Valdez does it again!

Every year, on the weekend of Mothers Day, Valdez, Alaska, hosts a Fly-In and Air Show. This year's event appears to have been just as successful as the many that have preceded it.

One of the highlights of the Fly-In is the Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) competition, in which various classes of light aircraft compete to see who can take the shortest combined distance to take-off and land. Being veteran bush pilots, some of those attending can produce mind-bogglingly small take-off and landing runs.

Here's a video clip of this year's event, beginning with some of the scenery as one flies into Valdez, then a few shots of aircraft at the Fly-In, and finally the competition.

Miss D. is annoyed because she couldn't be at Valdez to see it for herself, as she has in years past. However, she'll be back in Alaska soon, to collect her plane and bring it down to warmer climes, and will probably get to meet many of her pilot friends. (I note that when she introduces herself to local pilots as an Alaskan flier, she automatically gains serious status among those who appreciate how much more difficult it is to fly up there. In that environment, a moment's inattention can seriously kill you! Mother Nature is particularly unforgiving in Alaska.)

Peter