Flight: PAOT to PALU

The far north isn't all in Canada. Alaska is worth attention, too. In the winter months of November, December, January, the northern parts of Alaska dim and darken, the days become shorter and the dawn and dusk periods become longer. The green slopes and valleys turn white with snow, and air travel becomes even more important. For many communities in Alaska, air travel becomes the only practical way to maintain contact with the outside world.

This flight is planned to use the Piper PA18 supercub, probably the most popular airplane in the whole state. It is rugged, can land on the shortest strips, and doesn't even need a runway. It is a bush plane, preferred by guides, sportsmen, and explorers. You'll want to get a supercub and install it for this trip. I recommend the file pa-18_two_emblems.zip on Avsim -- you get not only a great upgrade for the standard wheeled piper cub, but also a float plane version. These planes are equipped with IFR navigation aids, including VOR and ADF radios, and an autopilot of sorts. The default piper cub doesn't have the navigation aids we need for this flight.

Once you've got the planes installed, position yourself at a "ramp GA small" parking spot at PAOT, Wien Meml, Kotzebue, AK. This airport is somewhat of a hub for traffic in the northwest part of the state, as it has VOR and NDB on field, paved runways, fuel, and even light repair and maintenance facilities. It serves as a natural base for your explanations into northwest AK.

For your flight plan, choose VFR navigation beginning at PAOT and flying to PALU, Cape Lisburne LRRS. Cape Lisburne is located on a corner of land surrounded with mountains and rocks. Actually it's not the easiest place to land. You'll appreciate the low landing speed and maneuverability of the PA18 when trying to approach this gravel runway. I used a runway 26 approach, which allowed me a straight-in approach, skirting the rocks of a mountain that -almost- but not quite blocked my path.

The flight plan itself is simple. From PAOT to OTZ VOR, just beyond the end of runway 8. From OTZ, take an OBS course of 308 to Cape Lisburne NDB, LUR. Connect from there to PALU, your destination airport. Total distance is 146 nautical miles, and ETE (estimated time enroute) is one hour and 40 minutes.

After you cross the VOR, all you have to do is line yourself up with the VOR on a track of 308 degrees, turn on the autopilot (there's a button on the panel for this), choose NAV1 HOLD (shift+N on the keyboard), and you're on your way. By the time deviation from the VOR course becomes a concern, you should be able to receive the NDB on 385.0 kHz, and follow it in.

A departure time of 10AM (2000Z) is good, because it ensures you'll have some daylight at Lisburne when you arrive. Not a lot. But it should be adequate.

I think what I enjoyed most about this flight, besides looking at the rugged Alaskan landscape, was proving the ability of the PA18 supercub to navigate a relatively long-distance route. After turning on the autopilot, I actually went and did other things for an hour, letting the plane fly on its own. When I checked the screen, we were about 30 miles out, about 5 miles east of planned track, and ready to descend. "Piece of cake."

Good luck!

Flight: KFLL to MYEM

Recently we introduced the Premaircraft Beech 1900D commuter with a Continental Connection flight Boston KBOS to White Plains KHPN, operated by CommutAir. Well, did you know there is another regional carrier in Florida that also flies Beech 1900D commuter turboprops for Continental Connection? Their name is Gulf Flight International (airline code GFT), and their focus airports are Tampa (KTPA), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl (KFLL), West Palm Beach (KPBI), and Miami Intl. You can use the same B1900D aircraft in the Continental Livery to flyGulf Flight: just change the Airline name in the Select-Aircraft dialog from COMMUTAIR to GULF FLIGHT.

Last night I tried the new 1900D on a flight into the Bahamas, from Fort Lauderdale to Governour's Harbour (MYEM). The distance is 222 nautical miles. I used an enroute cruise altitude of FL190 and a departure time of 4:08pm (2108Z), 9-Nov. There was considerable cloudiness enroute, but visibility was good at ground level. En route you'll pass over Nassau Intl, and get a good view of the Berry islands north of Nassau and east of Andros Is.

I used ATC control, which meant I had to do very little work to set up the approach to Governour's Harbour on Eleuthra Island. The weather was clear and I enjoyed the opportunity to make a visual straight-in approach and landing -- always a pleasure to practice those pilot skills. Maybe another time we'll try the 1900D on a pattern approach. After landing, pull off onto the ramp at the end of the runway and park by the FBO office. Deplane your passengers and make a logbook entry.

I always enjoy flying in the Bahamas. As I landed, around 5pm, the setting sun lined the dense cloud cover with golds and reds, and it was too late to make the trip back to Fort Lauderdale.

Flight: KDEN to KASE

Some readers may now I also maintain a web page for a virtual airline of my own invention called NorthernStar Airways. This is mainly a bush pilots charter type of outfit specializing in flights into small fields in the Canadian wilderness, the Rockies west of Denver, and Hawaii. This flight occurs in the Denver district.

Ordinarily, flights in the Denver district use the satellite airport Denver-Jeffco to avoid the congestion and delays experienced at the huge Denver Intl, but there are two flights that are an exception to this rule: Denver Intl to Aspen, and Denver Intl to Eagle County (Vail, Colorado). Aspen and Vail are world-famous ski resorts, and the traffic flow between Denver Intl and Aspen and Eagle County is so heavy in the winter months that Continental Airlines customarily adds special seasonal flights at that time. Intending to capture some of this business, NorthernStar also operates Cessna 208 Caravan flights into those airports.

If you should decide to take this challenge, you will take a Cessna Grand Caravan (there is a custom painted version of the MS default caravan to be found on the web site. You'd want the NSAC208US.zip file) for the 128 mile trip from Denver Intl (KDEN) to Aspen (KASE) departing at 1:00 pm (2000Z). Request 18,000 ft, and ATC control. Don't worry too much about the route; ATC will begin approach control not far out of Denver.

Here's the thing. If you get a Runway 31 approach, the terrain south of the field is very hilly. ATC will not be able to get you lower than about 12,000 ft, and you will have less than 10 miles to descend 6000 ft to the runway. I couldn't do it. The only logical thing to do is to level off at 9,000 ft approach altitude, and do a go-around for another try -- but, the airport is in a valley, and space is even more cramped south of the field. You will have to try to stay high to avoid the terrain, yet low to have a chance at making the final descent. You will be on manual stick the whole way. There's no way autopilot can help much with this, so you will have to feel comfortable handling the Cessna Caravan.

Unless you already have a lot of experience with the plane, you shouldn't be surprised if you can't do the approach the first time. A little familiarity with the terrain, the field, and the approach and descent profiles will help a great deal, and remember: Continental pilots do this with a 737, so don't complain.

CommutAir: Boston to White Plains

Well, I had to try it, didn't I. Barry Blaisdell's group, Premaircraft, has launched a new airplane for FS2004: the Beechcraft B1900D Commuter. For years we've been using Mike Stone's B1900, mainly for AI but occasionally for to fly ourselves. CDAI and Tomkaweicz have produced better AI models of the plane, but until now, only payware versions of this popular commuter plane were available -- and I don't use payware. So this was a must-see.

The route I planned for my debut flight was from the schedules of CommutAir, a regional affiliate of Continental that exclusively flies the B1900: Boston-Logan (BOS) to White Plains-Westchester County (HPN). Not, you would think, a very scenic choice, but actually, it's well worth the pilot's attention. I don't often fly in this region, and when I do, it's almost always at high altitudes in a big jet, so I don't really see much of the area. This flight, only 143 miles, at 18,000 feet, afforded a rare view of the metropolitan congestion from Boston to New York. What's more, I left at 3:30 p.m. on Nov-7. The sky was thick with clouds. FL180 put me just above the majority of it during the cruise part of the flight. And by the time I was arriving at White Plains, daylight was waning into early dusk, with a fiery sun setting on the horizon. All in all, there was a lot to look at, and the sense of being out there in the real world was almost tangible.

The airplane (you can find pictures of it on Barry's site) performed marvelously. Note: it seems to be the custom that Premaircraft always provides their own panels for their aircraft, so you don't have to hunt around for some King Air style panel to dress up your flight. They provide a custom panel for your B1900 that seems to me to be the finest panel yet published for this class of aircraft. The plane climbed easily at 1800 fpm to the desired cruise altitude, as it should, and even more surprising, it descended at 1800 fpm without building up undesirable speed. Throttles at idle and 1800 fpm descent managed to hold 180 KIAS, just as you would want.

The plane was a little nose-up at 140 knots and one notch of flaps, on approach, which is not unusual. I also noticed that, unlike many other small turboprop models, this B1900 lost speed due to drag when the landing gear is extended -- good job! I found the autopilot glideslope following on the money, and smooth as glass, without a lot of undesirable porpoising.

Between the lovely late-autumn route and the lovely new airplane, it was a very successful outing. I strongly recommend the plane for you turboprop afficianados; it's another success story for Barry Blaisdell's expert group.