Can I get there - from here? Or vice-versa?

[docmirror]

Just suppose, you were buying an airplane in western AK. It's a 95MPH screamer, VFR only, and you wanted to get it to, well - Texas of course.

Your fuel in tanks is limited to 17 gallons burning 5GPH so no more than 3 hours legs or maybe 275 miles.

What is the SAFEST route in July-Sept? I've flown from UT/CO to TX plenty of times, so you can skip that part of the route. How does one get from western AK to, say the northern plains states?

 

[stingray]

Just suppose, you were buying an airplane in western AK. It's a 95MPH screamer, VFR only, and you wanted to get it to, well - Texas of course.

Your fuel in tanks is limited to 17 gallons burning 5GPH so no more than 3 hours legs or maybe 275 miles.

What is the SAFEST route in July-Sept? I've flown from UT/CO to TX plenty of times, so you can skip that part of the route. How does one get from western AK to, say the northern plains states?

If you had to use a ferry tank.

Dan

 

[gprellwitz]

How far west in AK? I know the route from Fairbanks down to MT pretty well by now, from my flight planning for Alaska this August. Admittedly it's been for a 210, but it's pretty much following the Alaska Highway to Edmonton, then down to Calgary and further south. Count on the weather changing on you pretty frequently and abruptly. Flying down valleys with clouds covering the peaks is apparently a common occurrence. Looking at the planning I have down, I see waypoints every 100 - 200NM for most of that route. I have not, however, verified fuel at each of the stops, and having extra fuel aboard may not be a bad idea.

I haven't looked at the MT to UT section.

As far as being VFR only, that's not really an issue. Everything I've read (note that I haven't done it yet myself) says that all the AK flying is pretty much VFR, though many of us would call it MVFR .

Maybe Bruce, Barb, Kath, or some of the others who've done it before will chime in.


Here's the general route I have from Anchorage to Calgary:
PAMR (Merril) 29
MATTA 117
Gulkana (GKN) 109
Northway (PAOR) 236
Whitehorse (CYXY) 188
Watson Lake (YQH) 192
Fort Nelson (YYE) 171
Fort Saint John (YXJ) 217
Whitecourt (CYZU) 100
Rocky Mountain (YRM) 91
Calgary/Springbank (CYBW)

 

[Everskyward]

Fort Nelson (YYE)

I spent some time hanging out in the FBO at Fort Nelson where they have a guest book signed by people who stop in. I was surprised by the number of people who were making trips from places like Texas, all the way to Alaska in something like a J3 Cub. Like Grant says, I think they take the Al-Can Highway route where, hopefully, the fuel stops are not too few and far between.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Just stick to the highway (per _all_ of the locals we talked). My brother and I did the trip from Detroit to Fairbanks (and back) in a Cessna 120 back in about 1974. No problems - just a lot of waiting for weather. We did get snow during august (a bit of a surprise for us) so be prepared. I think the whole trip took a couple weeks.

Bring a tent - you might get stuck somewhere - we got stuck at a strip near the AK/ Canada border where there was no actual building, and a strip along the Liard river where there was NOTHING for miles. Just a strip and a driveway out to the highway. There is a picture up on the photo gallery here.

Maximum altitude through the passes wasn't that high. Lots of airports along the way. We planned for stops at 1/2 our fuel capacity for almost the whole trip. I can look for the log book pages and list the stops if you want. Got a couple CD's worth of pictures too...

Edit: The leg between Watson Lake and Ft. Nelson Yukon was 3 hours 10 minutes in the 120 at close to 100 mph. I don't belive that there was any gas in between (at least at the time) - that might be an issue for range.
(Check the distance on a road map - this leg is through mountian passes along the highway so the road distance will be the best estimate of air miles...)
End Edit

It's an interesting trip.

 

[alaskaflyer]

This is no problem. If you tell me where in Western Alaska I can suggest a route through the state to Northway. After Northway, as others have mentioned, it is no problem. Gas stops less than 200 miles apart all the way to the states.

It would be fun in a Cub. I did it in a 105 knot 170B with similar range between fuel stops.

Remember that all the Cubs and other airplanes in Western Alaska had to >fly< there somehow originally

 

[docmirror]

Well, thanks for the help. Unfortunately, the deal fell through. Seems the plane fell through, ice that is, a while back. although it wasn't disclosed it changed my mind.