More on taking a gun

Looks like it's not too difficult - at least as far as Canada goes. Here's their law.

Non-restricted
firearms

Most ordinary hunting rifles and shotguns. These may be brought temporarily into Canada for sporting or hunting use during hunting season, for use in competition, for in-transit movement through Canada, or for personal protection against wildlife in remote areas of Canada. Anyone wishing to bring hunting rifles into Canada must be at least 18 years old, and the firearm must be properly stored for transport.

Wonder what "properly stored for transport" means in a small plane? Can it be on our lap in case we see something we want to take a shot at?

June weather

Mandatory Equipment

Alaska Rules

Emergency rations and equipment.

(a) An airman may not make a flight inside the state with an aircraft
unless emergency equipment is carried as follows:

(1) the following minimum equipment must be carried during the summer months:

   (A) rations for each occupant sufficient to sustain life for one week;
   (B) one axe or hatchet;
   (C) one first aid kit;
   (D) an assortment of tackle such as hooks, flies, lines, and sinkers;
   (E) one knife;
   (F) fire starter;
   (G) one mosquito headnet for each occupant;
   (H) two small signaling devices such as colored smoke bombs,
   railroad fuses, or Very pistol shells, in sealed metal containers;

Some Thoughts on Day 1

Day 1 will take us from Great Barrington to Chippewa County with a refuelling stop at Buffalo Lancaster regional Airport. The stage is 554 nm and we should do it in a tad over 4 and a half hours if the winds are kind to us.

Buffalo-Lancaster is at 750 feet AGL and has one paved runway 8/26 which is currently being extended from 3200 feet to 5500 feet. It gets about 30,000 GA ops a year and averages about 82 per day so it is quite similar to my home strip at Toowoomba. 37 aircraft are based on the field itself.

Buffalo is based on the eastern shore of Lake Erie and the banks of the Niagra river which flows over some falls into lake Ontario. So hopefully we will have enough time to roll out the barrel and go swimming. Not sure if Mick plans diverting to see the Falls but it is only a few mile south of our flight path.

The Buffalo to Chippewa leg looks awesome. Straight across the lakes Ontario and Huron north west on a course of 311 degrees past Toronto and across Canadian airspace before landing back in the US of A and St Mary's River.

Chippewa is at 800 ft AGL and boasts 2 runways. 16/34 at 7200 feet long and 9/27 which is a foot short of 5000 although the fine print says they've shaved 1500 metres off one of them. Still should be able to get her down there Mick. Place used to be home to SAC B52s and KC 135s so it has history. Although Delta still use it there are only 200 ops a month now and just 20 locals.

Some budget thoughts

Great reality check by Chris in actually calculating the distance from the East Coast to Alaska. 6,238NM. Wow!! So if we burn 9 gals/hour at an average cruise speed of 115kts that means we'll burn around 488 gallons of Avgas. If we figure an average price of $5.50/gallon that comes to a fuel bill of about $2685. Add to that about a quart of oil for every five hours plus one complete oil change and we are up to around $2800. Mmmmm........??

Well I guess the good news is that even if we eat in restaurants every day our food bill won't be nearly as much as our fuel bill.

Some thoughts on Mick's Route

Great Barrington to Fairbanks Alaska in 5 Days

Distance : 3119 NM = 5770 kms
Return: 6238 nm or 11540 kms
Flying time: 26 hours and 54 minutes
Return: 53 hours and 48 minutes

That is a long way. Next step is to firm some dates, purchase some tickets and develop preliminary budget and checklist. Just a few months now so need to get our act together. Also need to factor in a more demanding exercise regime in case there is some unexpected walking (bear fleeing?). Then there is the hard cold fact of the new airport security full body scanners. Don't want to risk showing up on the notice board at their christmas party.

Only Months Away

As it looks like June is our best month to make this trip we are only 5 months away. This means its time to start thinking about a few things and making a few things happen in preparation. Still not sure about weather we should take a firearm and deal with all the red tape although many I've spoken with suggest it's a good idea to have one on board.

Also have to think about clothing. Will it be cold in June? I'm pretty sure we'll have some chilly nights. Hopefully the snow will be gone but cold and wet days are also possible. Hot weather could also be on the cards. So I guess we'll have to plan to dress in layers and keep some warm stuff in the baggage compartment in case we need to spend one or more nights camping out.

Which raises another question. Do we plan to camp to cut costs or will we treat ourselves to a warm and comfortable bed each night. I tend to favor the latter for most of the time but the odd night in a sleeping bag under the wing of the airplane could be fun too.

Then there's the airplane to think about. Making sure everything is in order and good to go. Scheduling an oil change and thorough maintenance check sometime in late May or early June seems like a good idea.

Getting excited as I write. This will be a fun trip.