Flying Wild Alaska
Flying Wild Alaska
| 14 January 2011 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
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  • Reviews
    SnoopyStyle

    The Tweto family operating their small airline, Era Alaska, shuttling people and cargo in the Alaskan north. Jim and Ferno Tweto run the airline with the help of their daughters Ayla and Ariel.There are lots of good in this lesser known reality show. It's not about some manufactured conflict. It's about a family and the life up north. I did see the cute and goofy Ariel Tweto on Wipeout. She's learning to fly and this has a bit of flying with smaller planes. It has lots of northern culture. It lasted 3 short seasons and that is probably enough. In the end, there is a lack of conflict, competition, or bombastic characters that is the lifeblood of today's reality TV. This was a nice change of pace but needed much more drama to stay.

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    zippy47710

    I was watching the most recent episode, "Into the wind" earlier tonight. At the end of the episode, the narrator said the next episode would be the series finale! I am totally bummed about it.This is the only show on TV that depicts the reality of bush flying in Alaska. Sorry to see it go, :-(. Discovery is making a huge mistake by leaving all the fans out to dry by canceling Flying Wild Alaska.I hope they at least have another bush flying show in the pipeline, it is fascinating to see the pilots expertly navigate their aircraft through turbulence, rain, snow, etc.

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    Joe Gerardi

    A very enjoyable show, but the narrator needs to seriously stop making normal flying situations seems like life-or-death moments. Just to name a few:"Jim Tweto is getting 'dangerously' low on gas" in the 2nd episode. Umm... I'm a pilot. Please let me explain something: This company flies under part 135 of the F.A.R. (Federal Aviation Regulations) That means that they are *required* to land with no less than a 30-minute reserve of fuel. (Only amateurs call it "gas.") No COO of a regional airline is going to fly - especially on camera - below that 30-minute reserve, and take a huge fine and possibly lose his license, so what was the narrator harping about? It was exciting enough that the pilot had 40 knot headwinds...Or take the episode where the pilots were flying explosives to St. Lawrence Island... The narrator kept commenting on how they were within 5 miles of Russian airspace, and could possibly "stray" into Russian airspace, sparking off an international incident... The pilot of this plane had those two little color displays in the center of his console. In closeup, I was able to see that they were Garmin 420 GPS units. These GPS' are accurate to within 9 *feet* of where you are and update themselves 30 times a second. All they had to do was follow the little magenta line and they would get anywhere near Russia. In fact, if they were the least bit smart, they would have activated the autopilot, which is linked to these GPS units, and then they wouldn't have strayed 3 feet off course, and could have the required flight plan entered into them. But the narrator again had to emphasize all the imagined danger they were in... It was far more chilling to any pilot when the P.I.C. (Pilot in Command) mentioned the possibility of static electricity blowing up the the explosive... at least that had a chance of actually happening.There are many more examples of this, but why bother? The silly narration is the show's only shortcoming. The daughter Ariel is the highlight. That little girl is a bundle of energy, and if she every buckles down and realizes that flying requires total concentration, and doesn't just happen, she'll get her license. Additionally, the flying (and the photography thereof)is outstanding; the crosswind landings make my feet tingle (and I've done my share of them as well) and the level of talent in the pilots is amazing.If they stop sensationalizing the show and show it as it really is, they could have a classic on their hands...But it's Hollywood: they probably won't.

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    huffg

    For anyone interested in flying, culture, science, geography, and just people, this is a must-see series. It is a broad portrayal of people who live in Alaska, their living conditions, opportunities, and challenges, all centered around the essential air transport operations of Alaskan life.This series is a wonderful balance of beautiful cinematography, flying technique, Alaskan society and geography, human interaction, Alaskan cultural diversity and characteristics, family relationships, and technology.Do yourself a favor and try watching this series. The series is not strictly sequential, so you can watch it in almost any order.

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