KITFOX ALASKA ADVENTURE 1998

"Has anyone thought much about a group of Kitfox/Avid flyers planning a cross country flight to Alaska and visit some of our associates that live and fly there? I am sure there are several of us on the list, both in the US and Canada that could take the time off for such a trip. I'm retired and can adjust to any planned schedule. We could join up at various parts of the country and maybe pass by SkyStar on the way. Those on the list that live in Alaska could advise the group as to the best and most interesting way points and the best routes to follow. If enough of us made such a journey, it might make a very interesting story."

The very next day Howard Maroz from West Lake, CA and Keith Soungeroth from Bullhead City, AZ sent me a response, basically saying; "if you’re going, take me along". Within days the list of interested pilots started to grow and questions kept coming in rapid-fire fashion. When we going? How long will it take? What do you think it will cost, etc., etc.? These guys were taking me way too serious and were looking at me as a knowledgeable source of information on the subject of flying to Alaska. Two things bothered me; first, I needed a reliable source of information on flying to Alaska, and second, my envisioned flight to Alaska of maybe three aircraft, was starting to look more like 20.

As it turned out, I had the answer to my first concern right in front of me. A computer keyboard that could talk to informative individuals all around the world, connected to the Internet. I started to ask very basic questions, like what is the best time to travel to Alaska and what is the best route for light aircraft to consider. Individuals who lived in Alaska, all of which were on the Kitfox E-mail List, immediately provided Very informative responses. It soon became obvious that a trip of this nature had to be scheduled for the next summer for two reasons. June and July were the best months to fly VFR in Alaska, and we surely would not have sufficient time to accumulate the required survival equipment and aircraft/pilot paperwork.

The summer of 1998 would allow us sufficient time to plan and prepare for the trip, and as it turned out some of those who wanted to go were still in the process of building their homebuilt aircraft. All of the helpful information I was able to obtain for the trip, from the Internet plus that published in authoritative publications, such as, "The Alaska Airman’s Association Logbook for Alaska, Northwest Canada, and Russia", was periodically provided in what I termed "Alaska Trip Info" bulletins. There were a total of 26 bulletins of 3 to 5 pages in length, generated over a period starting 8/6/97 through 5/4/98. All bulletins were E-mailed to all potential pilots, The Kitfox E-mail List, and placed on the two Internet web sites (http://www.sportflight.com/alaska and http://dunkin.princeton.edu/.kitfox/). They still reside there today.

The total number of pilots who made the journey to Alaska in their homebuilt aircraft finally settled into a nice round number of eight Kitfox’s. Several of those who were on the list of pilots, but could not make the journey, were unable to complete their flying machines by May of 1998, while a couple of others were down for repairs. Our planned target date for the start of the trip was June 3rd. Since our pilots were from all parts of the Lower 48 states, and our route to Alaska was through Western Canada via the Alaska Highway, a departure point of Caldwell, Idaho was chosen for two reasons. First, it was conveniently located in the west and south of Leithbridge, AB Canada, and our point of entry into Canada. Second, Caldwell, ID was the new home of SkyStar Aircraft, manufacturer of the kits for the Kitfox (our Mothership, so to speak). In addition, it was a perfect place for us to perform last minute maintenance on our aircraft just before the big flight to the North. All parts required for maintenance were free of shipping costs.

The listing of the day by day events to follow is primarily based on those of the author, whose home base is Warrenton, Virginia. However, in an effort to fully extend the accounts of this adventure, I have included written inputs from several other attending pilots. I was the pilot with the longest distance to travel to arrive at Caldwell, ID, and therefore, travel the longest distance to make the flight to Alaska and back. That distance finally turned out to be 10,015 statute miles.

DAY 1 (MAY 28TH) - WARRENTON, VA LATE DEPARTURE

The morning prior to my departure I gathered all of the survival gear, camping equipment, clothing and personal effects necessary for the trip. My intent was to establish the optimum configuration for storing 138 pounds of cargo in my Model IV-1200 Kitfox, that included a Remington 308 rifle. Myself, a full load of fuel and that payload would place my aircraft total weight at just 30 pounds under gross.

As I opened the cockpit door I could smell a faint order of fuel. A quick inspection of the cockpit area and the hanger floor did not reveal any evidence of fuel. The smell was strongest behind the seat in the area of the cargo bay. It did not take long to discover that the odor was coming from a wet area on the side of the fuel system header tank. To make a long story short, the plastic tank threaded boss had expanded with age and no longer fit tight against the brass insert fitting. A call to Mark Budak at SkyStar confirmed that the tank of that design could not be permanently repaired. My flying machine was now grounded until a replacement tank was installed.

An early departure that next morning looked impossible. A brilliant idea (not mine) was offered that made it possible to obtain a new header tank of the latest configuration within a few hours. Michael Harter who lives in Manassas, VA, just 30 minutes away, was building his Model IV Kitfox that contained a brand new header tank. The next best thing to flying your own Kitfox is for a nearby friend to be building one. A quick access to unlimited spare parts. I now owed Michael big time. The new tank was installed that night and leak tested the next morning of May 28th. Actual departure started with wheels up at 2:25 PM that afternoon.

My plans for that day consisted of flying to Aurora, IL (ARR) and spend the night with Ken Davy and his family and then join up with Tom Anderson the next day at Whiteside County, IL (SQI) for our joint flight to Caldwell, ID. My first fuel stop was Marion, OH (MNN) at 6:05 PM local time. The weather up to now was hot, humid with heavy haze, and it looked like my late start would force me to land at sunset without making it to Aurora. At 9:10 PM the sun had set and I was over Rochester, IN (RCR). Without landing lights I could not proceed. Five clicks on the Unicom frequency and the runway lights turned on. I was on the ground at 9:20 PM. and the FBO was closed. Rochester has a very nice FBO with washroom facilities accessible after hours. I tied the aircraft down in the grass, pitched the tent under the wing and spent a comfortable night in light rain.

DAY 2 (MAY 29TH) - DEPARTED ROCHESTER, IA (RCR)

Awoke early and the rain had stopped. FBO had not opened, so I departed at 6:45 am for Aurora, IL (ARR). Weather forecasts had accurately predicted storms in my line of flight that morning, so I diverted to the south and headed for Kanakee, IL (KII). The FSS at Kanakee showed the storms were rapidly moving easterly and I could head almost directly to Aurora (ARR). Landed at Aurora at 9:40 AM. It turned out to be another hot, humid, hazy day. Spent the night with the Ken Davy family. Ken is building a Model IV Kitfox with a Rotax 912, so I had a good chance to look it over.

DAY 3 (MAY 30TH) - DEPARTED AURORA, IL (ARR)

Departed Aurora at 8:15 PM and headed directly to Whiteside County, IL (SQI) to join up with Tom Anderson and N743JT. Tom hangers his Kitfox in Poplar Grove, IL, but it was more convenient for us to join up at Whiteside County at 9:00 am. Tom’s homebuilt was a Series V Kitfox powered by a Turbo driven NSI Subaru engine (110 HP) and a NSI CAP (Cockpit Adjustable Propeller). It was painted white with a very attractive red paint trim scheme. Total time on the engine and aircraft was just over 40 hours, so this trip was going to be what we call in the Navy, "A shake down cruise".

Since my last fuel stop was Kankakee, IA our next fuel stop was Pella, IA (PEA). What a wonderful place to land, fuel up and have lunch. The FBO was the most eye pleasing, comfortable, spacious and clean FBO I have ever visited. The decor of the lounge was Early American and looked like someone’s well-furnished living room. The FBO manager not only offered us the free use of an airport car, but hangered our flying machines while we had an excellent Dutch meal in town at the Central Park Cafe. The town of Pella is a well-maintained picture post card type of small Dutch town; the kind you would want to raise your family in. If you are ever in the area, and especially flying, I highly recommend you drop in and have a meal there.

It was another one of those hot, humid and hazy days. Our next fuel stop was Columbus, NE (OLU) at 3:20 PM local, and then on to North Platte, NE (LBH) for an overnight at the Stockman Inn. Our total mileage for that day was 657 statute miles. Our goal was to get to SkyStar at Caldwell, ID as early as possible on June 1st. That was the date everyone in the group was to meet, get settled in and take care of last minute maintenance. The 2nd was reserved for organizing into flight groups and participating in a flight planning review session. Early on June 3rd we were scheduled to depart for the Great Northwest. If we were going to make that schedule, we had to push it the next day and pray for good weather. We had the Rocky Mountains to cross and this was a first for me. Except for flying the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, I was basically a Flatlander Pilot.

DAY 4 (MAY 31ST) - DEPARTED NORTH PLATTE, NE (LBH)

As it turned out this was not going to be a boring flying day. We placed an early wake up call so we could be at the airport when it was scheduled to open. Wouldn’t you know, the FBO operator was late getting to work so we had to wait for fuel. First lesson learned; always fuel up when you land, not the next morning just before takeoff.

Finally departed North Platte at 7:35 AM local time for Laramie, WY (LAR). At this point in the trip we had previously arranged through Internet e-mail to stop at Cheyenne, WY and meet up with Brent Bidus, a Kitfox builder at SkyView Airport (WY05). He had invited us to drop in and pay a short visit, since he had never seen a completed Kitfox. Stopping at Skyview was not in the cards that day if we were going to make Caldwell, ID early on the 1st. We tried to call the day before, but could not connect.

Landed and refueled at Laramie, WY (LAR), the highest elevation airfield (7,278 feet) I would land on during our entire trip. This was a new experience for me and N193JK, landing a heavily loaded aircraft at high-density altitudes. It took a lot more power to keep from slamming into the ground and she still set down hard. Lesson #2, from this point on, I paid more attention to field elevation. Lesson #3, do not touch down on the numbers, when the runway is 7,700 feet long and the FBO facilities are located at the other end of the field. It took me about 10 minutes to taxi to the fuel pumps. I had a strong desire to fly the taxiway.

The weather all that morning was "severe VFR" (sometime called CAVU) up until that evening. Landed at Rock Springs, WY (RKS) at 2:00 PM for fuel and lunch. Although the Ro
ck Springs Airport was slightly lower in field elevation (6,760 feet), it had a 10,000 by 150-foot runy. Only this time the FBO facilities were more near the center of the field. Lessons #2 and #3 learned at Laramie were fresh in my mind, but it will still take some time to refine my high density altitude landings.

At this point Tom Anderson started to exhibit problems with his NSI Subaru engine. The exhaust manifold was warping at the flange interfaces allowing exhaust gasses to blow by the gaskets. The manifold bolts were loose and had to be retorqued periodically. His plan was to keep retorqueing the bolts until we arrived at SkyStar in Cardwell, ID where he would have time to implement adequate repairs. Little did we know at this point in the trip, that this problem was only going to get worse.

The portion of the trip from Rock Springs, WY (RKS) to Fort Bridger, WY (FBR) to Ogden, UT (OGD) along Interstate 80 was going to get spectacular. The mountains were getting into the 10,000-foot range. As I-80 follows the river and winds it’s way through the mountains enroute to Ogden, 9,700-foot mountain ridges bind you in. Communication with Ogdon Approach is impossible while flying below the mountain tops over the highway, until the moment you fly through the narrow steep gap parting the mountains and exposing the Great Salt Lake, the City of Ogden and Shill Air Force Base. The view was awesome and my camera was not at the ready. Never having that experience before, I was totally unprepared for the spectacular beauty, the instant communication scenario with approach control and navigating my way north to our next destination of Tremonton, UT.

Tremonton, Utah Airport (U27) was a prearranged stop for the purpose of meeting and joining up with several other Kitfox’s in that area. They had talked earlier about flying with us the rest of the way to SkyStar at Caldwell, ID. The group consisted of John Kerr of Logan, Utah, Brad Mullen of Salt Lake City, Utah, and David Nimer of Snowville, Utah. However, due to our late arrival, only David Nimer met us upon landing at Trementon. We took on some fuel and chatted a bit. Dave has a small private grass strip on his property just a few miles north near the highway along our planned route of travel. He asked if he could join us for those few miles and would we fly low over his house so that his family could see our flying machines. We made two low passes at tree top level while David landed nicely on his very short strip.

We continued flying northwest over I-84 knowing that we would probably run out of sunlight before we could make Caldwell. Just as we approached the intersection of I-86 and I-84 a large rain cell started to form in front of us and within a few minutes two flashes of lightning struck the ground. We made an instant decision to make an immediate turn for Burley Airport (BYI) and spend the night. We landed at 7:45 PM local time. The weather up to this point had been just great all day, but now it looked like we might see some rain.

Late in the day I had become aware that my strobe lights were not working all of the time. While on the ground at Burley they would not work at all. Tomorrow morning we should be at SkyStar and I would have a good chance to check out the strobe light system.

DAY 5 (JUNE 1ST) - ARRIVAL AT SKYSTAR

We Departed Burley Idaho in the early morning for the last 173 statute miles to Caldwell, ID (EUL). Arrived at 10:15 AM local time. Tom and I were the last of the group of pilots to arrive at SkyStar. There were now eight Kitfox’s with a total of 10 people. Two of our flying machines had a passenger. I really should not say passenger, since one of them had a commercial ticket and was a CFI. She was Jackie Hakes, Daughter of Jim Hakes the builder/pilot. More about Jackie later. Pete Newgard brought his wife Eunice to make the group of 10 complete.

Several of us had lunch at a restaurant right on the Caldwell Airport facility that overlooks the runway about a block down from SkyStar. You better be hungry when you order a meal, especially breakfast. Ham and eggs are served on two large plates, one with the eggs and the other with a very large slice of ham. It’s so popular that it is often ordered for lunch. The food was just fabulous.

Tom and I checked into the Best Western Motel with most of the other pilots. SkyStar had arranged all reservations for the group. L.V. Howell, our only Lone Star State pilot from McAllen, Texas spent his nights in his huge RV that he drove up from Texas, hauling an enclosed trailer containing his Series V Vixen. What a combo on the highway. I wonder what his fuel bills for the entire trip were?

While at SkyStar the group was provided hanger space for our flying machines. A couple were kept in the main hanger, while the rest were placed in a couple of the adjoining hangers. Almost everyone was doing last minute maintenance on their birds. I cleaned the plugs on my Rotax 912 and tomorrow I will change oil. Mark Budak of SkyStar was great at providing technical assistance and help to all who needed it. And of course Dave Morris, the parts guy we order all of our parts from, was busy digging up all of the spare parts we requested.

DAY 6 (JUNE 2ND) - AT CALDWELL, IDAHO (SKYSTAR)

Other than another day for last minute maintenance on our flying machines, the primary scheduled function for the day was the Alaska Pilots Briefing. This would be the first time all of the pilots and crew members had a chance to sit down together in one place and discuss how the trip would be conducted, as well as, understand all of the operating and emergency procedures we should follow.

SkyStar was kind enough to provide us the use of their executive conference room. The meeting began on schedule at 9:00 AM. The agenda for the meeting covered the following: (1) Flight Groups, (2) Call Names, (3) Chat Frequencies, (4) Weather Reporting, (5) Filing of Flight Plans, (6) Emergency Procedures, (7) Operating Procedures, and (8) Route of Travel from Caldwell to Canada.

Since there was a significant difference between the indicated cruise speed of the individual aircraft in the group (80 to 130 mph), it became evident that we had to break up into three flight groups. Each flight group was given a call name as follows:

The following is a listing of the type of aircraft flown and engine installed:

Two of our aircraft (Amigo #2 and Fox #1) were built with cargo pods secured under the cockpit between the landing gear legs. Their purpose was to provide extra storage room outside the cockpit area that would be centered under the aircraft CG. Actually, they looked more like fuel drop tanks or bombs often seen on military aircraft. They were perfectly suited for a long journey such as the Alaska Adventure. When Tom Anderson (Lone Star #2) saw this, he had to have one. Although the kit was available at SkyStar, the supporting bracket was for a Model IV Kitfox, and Tom had a new Series V. SkyStar jumped right in and redesigned the bracket for Tom’s flying machine. A little white spray paint from an aerosol can and several hours later, N743JT was ready for Alaska. Oh yes, all along our route of travel, curious bystanders would often question, what were those things hanging below the aircraft? This presented many opportunities to pull a leg or two.

During that day two other Kitfox builder/pilots joined us at SkyStar to celebrate our departure to Alaska. Dave King (not related) of Jacksonville, OR and Bruce Harrington of Roseburg, OR flew in their Kitfox’s 360 miles to Caldwell, ID. Dave is the editor of a newsletter called the "Jefferson Airplane" that caters to builders of Kitfox and Avid homebuilts in the Washington, Oregon and Northern California area.

Later in the day SkyStar and the Local EAA Chapter sponsored a very nice cookout for the Alaska Pilots in the main SkyStar hanger. There were at least 100 in attendance and Dan Denney was there taking tons of pictures. He was constantly rearranging all of the Alaska aircraft and their pilots, as he took pictures from all possible angles. A good time was had by all. Thank you SkyStar and the EAA.

DAY 7 (JUNE 3RD) - DEPARTED CALDWELL, ID FOR THE GREAT NORTHWEST

Departed Caldwell, ID (EUL) with wheels up at 7:20 AM local time. During this first leg of the trip our three flight groups chose not to fly the same route. The Fox’s chose to fly over the highways (I-84 and then I-86) all the way up to Idaho Falls and land at Fanning Airport (IDA). The Amigo’s and Lone Stars wanted to see more of the desolate part of that country, such as the lava beds we heard so much about. The locals told us that it is a far more scenic route. This was a more direct route to Idaho Falls that skirted the southern edge of the mountain range, but far fewer places to land in an emergency. Our first planned stop was Arco-Butte County, ID (AOC) about 65 miles west of Idaho Falls.

As it turned out neither of the flight groups made their first planned stop. Rainstorms in the area cut across both groups flight path and all aircraft had to set down at the nearest available landing site. Fortunate for us we were right over a small gravel public strip called Camas County (U86) in the middle of nowhere on a road that passed by Fairfield, ID two miles north of the field. The strip itself was surprisingly in good shape, however the FBO facilities were somewhat spartan with no fuel, and toilet facilities in the leaning shack out back. Watch out for the splinters and rattlesnakes.

In the months proceeding this trip I was asked several times if I was going to remove the wheel pants from my flying machine and land on some of the dirt and gravel strips along our way. Now I’ve been told that rocks and loose gravel on some air strips have been known to damage wooden propellers and the fabric covering of the under belly and tail sections of many tube and fabric aircraft. Knowing that, my response was that I planned to only land on hard paved surfaces, or grass strips and would therefore not remove the wheel pants. Well here it is, our first day out of Caldwell and my first landing was on gravel. Surprisingly the pea size hard packed gravel made an excellent runway. Little did I know then that there would be more to come.

The Fox’s were forced to land at a hard surface field near I-84 called Gooding, ID (GNG). Fortunately there was one cell phone in each of the two flight groups, so we were able to communicate. After about an hour wait and a call to the FSS, we were able to proceed, but this time our destination for both groups was changed to American Falls, ID (U01). Somewhere along this leg I was fortunate to pass over a small herd of elk, about 15 in number. None of the others in our group saw them.

Arrived at American Falls at 11:15 AM local time for auto fuel that had to be trucked in. The FBO operator Mr. Gilbert Vasquez normally sells only 100LL, but offered to go into town and get 100 gallons of Amoco 92 in his pickup. I rode in with him, nice man. After fueling we headed for Dubois, ID (U41) which was about 30 miles south of the dreaded Monida Pass of 6,907 feet, that we heard so much about. Locals say that it should only be crossed in VFR conditions. Hearing of storms in the pass the entire group diverted to Madison County Airport (U11) at Rexburg, ID and touched down at 4:10 PM local time. The weather at Monida Pass would force us to spend the night at Rexburg, Idaho.

DAY 8 (JUNE 4TH) - WEATHERED IN AT REXBURG, IDAHO

The weather at Monida Pass, MT was reported as marginal at best. Fox #2 (the Newgards) had departed earlier to get a good head start, but had to turn back once in the pass due to rain and poor visibility. Hearing their return on the radio, it was decided to hold off until the next day. Here it is our second official day into the Alaska Adventure and we’re grounded.

As it soon turned out, the day was not all wasted. The discussions started to focus on why Fox #1 (Model IV with a Rotax 912) was not performing like the others in the group, basically no guts. Luckily we were provided the use of a hanger to work on the problem. It was a very windy and cold day with a wind chill factor of 33 degrees F. As we would later learn, it was the coldest day we would have during the entire trip. After a couple hours of kibitzing it was discovered that there were basically two contributors to the problem. First the tachometer was not in calibration, reading 1300 rpm low. Second the propeller pitch was too flat. After a couple of test flights and some fine tuning of the propeller pitch, Jim and Jackie had an improved Kitfox. His exact words were "I thought I had a good plane, but now I have a great plane. I have been running my plane for 140 hours on partial horsepower."

Lone Star #2 (Tom Anderson) had been having trouble starting his engine in the morning hours and sometimes needed a jump start. At that time he had been using 50 WT oil. He put it in the hanger all night to help keep it warm.

DAY 9 (JUNE 5TH) - DEPARTED REXBURG, IDAHO (U11)

Departed Rexburg in the early AM and cleared Monida Pass with no problems. Excellent visibility to capture that beautiful mountain scenery. The mountains in that area range between 8,000 to 10,000 feet and are all snow capped. It was well worth the days delay to transition the Rocky Mountain passes adjacent to the Idaho, Montana State boarders under high visibility conditions. Dell, Montana (4U9) had the highest field elevation we flew over of 6907 feet.

Our first scheduled fuel stop was Three Forks, MT (9S5) which gave us a leg of 175 nm. Our plans were to continue north another 175 nm to Shelby, MT (SBX), fuel up one final time before crossing the Canadian boarder to Leithbribge of Alberta. The leg to Shelby would take us close by Helena, Great Falls and just 25 miles west of Cut Bank, MT. The terrain at and north of Great Falls was basically flat and void of mountains well into Canada. We wouldn’t see any more high mountains until we were near Dawson Creek, BC area. Arrived at Shelby at 12:05 PM, fueled up and filed a flight plan for Leithbridge, AB Canada, notifying the Canadian Customs of the expected arrival of eight Experimental Kitfox’s. The Customs notification consisted of providing a ADCUS (ADvise CUStoms) notification in our flight plan, at least 2 hours prior to our ETA.

We all arrived at Leithbridge, AB Canada at 4:05 PM, lined up our aircraft in the designated Customs area, and awaited three Canadian Custom Agents. They were all very friendly, asked a few questions as to whether we carried any alcohol, guns, drugs or firearms. Checked our N-numbers against the flight plan, asked for pilot license numbers, did a quick look into the cockpit and said "Welcome to Canada." Oh yes, they assigned each of us a Customs Report Number (for the record mine was 19981560355) and it cost us nothing. We learned later that this exercise would cost us each $25.00 US$ on the American side entering Northway, AK. At no time did either the U.S. or Canadian Customs ever ask us, to show our FCC Aircraft Radio Station License, or FCC Radio Operators License.

Amigo #2 (Jim Chapman) had developed a break line fluid leak on one of the co-pilot brake cylinders sometime prior to our arrival at Leithbridge. The mechanics at the airport provided Jim with some brake fluid to refill his reservoir. Jim bypassed the brake cylinder to prevent any further problems. I don’t think he charged him for the service.

Departed Leithbridge and followed Highway 2 north 120 nm to Calgary, AB Canada. During this leg it became apparent to me that my Loran was not giving me reliable/accurate position data. I was aware that Loran did not function in all areas of Canada and a good part of Alaska. I therefore borrowed a hand held Magellan Skystar Moving Map GPS from Michael Harter of Manassas, Virginia. Up to this point I had always used both navigating systems. As I would later find out, it was rare when I could rely on the Loran north of the Lower 48. Only when I was on the return trip approaching Calgary did it provide reliable data. In the Lower 48 it always works great.

The two largest airports in Calgary are the Calgary International (CYYC) and Springbank (CYBW), which is about 18 nm west of CYYC. I made prearrangements via Internet e-mail to stop at Springbank, since it was more suited for General Aviation type aircraft and the FBO group arranged a BBQ for our gang of 10. This was also the place that another Kitfox was suppose to join our group to Alaska. Jim Corner of Calgary was restoring a damaged Model II Kitfox (C-FMLC) powered by a Rotax 582. Jim met us at the airport, along with Steve Zukreski, to explain he required a couple more days to complete repairs and did not want to delay our progress. I really regretted this, since he would have been a good performance match for Fox #2.

Lucky for us there was a newly refurbished B&B right on the airport facilities, rightly named "The Tie Down Guest House". It was owned and operated by Ron Seeley and Anne Dand, two of the nicest people one could meet. The guesthouse had only three bedrooms, all upstairs. The downstairs had a living room, dining room, study, kitchen and bath. The advertised room rent was $55.00, $65.00 and $75.00 Canadian depending on the room size. Since we were ten in number, they let some of us place our sleeping bags on the sofa’s and downstairs floor. The entire group stayed there for $30.00 Canadian each, which translates into $21.12 US. Not a bad price recognizing that it included a good hot breakfast at the Airport Cafe overlooking the runway.

After we arrived and settled in, Ron, Ann and the gang at the airport cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the barbe, had salads, potato chips and the like, as well as, plenty of Canadian beer and pop for all. What a relaxing way to wind up a long flying day. But as they say, "Somebody Had To Do It".

DAY 10 (JUNE 6TH) - DEPARTED CALGARY SPRINGBANK, AB CANADA (U11)

There was no early rising for this morning, and there were no lines at the bathroom door. Seemed like no one was in a big hurry. One by one they wandered over to the Airport Cafe for a nice hot breakfast of ham and eggs. The two cooks behind the counter were the most friendly and chattiest women I ever met. It took a while, but we finally departed Springbank and headed due north another 153 nm to Edmonton, AB Canada.

On this morning the Amigo Flight departed first and the Lone Stars departed next, for a reason I cannot remember. About 65 nm north of Calgary, BC near the city of Red Deer, Lone Star #2 reported low oil pressure followed by oil on his windshield. He immediately reduced power and notified the Red Deer Airport (CYQF) of his emergency and intentions to land. In the meantime the other flight groups heard the radio communications and continued on to Edmonton. After the three Lone Stars had landed at Red Deer, the problem was traced to a loose oil fill cap. Of course the other flight groups were unaware of the cause at that time.

Sometime during the trip to Edmonton, I don’t remember exactly when, Amigo #2 had the lead and I was right behind him, maybe a half mile. I saw what appeared to be some big white birds flying in his vicinity. Then as I got closer I could see that they were not birds, but two of his sectional charts unfolding in the wind as they fell to the ground. They passed about 50 feet under me. His passenger door had inadvertently opened. As we discussed this on the radio, he was aware of the door opening, but not that he had lost any charts. He was lucky that nothing else left the plane.

There are three airports of significant size in Edmonton, namely Edmonton International (CYEG), Edmonton City Center (CYXD) and Edmonton Villeneuve (CZVL). Again we had prearranged our visit via e-mail and were invited in by Bill Bissonnette and his son Allen of the Cardinal Aviation Center FBO. Upon our arrival at 1:50 PM local time, Bill had sandwiches and snacks laid out for our enjoyment. We fueled up, ate sandwiches and awaited the arrival of the Lone Stars. Word soon came from the Villeneuve Tower that one of the Lone Stars developed a rough running engine about 10 nm south of Villeneuve and was considering landing on a highway. Approach control suggested he look for an abandoned grass strip in that area. The pilot (who turned out to be L.V. Howell) found the grass strip and landed safely. Tom Anderson (Lone Star #2) chose to land with him, while Howard continued on to advise the other flight groups, just as our emergency procedures dictated.

Everyone at Villeneuve was anxious to see Howard land and hear the results of what happened. As he slowly taxied in with the cabin door open, you could see he was a little unnerved with a flushed face. The first words out of his mouth were "SOMEONE GET ME A DRINK". He slowly got out of the plane and sat down. It was obvious the two preceding events that morning (both in his flight group) had taken a toll on Howard. He indicated where he thought L.V. and Tom has landed.

Carl Mattoon who lived near Villeneuve said he knew where the grass strip was located and would drive me there with some tools in his car. As we arrived, both LV and Tom were taxing to a take off position, apparently having fixed the problem. They saw me and shut down the engines. L.V. mumbled something about spark plugs. I suggested that they off load all their heavy gear and we would take it back to Villeneuve in the car. That would improve their chances for a successful take-off on that short strip. They did and we drove back to Villeneuve. We now were a flight of eight, once again.

Allen Bissonnette drove us all into town for the night at the Sleep Inn Motel. As for the weather for the day, we had good visibility all day with a few rain cells and a mild temperature. This was finally the end of a very eventful day.

I should also mention at this point that Terry McFadden of Edmonton had also made arrangements for our group to be welcomed at Edmonton City Center Airport. They offered to provide our group free overnight hanger space and a courtesy car for our use. I met Terry earlier via the Internet as a subscriber of the Kitfox E-Mail List. Although we were grateful for their very generous offer, I had to decline, since we had previously accepted the invitation from Bill Bissonnette of Villeneuve.

DAY 11 (JUNE 7TH) - DEPARTED EDMONTON VILLENEUVE, AB CANADA (CZVL)

We departed Villeneuve Airport at 8:15 AM local time for our next 273 nm leg to Dawson Creek, BC (CYDQ). Dawson Creek, BC (not to be confused with Dawson City of the Yukon Territories) is recognized as the start of the Alaska Highway. Milepost "zero" is just a couple miles outside of town on the highway. However, in a effort to attract tourists into the town itself, the town fathers erected a more glamorous "zero" milepost marker (flags and all) in the middle of main street downtown. All self-respecting tourist traveling the Alaska Highway (especially those from the Lower 48) have to have their picture taken standing next to that marker.

At 12:00 noon we were on the ground at Dawson Creek. After fueling up we jumped into a taxi and headed downtown for picture taking and lunch. The gang gathered under the monument in the middle of the main street and posed for pictures taken by some German tourist who happen to pass by. Lunch was served right down the street at the Alaska Hotel and Cafe.

We departed Dawson Creek, BC at 2:52 PM local time and basically headed northwest 235 nm to Fort Nelson, BC (CYYE). Enroute we passed over Fort St. John, BC (CYXJ) and two recently abandoned gravel strips named Sikanni Chief and Prophet River. During this leg we were forced to dodge three different storm cells crossing over the highway. The weather at both Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson was cloudy, hot and hazy, mostly due to nearby forest fires.

The following is Lone Star #2’s (Tom) description of the next event: "About 30 miles before Fort Nelson, Lone Star #3 (L.V.) again announced a problem with his engine. This time it seemed more serious. He was loosing engine power and altitude quickly. For a minute we all thought he was going down on the road, he had lost 2,000 of the 3,000 feet we had over the Highway when things seemed to settle down a little and he was able to coax the plane into the Fort Nelson airport. We all felt helpless during his descent".

We arrived at Fort Nelson at 5:50 PM local time. Fort Nelson was another one of our prearranged destination points where Ernie Kiss of Villers Air Service (the ESSO Guy) offered to hanger our flying machines, provide transportation into town, and provide discounts on both fuel and lodging. We taxied right up to the ESSO sign (there were more than one FBO) and met Ernie and his gang. After fueling we headed for Ernie’s big hanger at the end of the field to secure the planes and look into L.V.’s problem. Ernie’s guys rolled out a couple large airplanes and we rolled in eight Kitfox’s.

The area across from Ernie’s hanger was the chemical loading facilities for a fleet of large fire fighting tanker aircraft and helicopters. The noise level from their turbine engines that were kept running while loading chemical retardants was very loud and annoying. This activity went on all day and was just a sample of the amount of equipment and personnel being used to fight these fires. We would later see the same activity going on in Whitehorse, YT and Alaska, but on a larger scale.

L.V had finally discovered the real cause of his rough running Lycoming engine; fuel starvation. While refueling he observed debris floating in the left wing tank and removed a large sheet (approximately 8"x8") of the material lining the inside of the tank. As all Kitfox builders know, the fiberglass wing tanks are slosh coated with Kreem liquid material to seal any pinholes. There have been reports of this material cracking, but this was the first evidence of fuel starvation resulting from separation. N296H was now grounded.

Normally this would be classified as a Kitfox builder’s worst nightmare. This is not a simple one-man job. Wings have to be removed and the fuel tanks chemically cleaned with the wing fabric covering and paint left in tact. But in this particular situation the response was outstanding. Within an hour the left wing was removed, some acetone was made available and the sloshing process began. It takes three to four people to handle each wing, and they have to be periodically replaced as they fatigue. This had to be repeated at least three times to remove the old Kreem coating. Additional acetone had to be purchased in town at $100 per gallon to repeat the same process for the other wing. It was getting late, pizza was brought in for dinner and the second wing would have to be completed the next morning.

Ernie provided transportation into town, and we all bedded down in the Coach House Motel. The clerk at the front desk kept referring to us as the "ESSO Guys". That must have had something to do with Ernie getting us a discount.

DAY 12 (JUNE 8TH) - DEPARTED FORT NELSON, BC CANADA (CYYE)

Fox #2 (Eunice and Pete Newgard) departed the group by leaving early and heading first for Watson Lake, YT and then on to Whitehorse, YT. Their plans were to fly ahead of the group and proceed on to Fairbanks, AK and visit friends. We would not see them again until we were at the campgrounds at the Fairbanks Airport. Tom, Howard and myself departed for Watson Lake (CYQH) first (wheels up 9:30 AM Local time), leaving the three Jim’s (Amigo’s #2, #3 and Fox #1) behind to complete the repairs on Lone Star #3’s wing tanks. They would join us at Watson Lake later that day.

Weather along the 260-nm route to Watson Lake was hot that morning, 74.9 degrees F at 4,500 feet AGL. Visibility was at least 50 miles. In this leg of our trip north we would be passing through some of the more rugged mountainous areas. There are three mountain passes that are identified on the charts, one of which is the dreaded Steamboat Pass, just 42 nautical road miles out of Fort Nelson. The second pass is named Summit Pass, while the third did not have a name on the charts, it is located 8 miles south of Muncho Lake. These passes offer pilots of light aircraft a fantastic view on clear days such as we had that day. The photographs taken from the air do not do justice to the beauty the eye beholds. The floor level of these passes ranges between 3,500 to 4,200 feet ASL while the surrounding mountain top peak out at 7,000 to 8,000 feet. The Alaska Highway along this leg of our route follows the rivers for the most part and some of the long mountain lakes. Flying down the length of Muncho Lake does not afford a pilot much of an opportunity to land unless, his plane is equipped with floats. The lake is bordered on all sides by wooded steep mountainsides with no flat shoreline available. There is a sea plane base located on the lake though.

Bad weather tends to collect at these passes. Since there is no weather reporting stations along this leg of the route, one can only rely on pilot reports. Steamboat Pass has a reputation for turning back many aircraft. Although this day was no problem for our group, we would soon learn on our trip back how scary it can get.

There was calm air all along our way, except for some turbulence on the last 25 nm to Watson Lake. Our first three aircraft landed at Watson Lake, YT (CYQH) 12:10 PM. What beautiful camp site facilities the airport has to offer to transient aircraft. It is located on the opposite side of the airport, alongside a grove of pine trees facing the lake. The centerpiece of the camping facilities has a very large gazebo, in the center of which is a large picnic table and a wood burning stove for cooking. Benches are built in all along the inside edges. A large ring of BBQ pits surround the gazebo providing outside cooking fires for many aircraft campers. A large pile of seasoned firewood is stacked nearby next to a fresh water spigot.

We immediately started to tie down our flying machines and set up camp. Howard crawled into his short pants and tested the water. After two nanoseconds and a loud holler, swimming time was over for Howard. No one else ventured near the water except Tom. He reached into the back of his plane, pulled out a fishing pole, a couple of spinners, his fishing net and disappeared down to the far end of the Runway 08. Thirty minutes later he quietly strolls back with two large Pike, one in each hand, each between 24 to 26 inches long. He claimed they were 5 and 6 pounds. I was so impressed I took a picture to document the great event.

A short time later I noticed a police cruiser with flashing red and blue lights driving down the taxiway in our direction. At that time of the day we were the only aircraft at the campsite. Why are the police coming here with lights flashing, did we do something wrong? These were the first thoughts that crossed my mind. About 30 seconds later a large twin engine aircraft followed the cruiser. They both stopped right in front of the large gazebo where we were camped. Two police officers exited the cruiser and approached the aircraft. The large door of the aircraft opened up and three hand cuffed native prisoners walked down the steps and to the police cruiser, escorted by the uniformed officers. I still had no idea what was happening and why here. As soon as the pilot, in civilian clothes stepped out of the aircraft, Tom yelled out "it’s Rick". At that moment I then knew what was going on.

As it turns out, Rick Aberson is the RCMP pilot I have been communicating with via e-mail for the last several months. He and Tom Anderson are related through their wives, an in-law thing. Rick has provided me lots of information about flying to Alaska via the Alaska Highway and had arranged a cookout for the group upon our arrival in Whitehorse. It turns out that Rick had to fly some prisoners for the RCMP from the jailhouse in Whitehorse to stand trial in Watson Lake. So he took the opportunity to stop in and say hello. By the way, that large twin aircraft he was flying was a Dehaviland Otter DHC-6, with turbine engines. What a flying machine.

Things started to get even better when Rick offered to give us a ride. My flying up to now for the past 12 days and 51.1 hours has been strapped into the left seat of a fully loaded Kitfox. Not a lot of comfort here. I now had my choice of 17 seats with lots of legroom, and total dedication to picture taking. We took off and circled the lake several times, with Rick pointing out several points of interest, including the remains of a sunken aircraft that landed in the water short of the runway many years ago. After landing we cooked hot dogs and fish on the grill. By this time the remaining four aircraft in our group had arrived. Several other aircraft (Spam Cans) arrived at the campsite, we chatted for a while and I went to bed.

Just one more thing; today was the first day, and as it would turn out, the only day during the entire trip I was bitten by mosquitoes, twice on the back of the neck. I applied some Jungle Juice 100 and was fine for the rest of the night. I also made sure while putting up the tent that I kept the netting in place. From that point on I would ask the locals of the places we stayed, where are the mosquitoes? Usual answer was, not many this year due to the exceptionally dry weather this spring. That would also explain the greater number of forest fires we would soon see in Alaska. There were some swarming type bugs, but they didn’t bite. I only used Deet the first day we were at Watson Lake.

Now we pilots from the Lower 48 know how badly bugs can coat the leading edges of our aircraft and propellers. Every summer day I fly in Virginia I have to wipe down the leading edges at the end of the day, otherwise the baked on build-up of bugs gets difficult to remove. On this trip, once in the Yukon and Alaska I rarely, maybe just once, wiped bugs from my flying machine. This was probably a very unusual year, lucky us. During the planning stages of our trip I had several e-mail comments from locals in both Canada and Alaska about how bad the mosquitoes can be in these areas. One of our Kitfox builders, I think he was from Minnesota or there about, stated he already had enough of mosquitoes, and backed out of the planned trip. Big Mistake!

DAY 13 (JUNE 9TH) - DEPARTED WATSON LAKE, YT CANADA (CYQH)

Departed Watson Lake with wheels up at 9:42 AM local time. All three Lone Stars and myself (Amigo #1) departed first for Whitehorse, YT (CYXY). The scenery from the air was fantastic, well beyond my description. Again the Alaska Highway basically followed the rivers and passed next to several mountain lakes for most of its length to Whitehorse the capital of the Yukon. There was one mountain pass indicated on the charts real close to a 3000 x 100-foot gravel mountain strip named Pine Lake. I don’t why it was called Pine Lake, since it was at the south end of Daughters Lake. We flew over two other gravel strips, one about midway along the north side of Teslin Lake and the other about 8 nm beyond the east end of the same lake. Now Teslin Lake is one long lake, who’s main body is 63 nm long and from 1 to 3 nm wide. There is both a gravel strip and a seaplane base at the town of Telsin. Little did we know then, that we all would land there the very next day in the RCMP Dehaviland Twin Otter.

Amigo’s #2, #3 and Fox #1 departed somewhat later than our flight group that morning and had to soon turn back due to problems with Amigo #2’s engine. He first reported smelling something overheating and then saw his cylinder head temperature go to red line. Reducing rpm, he turned a 180 and limped back to Watson Lake, the other two aircraft followed. His biggest concern was crossing back over Watson Lake to make the airport in the likely event the engine would quit. Once on the ground at the airport the problem was quickly isolated to a broken coolant hose. This hose had a tight bend that passed close to the exhaust manifold. After over 400 hours it finally gave way. The only other problem detected was a fried temperature sensor. Amigo #3 had installed two temperature sensors in his Rotax 912, so he volunteered the loan of one of his. The engine itself was not damaged. How nice it is to be flying a long cross-country flight with a group of pilots with like aircraft and engines.

The first flight group landed at Whitehorse, YT (CYXY) at 12:10 PM local time. This is a good time to bring up some of the interesting aspects of flying in formation (loose formation, that is) with a group of light aircraft, especially while approaching an airport as you enter the pattern. It seems that no matter who was in the lead, there was always a problem keeping everyone in front of you in sight. I sometimes would lose sight of the aircraft I was following. There is a temptation to closely follow the aircraft in front of you, but lack of adequate separation will lead to other problems at touchdown. At pattern altitudes you can quickly lose sight, of an aircraft in the background clutter of buildings, moving trucks, and the like. It can get real scary while making pattern turns at a strange airport when you know there are aircraft ahead of you somewhere in the same pattern, yet are not in sight. At one time at a towered airport, the lead aircraft lined up on the wrong runway and had to do a last minute go around, while the other flight members chose the proper runway. This field had diagonal runways so that was easy to do. Another time the lead lined up with a taxiway, which was later discovered to be an old abandoned runway. Yet another time the lead lined up with an abandoned runway and was ready to set down when the tower advised him there were boards laying across the runway with nails sticking up. The names of those involved will be omitted here to protect the guilty.

While flying in a group the lead always handled the communications with approach control and the towers, announcing as a flight of 3, 4, or 8, whatever it was at the time. We would all understand the various frequencies beforehand to be used while approaching an airport and the lead would announce when he was changing to another frequency. This way the entire flight group would be able to hear all communication instructions from controllers and the tower, but only the lead would speak for the group. The controllers and towers seemed to prefer this as long as we stayed together and did not spread out. We would always agree beforehand what would be the order of arrival, however it would not always turn out that way for reasons I just described. By the way in Canada, a lot of the airports along the Alaska Highway, such as Watson Lake, do not use the term Tower or Unicom to describe airport control personnel. They use the term "Advisory", such as N193JK Watson Lake Advisory cleared to land runway 08. The Canadians observe the same flying rules we do in the States, but they change some of the words, like "Circuits" to describe pattern flying and touch and go’s.

One of the more interesting aspects of flying to Alaska, aside from the spectacular scenery, is landing at all of the airports along the way. Every airport has its own peculiarities and it has always been fun for me landing at any airport for the first time. The Whitehorse Airport for example is located right on top of a high mountain plateau with the town located in the flat valley below. The rise to the airport level is a sheer cliff, not a gradual slope. The 7200x150-asphalt runway 13R ends with a sheer cliff at its end. During my first landing at Whitehorse I was in the lead. When cleared for landing on final, I saw this high cliff and a row of red lights crossing the runway at my end not too far below me. After seeing this I slowed down my decent to maintain a higher altitude during approach. About that time the tower stated "Experimental 193JK be aware of sink on short final". The pucker factor went up a couple of notches and I pulled back on the stick to maintain an even higher approach altitude. There was no sink at that time. I have often been told that when in sink push the stick forward to exit the sink area more quickly. Under these circumstances I don’t think I could have convince myself to move the stick forward. Other than that the landing was uneventful.

The flying weather that day was sometimes turbulent, not too bad, no rain except in the distance and the temperature was cool. On landing we taxied downed to the end of the runway where the RCMP hanger was located. There we met Rick Aberson again and Jim McManus for the first time. Jim is the Kitfox builder/pilot who had planned earlier to join us at Whitehorse for the trip into Alaska. However, his Kitfox was damaged during an emergency landing on a highway when the engine failed. He and his wife were not injured but his Kitfox sustained major damage after hitting a highway sign.

Several of us took this opportunity to perform routine maintenance on our flying machines. Tom Anderson soon discovered that the exhaust manifold on his NSI Subaru engine had finally discenagrated. When removed it fell apart. It was not made of stainless steel. His immediate solution was to have another one made locally of stainless. That would take a few days and delay his departure to Fairbanks, Alaska. Rick loaned the group his wife’s van for our use while at Whitehorse. We drove into town and checked into the Bonanza Inn.

DAY 14 (JUNE 10TH) - AT WHITEHORSE, YT CANADA (CYXY)

This was going to be our first full day since Idaho, of no flying (as pilots), just enjoy the local people and wonders Whitehorse has to offer like the other tourists do. Howard, L.V. and I took a long stroll along the Yukon River and then decided to tour the Steamboat S.S. Klondike. This was one of the original steamboats used to make the river run to Dawson City, YT and back to Whitehorse in the days when rivers were the only mode of travel that far north other than horseback. It was restored to its original splendor, but beached on dry land.

We drove back to the RCMP hanger at the airport to check on our planes and meet more of the RCMP crew. As it turned out, Rick had some RCMP responsibilities to take care of that obligated him to fly the Dehaviland to Teslin, YT. Seems that there was a crime scene that had to be investigated and photographed by an RCMP crime investigator named Cpl. P.J. Warren. As the story unfolded, there was a bar room fight one night at Teslin. When the parties left the bar, one got into a truck, while the other got on his motorcycle. The truck driver ran over the motorcycle and driver and thus the stage is set for entry of the RCMP. Rick’s trip also included going on to Watson Lake to pick up a prisoner. At this point Rick asked if anyone of us wanted to go along for the ride. How long do you think it took eight Kitfox/builder pilots to say YES?

Jackie Hakes (half of the Fox #1 Duo) got the opportunity to fly the right seat of the Dehaviland all the way up and back. It sure helps to have a commercial ticket, be a double CFI and have once been Miss Minnesota. This time instead of flying the highway, we flew direct to Teslin at 7500 feet just below the clouds with an excellent view of the mountains over the Yukon Territories.

As we approached Teslin, Rick circled the airport at a very low altitude in a steep 360 degree turn so that Cpl. Warren could photograph from the air the crime scene just outside the bar room. He then flew to the far end of the lake, turned around and returned to Teslin very low and fast over the lake. As we passed Teslin he pulled up very sharply and approached the other end of the runway at a very steep angle. At this point he told us he would demonstrate how a Dehaviland Otter makes a steep angle short field landing. Now I know what a runway looks like when it is approached at too steep an angle through the windshield of a Cessna or a Kitfox, but this was ridiculous. From my seat behind the co-pilot (Jackie) I could see the VSI indicating a decent rate of 2000 fpm. The runway centered in the windshield appeared far to vertical and for a moment I felt Rick would drive us right into the ground. At the proper moment he must have applied some reverse pitch, instantly slowing down the aircraft, leveling out low over the runway numbers, to a soft touch down and quickly coming to a stop. No Kitfox could ever do that. I was impressed. Those in the rear seats of the aircraft probably didn’t get the thrill we up front experience.

When the plane was parked we said good by to Cpl. Warren as he departed to perform his crime investigating duties. A few minutes later a car drove up and out steps an older white hared gentlemen who Rick referred to as "The Flying Priest". He was introduced to us as Father Bob Kelley, every bit an Irishman. Apparently there are very few churches located in the native villages throughout the backcountry of the Yukon Territories. So Father Kelley has to fly to the numerous villages to conduct church services. Rick stated he has a lot of flying time. Shortly thereafter we boarded the Dehaviland, and took off and headed back to Whitehorse.

Late that afternoon Rick had invited our group to his home for a BBQ supper. When we arrived we met several other RCMP’s, their wives, Ed McManus and his wife, as well as other personnel who worked at the RCMP hanger. There must have been 20 to 25 guests present. Rick has a very beautiful well furnished home. The BBQ on the deck was cooking trout, salmon, moose burgers and sausages. Several of the wives attending brought platters of shrimp and other dishes I cannot recall. Homemade wine bottled by Rick and one of the other RCMP families was served along with plenty of Canadian beer. What a feed, no one went hungry that night.

This time of year is the tourist season at Whitehorse and it was very difficult to obtain lodging facilities. We could only get one night stay at the Bonanza Inn, so we had to find new accommodations for this night at the Stop In Family Motel. One other thing I found very hard to get used to this far north. The sun never really sets this time of the year, as we know it in the Lower 48. It is still very bright outside at midnight and I saw daylight at 3:00 in the morning at Fairbanks, Alaska. The motels I stayed in do not have heavy curtains to block out the sunlight, which makes it difficult to get to sleep. However, I am told they make up for that in the winter season with only four hours of daylight.

DAY 15 (JUNE 11TH) - DEPARTED WHITEHORSE, YT CANADA (CYXY)

This day was not to start with an early departure. Lone Star #1 (Howard) was looking at a good size crack at the point where the exhaust tailpipe joined the muffler. I think the keen eyes of Jim McManus first discovered it. Jim and Howard spent some time removing the muffler with hammers and a piece of 2x4, as most Kitfox builders know they just don’t slide apart. This and the drive into town for the welding repairs resulted in several hours of delay. Terry Raumle, the engineer who maintains the RCMP aircraft also volunteered his support in the repair of our aircraft. The support of the ground crew at Whitehorse was outstanding. In the mean time Lone Star #2 was going to be grounded for a while awaiting the rebuild of a new stainless steel exhaust manifold for his NSI Subaru. We would next see him in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Here is what Lone Star #2 had to say about his stay in Whitehorse after we departed without him: " After my exhaust collector manifold failed, I was grounded until a fix could be made. However, my wife's cousin, Rick Aberson is a member of the RCMP attached to the air wing. He flies a Twin Otter DHC-6. So, not only did I have a nice bed to sleep in, the RCMP took me under their wing and off we went on three days of great adventure. A murder investigation in Teslin, prisoners to pickup back at Watson Lake, and a breath analyzer to deliver to Dawson City. I was forced to fly right seat most of the legs. From Whitehorse to Dawson

City it happened to be roughly 100 feet above the Yukon River. That 300 mile stretch was really tough duty. Later we were forced to have lunch, topped off by a small helping of Drudge Pie. I met all the Mounties in the Yukon; 7 men are attached to the Dawson contingent. They cover a huge area with not too many people. Jack London and Robert Services are two authors of fame to have lived in Dawson City during the Klondike gold rush of 100 years ago. The town still has wooden sidewalks and gravel streets".

About the time the rest of the gang was ready to depart, several of our crew could not be found. They turned up right next door, where a large group of fire fighting aircraft were being fueled and loaded up. Some of them were WW2 B-26 Bombers converted to carry fire retardant chemicals. They were the same colors of those we saw at Fort Nelson. There was another fleet of bombers being fueled that were painted red and white, but were not B-26’s. This place was really buzzing. Some how some of our guys sweet talked their way into getting a tour of one of the B-26’s.

Finally, with wheels up at 1:40 PM local time, Lone Stars #1, #3 and Amigo #1 (Howard, L.V. and I) departed Whitehorse for Alaska with Amigo #1 in the lead. When I as an Amigo, flew with the Lone Stars, I being the slowest usually flew the lead. However, flying with the other Amigo’s I generally followed. We soon learned that it was better for the slower aircraft of the flight to take the lead. Amigo’s #2, #3 and Fox #1 (Jim, Jim, Jim & Jackie) departed as the second flight.

When we originally planned our Alaska trip, this leg between Whitehorse and Northway, Alaska was the longest leg without fuel (257 nm, or 296 statute).

As usual our planned route was the Alaska Highway that followed the rivers and lakes through the mountains. Four gravel air strips namely, Haines Junction, YT (CYHT), Silver City, YT (FQ5), Burwash, YT (CYDB) and Beaver Creek, YT (CYXQ) were spread out all along our route of travel for this leg, with the latter just 5 nm from the Alaska boarder. From Beaver Creek, Northway, Alaska (our point of entry into the U.S.) was just 50 nm northwest

However, we found out later that fuel was available at Burwash, YT (CYDB) 140 nm out of Whitehorse. The lead flight thought it would be wise to land at Burwash and pick up some fuel for insurance purposes. The trip up to this point was somewhat turbulent and head winds could keep us in the air a little longer than planned.

Between Haines Junction and Silver City there was an opportunity to fly over some nearby glaciers if you chose to divert south from the highway. From Haines Junction continue following the Dezadeash River south, then join the Kuskawush River going east and in about 30 nm you will be flying over the Kuskawush Glacier. When that’s done follow the river about 10 nm north to the south end of Kluane Lake and Silver City. Flight group #1 chose not to leave the highway and venture over the glacier, since the visibility over in that direction was not the greatest, there was some turbulence, no place to land and L.V. had not yet fully recovered from his memories of fuel starvation. Flight Group #2 (our self proclaimed bush pilots) chose to fly over the glacier. A quick snap shot and they were out of there. That constituted our groups’ total glacier flying experience.

Arrived at Burwash, YT (CYDB) with wheels down at 2:40 PM local time. Another smooth gravel strip of 5000 feet and a well maintained FBO. The FBO operator was very sweet lady that gave us some of her cookies, since no food was available. Fuel was stored in 55-gallon drums and for emergency purposes only. They asked us not to top off, but take only what we needed to get to our next destination. L.V. and I each asked for 5 gallons, while Howard chose to do without. This turned out to be the highest cost for fuel we would purchase for the entire trip. Had to pay in Canadian dollars, since they did not take credit cards. Although fuel in Canada is priced by the liter, our 5 gallons cost us an equivalent of $17.60 US$ or a price per gallon of $3.52 US. How would you like to tank up there with a large twin engine? Anyway it was well worth the comfort in knowing you can get it when you need it.

While there, another aircraft landed dropping off about half a dozen members of a fire fighting crew. I seems that almost everywhere we landed lately there were fire fighting tanker aircraft and their crews.

Departed Burwash, YT for the remaining 135 nm leg to Northway, Alaska. Arrived at Northway with wheels down at 5:55 PM local time, pulled right up to the fuel pumps and awaited the U.S. Customs Agent. Out he came, dressed in blue, clipboard in hand, asked for my pilots’ license and mentioned a $25.00 Customs Aircraft Fee. He did not look into the plane, or asked us to show any paperwork we had all spent so much time and money accumulating prior to our trip. Had a bite to eat, fueled up and departed (wheels up at 7:40 PM local time) for our 205 nm final leg to Fairbanks, Alaska. It sure felt great to be purchasing fuel once again in gallons and U.S. dollars, no conversions here.

Our route to Fairbanks included passing over Delta Junction, AK (D66), which is a little over half way to Fairbanks. For several miles after Delta Junction we passed over numerous forest fires that covered many square miles of the land below. The smoke was rising above the altitude we were cruising at (4000 ft.), forcing us to climb several hundred feet. Below us we could see fire fighting bombers and helicopters crisscrossing the ground under us. Lots of money and effort being spent there. I heard later that it was costing the state over $10 Million. Most of that day’s weather was turbulent and cool.

Arrived at Fairbanks, Alaska (PAFA) at 10:00 PM local time in broad daylight. As we approached Fairbanks airspace, I announced as a flight of three and was given clearance to land on Runway 19L. I quickly looked at the Alaska Supplement (their version of our Pilots Guide) to understand the airport and runway layouts. There were three parallel runways, 19L, 19W and 19R. 19W confused me until I turned left onto final. The "W" stands for water. These guys up here really know how to build airports. Runway 19L/01R is for General Aviation Aircraft, Runway 19W/01W (in the middle) is for floatplanes and 19R/01L is for Commercial Aircraft at 11,800 feet. Besides that the far end of Runway 19L/01R is a separate ski strip.

Once on the ground we taxied to the far end of the airport where the aircraft camping grounds were located. The end of the paved taxi way turned into gravel that led into two separate camp ground areas each separated by a ring of trees. Our aircraft were tied down forming a large circle all facing inboard. Our tents were pitched along side or just behind each aircraft. Two very large picnic tables and a cook stove setting on a 30 by 30 foot concrete slab were covered by a cedar shingle rustic roof structure held up by large log poles formed a weather protected eating area. Next to that was an old fashion type water hand pump for drinking and cooking purposes. A modern type phone booth and outside toilets were also nearby. The only thing one had to provide was tent, sleeping gear and food. There was also a place to insert an envelope with a overnight camping fee of $3.00 (envelope provided). For hot water showers, lounge and the like you had to walk a distance of several blocks to the base of the airport tower on the General Aviation side. By the time we were all settled in, it was well after midnight sometime and the daylight still prevailed.

DAY 16 (JUNE 12TH) - AT FAIRBANKS, ALASKA (PAFA)

The next morning I realized that I made a mistake pitching my tent so close to L.V.’s tent. Seems L.V. can’t go to sleep without some noise level present, so he takes a portable radio to bed with him every night. At first I thought he was just catching up on the latest news, but it went on all night long.

Jim Wolf was the only one in the group that did not bring a tent. When camping he always slept under the belly of his Kitfox in a sleeping bag. Since it was never a heavy blowing rain he did just fine. If it ever did rain hard he could have slept on the picnic table under the campsite covered roof facility.

Most of the group decided to take a sternwheeler riverboat (steamboat) cruise down the Koyukuk River at Fairbanks, since several of the locals recommended it. The cruise lasted for about four hours and cost $40.00. Periodically the riverboat would either slow down or stop at various points of interest along the river and explain activities or events going on at the time. One was a demonstration of a bush pilot taking off and landing on a short dirt strip near the river edge. At another place we stopped at Susan Butchers home where she raised and trained sled dogs. She was the 3-time winner of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race held in Alaska each year. She demonstrated how the dogs were trained to pull sleds. We all learned what a 3 dog night was. Further on a native village was set up to illustrate natives housing and how they fished and hunted. At that point the riverboat docked and all passengers went ashore and toured the village. We also saw the hide of what the Alaska natives called a Texas polar bear. L.V. who is from McAllen, Texas had never seen one.

That basically concludes our activities for that day at Fairbanks. We had rented a van so we could get around and purchase food. It rained a little heavier that night.

DAY 17 (JUNE 13TH) - AT FAIRBANKS, ALASKA (PAFA)

The weather was still not looking too good with low overcast, so no flying this morning. Jackie Hakes had just received a call that the United Express job she had applied for back home required her to report back to Iowa for a job interview. The timing was lousy, since she did not want to depart from the group. But opportunities like this do not come often for someone young trying to break into a pilot’s position on a commuter airline. Another thing, Daddy Hakes would have to do all the flying now without his frequent naps. Sadly, she said good-by to the gang and flew home on a big monoplane. Now our gang was down to seven. Pete and Eunice Newgard (Fox #2) were visiting friends in Fairbanks.

Since the weather was keeping us on the ground at Fairbanks, we decided to drive by car to Danali National Park and Preserve. That’s the park that is dominated by 20,320 foot Mount McKinley. We had heard how beautiful and spectacular the mountains can be as seen from the air, but frankly I was a little disappointed in the scenery as viewed traveling on the roads in an automobile. Down on the road you cannot see beyond the mountain you are driving next to. I felt hemmed-in and isolated from the beauty that lied just beyond, always hoping for a gap in the mountain that exposed that hidden beauty. Flying gives you the freedom to see way beyond those barriers. We found later that automobiles could not go all the way into the park. To travel any further, you have to transfer into buses. We saw a couple of moose standing in a marsh somewhere along the highway. I was really disappointed in not being able to fly the area. We had planned to fly this way on our trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage. That never happened.

When we returned to Fairbanks, Lone Star #2 (Tom Anderson) had arrived from Whitehorse, YT and set up camp. His NSI Subaru engine had a brand new stainless steel exhaust manifold. Here is what Tom had to say about his flight to Fairbanks: "Back in Whitehorse my exhaust collector had been remanufactured by a company in Edmonton. They deliver a new 321 stainless steel system that promises to be able to withstand the 1,500 degree exhaust gas temperatures. So off I go, alone, to Fairbanks. The 600 mile stretch with a customs stop in Northway, Alaska is a sight to behold, and proves to be another adventure in and of itself. This is especially true for the terrain levels when you enter Alaska. Fairbanks airport is 434 feet above sea level. I flew through smoke and haze due to many forest fires along the way, but the last 100 miles was clear. There are lots of farms and open areas near the road, but not to far distant the wilderness is visible. About 20 miles from the Fairbanks airport I started to smell smoke. Again I have a problem. It is disconcerting so I pull power. My engine is an NSI Subaru conversion. Turbocharged and off the Dyno at 130 horsepower. I have been cruising at 105 mph indicated, 6 pounds of manifold pressure at 4,000 RPM. I pulled power until the manifold pressure dropped. The odor went away and I landed safely if Fairbanks. Having removed the cowling I could find anything to indicate a problem".

Relatively speaking this was not one of our better days, weather not so good, no flying, the road trip to Danali was not exciting and no more Jackie. Weather permitting, tomorrow was going to be a big event, hopefully the Arctic Circle.

DAY 18 (JUNE 14TH) - ARCTIC CIRCLE FLIGHT

This was going to be another very eventful day in spite of two early morning problems. First, Lone Star #1 (Howard) discovered he had developed ignition problems. It was easily isolated to broken wires leading to an ignition module that were repaired on the scene. This particular problem is no stranger to many owners of the Rotax 912 engine.

Lone Star #2 discovered oil exiting his oil breather when the engine was running. This one was not going to be quickly diagnosed. About this time several people from some of the various aircraft service facilities on the General Aviation side of the airfield came over to the campground area to look at the group of Kitfox’s and chat with their pilots. A couple were EAA members from the local chapter that heard we were in town. Most were A&P mechanics or owners of the service facilities. Dick Burley one of the local CFI’s and some people with him came over to provide whatever support we needed. Right away they focused on Tom’s problem and were willing to provide necessary tools, transportation and know how. One in particular was very familiar with Subaru engines and their turbo systems. He asked Tom what I thought was at least 100 very specific questions. Then finally reached up and gently pulled in and out on the shaft part of the turbo unit. There’s your problem, too much end play, you need a new turbo unit. As grateful as he was for their outstanding support, that was probably the last thing Tom wanted to hear.

I have been with Tom all throughout this trip, starting back in Illinois, and I have never seen him show any real signs of disillusionment, in spite of all the problems with his engine. He’s the most even-tempered man I ever met. He called NSI back in Arlington, WA and arranged for a new turbo unit to be expressed out the next day. Lone Star #2 was again temporarily grounded.

Yesterday while reading the bulletin board in the pilots lounge at the tower, we saw a bulletin announcing the first Alaska Fly-in Breakfast at Bettles, Alaska on 6/14/98. As a promotional activity one of the local FBO’s in Fairbanks was giving away 10 gallons of fuel to all aircraft flying to Bettles, provided you brought back a dated and signed restaurant receipt. What a coincidence, we were going there anyway.

Amigo’s #1, #2, #3 and Fox #1 (John, Jim, Jim & Jim) departed Fairbanks for Bettles, Alaska for the Arctic Circle at the 66’30" North Latitude. Beetles is the gateway to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Kunuti National Wildlife Refuge. It is located on the south bank of the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in the foothills of the Brooks Range, 180 miles northwest of Fairbanks. Beetles airport has a gravel lighted runway 5,200 feet long and a seaplane base 1 mile north of the Beetles runway. During our flight we followed the Alaska Pipeline out of Fairbanks except for the last 30 nm, and then turned west to Beetles.