Well, we finally made it back! What a trip!
The weather wasn’t exactly perfect, like it was all the way to Barrow,
and the whole time we were in Barrow.
The weather was really exactly the same in Barrow, every day - sunny,
cold and winds from the northeast. I
think we got outta Dodge just in time!
Because of some problems with a relay on the master switch at low temperatures,
we decided we would fly back through Fairbanks, so that our first overnight
would be in a warmer climate (about 50F warmer in Fairbanks compared to
Barrow).
 |
| The view was fantastic, going over the Brooks
Range! |
On April 2nd, we stayed over night in
Fairbanks, at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge.
Nice place! Unfortunately, the
area was socked in the next day, with a good chance of icing. Since our airplane has no deicing equipment,
we had to sit for a day. This never happened in Barrow - it is too cold for
icing! So, Brian and I visited Everts
Air Cargo. They have a field full of
classic airplanes, which they use for cargo jobs all around Alaska. They seem to use lots of DC-4s. They have an amazing maintenance staff at Everts. Anyone want a job flying DC-4s? I think they are looking for pilots! Below is a pic of one of the airplanes
on the field. It is a Curtis C-46 most famous for flying the "Hump" over the mountains in China during WW2.
The next day, April 4, we headed off for our border
crossing into Canada, at Whitehorse, Yukon Territories. See above below for a cool volcanic mountain
on the way.
At Whitehorse, we got an in-person briefing from a
nice guy, who told us, yes, you will now get into icing, on the way to Ft.
Nelson. But, you can follow the Alcan
Highway, VFR, all the way, with multiple places to land, if you needed to (“we
typically try to discourage people from landing on the road. But…”).
So, this is what we did. It was a
great suggestion, we had a fantastic flight, once again with great views! The picture below shows what it looked
like following the road to Ft. Nelson.
We then landed at Ft. Nelson, where there is, well, nothing.
From Ft. Nelson we flew to Peace River, Alberta
(IFR), and, well, not much to see there, and it was late in the day. When we got to Peace River, the weather
turned bad, and we had to stay there an extra
day. Brian and I walked all the way
around Peace River. Peace River is nice,
lots of ice all around the banks of the river.
A pretty cool looking ski area there, called “Misery Mountain Ski
Hill”. Sounds like fun, eh? A pic of the ski area is shown below,
from our hotel window.
On April 6, we flew to Lethbridge, near the Montana
border with Alberta. It was time to
cross the border back into the U.S., but the ceiling was low, and, again, there
was a chance of icing. So, we decided,
after talking with some
locals, to cross the border at Del Bonita, Albert/Montana. There is a grass strip there, and the center
“line” of the runway is right on the border.
The right side of the center line is Canada, and the left side of the
center line is the U.S. (when you are landing to the west). It was a 38mile trip. We landed, and they seemed happy to have
something to do. In the U.S. customs
building (turn left at the end of the “runway”; if you turn right, you are at
Canada Customs), we signed in and they told us we were the second airplane to land there in 2012! See the pic of the N762JT at “Wetstone
International Airport”, below.
We then tried to go a little further, but the
weather got worse, so, we landed at Starr-Browning airport, in Browning, Montana. This is a Blackfeet Reservation. Interesting place. Great views!
See Brian, standing next to 2JT and near the runway, looking west, below. The nice man who owns the airport
gave us a ride into town, and we stayed over night. Dinner at the casino….
The next day the weather was fine. We flew to Miles City MT, and then through
South Dakota. Hey, there’s no one down
there at all! Then Des Moines, through a
light rain frontal system, and then, here is what we saw - ILS Runway 10,
KLAF. It is hard to tell you how good it
felt to see that! Brian!!! We did it!!!
Here's the full route, up and back:
- Prof. Paul Shepson
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