Photo: Dave Bronson is the man – NWA captain!

Great Photo – Dave Bronson is the man! Anchorage needs an honest, pragmatic mayor at the helm!

Dave remembers me from when I worked the NWA 747 freighters he piloted. He told me he also had trouble not hitting his head on the main deck’s ceiling as we both had to climb the ladder to get up to the cockpit.

I told him I went up it too fast twice, and should have learned the first time. He said it happened to him too, and that the opening wasn’t designed for people over 6 feet.

Our 747F-100s were designed in the ’60s.

Why not make airplane tires spin, before landing?! – I’ve often wondered this

Having seen and/or smelled the smoke of tires hitting the runway thousands of times while working at ANC, I often thought about a solution — not motorized wheels, as suggested in this video, but fins on the side of the wheels to get the wheels spinning.

This non-motorized solution is discussed in the comments. I post some of the most interesting comments beneath this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRf1jDiaXw Continue reading “Why not make airplane tires spin, before landing?! – I’ve often wondered this”

(vid) Inside Boeing 747-8F – longest non-military cargo freighter

I used to work inside 747-200F freighters that were built decades ago. I don’t see a lot of operational differences in this brand new model, and opening the aft cargo door sounds the same. Carpet covers much of the operational area of the floors for this open house, so most of the main deck rollers and locks are not shown. Our main deck ceilings weren’t finished like these are. The nose still opens for front loading.


Continue reading “(vid) Inside Boeing 747-8F – longest non-military cargo freighter”

Anchorage’s 2 year airport runway project now finished — silence at last!

We made it! Our house will be more peaceful now. Finally! This 6-month long construction period wasn’t as bothersome as last summer’s though. Aircraft were allowed to veer left, northward, after taking off to the east. Of course, enough veered to the right, right over our house too. And plenty still flew straight ahead. We’re just one-half of a mile from the flight path if the planes fly straight.

I decided to set my mind to consider the positive aspects, to minimize these twelve months of repeat audio interruptions. It turned out to be much easier than I thought.

And now we have a brand new and wider north-south runway in which the largest commercial planes can now use.

Overall, I think it was a good experience; though, I’m glad it’s over.

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Continue reading “Anchorage’s 2 year airport runway project now finished — silence at last!”

Video: Bear sprints past cargo planes inside Anchorage International Airport

I used to work a few hundred yards from here.

At the very end of this short video, UPS freighter tails can be seen. Our NW Airlines cargo facility, where we did all the transloads, used to be between UPS and the trees showing behind the tails.

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From: ADN, 7/28/18

Rest of the story and video HERE

• • •

Video: Bear sprints past parked planes at Anchorage’s airport

At first, James Batman thought a black, furry dog had sprinted by him at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, near where FedEx parks its cargo planes.

“Then I looked back again and saw it had no tail….

The bear had gotten into the area by burrowing under a nearby fence, said Trudy Wassel, division operations manager at airport. Airport staff had since repaired the area.

Wassel said the airport has two, full-time wildlife biologists to handle wildlife issues.

“We take it very seriously,” she said.

The airport borders Point Woronzof and Kincaid Park, areas where it’s not uncommon to see black bears, said Ken Marsh, a spokesman at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Delta’s 747s, a vestige of Northwest’s heyday, will visit Minnesota for the final time

Sad. I worked many of these in Anchorage, especially the 747 freighters, which NWA retired in 2009. Hundreds of my 747 freighter photos are in my Cargo’s Last Stand category.

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From: Star & Tribune

Delta’s 747s, a vestige of Northwest’s heyday, will visit Minnesota for the final time

DECEMBER 16, 2017

For two generations, Northwest took Minnesotans around the world — and brought the world to Minnesota — on the 747. But Delta is the last U.S. airline that flies the planes, and now it is retiring the last four in its fleet. …

From the start, the plane awed. The 747 was about twice the height and length of any other plane then, and it still towers over most airplanes today. The second deck that extended from the cockpit back over the first third of the plane gave it a hump that made the 747 instantly recognizable and inspired a nickname, the Whale. … Continue reading “Delta’s 747s, a vestige of Northwest’s heyday, will visit Minnesota for the final time”

How to Navigate My Cargo Photos

This ends my Cargo’s Last Stand photos for now — especially those shot from the inside of the operation. Though, I’m sure there will be some others to add later.

About 500 photos are in the Cargo’s Last Stand category. You’re welcome to download any for non-commercial use. Right-click on the image and click on “Save Image As” (or similar).

If you’d like to only see NWA/Delta photos, they’re all in my Cargo’s Last Stand category.

Before Delta bought us out, the NWA PHOTOS START ON PAGE 12.

To fine tune your starting point, a good way is to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Older posts.” Then you can replace the number ‘2’ with any number you’d like in the address bar in the top of your browser. Currently, the first Cargo’s Last Stand entries are 32 pages back (this number could increase if I add more photos someday).

So the beginning point is herehttp://jefffenske.com/category/cargos-last-stand/page/32/. And then go forward in time (Not available in this new configuration) by clicking on “Previous Page” at the bottom of each page.

There is a Search Engine:
In most cases, I’ve named people in the photos by their first name. So you might be able to find people that way.

To be notified by email every time I add a post on this blog, there is a box in the right column that says: “Follow Blog via Email.” I’ll be giving some personal updates, as well as posting some of my favorite posts from my other two blogs, linked on the top of the right column. I’m also on Facebook: facebook.com/ONEcanhappen

If you leave my Cargo’s Last Stand category, I am into reality, and hopefully you are too : )  There is a saying that religion and politics should never be discussed, but that’s what the dark side wants. And that’s how they’ve been able to take over America, which is on its last leg, sadly. How can America survive if we don’t figure out what is really going on, narrowing our conversation to things that don’t really matter: sports, Hollywood, etc.? In the meantime, the corruption in the government and in the corporations is fully evident, and some have even lost their jobs.

“Evil prevails when good people do nothing.

― Erin Gruwell

“While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”

– Samuel Adams

“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse,or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”

– Douglas MacArthur

If you’d like to comment on any of these posts, you can even do so anonymously if you’d like. I don’t require anyone leaving any personal data.

I hope you all do well.

God bless!

Jeff

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engineJeffpan

Forklift: Jeff

Of all of the many types of equipment we operated over the years, inside and outside, the small propane powered forks were my favorite vehicles to drive.

The massive Taylor had amazing torque and power, but these little babies were quick and agile — feeling more like being one with the machine!

In these photos that I’m in, I had 10 seconds to click the shutter and run into the photo. Running to and jumping on the Taylor was a hoot.

I’m too somber when I shoot myself. Sorry.

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ForkJeff

12/31/12 Last Day

ForkJeff2