Need help planning a VFR trip to the Aleutians

I think on that route they probably ALL hug the coastline, but it's the area in between that has a lot of tall rocks, like Dutch Harbor. No question that this would be a spectacular trip if the weather cooperated.


Dutch Harbor.jpg
 
dbahn said:
For those who insist that the only way to make this kind of flight safely is to go IFR, they need to realize that even in June a lot of MEAs are at levels where icing is common and deadly, so without FIKI and two engines the risk often outweighs any perceived benefit.
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My point is if you end up in the clouds, at least you have a fighting chance if you are trained to fly IFR. Even if you end up 500’ over the water offshore to avoid obstacles, you’ll hopefully at least be able to keep the wings level and maintain some semblance of control of the airplane. Without an IFR ticket, in the weather down there the entrance of IMC to me equates to near instant death. The weather will come on you faster than you can do anything about it, and then come in behind you and you’re stuck.

I fly down there for work regularly in considerably more capable airplanes, and the weather is almost always different from forecast/departure weather and more often than not, its not in a good way.
 
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DavidWhite said:
My point is if you end up in the clouds, at least you have a fighting chance if you are trained to fly IFR. Even if you end up 500’ over the water offshore to avoid obstacles, you’ll hopefully at least be able to keep the wings level and maintain some semblance of control of the airplane.
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David, as you suggest, here's an example of just that... 3+ hours, 470nm, at <1000' MSL, just off the coast... Yakutat, south around the Kenai Peninsula, to Homer. With freezing levels well below MEAs (in August!), the only real choice. A bit weird for a pair of Alaska-novice pilots, but it worked.
 
wayneda40 said:
David, as you suggest, here's an example of just that... 3+ hours, 470nm, at <1000' MSL, just off the coast... Yakutat, south around the Kenai Peninsula, to Homer. With freezing levels well below MEAs (in August!), the only real choice. A bit weird for a pair of Alaska-novice pilots, but it worked.
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And that stretch of coast is considerably more benign than what the OP is suggesting.
 
To answer some of the questions.
- I will not have IR, so that is out of the question.
- Yes, we are air touring AK, so we want nice weather to enjoy all the scenery.
- No part of our trip is mandatory. If the weather is iffy, we will not go.
 
wayneda40 said:
David, as you suggest, here's an example of just that... 3+ hours, 470nm, at <1000' MSL, just off the coast... Yakutat, south around the Kenai Peninsula, to Homer. With freezing levels well below MEAs (in August!), the only real choice. A bit weird for a pair of Alaska-novice pilots, but it worked.
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Very nice video. Thank you.
Not interested in that kind of flying, but everyone's got different mission.
 
Palmpilot said:
Looks like getting from Homer to King Salmon would require crossing quite a bit of land, some of it mountainous.

https://skyvector.com/?ll=57.35171923104847,-158.76068115110002&chart=301&zoom=11&fpl= PAHO undefined PAKN
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We went from Homer (actually spent a day/night in Seldovia, which we liked) then flew up to Kenai, across the Inlet, through Lake Clark Pass then more or less straight to King Salmon along the lake shore. As long as the Lake Clark Pass is open the flight can be made at low altitude, most of which is very scenic.


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