2017 Alaska Adventure Dates Set

 The 2017 Alaska Adventure Dates are July 23-August 23 for your planning purposes. Those dates have been cussed and discussed among others and have the most favor. :)

Plan accordingly and stay in the information loop with each other sharing pertinent information as it's discovered or comes to light.

It's going to be real, and fun, and real fun!!!

There will be time this fall, winter, and spring for camping, packing, research and shaking our airplanes down. Have fun! Be safe! Enjoy!!

Next Year In Anchorage!

Hot Flash on the Alaska trip 2016... Due to a rash of unexplainable and seemingly unrelated events in the lives of several participants forcing them to bow out this year, we have decided to postpone our trip until the summer of 2017! The dates will soon be announced and everyone is encouraged to keep the trip preparation and planning process going so we'll be good and ready when the date for our Arkansas to Anchorage departure arrives!

Thanks to all who have contributed to the research, and keep up the good work! Share any bit of new or better information you come across, and certainly keep your ears and eyes open for places we should visit while in Alaska 2017!

Know Before You Go

eAPIS and DHS Decal Requirements

• All pilots crossing the U.S. border either way are required to use Custom and Border Protection's (CBP) Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS) to provide crew, passenger(s), aircraft, and trip information. The eAPIS information must be filed at least one hour before departing from or arrivng in the United States, but pilots can file as far in advance as they wish, giving the option to provide information for the return trip via Internet before leaving home. (This does not apply if you overfly Canada going from one U.S. airport to another without landing - eAPIS is not, then, required.) AOPA Foundation's Air Safety Institute has a free online course, “Understanding eAPIS—A Pilot's Guide to Online Customs Reporting” that guides pilots step-by-step through the online reporting process.

• An annual DHS user fee decal for the window of the aircraft ($27.50) – allow a few weeks for delivery. 

Clearing Canadian and U.S. Customs - what to expect

Going to Canada

• There is no need to contact U.S. customs on departure - eAPIS filing is sufficient. 

• The pilot will need to contact CANPASS (888-CANPASS or 888-226-7277) by phone prior to takeoff in U.S. and, again, by phone after landing prior to exiting the aircraft. The first call must be made no less than two hours nor more than 40 hours before the border crossing. The pilot will be given an ID number that must be provided upon arrival. Only very rarely are pilots asked to await an official to provide an inspection in Canada.

• Pilots who frequently travel to Canada directly from the United States on a small private aircraft should apply to enter the CANPASS Private Aircraft program, which makes clearing the border easier for private aircraft carrying no more than 15 people (including the crew) and traveling to Canada from the United States. This program allows members to access more airports and provides expedited clearances for low-risk, pre-screened travelers.

 Returning from Canada

• The first landing in the U.S. must be at a designated airport of entry with a customs office. These airports are referred to as "Designated International Landing Rights and User Fee" airports. Prior to departure, make direct telephone contact with the customs office at the U.S. destination airport, and notify of ETA at least one hour before and no more than 23 hours before the ETA. (Do not rely on entry of "ADCUS" in the flight plan.)

• After landing at the U.S. airport, taxi to customs office and wait in or next to the airplane for customs officers to inspect airplane prior to exiting the plane or immediate tie-down area.

ICAO Flight Plan

• Use of an ICAO flight plan is currently required if the flight will enter international airspace. While an ICAO flight plan and an FAA flight plan are similar in many ways, there are some important differences. Some items are the same on both forms: aircraft ID or tail number; aircraft type, fuel endurance, and number of people on board. New items on the ICAO flight plan include a Wake Turbulence category, and Type of Flight. The biggest change, though, is found in the equipment suffixes box, box 10. The ICAO codes used to denote the type of equipment on board the aircraft are different than the codes used by the FAA. To find out more, please view this short AOPA video.

Flight Plans In Canada

Can I file Canadian flight plans in ForeFlight?

It depends on the flight rules. ICAO IFR flight plans are delivered to the ATC center responsible for the airspace surrounding the departure airport. So for Canadian departure airports, ICAO IFR flight plans will go to NavCanada and be filed successfully.

Additionally, cross-border ICAO VFR flight plans filed from the US to Canada are transmitted to Lockheed Martin Flight Service who forwards them to NavCanada, so those will also be filed successfully.

However, VFR flight plans that originate in Canada, whether they cross the border or not, must be filed directly with NavCanada, and so cannot be filed in ForeFlight.

Click here for the ForeFlight web page about filing flight plans.

Required Survival Gear

Time to start packing? Well that's an individual decision, but it certainly is time to put together the required survival gear, perhaps in a bag by itself, so you know you have it all.

Then you can start to add the camping gear you want for the occasional nights under the wing, planned or unplanned, in a tent, hammock, or sleeping bag.

Here's a good starting link to the required equipment. It also provides an older list at the bottom, which is good food for thought! Research it on your own, or branch out from there. Please share with the group what you find. It will benefit us all and could prove a life saver!

Here's a copy of what I believe to be the latest Alaska requirements. I compared them with the AOPA website which provided a link to the current State of Alaska laws.

Alaska state law (AS 02.35.110. Emergency Rations and Equipment) was modified a while back to reduce the equipment required to be carried. The current regulations require that no airman may make a flight inside the state with an aircraft unless emergency equipment is carried as follows:

1. The minimum equipment to be carried during summer months is as follows: (for all single engine and for multiengine aircraft licensed to carry 15 passengers or less)

(A) rations for each occupant sufficient to sustain life for one week;

(B) one axe or hatchet;

(C) one first aid kit;

(D) an assortment of tackle such as hooks, flies, lines, and sinkers;

(E) one knife;

(F) fire starter;

(G) one mosquito head net for each occupant;

(H) two small signaling devices such as colored smoke bombs, railroad fuses, or Very pistol shells, in sealed metal containers;

Canada Regulations are as follows:

602.61 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall operate an aircraft over land unless there is carried on board survival equipment, sufficient for the survival on the ground of each person on board, given the geographical area, the season of the year and anticipated seasonal climatic variations, that provides the means for

(a) starting a fire;

(b) providing shelter;

(c) providing or purifying water; and

(d) visually signaling distress.

So add to Alaska's requirements [1] shelter & [2] water purification and you have your required survival equipment! Happy shopping and collecting!!

Notes on items we've found that might be of interest or benefit in your preparations:

Ken found this light weight hand ax in stock at Walmart, and Dwayne has since procured one.
Here is a link to the required mosquito head net for each person. And a water filter solution.
I've called and the marine department at Bass Pro has day and night smoke and flare signaling devices.

Getting There & Getting Home

Getting there and getting home is pretty straight forward. All of us have looked on the web by now or talked to folks with Alaska experience and discovered there are about four basic routes folks choose. The most common, and the one that makes the most sense to us is to fly up and back down the ALCAN Hwy, after entering Canada at Lethbridge and Whitehorse.

Painting with a broad brush, our route will look something like this according to the 99s website:

After reaching Dawson Creek, there are nicely-spaced stops along the way to Alaska: Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Watson Lake, and Whitehorse all have good airport services with plenty of fuel, clean, comfortable lodging and restaurants.

Weather and adventure stops will factor in to our exact route and pacing, but this will likely be our path to the northern most & 49th State.

Get ready everyone to start chiming in with places you want to visit during our two weeks of flying around and enjoying Alaska!! In this case the "joy is in the journey," and "in the destination!" :)

Keep the preparatory  work on airplanes and provisioning going! July approaches!! :)

[OBTW, on a flight planning note, the distance from Fort Smith to Great Falls, MT is about 1050NM, requiring about 9 1/2 hours of flying time. The total distance from FSM to ANC is about 2780 NM requiring about 26 hours of flying time.]

Guns in Canada & Alaska

Shep sent me a link on the subject of guns in Canada and said that when they rode their motorcycles to Alaska a couple years ago, it was so much red tape, they elected to take only bear spray. That's one option.

Another option if you wish to have your gun for protection in Alaska is to crate and ship it to a pickup point in Alaska.

Apparently it's not that hard to carry a long gun (rifle or shotgun), and one can be carried easily in an airplane as opposed to a motorcycle. It involves printing and filling out three copies of the same Canadian form, but not signing it until in the presence of a customs officer, and paying $25 Canadian, then you have that document as your license for 60 days, which will cover our entire time and reentry into the USA.

Below are some good links on the subject. We can read them, discuss it, and then decide personally what each of us wants to do.

[1] Good, current, and informative article on transporting guns through Canada to Alaska

[2] Alaska Fish & Game on Carrying Guns in Alaska & Canada

[3] E-Z Border Crossing Article on Guns in Canada & Alaska

I stopped and talked to FedEx today 3/31/16 about shipping a handgun to AK. They can do it w/o ammo to a pawn shop or registered gun dealer only.

Pertinent Web Articles / Links

Today we start a list of worthwhile web articles or links that will help us prepare for our trip.

Please send me your submissions by email or text and I'll include them. Also, if you think a link is redundant or not worthy, let me know, and it will be removed. And report broken links for repair!

Thanks for your research and sharing what you learn. We'll start with an article from Ken this week about filing ICAO flight plans...

[1] Filing an ICAO Flight Plan on an iPad

[2] Flying to Alaska (General) How -To

[3] Flying the Alaska Highway

[4] FAA.gov on Flying to Alaska

[5] Clearing Customs Into Alaska

[6] So You Want to Fly to Alaska

[7] Fly2Alaska Blog with Several Links

[8] Bring Your Own Ropes - Guide to Flying To and In Alaska

[9] The Ninety-Nines, INC, Alaska Chapter

[10] 406 MHz ELT Not Req in Canada at this time

[11] AOPA on Flying to Alaska

Who Is Going?

Greetings Mike,

This is the line up as I have it now:

Maule #1 Ken Duncan, 479-285-9600

                Jim Shepard  479-462-7700

Maule #2 Dwayne Bell, 479-462-3312

                Doug Lamb, 620-432-3404

Maule #3 Andy Melson, 501-276-3883

                His wife or son

Kenai     Mike Mills, 870-416-8773

                His wife

Thanks for pushing us a little. It's time we get the planning in full swing! Four and one half months will pass before we know it!

Warm regards,

Dwayne

PS Do you have a list of places you want to visit or any itinerary you want us to look at?

USA -- Canada Border Crossing

Ken sent Mike and me this link about crossing from the USA into Canada. It's very excellent and hits all the high points I believe. The aircraft owners are in the process of working through this process following the links and advice in the article. Let us know if you find other good information or information we're missing as we prepare for this part of the experience.

I'll copy and paste the article below:


*******************************************************************

Subscriber Question:

"Border crossing procedures have changed for going into Canada. Please review the procedure without going into un-necessary detail." - Rock M.

• play

Press play for audio

(Note: certain settings in your browser may prevent the audio button from displaying.)

John:

"The procedures have gotten much easier and more predictable. But that doesn't mean it's a short list – at least not the first time.

It's easier to think of the process in three separate steps; people, airplane and proposed flight. The first two are generally one-time preparation and documentation, whereas each flight has recurrent requirements. Let's look at the people part first and by people, I mean the pilot and passengers.

The pilot and all passengers must have passports. You also need your personal paperwork. In most cases, these are items you already have:

• Pilot certificate with the English proficient endorsement (all FAA certificates issued since 2008 have this).
• Current medical (This may change if the 3rd class medical reform is enacted).
• There is also a requirement for a restricted radio telephone operator's permit. Although I've never heard of anyone actually being requested to produce one, it's still a requirement. The permit may be obtained online from the FCC here.
• eAPIS is the electronic system to file notification of an intended flight. You should register for an eAPIS account in sufficient time before your intended flight as it may take up to a week to receive the user id. You can register for an account here.

The aircraft requirements are also generally one time and items that in most cases you would normally have:

• The standard ARROW documents.
• Mode-C transponder and ELT.
• A letter from the aircraft owner if it is not your aircraft.
• All cross border flights require an annual Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sticker on the aircraft. The sticker should be ordered in advance since it may take several weeks to arrive. You can order the sticker here.
• Proof of liability insurance valid in Canada.

There are certain other less common requirements such as N number specifications. More information may be found at the FAA website listed here.

The flight portion is basically the same for both leaving and returning to the US. You must submit an eAPIS notification at least one hour prior to departure.

When going into Canada, you must call CANPASS (1-888 CANPASS) and you must be on a Flight Plan (either IFR or an activated VFR). The first landing must be at an Airport of Entry. For more info on CANPASS click here.

When returning to the US, file an eAPIS if you did not do a round trip outbound. You must be on a flight plan (again either IFR or Activated VFR). The first landing must be at an Airport of Entry. You will also need to contact US Customs and Border Patrol at least 1 hour prior to arrival.

This is just an overview and not all-inclusive. The requirements may change with little or no notice. Consult the Customs and Border Patrol website for more detailed information before you depart."

Alaska Punch List

Ken & I met recently at the hangar and started listing all the things we needed to research or look into for this trip -- a punch list of sorts.

I'll list here what we came up with and you can email me or add others as you think of them.

Each of us should also have a punch list for our own airplanes of things we want to do to have them ready for the journey, like oil change, annual, tires, special equipment or avionics, etc. Make that list and start marking the items off. The sooner the better. :)

ALASKA 2016 PUNCH LIST

[1] Sat Radio / Locator Beacon

[2] Register for eAPIS / Border Crossing                                                   

[3] One Spare Headset

[4] Sun shades

[5] Oil & Oil Change 

[6] Survival Gear Packed

[7] Itinerary Printed (Our Plan)

[8] Book on Flying Alaska

[9]  Gun and triplicate form unsigned

[10] Liability Insurance Proof Canada

[11] Airplane DHS Sticker

[12] Can Pass for each pilot & passenger

[13] Radio License

[14] ForeFlight Canada

[15] Camping Supplies
[16] Passports
[17] Route To & From Alaska
[18] Permission Letter for Canada if not your airplane

Alaska Or Bust! It's time!

Greetings to the hardy flyers and friends who intend to make the epic, bucket list worthy, flight to Alaska this summer, 2016. This plan or dream has been hatching in the minds of some of us for a couple or more years now. The date has been set, and the players identified. It's time the planning for a flying trip of this proportion gets into high gear.

This blog will serve the planners and those going with a spot to store our planning efforts and information needed for the flight in one, easy-to-find place. The three planners and any of those going should book mark it, and reference it, and feel free to add to it frequently.

I'll try to figure out how to empower you to add or edit a post directly. But until then you can email me any information you want posted, and I'll copy and paste it in a post for you, adding your name so the others will know who to thank or query about the info as desired.

It's going to be fun! And it's going to be epic!! And it's going to be a beautiful earth event!!!

Let the planning begin!!!!!