top of the airplane, even in the wind, recharges my battery and resets my focus. After the break, Burke introduces single engine ops. Turns out the Goose doesn’t like being on one engine a bunch, so keeping it over the water is key. Finally, we return to Lake Hood. You’re subconsciously aware of the people watching and taking videos when you come into land, and makes me focus on the landing even more. After clearing the lane, we crank the gear down and ramp the airplane back out of the lake.
It was an intense, great day of flying. The Goose is an honest, hard working airplane, and it tells you when your screwing up. N703/B-81 wore me out, but I can’t wait to come back for more on Day 2.

-Chris

It’s about that time, Folks!

As the ice starts to melt, Chris and Burke will be gearing up to start Chris’s MES rating, and we will take you behind the scenes for an up close look of what it takes to learn to fly the Goose!

Follow along for updates!

Our Goose doesn’t hang out at the high end of the speed spectrum, but we had to share these photos of our NAVAIR counterparts illustrating aerodynamic phenomena!

Wow everyone! Sorry we’ve been away! It’s been a long winter!
We hope everyone is ready for spring, and can’t wait to get back out on the water!
As a quick side note, we saw this in one of our local stores today! How cool is this?!?!