I'm flying the Piper Aerostar from Sitka Alaska (PASI) to Haines Junction (CYHT).  It'll be a VFR flight planned for 10,500 ft.  We are departing ahead of a storm system in the area - but it's coming from the south so we'll have a nice tailwind.  I'm flight planning about 190 knots true.  The winds aloft are mostly from the south but we'll have to do some crosswind calculation/winds aloft enroute since we have no GPS.  I expect to see ground speeds around 200-210 once at cruise.  The 240nm flight should take a bit under and hour and a half (if we navigate correctly!)

If the clouds are sparse we'll go direct but as a backup plan I'll fly to Sisters Island VOR (114.0/SSR) and the I picked the 317 outbound radial for 172 miles to CYHT.  The VOR won't work that far but we'll take it as far as we can if need be.  The forecast for Haines Junction does show more VFR than PASI so I expect the clouds to break up even more as I approach CYHT.

We've topped off the tanks and are leaving the FBO.  (Sitka scenery by Northern Sky Studios - highly recommended btw!)  Sitka is a town with population over 8k.  It's home to the USCG Air Station as well (also modeled in the scenery)

The harbor and buildings are modeled too - so we'll blast off runway 29 and see if we can maintain VFR while climbing between clouds (2000 ft horizontal, 1000 ft above and 500 below for USA class E airspace)

Beautiful views of Sitka Sound and the Pacific Ocean

We had to maneuver here and there a bit to get above this layer.  The clouds seem pretty thick so we'll turn north towards SSR to provide us with additional situational awareness.

I believe the winds are just slightly out of the SSW because I'm flying basically due north to SSR VOR.  And my aircraft's heading is only slightly left of the OBS course.  Once we turn NW after SSR we'll have a quartering tailwind, we'll have to keep that in mind as we track outbound - especially once we lose the VOR completely.

Making the turn at Sisters Island

The VOR is down there somewhere...

Flying past the Chilkat Range (just west of the Lynn Canal)

The climbs seem to be climbing...we may have to match and climb to 12,500ft.  (this is the highest one can fly unlimited in the USA without oxygen)

Arriving at the gorgeous Glacier Bay (I think this is the Casement Glacier - but I've never been so if you know differently tell me)

Just leaving Alaska and heading into Canada

Our next waypoint is Mule Creek (CBS4) and the small lake to its east.  I spotted the lake from the cockpit and here's the view from the bird's eye of the small strip next to the highway

We had lost signal of the VOR at 10,500 but with the clouds we climbed to 12,500 a while back and regained signal!  We are almost 30 miles out so we will find some holes and start a descent.  The nearby wx station was showing FEW and SCT clouds in the area - but  3000 ft above the ground level... so plenty safe as long as we can get down.

Dalton Peak (lies just west of Dezadeash Lake) - we've found an area to descend through the clouds

We make a large right hand spiral to keep clear out clouds (not really sure of Canadian VFR requirements - can someone chime in??)  A stunning view of Kathleen Lake...  We're only about 15 miles away now!

It was easy to make out the field just north of the river/town - ATF is 123.2 (I think this is similar to CTAF in the USA)

I'll fly over the field (again not sure on pattern entry) to look at the wind socks.  It's a crosswind either way so I'll land runway 5 and land long to parking

We've arrived!  Hope you enjoyed the flight - next one will have a GPS LOL!  It was fun to try a VFR flight with traditional navigation methods.  Skyvector charts came in handy as well for VFR waypoints.

 

 

awesome set of shots

Awesome flight. Enjoyed the narrative.

On 9/24/2025 at 5:05 PM, darrenvox said:

awesome set of shots

Thank you!!

 

On 9/24/2025 at 10:15 PM, turnandbank said:

Awesome flight. Enjoyed the narrative.

Yep I try hah!  Since you're sort of from the area, do you happen to know VFR weather minimums in Canada?  And which direction of traffic pattern is standard?

Whenever I hear of "Sitka", I invariably think of the 2009 movie The Proposal...🙂..., starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, supposedly set in Sitka, Alaska, but I understand it was primarily filmed in Massachusetts and Canada...

Incredible scenery in your screenshot, throughout...though the flight was complicated by (vintage) navigation via VOR (or lack of VOR ...🙂...) ...

The Aerostar looks sleek and beautiful too...

Thanks for sharing...!

Nice set as always Ryan, Thanks for the flight.