Alaska 2013!

E

Ed

Flight Levels
I am going to Alaska and hosting a Fly-In this coming summer. I am open on dates right now so let me hear what works for you? We will nail down a date (June- July) for this event. I'm thinking Nome as the official "fly-in" let's see what interest there is in it. Might even fly over to that little island that is very close to our neighbors! Anyone that knows me knows I can't turn down an island visit (Bahamas, Catalina, Nantucket). Let's see your interest!
 
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Make it after the Arlington Airshow and I might go, especially if that little Island is Kodiak. Drats, I'll have to renew my passport. Lemme think about that.
 
Marty: stay 12 miles offshore and don't stop until you hit Alaska: no need for a passport :-)
 
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Marty, we have talked about this for years now. Let's make it work. Arlington- Alaska sounds good to me.
 
Maybe if I can find someone to share expenses and hopefully flying duties, I can justify it. The Nome thing will be a bit on the expensive side with 100LL at $7.93/gal there at the moment. I doubt it will be cheaper next year. I would rather spend some time in Anchorage and drive up to Mt. McKinley State Park, or get a cabin close by the park. I haven't seen 20,000 peaks since I left Peru. I would also like to visit Kodiak Island. I think I may know some of the guys at the USCG Air Station there if they haven't transferred. Would love to do some Steelhead fishing there.

There are actually two routes. We could leave from Arlington, WA and fly up the inland passage to Ketchikan, a 558 nm leg from P.A., then on to Yakutat and follow the coast to Anchorage with possibly a fuel/comfort stop in Valdez. Or, there is the AlCan highway route. The later requires a stop in Canada to clear customs and is probably the better route if there are airplanes slower than a Sundowner to fly with. However, this route does require some mountains to top. I think whichever way we go, that it be important for the group to stay in visual/radio contact. If there are a couple groups, slower airplanes and the twins and Sierra's then each group could proceed at their own pace. I don't mind slowing down and saving the gas if I'm the only Sierra on the trip. I doubt that Eddie will throttle back his Seneca much. Of course, he'll arrive a day ahead of the rest of us.
 
Marty , you may be right in that Anchorage might be the best place to set the official fly in. Then everyone can go on and do whatever. This is all to be decided as more people step forward. Kodiac island and fishing are high on my list. I have a connection on the fishing I'm working on. I do plan on Nome, but that can be my thing. I've been told to take the train ride into Denali( Mt. McKinley ) nation park. It takes you into the interior of the park where there are no roads.

This will not be a cheap trip with fuel like it is. That is why I started this before the end of the year. It gives everyone time to "save up". I have flown on a couple of trips with a Sierra and my Seneca. It is very easy to accomplish and I enjoy the 12 gph Total fuel flow as well! As club members have before it is recommended to stay within visual range of each other and pair up in flights of two for many reasons. Much more to be discussed and decided so keep the post coming. I would recommend getting the "Milepost"( go to milepost.com to order). It has detail about everything in Alaska and will help you decided what to see or skip if it isn't your cup of tea. They event have it available for your Ipad at iTunes.
 
If you take the Alaska Highway, you can get across all the mountains by flying no higher that 7500 or so. Not really mountains, even! If you do Nome, you should really go to Kotzebue as well,. It's only 125 or so NM north of Nome, and it's above the Arctic Circle. Wouldn't recommend an overnight there, though. You should also stop at Unalakleet and see the Flying Wild Alaska crew.

I'd also join the Alaska Airman's Association and get the Alaska Airman's Handbook. They have pretty detailed descriptions of all the routes, pretty much turn-by-turn information. Lot's of warnings about weather along the coast.

Sounds like fun, but probably not gonna make it this time. My deal is camping, plus my personal goal is flying the Ice Road to Prudhoe Bay and Barrow.
 
PERFECT!!! I am in TX. We will be flying to a conference in CT end of June and then from there off to see a s/w dev. buddy in Edmonton, AB area...and then we were looking at flying the ALCAN Hiway so I could do "bush pilot" stuff! Already flown most of it in FSX and looks like in a Mouse our longest seat times would be Edmonton up to Fairbanks about 2:13, or so. Then, if the weather window is right (early Aug) coming down would be coastwise from Anchorage down to Ketchikan as a multi-hop (Juneau and such) and then copper river just in time for fresh salmon with any luck. Then down to Nanaimo BC and then clear in at Friday harbor and enjoy some time in the San Juans. Figure from here in TX it will be about 65 hours flight time, depending on detours through Vegas on the way back.Budget buster, but will do high def video and such and may turn it int0o a coffee-table book, just sayin...Once in a lifetime deal! My only cav. is need internet for writing projects and markets but hell yes!N7912L the crazy man at www.urbansurvival.com PS: Bob I like your ICE ROAD Plan...you go, dude! Planning a plenary session at Chad's shop at Ellijay in late Feb to annual up for this, do gear pucks and all that...
 
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I have been to Alaska many times, doing fuel stops in Anchorage and Fairbanks (Japan-US & Japan-Europe). Those were great times. But I have always wanted to go on one of Bob Schmidts trips.

Marty maybe we could buddy up and save enough money to make this possible? Time is a bigger factor for me. I would not want to cramp your style. Could we do this in less than a two week period?
 
Bill,

I'd be happy to share the cost of this trip, if you promise to fly some of the legs. I don't think it will take that long to fly up there unless there is a lot of weather. I just want a couple of days of fishing and (if lucky enough to actually catch something) pack it for the trip back. My suggested date was to be after the Arlington fly-in (11-13 July), however there is some talk of doing this after Oshkosh (29 Jul - 4 Aug). I can't do Arlington, Oshkosh and fly to Alaska too. I've been to Oshkosh, and neat as it is, been there done that. I haven't been to Alaska yet. If it is decided to go there after Oshkosh, you can fly to KPHX and we can depart from here. I haven't done any flight planning as I don't have the charts for Canada and Alaska, but I will soon. I have flown KCHD to KAWO in one day (lunch at KCXP). It was a tough flight due to the winds and I suffered for a couple days from rumpus thrombosis, but doable with an early start. Might not be so bad now with two of us flying and the memory foam in the seats. I like George's purposed route. I'd only deviate a little and spend the first night back in CONUS at Roche Harbor. The only thing I'm not keen about is doing all that US Customs crap.

I'm flying today, I'm going to try some cruise at Sport speeds to see what the fuel flow is. If we can fly formation with a Sport, we might not have to spend so much for fuel.
 
I might be interested even if I don't fly my plane from Atlanta area. Might be willing to share expenses with someone and do part of the flying. Please keep me in the loop. To far out to commit .fred
 
I have been to Alaska about 25-30 times, my son flew for numerous outfits in Alaska for over 8 yrs (Bering Air, Evererts Air, Guardian Air Ambulance,etc) he lived in Anchorage,Fairbanks and Kotzebue--lots of knowledge should anyone be interested in speaking to him in the future..fred
 
As luck would have it on Marty's post, we have some dear friends in Roche who we flew up to to see last summer. Be advised most of the traffic there lands wrong-way (with a slight tail wind up to about 5- knots of wind) and makes the approach TO the east over the resort rather than land into the wind on what used to be a county road up there that I flew into in the 1970's in my old Aerobat. I made a Mouse w/VG's short field after the Sirrus in front of us over-powered final and did a go-round...even paying atten. it's a down hill landing to the West and there's a significant dip at mid-field. The reason for mentioning this is that traffic at Roche is not heavy but one impact would be enough (too many!), as they'd say. Also, I got a ding-letter from the resort because apparently someone ripped of the cash box (landing fee and tie down fees paid in cash, silly me) which we eventually got straight...so just a heads up on that. We were planning up/northbound via Canada east of the Rocks up to Fairbanks on one side and down via the coast SB (with prevailing's) and just hang out for VFR wx with beers & darts (wherever) till the WX clears enough to get down to Nanaimo, on the east side of Vanc. Island and then clear inbound after doing the required 'George is coming, Warning! 24-hours call to DHS/TSA and clear in at KFHR (memory may be going, that's Friday Harbor) and then back-pedal 15 miles or whatever it is out to Roche (roach but we like to say Ro-Shay now and then). We have friends with a home on the incline there and it's a short crawl down to McMillans at the Resort for fine food. The lunches and Brekkies at the pier are grand. Friday Harbor is something of a tourist trap (and tends to have crosswinds). We rented a half a house last year for $1,200 for a week but that was grand as we had privacy, laundry, Wi-Fi and all the comforts of home. We're figuring this to be a "Once before dead" kind of tour so while money is an object, the idea is to fly relaxed, savor things and sights, and take our time, VFR the whole thing, and shoot a zillion pictures and do our own "coffee table book" and made an adventure DVD...who knows? And on the way home, we'll stay at the Silver Cloud in Tacoma on the Waterfront there and knock ourselves out of fish & chips to die for at the Harbor Lights...the best fish & chips on earth (better than even Ivar's in Seattle). Some how, we manage to find room for a Dungeness crab cocktail first... which is why the high G.W. of a mouse w/vg's works, lol. We will be in Hartford CT June 27-30
 
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OK, who is really serious about this trip? There was some talk about leaving Oshkosh en mass when it is over. With some of the slower airplanes in the mix this could be a long trek. Personally, I have more time than money, so I can be there at any time. Others have to "git 'er done" so they can get back to making a living for their families. There was some talk about leaving after Oshkosh en mass. But if there are some of the slower airplanes in the mix, it could take some time to get there. I personally don't know any one crazy enough to fly a Mouse or Sport to Alaska from Oshkosh, but I'm sure there is someone who will try. But it would probably drag out the fly-in to a couple of days or more to allow everyone to show up. So I think we need a "target date" to be in Anchorage for the fly-in. For me to make this trip, the cost will be plenty and that's just an estimate, it will probably be more. So, I have found someone to share the costs. He can't be off a long time to wait around for the event to happen or spend a extra day or so getting there. So, for me to make it I'm going to have to have a firm date (as firm as we can make it) and start planning for the event.

Two bits, four bits, six bits, a peso. All that want to fly to Alaska, stand up and say so!
 
Crazy to fly from OSH to Alaska in a mouse?

When we went in 2005, Brian Foote flew from Maine to Ohio to pick up Dan Kirby, then to Rapid City, South Dakota for a fly-in then meandered all the way to Kotzebue Alaska - and back - in a Sundowner. Me? I just flew with David Snodgrass who picked me up in Waukesha, Wisconsin (near OSH) first to Rapid City then with Brian and Dan for the rest of the trip - 66 hours of flying for me in 15 days! I think Brian had over 80 hours.

If you want to sight-see, you can't beat a mouse. If you wanna get there in a hurry - Go commercial (just kidding)!
 
Why didn't you guys save yourselves the time and money and just lay down in the driveway and have someone back a car over you a couple of times. The results would be similar, except you only get to see stars. I suppose in a Sundowner it's not so bad, but a Sport would be a bit of a challenge. I have not made that trip yet, but I thought there were some significant terrain elevations to fly over. I frequently cruise at 15,500 ft, but I don't know if the Sport can do that. Perhaps the elevations are not as great as I think. The enroute time would be fairly significant in a Sport or early Mouse. So, it wouldn't be for someone that couldn't take significant time away from their job. There is also the weather consideration that any of us VFR only pilots have to consider. Then, there is the expense. But the way I see it, it is a bucket list item that needs to be checked off. I want to do it while I have the ability to "git 'er done".

So, who is planning to go?
 
It's been a month since my last posting and no one has replied that they want to make this trip. Not even ED! So, do we let this one die?
 
Sorry Marty. Been busy with life and annual. My schedule dictates a July 20 departure. Give or take a day or two. I am going. My mother and father, youngest son are going with me. That is all I can tell you right now. Havent made any destinations in concrete yet except Denali. Found out you can't rent a vehicle if you plan on driving it on anything besides paved roads ( they do ask). I guess it is up to whoever else plans to go?
 
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