Flight Plan - NW Montana to Alaska

[tonymarshall]

Am planning a trip in my 182 (sold my beloved 170B) from NW Montana to Gakona (Gulkana) NE of Anchorage. I have 4-5 hours fuel and can, but prefer not to, use autogas. Any flight plan ideas or tips? Thanks.

[AR Dave]

Advise: When in Gakona, during summer months, take not only mosquito spray but a mosquito headnead. Avgas sold all the way, at all the airports.
Go to Search and type in: Flying from Alaska to America
PS. Canada Controllers get mad at you when flying over the top, so it's best not to talk to them on an IFR day! And don't give them your real home phone number either.

[N1277D]

We flew from Idaho to Alaska and back a couple of years ago in the 170. Be prepared for poor weather enroute and plan on spending a few days waiting the weather out. I would stop at every reasonable airport and top off, check the weather then proceed on till you have to stop and wait out the next front. If you miss a day of good weather you could be sitting for several. Along the route, aircraft tend to go as far as they can, then bunch up at airports waiting for the weather to clear.

It might be clear at both ends of a leg in northern Canada, but the enroute weather can be much different. VFR on top in Canada is frowned upon. We were coming out of Watson Lake with a 170A, 2 170Bs and a Beaver heading to St. Johns, the ceiling kept dropping, with the arrival and departure airports clear. The choice was VFR on top or go under and deal with scud running in the mountains. The guy flying the Beaver was having a some second thoughts about keeping up with the 170s; he wanted us to slow down and also wanted to call in a pilot report of the enroute weather. The 170s did slow down for the Beaver to cut his fuel burn down to 23 gal/hr.


In northern Canada, if there are pilot reports enroute they will be for good conditions, if there are none it could mean poor enroute weather or your the first person through that day.

[Roesbery]

Back in the late 70s' I used to leave the states from Libby Montana then go to Calgary (fuel) by way of Cranbrook ( a hiway will take you through the mountains if you can't get high ),clear customs, and go direct Grand Prairie (fuel) via Rocky Mountain House. Then Fort St. John (fuel) via Dawson Creek, Then Fort Nelson (fuel). Then hop over the hill and pick up the river to Watson Lake (fuel) (But pay close attention or you will take the wrong fork and end up back on the hiway, no major deal as long as you have enough fuel and time) Then Whitehorse (fuel) Then follow the hiway to Northway (fuel, customs) via Beaver Creek (Border) Then over the mountains to Gulkana. If you can't get high you can follow the hiway via Tok, but longer. Getting on the East side of the Rockys' will usually give you better Wx for that stretch. Might want to double check Northway for services, that last earthquake rearranged the runway and I'm not up on the status of repairs. Hope this helps.

[pdb]

Am planning a trip in my 182 (sold my beloved 170B) from NW Montana to Gakona (Gulkana) NE of Anchorage. I have 4-5 hours fuel and can, but prefer not to, use autogas. Any flight plan ideas or tips? Thanks.

You have three basic choices, working your way from east to west.

1) The Highway: Work your way up to Dawson Creek and follow the Alaska Highway. Its the easiest to navigate but you have the higher terrain to cross than via the Trench and the weather can be the worst in the areas of high terrain.

2) The Trench: Fly to Prince George , then McKenzie and the Trench. From Mckenzie to Watson Lake you have just about 400 sm. There are places to land but gas is hard to find. Sometimes its available at Ft. Ware as is car gas but don't count on it without calling ahead to the native store there. I have flown the trench several times. There are usually other planes along the route and everyone trades weather info. Last time I went through, there was an RCO at Ft. Ware to Canadian FSS.

Be careful about the weather, get high, get slow, and get lean and its easy. Perhaps this is the time to pull Stick and Rudder off the shelf and learn about how to maximize range. I suppose with a 182 its not as big a problem as it is with my 170 with 37 gal. useable but you shouldn't try to figure it out for the first time when you have to turn back 3/4 of the way from McKenzie to Watson Lake.

This is my 1st choice route in good weather.

3) The Coast Range: From P.G., fly west to Smithers, then NW to the Nass River to Meziadin lake, then north via the Bell- Irving River, then N via the Iskut River to Dease Lake. Dease Lake has a good paved strip, good gas, and accomodations. So far you have had roads most of the way and emergency strips. From Dease Lake. you can shoot NNE to Watson Lake following a road or fly NW direct to Teslin then Whitehorse. Just NW of Dease Lake you have some high plains and hills to ~6,500 but if you get beyond that its a easy stretch to Whitehorse. There is no place to land though until you get to Teslin.

Although it sounds hard to follow, its not if you get the maps out. The scenary is unmatched anywhere on the planet.

The whole trick to any route is to stay flexible with weather. If you stay east of Rockies until you get to Dawson Creek, you are pretty much committed to the Highway and the potentially troublesome weather over the higher terrain enroute to Watson Lake via Summit.

If you go to Prince George, you can still elect either of the three routes with only minor backtracking.

A smart guy will have the complete maps for all three routes marked out, know how to do the long stretch of the Trench on economy cruise, and let the final decision be dictated by the weather.

Do not screw around with the weather here, it will kill you, and more importantly, potentially wreck a beautiful airplane.