Ultima Thule and the Wrangells
For July 23, 2025.
Michael MacKuen

We visit the western section of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southern Alaska. This flight is over a wilderness populated by black bears and grizzlies, moose, caribou, and mountain goats with rivers rich in salmon and trout. Starting at Valdez on the coast, we fly into the interior, visit several bush airstrips and the remote Ultima Thule Lodge, climb up mountains, land on a glacier, and finish at Gulkana on the Copper River.

(Thule was the northernmost point in ancient Greek/Roman literature, somewhere beyond Ireland and Britain. In classic and medieval literature, Ultima Thule became a metaphorical term meaning a distant place located beyond the borders of the known world.)


On the rugged crystalline shoulder of the University Range

We depart from Valdez [PADV] to follow the southernmost sections of the famous Richardson Highway and the parallel Trans Alaska Pipeline. We fly through the Chugach Mountains and over Thompson Pass [K55], Alaska’s snowiest weather station. (You might try a low pass over the small utility strip.) Continue to the Pipeline's Pumping Station Number 12 [PUMP], and then direct to land at Chitina [CXC] on the Copper River. After a pause, we fly along the Chitina River to land on the small airstrip at Long Lake [4AK3] and then the FlyAlaska Lodge [N769], a small residential facility for fly-in visitors. We continue to the rough bush strip at Glacier Creek [N771, KGZ] and proceed to ascend the valley, climbing to 10,000 to fly along the shoulder of the University Range and, subsequently, descend down Hawkins Glacier to the Chitina River below. We land at the lovely and remote fly-in resort Ultima Thule Lodge [N761].

After a quick coffee and a brief visit, we push on from the luxurious lodge westward to a touch-and-go at popular Jakes Bar [AK0] and stop at the historic settlement McCarthy and its commercially active gravel airstrip McCarthy [PAMX]. We pass the remains of the fabulously successful Kennecott Mine (indifferently modeled) and climb the Kennicott Glacier to an elevation of about 10,000, East of Mount Blackburn and the Atna Peaks, and enter the glaciers and snowfields of the Wrangell Range. We descend over the massive Nabesna Glacier (at 53mi, this is North America’s longest valley glacier). Turning west we land at waypoint [TOP], elevation 7645ft, on skis, tundra tires, or ordinary tires and stop to admire the crisp panoramic views. (This real world airstrip at the top of the Nabesna Glacier is used by professional pilots for skiing, climbing, and scientific expeditions. The strip is not depicted in the simulator.) Then westward climbing along the top, we pass the massive shield volcano Mount Wrangell on the south and the Copper Glacier on the north. Finally, we descend between Mount Sanford and Mount Drum along the Sanford Glacier onto the plain below. Rejoining the Copper River and the Richardson Highway, we land on the lighted asphalt runway at the locally-important Gulkana [PAGK]. (Beware of moose and caribou on the runway.)


Descent over the Sanford Glacier to Mt Drum and the west

For an excellent introductory film about flying in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness, see this personal Bush Pilot's View, narrated by Lynn Ellis (5:45).

Flight Plan
The flight plan and a Pilots' Guide are available here.

Aircraft
The route is 303nm so you probably want something that cruises at 145-150kts so that we can complete our journey in the allotted time. Aside from the first and last airfields, we shall be landing on gravel/dirt/snow fields so you might prefer an aircraft with sturdy landing gear designed for rough surfaces. Good choices might include the DHC-2 Beaver, C182 Skylane, C185 Skywagon, C206/C207 Stationair, and the Vans RV14. Or you might prefer to fly some tourists in the C208 Caravan or the Quest Kodiak. Many other options will work just as well. I’ll take the MS/Carenado C185. Please fly what you like.

Scenery
The star of the show is the natural beauty of the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness. We can modestly improve authenticity by adding a few enhanced airstrips.

Northcoaster 76 Alaska Scenery Project. northcoaster76. FS2024
(The package includes more airstrips than we need. Given the modest size here, you might as well install the full package. But you can be more selective if you prefer. And you might check out his “dependencies” that include some bush scenery libraries that you might not normally activate.)
Chitina Airport and Forder Resort [CXC]. DaneSimAir. FS2024

(Note that Valdez [PAVD] is an Asobo-enhanced airport.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 4:30pm local for July 23, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather but it might be unsuitable for parts of Alaska. A good alternative weather preset with some clouds and shadows is Josh Best (included in the flightplan package). Or instead you might select "High Clouds" or some alternative that will allow you to fly safely in the mountains.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, July 23, 2025. 1900 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!
 

NOTAM. If you downloaded the flightplans before 2025-07-21 at 0045 UTC, please download again.