Not a particularly dangerous place to fly. But the scenery is overwhelming and there are thousands and thousands of square miles of it with NOTHING!

Check your local Sectional chart. How many VORs are there? How many NDBs, how many airports? The Dawson Sectional has 6 airports on the north side along with 3 NDBs. The south side is alive with activity what with 11 airports but only 1 NDB. No VORs on either side of the chart, none of the runways are paved. Longest runway is 5,000' and a couple are down to 2,500'. Generally no bathroom (or any kind of facility) and generally no fuel either (plan ahead for both).

Come north. There's no flying like it left anywhere else in the country.

A warm BCP welcome for Santa, everyone. Shouldn't you be busy right about now?

Welcome to the site.

Yeah, 'gettin' close to the big evening. Even went out and looked at a new runway being scraped out of the primeval forest today. It won't be ready for this years takeoff but it'll be up for reindeer training come spring.

Just found this site and it looks like some fun reading. Actually I was looking for info on gap seals (C182Q) and like everything else on the 'net, ya start looking at something and then you get side-tracked.

Thanks for the nice greeting and I'll pass your thoughtfulness along to the gent in the red suit (lives right down the street).

We're always up for helpful info for anyone interested in cuming north on vacation.

Cheers,
Mark

Welcome to the neighborhood. My cell phone caller Id shows up as north pole, always a source of amusement to folks Outside

It's a pretty fun site- welcome. Mostly a lot of hangar-flying goes on here, but it's my flavor of hangar-flying, I guess. Also a good place to solicit some Alaska-specific advice.

Yes, there's sure some other-world myths that circulate about flying up here, but having flown here, outside, and across Canada on three occasions, I feel more at ease in Alaska any day. More common sense, fewer regs- that may have something to do with it.

Anyway, enjoy B/C Pilot- I hope you find something here worth sticking around for.

-DP

Denalipilot--which regulations that apply in the Lower 48 don't apply in Alaska?? I flew commercially in Alaska for thirty years, and never found a single reg that didn't apply in Alaska.

But, there we go with the myth thing again....

MTV

I've only been here for 10 but I don't think it's the regs (heaven knows they're everywhere) as much as the lack of other aircraft and a more "laid-back" style. I liken flying here today with the way flying was down south back in the 50s and early 60s.

mtv wrote:Denalipilot--which regulations that apply in the Lower 48 don't apply in Alaska??

OK, ok... how about less airspace, and less people waiting to bust your balls (except on B/C Pilot, of course )

Good video thanks Bob.

denalipilot wrote:

mtv wrote:Denalipilot--which regulations that apply in the Lower 48 don't apply in Alaska??

OK, ok... how about less airspace, and less people waiting to bust your balls (except on B/C Pilot, of course )

How about the 10% allowable gross weight increase for some commercial opperations in Alaska?

... or the ability to get a provisional private license up here in the summer with no night-flying experience on the log books?

I seem to recall that you can get a "daylight only" restricted license down here in the lower 48 also. Ditto for "no radio op's" restriction for deaf &/or mute pilots.

mtv wrote:which regulations that apply in the Lower 48 don't apply in Alaska?? I flew commercially in Alaska for thirty years, and never found a single reg that didn't apply in Alaska.

Try and get a Special VFR in/out of an airport Lower 48 with "maintain visual seperation from..." and train ride into the zone with five or six other airplanes... Works good in Kotz or Barrow, but they sure look at me funny down here when I try it.

Gump

I was enroute from Sacramento to Pt Angeles WA 2 years ago in a 182 and after I broke out of the clouds around Olympia, I asked the controller for "VFR On Top". There was a pause that must have been a good 10 seconds and then he sez "Understand you want to cancel IFR and precede VFR?". "No" sez I. "I want to stay on my IFR flight plan but want to change altitudes at my discretion and I'll keep you advised of my altitude changes."

Another LONG pause (probably a good 20 seconds). He was gone a good piece and then comes back and says "Approved as requested". Sounds like they're not used to that down south.

It's always good to get back here. Out of Boeing Field at 0900 and in here at midnight (sunset at 2330).

I'm a total newbie to AK, having only spent 1 week this past summer in the back seat (and if I begged enough, sometimes the front seat) of my son's Super Cub. The difference between AK and lower 48 seems to me to be more in an attitude ... AK residents appreciate small planes and are less likey to call the FAA for a low flying aircraft because it seems that nearly everyone up there is a pilot and they understand. Small planes are such an integral part of the way of life and the economy in AK whereas in the lower 48 their usefullness and value is not appreciated.

I'm going back to AK in my Maule as soon as I can.

BTW, this is the link to my son's summer adventures in AK:

http://shaunlunt.typepad.com/shootings/




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Okay, let's see:

Kirk--Find me ONE operator who actually has or has had in the last twenty years, an operating certificate to operate over GW by 10 %. That regulation was gutted over 30 years ago, and it has never since then, been applied. Call up your friendly local FSDO and tell em you want to exercise that reg and see what they say.

Denalipilot--You cannot get a "provisional private pilot certificate" EVEN IN ALASKA with NO night flying experience. I've been down that road with a student, and it's the reason a 141 operation in FAI never worked (can't do lessons out of sequence in 141). You still have to log SOME night time. I've taken students out on their second flight at midnight in April, so we could log SOME night for their ppl. Same reg applies down in the 48, by the way. No difference in that one. The provisional license only applies if you don't meet ALL the night time requirements, and that applies in the 48 as well.

Gump--ya got me on the pulling a train thing--but that's NOT a regulation or a regulatory issue--its simply a controller's discretion. And that's happening a lot less nowadays as well. Nevertheless, the rule is the same.

Skylane--Cleared VFR ON TOP is standard terminology, and is a specific IFR clearance, in AK AND the Lower 48. ANY controller knows what that is. I've been given a "Cleared to Cruise" clearance headed from LAS to SMO. You won't get a Cruise clearance much anywhere, but in that airspace?? Again, that's a controller experience and comfort issue, NOT a regulation.

I fully agree that things are often DONE a bit differently, and controllers are generally a lot more willing to work traffic more in Alaska, but that doesn't mean the rules are different, folks, simply the application of them.

Keep trying.

Norm--Great picture...

MTV

Kirk--Find me ONE operator who actually has or has had in the last twenty years, an operating certificate to operate over GW by 10 %. That regulation was gutted over 30 years ago, and it has never since then, been applied. Call up your friendly local FSDO and tell em you want to exercise that reg and see what they say.

MTV, no fair changing the rules of the discussion. That section is in the regs (at least it was the last time I looked)...weather or not anyone uses it is a different discussion all together. If they don't like what their regs say they should change it immediatly or, at least, by the next reg cycle. That's like posting a 70 mph speed limit and getting upset when people even talk about driving over 60 mph.

norm wrote:I'm a total newbie to AK, having only spent 1 week this past summer in the back seat (and if I begged enough, sometimes the front seat) of my son's Super Cub. The difference between AK and lower 48 seems to me to be more in an attitude ... AK residents appreciate small planes and are less likey to call the FAA for a low flying aircraft because it seems that nearly everyone up there is a pilot and they understand. Small planes are such an integral part of the way of life and the economy in AK whereas in the lower 48 their usefullness and value is not appreciated.

I'm going back to AK in my Maule as soon as I can.

BTW, this is the link to my son's summer adventures in AK:

http://shaunlunt.typepad.com/shootings/

Geez, you're Shaun's Dad? At last, confirmation that he was an actual human being! His blog is legendary around these parts, and guessing who he is and what he does for a living etc etc was almost as fun as seeing his pictures...

I believe - though I am too lazy to check - that every operator who would qualify for that GW exception would also - by virtue of the type of operation that qualifies him for the exception - be required to operate under part 135, which as you know requires a 135 opSpec approved by the FAA. Mike's point is, good luck getting an opSpec approved that allows for flying over gross, regardless of the reg on the books.

I have a friend that is a looooong time 135 opperator in AK. I just sent him an e-mail asking if he has any thoughts/experience with this issue. I'll share what he says.