alaskan9974
Pre-takeoff checklist
Evening! Figured I would share a few pictures from the trip I flew a few weeks ago from the West Coast to Alaska.
Started off when I found a decent looking spam can I liked in Washington. Spoke to the owner, put a deposit down and sent my IA down to look at it. I was already traveling for work so ended up just flying down the same day he got there to take a look myself.
Landing in Fairbanks on the way down I was not looking forward to flying in or above smoke for hours on end. For those of you who fly where wild fires are present, know how much it smells and how quickly 10 miles in smoke can turn into 3. We have had a bad year of fires in Alaska.
Landing in Central Washington I was surprised how arid and dry the climate was, I had never been to this part of the state before. I was expecting Seattle like downpours and dreary weather. Apparently its a fairly dry climate, I didn't know that.
First time fueling the plane. Looked nice to my untrained eye and my IA said good to go so cut him a check and was on the way. Never flown in this area or part of the country before. All my time is Alaska save for a few hours in Phoenix. $6.25 a gallon is so much nicer to pay then our $8+ a gallon I am used to paying.
Ended up in Wenatchee for a few days, waiting on clear weather further up the coast. Wasn't intending on landing in Canada save for an emergency, so wanted decent weather. I was not in much of a rush and could have cared less if it took me a whole week of waiting. Turned out I only spent two days there until the passes cleared up to get across to Bellingham.
Leaving Bellingham the ceilings and visibility were fairly consistent, and cleared up upon reaching the coast. Picked up flight following to be in contact with ATC on border crossing. Got a nice nudge from Seattle center to switch to Terminal, I didn't reply quick enough for him. Upon contacting Victoria terminal, I waited a minute or so for a reply, and just got a heads up on a few beavers here and there.
Did I mention I am from Alaska? I don't think my iPad has ever seen this much action. Will have to give it a few days rest when I get home.
True to the forecast and weather cams, the coast was fairly clear. The Alaska avcam app for mobiles is nice for quick weather checks, nothing beats a visual look at the weather.
Arriving in Ketchikan roughly two and a half hours later. Passed a line of beavers that were landing in on the water. Ketchikan is uncontrolled, but you need to contact FSS, as there are special flight rules requiring it. I didn't realize it, but lower 48 FSS's aren't staffed by FAA workers? I never had thought about that before.
After refueling and grabbing some popcorn, continued up the coast, descended near Sitka and tried to get some good pictures of Mt. Edgecumbe. I went to high school there nearly a decade before and hiked it a few times. Unfortunately it was too smokey to get any decent pictures.
Flew from Ketchikan to Yakutat for fuel, descending in, still a little hazy but got a decent picture of some ice in July. Foreflight shows an automated fuel pump. Its a half truth. Its automated...but someone needs to be there to turn it on and take your payment. He says it might be fixed, or should be. But in Alaska speak that's a maybe.
Clearing up a little.
Obligatory mountain pictures
Some more icy peaks. Wouldn't have minded getting a little closer, but I liked staying above the valleys where if I had to set down, I would have a few more minutes of options and could find somewhere with a lower elevation rather then spending my night perched (yea right, more like sliding downhill, or crumpled on a rock face) on a mountain top
Departing Yakutat for Fairbanks. Not many places to put down if the fan stopped so stayed fairly high.
Forgot to mention by now its about midnight. Love that sun still being out.
Landed in Fairbanks, took nearly 8 hours of flying to get up here so found a hotel and put the plane away for the night.
Fueled up, and off again for the last leg of the trip. Had some bad 30+kt headwinds, so stayed fairly low. Picked up 5+lbs of mosquitos by my redneck reckoning on the wings and windshield, but north of Fairbanks, its fairly easy terrain. Lots of tundra, sandbars and rivers. Passing over Hughes.
Towns are spread out by a fairly large distance, 50+ miles at times so I normally flight plan to overfly airports as I get the chance. Due to the winds I don't think I went much above 500 except when needed.
Two hours of flying later, and in the home stretch after approximately 2000nm of northward flying.
Success. 12 ish hours of flying, with VFR conditions the entire trip. Have more pictures but too lazy to upload. Figured not many would stick around to read this far, but if you did....hope it was worth it. Didn't get any pictures of Kotzebue, but there isn't much to see.
Started off when I found a decent looking spam can I liked in Washington. Spoke to the owner, put a deposit down and sent my IA down to look at it. I was already traveling for work so ended up just flying down the same day he got there to take a look myself.
Landing in Fairbanks on the way down I was not looking forward to flying in or above smoke for hours on end. For those of you who fly where wild fires are present, know how much it smells and how quickly 10 miles in smoke can turn into 3. We have had a bad year of fires in Alaska.
Landing in Central Washington I was surprised how arid and dry the climate was, I had never been to this part of the state before. I was expecting Seattle like downpours and dreary weather. Apparently its a fairly dry climate, I didn't know that.
First time fueling the plane. Looked nice to my untrained eye and my IA said good to go so cut him a check and was on the way. Never flown in this area or part of the country before. All my time is Alaska save for a few hours in Phoenix. $6.25 a gallon is so much nicer to pay then our $8+ a gallon I am used to paying.
Ended up in Wenatchee for a few days, waiting on clear weather further up the coast. Wasn't intending on landing in Canada save for an emergency, so wanted decent weather. I was not in much of a rush and could have cared less if it took me a whole week of waiting. Turned out I only spent two days there until the passes cleared up to get across to Bellingham.
Leaving Bellingham the ceilings and visibility were fairly consistent, and cleared up upon reaching the coast. Picked up flight following to be in contact with ATC on border crossing. Got a nice nudge from Seattle center to switch to Terminal, I didn't reply quick enough for him. Upon contacting Victoria terminal, I waited a minute or so for a reply, and just got a heads up on a few beavers here and there.
Did I mention I am from Alaska? I don't think my iPad has ever seen this much action. Will have to give it a few days rest when I get home.
True to the forecast and weather cams, the coast was fairly clear. The Alaska avcam app for mobiles is nice for quick weather checks, nothing beats a visual look at the weather.
Arriving in Ketchikan roughly two and a half hours later. Passed a line of beavers that were landing in on the water. Ketchikan is uncontrolled, but you need to contact FSS, as there are special flight rules requiring it. I didn't realize it, but lower 48 FSS's aren't staffed by FAA workers? I never had thought about that before.
After refueling and grabbing some popcorn, continued up the coast, descended near Sitka and tried to get some good pictures of Mt. Edgecumbe. I went to high school there nearly a decade before and hiked it a few times. Unfortunately it was too smokey to get any decent pictures.
Flew from Ketchikan to Yakutat for fuel, descending in, still a little hazy but got a decent picture of some ice in July. Foreflight shows an automated fuel pump. Its a half truth. Its automated...but someone needs to be there to turn it on and take your payment. He says it might be fixed, or should be. But in Alaska speak that's a maybe.
Clearing up a little.
Obligatory mountain pictures
Some more icy peaks. Wouldn't have minded getting a little closer, but I liked staying above the valleys where if I had to set down, I would have a few more minutes of options and could find somewhere with a lower elevation rather then spending my night perched (yea right, more like sliding downhill, or crumpled on a rock face) on a mountain top
Departing Yakutat for Fairbanks. Not many places to put down if the fan stopped so stayed fairly high.
Forgot to mention by now its about midnight. Love that sun still being out.
Landed in Fairbanks, took nearly 8 hours of flying to get up here so found a hotel and put the plane away for the night.
Fueled up, and off again for the last leg of the trip. Had some bad 30+kt headwinds, so stayed fairly low. Picked up 5+lbs of mosquitos by my redneck reckoning on the wings and windshield, but north of Fairbanks, its fairly easy terrain. Lots of tundra, sandbars and rivers. Passing over Hughes.
Towns are spread out by a fairly large distance, 50+ miles at times so I normally flight plan to overfly airports as I get the chance. Due to the winds I don't think I went much above 500 except when needed.
Two hours of flying later, and in the home stretch after approximately 2000nm of northward flying.
Success. 12 ish hours of flying, with VFR conditions the entire trip. Have more pictures but too lazy to upload. Figured not many would stick around to read this far, but if you did....hope it was worth it. Didn't get any pictures of Kotzebue, but there isn't much to see.
Last edited:
