Backcountry Pilot • Cross-continent in a Husky

Cross-continent in a Husky

Did you fly somewhere cool, take photos, and feel like telling the tale to make us drool from the confines of our offices? Post them up!
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Cross-continent in a Husky

This summer my wife and I flew from central NC to Anchorage and back in my 2004 Husky A1-B. A total of 8314 statute miles, and a total of 82.6 hours...what a marathon trip, but we did it over about a month (July), which is probably not the best time of the year (we had to fly IFR about 8.5 hours).

Our route went from NC to MI, then across MI around Chicago, and from there pretty much a straight shot to Cutbank, MT, then up to Lethbridge, AB to clear customs. We flew up the east side of the Canadian Rockies until we got to Ft. Nelson, BC, then followed the Alaska Hwy to clear customs at Northway, AK, then on to Tok, AK. From Tok, we departed the Alaska Hwy and flew through the passes down to Anchorage. We parked at Merrill Field for four days and visited with friends, then went to Talkeetna, where we visited a friend for a day, then flew up to Fairbanks, parked the plane (it needed an oil and filter change), and drove a rental car back down to Denali NP. After a couple of days in Denali, we drove back up to Fairbanks, spent a couple of days there, then retrieved the plane headed back down the Alaska Hwy.

We went through Tok and cleared customs at Beaver Creek, YT and then on to Whitehorse, YT. We spent 3 days in Whitehorse waiting out nasty weather, then on to Ft Nelson where we spent another 3 days waiting out nasty weather further south along our route. We followed the Alaska Hwy back down to Dawson Creek and then to an overnight in Villeneuve just outside of Edmonton, AB.

From Villeneuve we flew to Cutbank, MT where we cleared customs (customs was getting to be old hat by that point). After an overnight in Cutbank, we flew a fairly straight shot back to Smithfield, NC where we base the plane.

Overall, it took about 10 days to fly to Anchorage, we spent about 10 days in AK, and about 10 days to get back home.

This was the second time we had flown the Husky across country - the first was about five years ago when we flew it to Longview, WA and back, more or less following the Lewis and Clark route. A much shorter trip, but fun as well. The Husky is a pretty good cross country performer, with excellent short field capability as well, and being IFR certified, it makes for flexible travel.
Moon offline
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

Sir, did you use electronic flight planning for Canada (I.e. ForeFlight) and/or go with paper charts? Thank you.
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

pics?
kato offline
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

Sounds like a fun adventure :D
We would like to live it vicariously through your pictures. We thrive on that kind of stuff.
Post some up............please.

Sam
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

I did use ForeFlight in Canada, and per Canadian regs, I carried a backup iPad with charts. It worked well. My only complaint is that ForeFlight will not display both Canadian and U.S. charts at the same time, so it is sometimes tricky to transition over when crossing the borders.

I will try to post some photos - I unfortunately did not take video. My computer with the photos died and I need to pull the hard drive out and put it in a case which can hook up to my other computer. My IT guy said he would help me do that, but it will be after Christmas. Check back in a couple of weeks.
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

Cool trip! Looking forward to your pictures!
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Re: Cross-continent in a Husky

Nice Moon!

I flew my J3 this summer, solo from where I live in Boulder, CO to First Flight, and spent a week in Nags Head. My family is from the Smithfield, NC area - Boon Hill township between Pine Level and Brogden if you know where that is. My brother is a pilot there - but can't find hangar space at JoCo - a shame.

Can't wait to see pics...
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