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.]