8 months away

Well we are 8 months out from the big adventure and there is lots to do in preparation.

Have been reading about the exploits of the legendary Australian adventurer, scientist, explorer, polar aviator and photographer Hubert Wilkins and I have to say that I hope we have a less eventful trip.

Have also been practicing my American and learning a bit of Russian. I know Alaska isn't Russia but you can see if from there and apparently you get to learn a lot about it from the view.

Route

In the post below I've mapped out a tentative route based on recommendations from those who've flown to Alaska and written about it. Also are the estimated flight times based on TAS of 120kts.

To get a look at the route more closely, you can enter any of these airport identifiers for single or multiple legs into the free flight planner available at NavMonster

Seems like a long way but on a day to day basis, seems pretty easy. Probably good to have a few extra days added to the planning for weather delays as well as maybe a trip to the Edmonton mall :)

1	KGBR	KBQR		2.18			BUFFALO
	KBQR	KCIU		4			SAULT STE MARIE
2	KCIU	KDLH		2.55			DULUTH
	KDLH	KINL		1.15			INTERNATIONAL FALLS
	KINL	CYWG		1.36			WINNIPEG
3	CYWG	CYMJ		2.54			MOOSE JAW
	CYMJ	CYEG		3.08			EDMONTON
4	CYEG	CYXJ		2:31			FORT ST JOHN
	CYXJ	CYYE		1:21			FORT NELSON
	CYYE	CYQH		1:21			WATSON LAKE
5	CYQH	CYXY		1:37			WHITEHORSE
	CYXY	PAOR		2:04			NORTHWAY, AK
			(CUSTOMS AT NORTHWAY)
5	PAOR	PABI		1:03			DELTA JUNCTION
	PABI	PAFA		0:40			FAIRBANKS

Do We Take a Gun ?

That was the question my cuz asked me in his email yesterday. It's funny because I was asking myself the same question after reading that it "used to be" considered essential equipment on board an airplane flying anywhere in the wilds of Alaska or the Yukon Territories. So why is it no longer required? Have the bears all of a sudden had a change of heart and gone totally vegetarian? I think not.

Apparently there were all kinds of security hassles and permit requirements for getting to carry a gun on an aircraft and also cross international borders with it on board. So to make things easier the requirement to carry one was scrapped. So does that mean if we are forced to land somewhere remote and camp out for a few days until rescued that we should have taken lessons in bear wrestling prior to the trip? Now I don't mind the black bears in Maine. I've seen a few on my hikes there and generally if you give them a little space they'll take off and leave the trail to you. But Grizzlies and Kodiaks up there in the Northwest I do not want to tangle with.

So hassles or no hassles, I'm going to look into the paperwork needed to take a gun.

Cousins Plan to Go North - How it Started.

For about ten years now I've wanted to fly to Alaska in my own plane. Since I bought my Piper Archer in the early nineties I've been on many great adventures in it. As far north as Quebec City, west to Wyoming, and south to the Bahamas. I've also flown around Australia in a rented Piper Arrow. But Alaska seemed like the ultimate small plane trip that was just waiting for me.

Problem was I didn't want to do it alone and none of my immediate family or close friends seemed to want to go. Not until my cousin Chris in Australia heard about my dream that is.

Although Chris is my second cousin we didn't really get to know each other until about 12 years ago after my Dad died. Once we started talking aviation, it was like we were mates from way back. I think I might have been responsible for turning him on to flying when I rented a plane and took him for a ride on one of my trips back to Australia to visit my Mom. Seems like he got pretty well hooked on it and went off and bought a Yak not long after he'd learned to fly.

He likes doing aerobatics and I like flying IFR on the gauges, so I guess we'll be a good team, although I don't think we'll be doing much of either. From what I hear, flying the Alaska highway is best done VFR and straight and level.

Anyway, as we plan for our trip, we'll drop by this blog here and post a few notes, We are not the first pilots to adventure north and we won't be the last, but we will tell our story in the hope that it might serve others and maybe reassure our friends and family that we are only a little bit crazy and not totally nuts.