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Tim Olson
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2872
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 Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:01 am Post subject: Alaska (was bahamas) |
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Just thought I'd fill in some info...
I've been lucky enough to go with the LetsFlyAlaska group that Vic
did last year, so a lot of things were made far easier for me
by doing that. They fly to paved runways and make all the
hotel bookings, get the route plan, with other waypoints, and
really just do an exceptional job doing all of the things that
take so much time to prepare. Having a day job, and not having
been to any of the cities on the route, I was overwhelmed
with how I'd even get all the info on the best place to stay
(there are some cruddy places from the sounds of it), and
how to guarantee reservations...especially when you can't
predict the weather and may get stuck. Having them do
the planning saved many tens of hours at minimum, and whereas
a while ago I was stressing hard about how to get it all
figured out, I found that once I got in the group trip, it made
it far easier and I can even relax.
They provide you with all of the charts, even pre-marked with
the planned route. They provide you with all the airport
data books that you need, and even a special book that has
photos and common procedures for the various airports. Tons of
pre-planning info too. Considering I don't plan to fly out
to the real back-country, the RV-10 should make the trip
with no issue.
If it were *my* trip plan, I would have planned longer legs,
but by doing it the way they do, they give a great trip flow,
with less concern about things like "what if I can't make
my next stop due to weather". and "where can I get fuel?"
They pre-arrange airport transportation for when you arrive
because there ARE no real "FBO's" up there in many places. So
it's a lot tougher to do the logistics on ground transportation.
The legs are short enough that range in an RV-10 won't be
an issue. Fuel will be high priced in some areas, but that's
a given. Also, their theory is to do it all VFR. No
worries about the Canadian restrictions to VFR on top, and
you stay out of the icing in the clouds that you could get IFR.
Also gives a better tour of the scenery being under it all.
For survival equip, Kelly is right, Canada and Alaska have some
pretty different laws. Consider one that in Canada you'd
be required to carry an "axe of 2.5lbs or greater with a handle
not less than 28 inches" and a Gill net for fishing, among
the many other things. One huge benefit of going with the
group is that your position is a *known*. If you crash,
you crash, but not only will you have your PLB/ELT/Handheld VHF/
and SPOT to signal with, but you'll have some survival gear,
and a group of at least 8 or 10 other planes that all are
there to keep track of your crash site position and help.
This isn't a minor feature of group travel up there. There
is no "search" to the "search and recovery".
Kelly mentioned to me about chart data and EFIS's. In my
case, I have not only the waypoint data but approach and
terrain data to cover that region, so I'm good to go. You
will have to plan though depending on your EFIS, to get
the data for some of that canadian or alaskan space.
Also, rumor has it that some 430s/530s are missing some of
the waypoints for Canada or other areas, while the 480
has had more. (they found this in the past at least) So I'm
good to go with the 480 probably too. Truthfully I'm
sure even if you have to manually enter waypoints a
430 would be fine. The terrain data is the big bonus
if you can get that.
I had been planning to bring a gun, but the Canadian
restrictions forbid me to bring what I *want* to bring,
which is my 44 Magnum. So, I'd have to pony up for a
compact shotgun. Well, when you're with a group of
10-12 planes, you can probably forget that. If I were
going alone or in a small group, yeah, add that to the
list.
I've got the iPad ready with WingX, with Foreflight,
and with an Alaskan webcam app that shows all of the
web cams for the various airports. Neat stuff for sure.
I'm anticipating a really really good vacation. They
do a great job feeding you the info you need, and
preparing you for the trip, so I'm thrilled that I don't
have the stress of having to dig for everything so hard.
For me, one huge benefit of the groups plan is that it will
allow me to actually ENJOY and FLY Canada and Alaska.
I think in an RV-10 with our speed and range, pretty much
anyone can "fly to" Alaska. Not a big deal...file
a plan, aim at the waypoint, and go, with some potential
for re-routing as needed. But after watching Vic's video,
I didn't know how in the heck I was going to find my way
to see all of the BEST sights, like which glaciers to
fly, which mountain passes are the most scenic...in short,
what would be the way to have the BEST OVERALL experience...not
just a trip to say I got there. The group seems to have
that plan figured out pretty well.
I'll report back after the trip of course, but for now,
it's all looming ahead of me. Once I'm back, a week or
so later it's time to get in gear for OSH! We'll see
all of you then!
Tim
On 6/12/2012 9:10 AM, Kelly McMullen wrote:
| Quote: |
Having learned to fly in Alaska, flying there for nearly 20 yrs and then
flying down the Alaska Highway to the lower 48, I wrote Tim privately on
a few of the issues.
Canadian charts take some effort to obtain, I imagine database support
for some EFIS varieties may pose a challenge. Physically, a significant
percentage of runways are not paved, and may have gravel, dirt or other
surfaces. Wheel pants tend to get abused in such circumstances, and few
aircraft in Alaska use wheel pants. One can stick to paved runways, but
it will limit where you can go. I've seen at least one RV-10 with 6:00X6
tires, which appeared to fit fine and gave the wheel pants a little
extra clearance over the stock low profile tires. However, that size
won't fit the nose.
Fuel range is always important because some destinations may not have
fuel, or it may be priced more than double normal prices. Weather
reporting scattered, and you have to be able to make decisions from what
you see in the air. Icing tends to be an issue in clouds near the
typical MEAs. Just because it is summer doesn't eliminate icing
potential. There is enough terrain obstacles to make pushing weather a
bad idea. Rules regarding night flying and VFR on top are different in
Canada. There are good resources on the net and with AOPA for
information, but there are subtle differences that need to be heeded.
Survival kit requirements differ between Alaska and Canada, and need to
be carefully thought out with your own camping/fishing/hunting/survival
skills or lack thereof. Freeze dried food that is well packaged is a
good choice. Survival kits will impact baggage space/wt limits. In
summary, very doable, wonderful place to visit, but the more planning
and knowledge gathering you can do, the easier a trip you will have.
Kelly
On 6/12/2012 6:45 AM, pilotdds wrote:
> Tim,we are actually going to Alaska next June (2013). My flying
> partner has some connections there for fishing and other activities. I
> will be interested to read your write ups as they are always
> entertaining and informative. If any other RV flyers would like to
> join us we would welcome them. I am curious what the difficulties you
> are encountering planning the flight to Alaska involve.
> Jim
> -
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Bob Turner
Joined: 03 Jan 2009
Posts: 885
Location: Castro Valley, CA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:05 pm Post subject: Re: Alaska (was bahamas) |
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It's been nearly 20 years since I went and it still ranks as the best vacation ever. We'll be going again soon, now that the 10 is finished.
I can confirm that Canada is very strict about handguns, not allowed. Other than that, I did not carry a gill net nor a large axe, they didn't seem to care. I did borrow a shotgun and took it with me, no objections to that.
Of course you'll have to deal with US customs, harder now than it was then.
My advice to anyone going it alone, not in a group, is ....... relax. The weather can turn bad quickly. We deliberately made (almost) no plans. Just took a bunch of guide books, and every day decided, based on our interests, weather, etc., where we were going that day. Or stayed where we were for another day. Or flew to Sitka for deep sea fishing. Or... (you get the idea).
The one reservation we did make: The US Forest service had some "cabins" (Quonset Huts) next to dirt strips. Back then it was $25 a night. We went into Heart Lake, east of Yakatat, for 2 great days of relaxing in the wild.
True story: from Fairbanks, I called a resort on the Copper River. They had rooms, I made the reservatiion, said we'd be there in a few hours. Almost as an after thought, I asked, "What kind of shape is your (dirt) runway in?". She said, "Oh, don't land there, it's under water.". I said, "I guess I'll cancel that reservation I just made." She said, "Why don't you just land on the road, like everyone else?". It is a different world up there.
Have fun, Tim.
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Bob Turner
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weeav8ter
Joined: 01 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:10 am Post subject: Alaska (was bahamas) |
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IN 2008 I and another RV10 friend flew through Alaska with the Letsflyalaska group that Vic did last year and Tim will be doing. It was a great trip and really not that difficult because of how well Dale Hemman, the owner, put's everything together for you. Dale also has a kit that you can buy with all the info and charts necessary if you'd rather go it alone vs flying with a group. I think there are advantages to both.
During our trip I kept a small blog of each days activities with photos. If you're interested here is a link to my blog. We took a bunch of photos and posted them all at the bottom of the blog pages.
http://triptoalaska2008.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-05-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2008-06-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=1
Here is also a link to Dale's web site on flying Alaska with them. http://letsflyalaska.com/
Wayne Edgerton
N602WT
Time: 11:01:46 AM PST US From: Tim Olson <Tim(at)MyRV10.com (Tim(at)MyRV10.com)> Subject: Re: Alaska (was bahamas)
Just thought I'd fill in some info...
[quote][b]
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