Alaska Grand Tour

[RichLP 32]

While you're flying in the Southeast, I highly recommend a trip up Tracy Arm Fjord... it's gorgeous!

[AZsoccer 7]

EastCoastGuy, did you not get pictures of us skiing down the glacier last night? That was a fun trip!

[DMagick 0]

Starting out the next morning, I'm in the Icon now, taking off from Allen AAF.

 

 

I flew around a few of the smaller airfields in the Delta Junction area. First to Rocking T. Ranch; I'm flying over the two rather harrowing little strips below.

 

 

Up north to Remington Field next. I decided to take off from the little lake nearby since this was a small strip too.

 

 

After that it was off to Wingsong Estates, Delta Daves, and Artic Angel Airport, then back to Allen to pick up a job. After switching to the Maule I picked up a cargo job headed for Clear Sky Lodge to the west. Here I am leaving the Delta Junction area.

 

 

I followed the 107º radial towards the Fairbanks VOR station, flying above the Tanana River. Here I'm over the river; looking to north I can see Harding Lake, then the Salcha River behind that, and the mountains of the Chena River State Rec. Area in the distance.

 

 

South of Fairbanks now, I'm looking out towards the Nenana River and Denali Nat. Park way off in the distance, although you probably can't see Mt. Mckinley (also called Denali) from this far.

 

 

Another treacherous landing for my overloaded Maule at the Clear Sky lodge airstrip. The bugged prop speed on the Maule doesn't help either.

 

 

After a successful landing.

 

 

I switched to the Cub for a passenger flight from Clear Sky Lodge back to Fairbanks. That's right 4 people in that little thing. Even with all that weight I had no problem taking off. Here I am headed back up the Nenana River; the weather has cleared up now as the sun has risen a little higher.

 

 

The junction of the Nenana and Tanana rivers, over Nenana airport, headed north.

 

 

Back on the Tanana, approaching Fairbanks Int.

 

 

After a successful landing. I love the new 'glance' button, I can finally find the drop off point without having to just skip to the waypoint after landing.

 

 

I think I'll head down towards Denali tomorrow, then out west somewhere.

[EastCoastGuy 0]

EastCoastGuy, did you not get pictures of us skiing down the glacier last night? That was a fun trip!

 

Sorry, I was too busy screaming in terror and trying to stay alive! :LMAO:

[DMagick 0]

Another day of my Alaska tour. Now I'm headed south from Fairbanks toward Denali. After flying around several of the airports near Fairbanks I picked up a passenger at LADD AAF and headed out to Cantwell airport, about 100nm to the south.

 

 

Here I am after landing at Clear Creek, I'm looking back to the north. The Blair lakes are visible in the foreground; one last look at the Tanana River behind that, and a little sliver of Harding Lake again in the distance.

 

 

I made an interesting discovery here. If you hit the 'glance' key while in the overhead look your view will swing out giving you an extremely high altitude look at the area. Zooming in just lowers your viewpoint.

 

 

After landing at Gold King Creek I headed toward Totatlanika River. I ended up getting completely lost and overshooting the airfield by about 15nm. I eventually found Healy Creek and followed it to its junction with the Nenana River where Healy River airport is.

 

 

After that I took off north again in search of Eva Creek and Totatlanika River again. This time I found a few landmarks to follow. On the left is the Nenana, and on the right is Jumbo Dome, a very prominent landmark, with Eva Creek hiding behind the rise just right of center.

 

 

After an... incident, my passenger seems to have fallen out and died. Lucky for me I found my way to Eva Creek here.

 

 

After flying east to Totatlanika River airstrip I headed south again toward McKinley Nat. Park airport. Here I am flying through a pass over Moody Creek with Dora Peak to the east; the weather has gotten much nastier, set at mixed now.

 

 

After landing at Mckinley and Denali airports, I'm headed back toward civilization and Cantwell airport. Here I am over the Nenana again, with Cantwell in the distance.

 

 

At last, down for the night at Cantwell. That's 30 airports so far.

 

 

Next up I'll head down the river, then up through Denali towards Mt. Mckinley.

[Gibbage 199]

Great stuff guys! Im really glad you guys are enjoying the Alaska pack!

[DMagick 0]

Back on my tour after a few days off. On this trip I'm headed south out of Cantwell, flying to Talkeetna with a few stops along the way. Here I am flying over the Middle Fork of the Chulitna River, looking down towards Honolulu, AK.

 

 

After taking off again from Talkeetna, I stopped at Nugget Bench to pick up my Stearman for the trip into the mountains. Here is my ultimate destination, still hidden in the clouds, with my path up the mountains just off to my left, the Tokositna Glacier.

 

 

Still struggling to get the altitude I need. I'm at about 19k here, looking at McKinley from the east.

 

 

I managed to get the Stearman up there, about 21000 feet at the highest (prop set at 15% by the way, that doesn't seem right), and after approximately 97 tries I managed to land on the peak. I tried out a few weather settings, and eventually decided on 'among the giants,' coming in to land from the east with a 23kt headwind. The peak itself is very small, and it's easy to overshoot and fly off the other side. It's also tough to land on such a steeply sloped area without crashing, but it is possible.

 

 

I spit on Mauna Loa and it's weak 14000 ft landings.

 

 

Taking off again was surprisingly easy, I just rolled down a relatively smooth looking hill a flew off the edge.

 

 

After heading down from the mountain I started north again towards the Yukon river. Here I am getting tossed around in the wind and rain in my poor Icon while flying from Art Z to American Creek, just north of the Tanana River, near its junction with the Yukon.

 

 

After picking up some passengers at Ralph M Calhoun Mem. airport I headed down the Yukon. Here I am headed into the sunset; it's October now, and everything is starting to freeze over. I'm over the curly Nowitna river here, with the Yukon off to my right.

 

 

At last, the lights of Pitka airport, tucked in next to the frozen Yukon river.

 

 

I'm getting close to the west coast now. More to come soon.

[DMagick 0]

Back to my tour, at last. When I left off before I was at Pitka, on the Yukon River just before it turns to head south. I followed the Yukon on its southward leg, on a rather long, uneventful journey, until it turned west. At that point I continued on south with a few passengers in my trusty Maule.

 

I mentioned it in one of the other threads, but it's worth showing here; the pre-dawn hours can be a great time to fly if you are planning something more than an hour or so. In this screenshot I'm coming in for a landing at Kalskag airport, along the Kuskokwim River, just south of the Yukon. That growing glow in the southeastern sky is a fantastic effect; it's really best appreciated in the game. And flying in the winter time really draws out the effect because of the low angle that the sun is rising at.

 

 

I followed the Kuskokwim river down its path landing at several of the airports, including Bethel, one of the bigger airports in the area. Here I am approaching Napakiak, just south of Bethel. The sun is just barely starting to come over the horizon now; low clouds are great for this time of day.

 

 

Now I'm headed toward my destination, Nunapitchuk to the west. The sun is really starting to come up now, casting those great, long shadows.

 

 

I switched to the Cub as I headed out south again, carrying cargo. This screenshot shows the pitiful December noon in southern Alaska, as I fly over the Kuskokwim Bay, toward the Ahkuln Mountains. A little sliver of Goodnews Bay, my destination, is visible just under the sun.

 

 

I took a detour through the mountains so that I could line up and approach Goodnews airport from the northeast. Here I am rounding Explorer Mountain, just before turning southwest for my final approach.

 

 

Success. I really like the Cub. I've found that flying in the fake cockpit works pretty well for this plane. I never cared for doing that in the P51, but this one seems more detailed and a little higher resolution than the others. I can't wait for the deluxe version to come out.

 

 

To finish up the day I switched to the Icon and continued on south. Here I am headed towards Cape Newenham, with Security Cove off to the left. In the distance on the left is Bristol Bay, and on the right is the Bering Sea.

 

[RoboRay 126]

Great pics. :)

[Kengi 0]

I haven't flown in a couple of days. Your latest update is the inspiration I need!

[Bobsk8 12,683]

I flew to Cape Lisburne today which is a Military Landing strip that services the RCA Radar Site up there.The runway is located between the Chukchi Sea and the mountain where the radar site is located. Here are some photos of the real site.

 

http://eddyduvall.co...peLisburne.html

 

Here I am on a high short final

 

 

About to touch down.

 

 

 

 

 

Landed, The Mountain with the radar is on the left.

 

 

We are really close to Russia .

[Jucasim 0]

Hi DMagick!

 

Finally i have a partner! In July 7th, i created a post called "Alaska - All Airports Journey" where i decided to do the same thing...fly to all airfields...every single one, no skipping, no shortcuts, just a chart, my RV-6 and an Icon for the seaports!

I started at Annette Island (PANT) lower SE, next to Canada. Yesterday, after 79 airports i got to YAKATAGA (PACY)! That area has a lot of seaports!

For me it has been great to really get to know Alaska that way!

Keep on posting!

[OmarNg7X 0]

Hi DMagick!

 

Finally i have a partner! In July 7th, i created a post called "Alaska - All Airports Journey" where i decided to do the same thing...fly to all airfields...every single one, no skipping, no shortcuts, just a chart, my RV-6 and an Icon for the seaports!

I started at Annette Island (PANT) lower SE, next to Canada. Yesterday, after 79 airports i got to YAKATAGA (PACY)! That area has a lot of seaports!

For me it has been great to really get to know Alaska that way!

Keep on posting!

 

Olá Jucasim,

 

Bem legal saber que tem um brasileiro na turma

 

If I ever buy alaska I'll definitely go for this Grand Tour (if time allows it) and enjoy those beautiful sceneries!

[Jucasim 0]

Bem legal saber que tem um brasileiro na turma

 

Glad to see Brazil represented here! :)

 

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DMagick, are you following any type of flight plan like region by region, or flying at random?

[RiO 1]

Mais um brasileiro acompanhando!

 

Another brazilian following this trip!