As follow-up, here, to my previous post about the flight from Juneau (PAJN) to Yakutat (PAYA), I pick up, where I left off...from cruise level FL230 (the Dart turboprops speeding me along at a steady speed of 220 knots). This plane is equipped with a basic but most effective autopilot (see one close-up shot, below, of the FO Side [VC], where the autopilot panel can be seen just below the Pedestal). So, my flight continued onward, tracking, roughly, the Gulf of Alaska coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, and overflying the southeastern-most corners of Alaska. This region (otherwise referred to as the Alaska Panhandle) is known for its remarkable natural scenery, of dense forests and active glaciers, including the so-called "tidewater" glaciers that directly flow into the sea e.g. one of the tidewater glaciers, the Hubbard Glacier, and its natural fury are well-documented. "The glacier routinely calves off icebergs the size of a ten-story building. Where the glacier meets the bay, most of the ice is below the waterline, and newly calved icebergs can shoot up quite dramatically, so that ships must keep their distance from the edge of the glacier in Disenchantment Bay".

The (direct) distance between Juneau and Yakutat is about 200 miles (or ~170 nms). The total flightplan distance, here, inclusive of the "LOC/DME BC RWY 29" approach fixes, showed up as 173 nms. Per Flightaware, Alaska Airlines Flight 61 (AS61), from yesterday (July 16th), a B737-700, flew 198 actual miles, and took just under an hour of travel time (53 mins). If one wishes to exactly replicate, in the SIM, the RW route, it was "CHLKT1 FAKES YAK3". The flight profile shows a very short cruise period (plateau), nearabout 30,000 ft, otherwise the climb and descent mostly make up the whole flight. Interestingly, I also read that the travel time, across about 280 miles of the distance, by car ferry, between Juneau and Yakutat, can take up to (18-22) hours...(revealing the rugged and impassable nature of the terrain and geography of this region)...!

Below, in my set, I've included a few screenshots, from this part of my trip, of what I saw...virtually...from the (warm) comfort of my F27 cockpit...🙂...

So, please find, below, the rest of the images of this Pacific Alaska F27, first, descending directly to (WPT) CIMUF (the entry point Fix of the "LOC/DME BC RWY 29" approach). The altitude restriction for "CIMUF" is listed as 2,500 ft (this and the next two approach fixes (JOTWI and LULIC) can be seen on the GTN 750 shots, below). Since the (JNU->YAK) flight is from south-to-north, the RWY 29 Back Course is convenient for straight-in landing into PAYA airport. There is also the full ILS procedure "ILS OR LOC/DME RWY 11" listed and available from the opposite (north) direction of PAYA Rwy, which would have required, here, a U-turn north of Yakutat (please refer to the one overhead screenshot (2nd from bottom) of the (PAYA) full-length primary (11/29) Rwy, that I've included below; the near end is 11, and, I've landed from the far end (29) of the Rwy shown).

The (coastal) Yakutat Airport, itself, at only 33 ft Elev., is not closely surrounded by any mountains, but, there are high (and dangerous) mountains of the St. Elias Range, to the north, east, and west of Yakutat, just within less than 100 miles. Those regions are surely not for the casual flyers, including virtual...🙂...e.g. Mount Saint Elias (18,008 feet), the second-highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, lies in this range, and is just about 70 miles northwest of Yakutat. The peak of Mount Saint Elias can be seen from Yakutat. I've included, below, a (virtual) top-down shot (3rd from bottom) of this mountain vicinity. In this awe-inspiring image, the (prominent) large white blob, just north of Yakutat Bay (bottom RHS corner of shot), is the Malaspina Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the world. My location, the red cross-wire, at the center of the shot, is facing Mount Mount Saint Elias, to further north. You can also see another massive glacier flow, at top LHS corner of this screenshot.

This Back Course Rwy 29 approach, very effectively, provided me lateral (REV LOC) guidance, but, required manual vertical descent (no GS guidance) down to the Rwy threshold. Moreover, just to make my landing a bit more challenging, at this (virtual) pilot's discretion,...from CIMUF Fix onward, i.e. about 10-12 nms out, I have fictitiously reduced the visibility to 3 nms...(please see the shots from within [VC], when the Rwy PAPI lights pop up, from nowhere, into my windscreen view...I would say...rather comfortingly...for this virtual pilot...🙂...)...[BTW, as a side-note, I wish to state, here, that one of the greatest appeals of MSFS, personally, for me, from what I've seen, is the near-perfectly-realistic low-visibility immersions, achievable, there, for such approach and landing...]

Hope you enjoy this (second and concluding) set of pictures from my Juneau-Yakutat trip, in a Friendship Fokker 27. In the final screenshot, below, I leave you with a panoramic view of the St. Elias Mountain Range, as seen from the Yakutat airport, with the highest mountain, in the center of the screen, is what I believe, the Mount Saint Elias, at over 18,000 ft...(what am amazing sight it must be in RW)...!

Thanks for viewing...!!

[JF (F27), Orbx (SAK/PAYA)]

Edited July 17, 20214 yr by P_7878

Enjoyed your concluding chapter. The last two shots are really nice (even without the F-27 on screen 🙂).

John

 

Great set of shots ! Love the first and the 15th..

cheers 😉

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

John, pmplayer, Alaska738, and folks:

Thanks much...!!