Photo History

Helicopter Cable Spooler 1984 Denali National Park, a photo by jcurtis4082 on Flickr.

If I just were to write about my experiences in Alaska, they may not have the impact that a photo does.

In 1984 my employer, City Electric Inc., of Fairbanks was contracted to build a power line from Healy, AK to Denali National Park. It seems to me the total distance was about 25 miles. The kicker was that there was no road and most of the work was done by hand or helicopter.

I fabricated this device hanging under the chopper to string in the conductor. Click on the photo to learn some of the details.

Via Flickr:
I fabricated this to lay the 3 phase power line into Denali National Park from Healy Alaska in 1984. The tether runs up to the helicopter and the brake control hose takes off (see coil) to the rear door. An operator operated a standard master cylinder in the chopper that controlled a disc brake setup I salvaged from a wrecked Ford E-250 van.

The first unit was made in Seattle and the brake did not function correctly. It landed in a heap after being punched loose by the pilot on a Friday afternoon after the conductor was "birdsnesting" out of control. A crew of 3 of us re-built it over the weekend and it was operational on Monday morning.

I was the master mechanic for City Electric Inc out of Fairbanks at this time. The chopper was owned by Trans-Alaska Helecopters (A CEI company at the time).