Kat's Alaskan adventure

Katamarino

Katamarino

Pattern Altitude
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Dec 14, 2011
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Kent, UK
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Katamarino
Hi all,

This summer I plan to take my new 182 on its shakedown cruise; Pittsburgh PA to Alaska and back. I'll do this across two 1-month periods, leaving the aircraft in Anchorage for a month between them.

I'd really like to meet POA members along the way, as well as take advice on good places to visit!

For my outbound leg (I'll post about the return later) I intend to head from Pittsburgh across to Montana pretty quickly to attend the AOPA fly-in. I then want to fly around the Montana/Idaho region for a week visiting/camping in some back country strips before heading to Vancouver, and then making my way through Canada to Anchorage. I know that David White is on that route so I plan to stop in and say hi to him.

About the airplane/pilot;

C182 PPonk with Flint tip tanks. Standard wheels/tires, no wheel pants.
2,100hr CPL/IR with a fair amount of off-tarmac/backcountry experience (comfortable with curved, one-way-in/out strips, have done CC Pocock's bush flying course in South Africa)

I'll now open the floor to other ideas and POA members! I've attached a rough picture of my thoughts on a route so far, flown clockwise from PA.

3F4KEfe.jpg
 
I did the flight following the Al/can Highway. Was a great trip.
 
Consider fuel availability in arctic Canada: you can make arrangements to have it cached in drums (expensive, though), and make sure you have your own pump and power source for it.
 
Bobanna said:
Consider fuel availability in arctic Canada: you can make arrangements to have it cached in drums (expensive, though), and make sure you have your own pump and power source for it.
Click to expand...

Arctic Alaska, too. Theres no fuel in Barter Island I can tell you that much. Everything from Barter to Barrow looks the exact same, I can’t imagine Canada is any different either.

Seward, Valdez, Homer, and Yakutat are all places to add IMO. They aren’t dirty villages like northern and western ak either....
 
Have fun!

I also imagine you know about this

https://avcams.faa.gov

Weather cams are your friend :)

Other than that, be IFR current, having some synthetic vision is a nice situational awareness thing, even if just in foreflight, keep a eye on your OAT and for ice, bring a spare inner tube, basic tools, bring bear spray or a Canada compliant 12G, bring enough stuff to be able to spend sometime in the woods, basic first aid, good fixed blade knife, fire starter, signal mirror, rope, keep some cash on you incase somewhere can't run your card, maybe a SPOT, and enjoy!

Also going down the coastal route is great, there are a ton of reporting points though that the locals use, half of which are on the chart, just keep a eye on the names of the islands and all that.

If I ever move AK is on the very top of my list, did some great flying up there.
 

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Few reporting points.
image.jpeg

Also forgot to mention there are some unpublished arrivals if you're going to Juneau, if you're not familiar just let them know.
 
A few shots of my time in Alaska.....
 

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I forgot to add that Transport Canada has a list of required survival equipment for flights above the "sparsely settled" line. Make sure you have all this stuff...not just for the requirement, but in case you get into a situation where you need it. CANPASS for Canadian entry has always been easy everytime I've entered Canada...entry to the US not so easy/informal. Study everything you can that pertains to your route.
 
Headed up to Anchorage, AK from Montana next week. Going east of the Rockies and up through Whitehorse.

*Also currently looking for a copilot/rider if anyone has interest or know of anyone... Hoping for 4-5 days up. Fuel is paid for.
 
Where in Pittsburgh? Doesn't seem to be too many yinzers on here.
 
If you plan to overnight at KCOE, let me know.
 
I'm based at Merrill Field in Anchorage. Let me know when you're getting close, and maybe I'll be in town...

My two favorite destinations are:
-- Homer: visit "the spit", lots of artsy stuff in town, halibut-fishing capital (fish & chips!)
-- Talkeetna: funky little downtown is within walking distance of airport: have lunch at the Roadhouse, then wander down to the river and see if the weather's good enough to see The Mountain.
 
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