I leave this morning for a 4 month hunting season in the Aleutian Range south of Denali.

I just got my good old 1957 Super Cub out of the hangar. Engine preheated because in this morning of mid-November, the temperature is below -10°C. Loaded to its maximum with dried meat, rice, hunting bait, some tools and a rifle on the wing strut. According to my calculation we will take off just 2 lbs below MTOW. And no front wind to give us a bit of lift. This should be a long run.

The skis almost grazed the treetops, but here we are. A few wing waves to greet the house where we'll be back in Spring.

Somewhere south of Fairbanks, enroute to Healy, our entry door to the Denali National Park

Clouds are getting thicker, but not enough to lose track of the George Park hwy 

The sky temporarily clears just above Otto Lake after Healy.

Approaching the bridge over Nenana River, we'll have to find our way below the clouds to head to McKinley Park

I guess this is our chance...

Still following George Park hwy, we now fly over the Hurricane Gulch Bridge (this default bridge does not come close to the impressive real one)

As we pass North of Talkeetna, before entering Rainy Pass, large cumulus show up on the horizon. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the camp today... 

Indeed, only 50 miles from the camp, snow, degraded visibility and cloud cover forces me to land.

After 3 hours of waiting on the ground I have to see the evidence. I'll have to camp here while waiting for the sky to clear out.

The temperature drops rapidly after sunset. You just have to look up to the sky to understand why. Clouds slowly dissipate and from cloudy, the sky becomes starry.

The night was short but the early morning is full of hope. Sky is perfectly clear and calm. It should barely take 30 minutes to fly to my hunting cabin.

20 minutes later, I'm above the Stony River valley, a few miles North of Lake Clark Preserve & Wilderness. My destination is here, somewhere.

GPS makes searching almost too easy, and I arrive directly downwind. It's an expression, because at that moment there is not even a breeze in the valley. A last left turn, the flaps extended, and a landing as if on cotton. The Super Cub glides smoothly to the foot of the spruce trees that surround the cabin.

Going back to your cabin after months is also risking finding surprises. Bears in particular tend to be overly curious, especially before hibernating. After a careful inspection, nothing to report. The wood cut in the previous season quickly heats the cabin. Everything is quickly ready for a successful hunting season. But here in the wild, you always have to adapt to the unexpected.

Great looking shots....love the storyline!

HLJAMES

Really loved your post! Keep sharing that journey.

Just one question are you using P3D v4? if yes where did you get that cub? im looking for one for V4.

PS: The 4 pic counting down up can easely win any sim photo contest :)

1 hour ago, HLJames said:

Great looking shots....love the storyline!

HLJAMES

+1

Excellent story and great shots to go with it. Never realised you could use wing struts for stowing stuff! 

5 hours ago, dmarques69 said:

Really loved your post! Keep sharing that journey.

Just one question are you using P3D v4? if yes where did you get that cub? im looking for one for V4.

PS: The 4 pic counting down up can easely win any sim photo contest :)

I'm using P3DV4. This is the Flight Replicas Super Cub. I hope some dev would start working on a new one.

4 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Excellent story and great shots to go with it. Never realised you could use wing struts for stowing stuff! 

Thank you. I was wondering if in real life, you have to compensate for the added drag or if it is negligible.

Thank you all for your kind comments!

Great story and trip shots.  I've stayed at a cabin at Otto Lake and float planes were using it frequently.  Ran the Nenana in an open kayak. I guess the gun is in the struts for the same reason they put bear spray in the pontoons.  Don't want it in the cabin if something goes awry.  Or maybe just because it makes it look like an F-52.

29 minutes ago, SimSlim said:

(...) Or maybe just because it makes it look like an F-52.

 This is like a 95 kts-P47 Thunderbolt

The gun may be for bears, but past the end of November, they are mostly hibernating. You still have to deal with wolves, and when trapping, you may need a gun to shorten the suffering of a trapped animal.

7 hours ago, RockOla said:

I'm using P3DV4. This is the Flight Replicas Super Cub. I hope some dev would start working on a new one.

 

Thank you! Why? any problem with it in V4?

The aircraft itself perfectly behaves with P3D4. But I think it was first released at least 8 years ago, and it is starting to show its age.

Great shots!  What are you using for scenery up there?  My ORBX SAK ends just north of Anchorage (I think).

Love this post. seldom do we see snowy posts here, and living in the desert the snow brings back memories when I worked as Controller for Harrah's Lake Tahoe.  There is a magic in the snow and when driving in it at night the light is so beautiful (But I cheated, I did not mind the drive at night because my little Nissan Sentra wagon then I outfitted with studded snow tires which could get my car thru the deep drifts on Highway 50 and in the Carson Valley).  I love taildraggers, I flew a friends Luscombe 8A while I was taking light sport lessons back in 2006, it was a dream to fly and handle in the grass strip I flew out of in Pennsylvania).  It had well harmonized controls and could handle winds aloft very well.  Somewhere I have a video and pics of the Luscombe, I'll have to post them)  We need a Luscombe for the sim, there was one for FS9 but I'd love to see one for P3D or Xplane.

John

9 hours ago, 503Kento said:

Great shots!  What are you using for scenery up there?  My ORBX SAK ends just north of Anchorage (I think).

Mine too :) This is Orbx Vector + OpenLC NA, with FreeMeshX. The house and cabin scenery are my "creation". Took me 15mn to place them and generate the bgl with P3D Simdirector

7 hours ago, Cactus521 said:

Love this post. seldom do we see snowy posts here, and living in the desert the snow brings back memories when I worked as Controller for Harrah's Lake Tahoe.  There is a magic in the snow and when driving in it at night the light is so beautiful (But I cheated, I did not mind the drive at night because my little Nissan Sentra wagon then I outfitted with studded snow tires which could get my car thru the deep drifts on Highway 50 and in the Carson Valley).  I love taildraggers, I flew a friends Luscombe 8A while I was taking light sport lessons back in 2006, it was a dream to fly and handle in the grass strip I flew out of in Pennsylvania).  It had well harmonized controls and could handle winds aloft very well.  Somewhere I have a video and pics of the Luscombe, I'll have to post them)  We need a Luscombe for the sim, there was one for FS9 but I'd love to see one for P3D or Xplane.

John

If my journey brings back that kind of memories, then I'm the happier simmer here ! For me, posting pictures here is to exchange, rather than to show off. Did you know that the Luscombe you are talking about was converted to FSX/P3D ? It's the model from Bill and Lynn Lyons. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it works. Hey, after all the original model is... 13 years old.

2 hours ago, RockOla said:

Mine too :) This is Orbx Vector + OpenLC NA, with FreeMeshX. The house and cabin scenery are my "creation". Took me 15mn to place them and generate the bgl with P3D Simdirector

If my journey brings back that kind of memories, then I'm the happier simmer here ! For me, posting pictures here is to exchange, rather than to show off. Did you know that the Luscombe you are talking about was converted to FSX/P3D ? It's the model from Bill and Lynn Lyons. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it works. Hey, after all the original model is... 13 years old.

Yes, that's the Luscombe I flew in FS9, glad to see it converted and I am flying now (can only get the copilot to appear though by hitting the spoiler key).  It flies just as nice as the Luscombe I flew in real life, trims quite nicely.  Bill Lyons knew classic aircraft.

John

I enjoyed  this. Thanks!