Seaplanes, Glaciers, and the Beauty of Alaska

[MM 422]

Seaplanes, Glaciers, and the Beauty of Alaska and British Columbia

This week (June 2), as the weather warms, we head north to British Columbia and Alaska. We shall take a seaplane trip from Prince Rupert's Seaplane Aerodrome up the Observatory Inlet and the Portland Canal to Stewart. Then up over Salmon Glacier to Summit Lake, on to the Frank Mackie ice fields, down a glacier into the Unuk Valley, along the Bohm Canal to Yes Bay Lodge. Then quick stops at Meyers Chuck and Thorne Bay before finally arriving at Ketchikan, Alaska. The details will follow shortly.

This early announcement is meant to remind you that Orbx is having a May Sale (47 percent off). If you do not have them yet, you might want to get the two full-fat regions of Pacific Fjords and Southern Alaska right away as the sale ends tomorrow. We shall do several flights this summer that will take full advantage of the regions. Very highly recommended. And you might as well give in to temptation and consider transferring your family nest egg over to Orbx to get a few of their Alaska airports.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

My family nest egg is destined for one of two cruise lines that promise to take us down the Alaska coast, end of June,  ideally from Anchorage (Seward) to Vancouver.

[MM 422]

Seaplanes, Glaciers, and the Beauty of Alaska

Today we take a tour to gain an overall feel for the Misty Fjords area. We begin at Prince Rupert's Seaplane Aerodrome [CZSW], fly over the Port Simpson seaplane base [CAN8], and continue along the Portland Inlet to land at Kincolith [CBA3]. Then up the Observatory Inlet and land at Alice Arm/Silver City [CAC3] while taking a look at the fascinating modern ghost town Kitsault. We head west to the Portland Canal [PCANL] and turn north to stop at the seaplane base [CAC9] of Stewart BC, the only populated town in the area. Here we (probably) clear the weather and depart up the Salmon River and Salmon Glacier to land at Summit Lake [SLAKE] just north of which was the famous Granduc copper mine. On the way we note the old Premier Gold Mine to the east and the Summit C.I.R.P. research station on the glacier. Quickly we climb west up the rest of the Salmon Glacier to turn at [SALMN] and head north over the research camp on the Frank Mackie Ice Fields [MCKIE] and then down the glacier to the beautiful Unuk River valley [UNUK1]. We land on the shallow river to pick up some stranded campers at [UNUK2]. We then fly further along the valley to Burroughs Bay [BRBAY], turn west, and land at the handsome Yes Bay Lodge [78K]. Departing, we fly over Meyers Chuck [84K] to land at Thorne Bay [KTB]. Finally, we go to Ketchikan passing the seaplane base for Ketchikan International [PAKX] to our final destination, the seaplane base in Ketchikan Harbor [5KE].

Flight Plans
The Flight Plan and a Pilot's Guide are available via DropBox here.

Aircraft
You want a seaplane or amphibian. We recommend something reasonably fast to cover the route in the allotted time. A DHC-2 Beaver or a Cessna 185 would be common in this area. Also suitable would be a Grumman Goose or Mallard. You might also like two turbine aircraft, the Cessna Soloy U206 or the Quest Kodiak. Please fly what you like.



Scenery
For best results, you want the payware Orbx Pacific Fjords "full-fat" region. In addition to the work on glaciers and lakes and towns, you will get docks at each of our regular stopping points. Less rich, but probably fine, would be a combination of the payware Orbx North America Landclass and Orbx Global Vector to get the lakes and coastlines correct.

In addition, I would recommend that you install three sceneries from Return to Misty Moorings. From the RTMM Scenery Addons, you want: (a) Border Lake Provincial Park, (b) CIRP (PF48 Summit Ice Station, Premier Gold Mine), and (c) Yes Bay Lodge. To do this right, you will need to install the RTMM Object Libraries. Fortunately you can skip the libraries for today: these particular sceneries display "most" of their features without the libraries installed. (The RTMM library installation is a time-consuming process.)

Weather
We shall probably fly real weather to begin. If the cloud cover is not a problem, that will be fine. However, if the "Misty Fjords" live up to their normal low clouds and heavy mist, then at Stewart (CAC9) we shall want to switch to clearer skies in order to climb up into the glaciers and ice fields and enjoy the views. For partly cloudy skies (but ok over the glaciers) we might set "Historical Weather" to 0400 UTC on May 30, 2018. Alternatively, we might use the "Fair Skies" option in the simulator.

Particulars
Date and time: Saturday June 2, 2018, 1800 UTC.
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D).
If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!
Recommend that you set your start time at 1600 local time.

[MM 422]

The DropBox zipfile now includes a Pilot's Guide and a CYPR-PAKT.gfp flightplan file. (Note that the Garmin flightplan starts and ends at an IFR airport. We shall start and end at the associated seaplane bases.)

[robrooke 42]

hope to join you saturday,  may be a little late starting.

regards,

roger.

[MM 422]

Great news, Roger.

[jt_williams 291]

Great Pilots Guide Mike!    Just finished reading and watching the videos.   Very informative.   Really like the piece on Myers Chuck and the Mining Threat film.  

 

 

[mazelda 124]

On 5/30/2018 at 12:51 AM, Bert Pieke said:

My family nest egg is destined for one of two cruise lines that promise to take us down the Alaska coast, end of June,  ideally from Anchorage (Seward) to Vancouver.

Hi Bert

I've literally stepped off the ship today after doing that trip .scenery is absolutely stunning,you will enjoy it

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

33 minutes ago, mazelda said:

Hi Bert

I've literally stepped off the ship today after doing that trip .scenery is absolutely stunning,you will enjoy it

Small world (kind of)..

Which cruise line?

[mazelda 124]

We were on royal carribean

Radiance of the seas,the crew were excellent

Pm me if you want anymore info bert

[MM 422]

(Saturday. Probably Digital Theme Park today.)