A flight through Alaska and up to 80 degrees north in Arctic Canada presents a few challenges that you don’t run into when flying around the lower 48. Before setting out there was a fair amount of work to do to get ready for the flight. Aircraft preparation There were several major upgrades done to the aircraft to prepare it for the flight, as well as general maintenance to get it into top condition. The biggest upgrade was the addition…
Arrival into Canada was, as always, fairly straightforward. I’d had to buy a “customs decal” for $28 in advance to place on the airplane (seems to have no other purpose than a tax), and then file an e-apis declaration online with the US CBP. Apart from that, it was just filing a VFR flight plan online, and calling the Canadians to let them know about the arrival. The flight was a short, less than 30 minute hop up to Vancouver…
The next day brought a flight up into Eastern Washington, and Sullivan Lake Strip, a beautiful grass field next to Sullivan Lake in a secluded valley. It features fantastic camping and hiking. There are State Forest campsites both sides of the strip but it is extremely quiet and peaceful. We set up camp and explored the area a little include a hike up into the hills around the lake with a great view back to the airplane and campsite. That…
As is often the case, the work on the aircraft went right down to the last minute, and the final piece of work was finished the morning of my planned departure. The aircraft was at an airport in central Pennsylvania, 150 miles in the wrong direction. I loaded all of my gear into the trusty old Cessna 172 and a good friend flew me over to Williamsport airport where I loaded the 182, fueled up to my full 111 gallon…
The weather forecast for the dawning day was poor, and while it should be possible to fly, it was impossible to know how far we’d get. As my father’s flight home was from Atlanta in just one days time, he elected to rent a car and drive to Atlanta, so he waved us off as we took off and headed east through the low cloud and drizzle. The weather wasn’t great, but over the low flat country it was possible…
We stayed that night at a Motel in Carlsbad, and the next day made our arrival in the grand state of Texas! It turned out to be almost as big as Texans like to claim it is. We stopped first at a small airport called Andrews in order to stock up on cheaper fuel. To welcome us to Texas, an angry prairie dog chattered away at us while we refueled; at least, until it was drowned out by a rude…
The Salton Sea lies just northeast of Borrego, and was on our route the next morning. This inland sea lies around 200 feet below global sea level. Our next stop was Lake Havasu City, a planned city on a lake shore in Arizona. The town excavated a channel from the lake, around a peninsular, to create an island; across which they placed London Bridge, purchased from the UK and shipped, brick by brick, to the USA. We toured the “English…
Waking up to a frosty morning, we packed up and made our way back to the shuttle-bus. We arrived back in town to discover that another shuttle-bus was running services to the airport that day; it turned out that the airport was celebrating its 70th anniversary with a fly-in. There were hundreds of people there, with 50 or 60 aircraft having flown in from all over the country. We were asked where we had flown in from, and told them…
The next day, predictably, involved a great many large trees; they are well worth a visit! We started off the day with a visit to Fern Canyon, a canyon in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It’s recognised as a World Heritage site and International Biosphere Reserve. You can take a boardwalk through the canyon to view the fern covered walls and other native flora and fauna. In the afternoon we took a walk through a grove of fully grown…
The Las Vegas controller was busier than any I had known before, and we were told to head West, stay low, and shut up; I gladly complied. We left the madness far behind us and proceeded up the Nevada/California border towards Mono Lake – at an elevation of 6,802 feet this was the highest airport we would land at. Mono Lake is one of the best locations that I have flown into. There’s basically nothing there, and that’s what made…