Interview: Alaska Bush Pilot Steve Williams

[@GlensHangar]

We need more conversations like this about aviation and safety on KZbin.

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

We are working on it

[@gtarick1225]

No flamboyance, no bombast, just great stories with great people... The perfect KZbin channel!! Keep up the great work 👍

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

You have no idea how much this comment means to us. Thank you.

[@oilylizard86]

100%...this is the gold standard for bush content.

[@quadcub1223]

Did 10 hours with Steve & his guys. Great guy & great experience flying with Citabria John ✈️✈️

[@randyphillips559]

Agree 100%, carb heat on, then off 100' from ground, always done that for reason Steve says.

[@fjbtube6278]

Awesome interview. I could listen to Mr. Williams all day.

[@airlandnsea]

So much to add to the usual, and put in such a way that it completely makes sense. What a fantastic piece of "entertainment" . Thanks Daniel

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Thanks Steve. Thanks for the encouragement

[@RamblerMan68]

Outstanding...i did my BFR with a ag/bush pilot and didnt necessarily agree with him on some of these principles...needless to say, im gonna give it all another think

[@AkPacerPilot]

To add to the carb heat discussion… another reason to go cold on carb heat before landing, specifically in the unimproved non pavement world is injecting dust, dirt, bugs etc into your engine. Just look at your air filter after a week of flying.

[@Yabadabado1234]

This man is bang on... Always power in . Someone may have had some water in his tank... Same person may have decided to do a takeoff and straight return opposite direction on a grass strip, said person may have landed and the motor went dead, only happened when i pulled the power. I did a perfect takeoff, perfect 180 to final, and none would have happened if I had pulled the power out. When i was motor out on the runway and completely stunned i found alot of water in stainer under the carb. I was amazed it could run with the amount of water i strained.

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Thanks for sharing Kyle

[@steven2145]

His other point about the probability of an engine stopping is far greater when pulling the power back to idle than it is at any other time is also totally true. You want to pull the power back on very short final or the threshold at an airport assures simple perfect landing if the engine dies. If the engine dies at the perch you lose whatever thrust you had from the idling engine so making the runway is going to be much more difficult and your timing will be off.

[@kellyfarrington9413]

Think this is a solid point he has, but I also think he's missing the point of the exercise. I would say that he's 100% right for day to day flights, but imo, the idea of being able to make the airport ISN'T for if the engine dies in the pattern, it's for when the engine dies anywhere else, and you need to be able to hit your spot on the ground. If all you ever do is 3° power on approaches, you're likely going to end up short of the field you picked out after your engine chucked a cylinder enroute. Gotta practice it at some point...

[@cinnamanstera6388]

Just an amazing podcast. So much to think about and learn, even for a flatland float driver. Love the "in the weeds" discussion, nothing ambiguous.

[@f8fbcrb]

The Cherokee 6 that just crashed in Pomona comes to mind about flying shallow approaches.

[@JulianGriggs]

Great video. Steve is a wealth of knowledge of not only cubs but also backcountry flying. Hope to see more soon!

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Should we do more interviews with Steve?

[@desertshooter007]

​. Yes PLEASE! Great GA safety info - new student pilot and to say this has been valuable in a massive understatement! 👍

[@POVTrucking]

Great channel, I hope you don't stop before it grows bigger, we need this kind of content

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

We have a ton of content in the pipeline. Hopefully we will exceed expectations.

[@billroberts9182]

One thing not discussed-but has killed many high time cub pilots- are 360/720 LOW altitude turns eyeballing a moose/sheep/naked woman. Use discipline and use a figure of 8 pattern rather than low altitude 360 degree turns. That way your eyes and brain are focused on the turn/attitude/energy and your fly by will be stabilized with a margin of safety avoiding your wake turbulence and low airspeed Great discussion filled with logic.

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Yes, that’s another thing we should discuss on a podcast. Next guest I have I will bring that up. I have talked with a few about it but those interviews haven’t been released yet.

[@billroberts9182]

@@AirplanesInTheWild I have a very wild, unbelievable story about a friend (who died in an aircraft accident) who "airdropped" 5 gal of gas to some stranded friends on the ground.....I'll write it up when you do the circling discussion. Incidentally I very much paid attention to the "ball", especially turning in a canyon without a horizon. It is very easy to be distracted, climbing, and skidding if your heart is in your throat during the turn! Also the person in the back seat of a cub can feel uncoordinated turns better than when sitting in the front seat (you are farther from the center of mass).

[@New2Me170B]

This was great. The setting of the altitude on an uphill landing is a great tip.

[@macksenduro9796]

This was awesome to listen to, excited for episode two. Great to know what you can practice on pavement that applies in the bush realm.

[@jeremysteiner838]

About time, what a excellent talk

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Thanks, more to come

[@TroyOttosen-jg7tt]

Speaking of herring spotters, I remember walking around lake hood in Anchorage one spring day and the lake still frozen and like an ice rink smooth and watche a few super cubs on floats take off on the ice to go spot herring at prince William sound mid 80’s.😉👍

[@ModelAV8RChannel]

Man I usually watch your stuff the day of release, but had to make time to watch the whole thing. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute, and I learned so much. Thanks very much for doing this! Steve was amazing to hear. I look forward to seeing who you have on next.

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Thanks man. I appreciate your loyalty

[@steven2145]

I never thought of the idea that crabbing on a a squared off base will tell you if you have a tail wind on final.

[@hollywood84660]

Man what a great podcast. I’m currently doing my commercial license and about to do my instrument written in 🇨🇦. I would love to learn bush flying from this man

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Cool thing is that you can learn from him. Just call Acme Cub Training

[@deanerklim]

This is GOLD! Thanks for sharing Steve's knowledge and experience to make us safer pilots!

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Glad to hear. We are exploring this content style. Thanks for the feedback

[@portnuefflyer]

Good to see another pilot who got his start hang gliding!

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Yea pretty cool. I got my start in paragliding. Great way to get into aviatiob

[@FreedomFlight1]

Great interview, thx for doing this

[@Labrador_Iron]

I just watched this for the 2nd time now and have to say how great these videos are, keep doing what you are doing! so much to learn from guys like Steve , Kirk Ellis , Matt Keller etc etc. just the carb heat example alone is worth passing on and its something I have no discussed with a few of my fellow Pilot friends and after they all agreed with Steve's opinion on the topic and said they will start doing what he teaches. If I had that discussion with one guy just a week earlier it would have prevented a close call he had with carb heat that was blocked and actually choked out the engine at anything above an idle, it got left on during a go around resulting in the engine quitting as soon as he pushed the throttle in . luckily they landed safely and all was well in the end, but if they did steves method it wouldn't have happened.

[@blakechinn5792]

Just found this. Great podcast and great instructor! New favorite here !

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Welcome aboard!

[@lindsaylefaivre537]

Fantastic interview, so informative, cheers from Canada

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Thank you. Cheers

[@rt.actual]

Steve is great!! Always love flying with him, always learn something.

[@gratefultobeyourdaddy1131]

Incredible insight love it! Thanks for putting out this content

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting us know. We have more episodes coming out soob

[@Hamperokken]

Oh man this was a terrific interview! Keep them coming! Two guys that would be really interesting to listen to would be Greg Miller and Dominique Prinet - if it is doable. Cheers from the other side of the Atlantic!

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

We would love to have both of them on.

[@SwampDonkey530]

This man is beyond smart. . . .😮

[@aciagriculturalconstructio2264]

Best thing I ever did was to throw the carburetor away and install fuel injection.

[@rickunruh8132]

Wow do I ever want to learn from this guy.

[@RobertDress-dq9pc]

Keep it going Bro! Great talk! Working on my PPL east coast at 48. ✌️

[@edcoronado]

“Ball low, you can go slow. Ball high, you’re gonna die”

[@alaskamedgrower5416]

Bethel resident here company I worked for at the time wired that hanger

[@jasonolsen1976]

Since Steve is leaving his hand on the carb heat on final.. how long is he holding the carb heat on, before pushing it off in the Super Cub? What an educational Podcast! Thanks in advance!

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Probably just long enough to determine whether he has carb ice

[@Artiscrafty]

Wait I’m recording this and using this specifically in my airplane as I fly. This is the cheapest flight training I have found. If I crash I would never blame you. Promise

[@AirplanesInTheWild]

Hilarious. Don’t do that. Let the record show. 😎

[@EllipsisAircraft]

In the past, flying Citabrias, I made a habit of applying carb-heat at midfield on downwind. Then pull out the checklist while that carb is cooking. Like it's mentioned, the carb heat needs hot exhaust to work, and the moment you pull power the exhaust begins to cool down. Especially with cabin and carb heat on. Sapping that heat. You need to start carb heat first, on every descent. Even a change of altitude of 1,000ft warrants carb heat. And the heat should be on when the power is on, this will heat up the carburetor enough that it wont even be able to form ice in an ice cloud of sleet. I keep carb heat on all the way to touch-down. A go-around, the throttle and carb heat are right together so just firewall them both. Now, you probably do lose a few moments of maximum power, due to the hot carb needing to cool down. But your engine wont stumble when you whack open the throttle, because fuel vaporization is going to be the best it can be with a hot carb. If carb heat is a hassle located someplace awkward, sure, get it switched to cold on short final. But the most likely time to get a lot of carb ice is with a mostly closed throttle-plate. Because the airflow is accelerated far greater, causing maximum temp and pressure drop, when the throttle is mostly closed. If all the way closed, it will also ice up, but that area it will effect is very small indeed. It will kill the engine though! But opening the throttle and hitting the starter will instantly fire up, if the ice is constrained to a tiny area where the throttle/idle bleed air passes. I say, if you can, keep the carb heat on any time the throttle is at or below 50%. Or if closing the throttle is the next event, in the next minute or two. And keep it hot until or unless you need to go around. UNLESS this is too cumbersome to accomplish in the moment. Then by all means get it switched to cold before you need it. Another thing, I always try to fly a 6 degree, PAPI high approach. The Citabria, and most GA aircraft glide at 9:1 or 10:1 this is a 6 degree glide slope. Headwind steepens this a lot. I want to be able to make the runway, or at least the threshold or grass beyond the trees, if the engine stumbles or fails to roar on short final. There is no reason not too, other than wanting to keep the power on. But keeping power on, with only 20%-30% open throttle, and carb heat off, is just asking for a lot of carb ice! Slips to a landing are under appreciated. A Citabria can come down at something like 15 degree angle, airspeed right on 60mph, buffeting the whole way in a slip. And a stall will only level the wing, not drop off the other side. So you can get aggressive; full-stops on rudder, 3/4 opposite aileron input, ride the elevator down, and plop it in with zero float and zero bounce. It is true that short final is a likely place to lose an engine due to it being at closed throttle. Keeping it open probably does eliminate most chances of the engine totally dying. But I would rather have the runway made and be too high, have to slip it down. Then to come up short into a forest or a shopping mall. I'll take the greater odds of failure against the greater odds of fatalities any day.

[@dougbratten2761]

Excellent interview, Thanks! If I may, I'd like to add to the "ball low / ball high" points that were mentioned by sharing this "Turn Smart" video by Wayne Handley. (I'm NOT recommending those steeply banked Ag turns tho!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKGqpqKZZpafrrs Totally explains why a skidding turn is so dangerous, using ground instruction backed up by demonstration videos taken while in the air. Also, flying into one's own wake turbulence via returning quickly after a low inspection pattern or a tight 360 that is slightly descending can really ruin one's day, especially if you were leaning on the inside rudder to begin with...