Adventures of an Alaskan Transplant: FedEx donates a Boeing 727-200 to UAA Aviation

Yesterday FedEx donated a Boeing 727-200 transport jet to UAA Aviation. FedEx is doing this all over the nation - but this donation was a bit special. You see this large jet was to be delivered to Merrill Field in Anchorage, where UAA Aviation's building, hangar and operations are located. The kicker: Merrill Field's runway is only 4,000 feet long, and is in the middle of downtown Anchorage! After much back-nad-forth with various officials, the special landing was approved and then it was time to watch the weather and hope it was okay for the landing.

The morning arrived and before the jet took off in the afternoon, it was a go! The plane did two flyovers - and they were nice and low as hundreds in the downtown area took off work, stood on snow piles and snapped photos and video. Finally, on the third trip over the area it landed - right on the numbers on the runway, with more than enough room to spare! The flight crew did an amazing job and all who were watching were exhilarated by the historical experience.

This of course has kept my household very busy the past few weeks. While we are happy the planning for the function is over, we are glad we were able to be a part of this day in Anchorage and UAA history. Due to the huge crows downtown, my coworker Brad and I ended up hiking through some deep snow behind one of the local hospitals to view the field. We then perched on some tall snow mounds, so we could see over the fence around the airfield. Needless to say, due to my shorter stature, there is some fence in the bottom of almost all my photos.