We made it to Alaska!
- Thread starter JOhnH
- Start date
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
Back in 2001 I flew tours around Mt. McKinley and Denali National Park. The mountain was hidden more than it was out. But when it was out, it was a sight to see..!!!!
There were several times I saw one side of the mountain socked in with the other side wide open. The range does affect weather.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
We landed at Talkeetna and picked up a CFI to fly with us. The route as shown br flight aware is shown here.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
After we got back to Anchorage, the woman from the flight school called to see when we were coming back. Everyone wanted to fly in the Bonanza. They have almost all high wings here.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
I meant closer to the mountain, airport there.
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
tmyers
En-Route
Are you referring to the Denali Airport near the entrance to the park?
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
Maybe, where they have plane rides around the mountain. Stayed someplace 6 hours in at a resort, you could hear the planes taking off.
tmyers
En-Route
there are a bunch of small fields all around the Denali Park Area, there is even a campground an hour or so south of Denali that has it's one gravel strip. Alaskans love their airplanes
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
No. We landed at PATK on the Anchorage side to pick up the CFI.
Anymouse
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Total Stud Bush Pilot
Don Lee by any chance?
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
If you mean the CFI, no. His name was Val... something. It was a Russian (Ukrainian) name.
Anymouse
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Total Stud Bush Pilot
So much for that idea. Don runs a flight school/air tour business out of Talkeetna. I used to fly with him a bunch of years ago.
BillTIZ
Final Approach
Talkeetna has the single engine Otters that fly up to the glaciers on the mountain.
From there, the pass through Denali to Fairbanks is a nice ride.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
Wife and I were at a cabin resort (Kantishna Roadhouse)
that was 90 miles inside Denali. Took 6 hours on a dirt road to get back there. There was a nearby airport and you could hear small planes taking off. Through the resort one could arrange an aerial tour of the mountain. A few in our group elected to be flown from there to Anchorage rather than the 6 hour ride back out and the train ride to Anchorage. This is from their website:
Flightseeing tours can be booked at the Roadhouse front desk. Kantishna Air Taxi offers a variety of tours around Denali Park and around Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. While views of Denali park from the road and trails can be incredible, a view from the air is unmistakably awe inspiring. With an airport nestled back in Kantishna Valley, the Kantishna Air Taxi is able to get you up and close to Denali’s large cliffs and glaciers. Visit Kantishna Air Taxi for more info about their flightseeing opportunities and pricing
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Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
Did you check out the airstrip?
I spent many an evening in the bar at Kantishna Roadhouse when I flew for Kantishna Air Taxi.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
No I didn't. Thought about getting a ride back to ANC though instead of the bus and train rides.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
We’re winding it down and heading home. Weather looked a little intimidating on the coastal route so we are taking the Trench home. We landed at Watson lake for fuel.
Next on to Prince George. More on that later. Now we are in search of a drink.
Next on to Prince George. More on that later. Now we are in search of a drink.
Attachments
BillTIZ
Final Approach
Ok, I remember flying past that area and airport on my way through the pass to Fairbanks. I looked down on the tour aircraft. Talkeetna is at the bottom of their overview chart.
BillTIZ
Final Approach
Beautiful shot of Watson Lake. That was a B-17 stop on their way to Russia.
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JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
We finally made it home. It wasn't an easy trip back. Most of it was IFR and we still got stuck in a few places for a couple of days. Attached is a screenshot of our route as shown in Foreflight.
I hope it fits on the screen. Around 60 Tach hours total and around 8,000+ nm, not counting some of the side trips we made, like when we were wandering around Denali.
I hope it fits on the screen. Around 60 Tach hours total and around 8,000+ nm, not counting some of the side trips we made, like when we were wandering around Denali.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
I want to give a big shout of appreciation to @Katherine for meeting us for lunch and for the great advice she gave us regarding navigating around Anchorage. That really helped. If you get up there, you should contact her and buy her a beer and a pizza and soak up some local knowledge.
I am also waiting anxiously to hear from @Katamarino about his upcoming trip. I hope you don't have to use all that emergency gear you bought. We are now trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff we lugged around. At least on the last couple of legs, we found that the energy drinks came in handy.
I am also waiting anxiously to hear from @Katamarino about his upcoming trip. I hope you don't have to use all that emergency gear you bought. We are now trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff we lugged around. At least on the last couple of legs, we found that the energy drinks came in handy.
Thanks, and it was a pleasure to have lunch with you guys!
How was Homer?
How was Homer?
Katamarino
Pattern Altitude
I'm in Orcas Island right now, headed to Vancouver tomorrow!
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charheep
Cleared for Takeoff
Just amazing. One of my dream trips and thank you for posting the route.
How did the plane do?
How did the plane do?
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
The plane performed flawlessly. In order to keep the 12qt crankcase over 10 qts, I had to add 3 qts of oil during the 60 hour trip. I think that is quite reasonable. This plane seems to love cooler weather than we have here in Florida. When the temps were in the '40s, it cold started almost immediately, even with straight 50 wt oil.
Gerhardt
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That's more appealing for one of you. The other, slightly less appealing.
Awesome pictures, and I'm envious of the trip.
RudyP
Cleared for Takeoff
That is quite a trip! Well done. And kudos to your wife for being up for that long in a GA plane!
Very nice looking photos and airplane too!
Very nice looking photos and airplane too!
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
Homer was cool. Literally; that was the coldest it got on our whole trip. Of course, we were on an open wildlife tour boat making pretty good speed across open water. We saw a bunch of bald eagles and sea otters but no whales or bears. Homer's "Spit" was great too, maybe just a few too many tourists, but who am I to complain. We ate at Captain Patty's. It was so good, we ate there again the next night.
Katamarino
Pattern Altitude
I'll start a separate thread this coming week once I get photos off the camera!