North to Alaska, part II

Start: UHPP, 0626; $5617.49 and 54gal

Well, I'm in a bit of a pickle. What looked like an excellent route on the map turns out to be devilishly difficult. Airports are few and far between, and FSE jobs invariably go the wrong way. The only way I've found to get where I need to go is to head northeast to Sokol outside of Magadan, and then back to my northwesterly direction for a 799 mile flight to the remote Ugolny in Anadyr. Assuming I manage to squeeze 800 miles out of the GlobeTrotter, I can then make a more manageable hop across the Bering Strait to Nome, Alaska the next day!

So, at this very early hour (the sun just came up about 30 minutes ago), I'm off, empty to stretch my wings as far as they'll go! I must be doing something right, because once I climb to cruising altitude, I find a nice 20kt tailwind. Hope it sticks around.

This leg is a pretty good preview for my tour of Alaska -- there is some impressive and beautiful mountainous scenery in southeastern Russia. And this is default FSX (aided by FS Global 2010 mesh)!

Glad I climbed as high as I did!

End: UHMM, 1115; $5637.36 and 54gal

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I'm all gassed up (both the plane and myself [the sandwich from the airport vending machine was pretty questionable, but beggars can't be choosers!]) and ready to go on my longest flight yet. To Ugolny it's 800 miles. If the winds continue to cooperate, I'll be tired but fine. If they don't, I may have trouble on my hands! But I've got no time to waste -- up, up and away!

My luck is holding. I'm cruising at 6500ft, and 80kt IAS, and I've got a 17kt tailwind. So, my fuel calculator says my current range is 891nm. Since I only have to go 778nm, I'm feeling good!

End: UHMA, 1950; $5637.36 and 9 gallons


Total Distance Flown:  38,535 nautical miles
Total v$ Deposited: $170,000

North to Alaska, part I

Start: RJCO, 0716; $4434.11 and 17gal

So, I'm in northern Japan. My next target destination is Denali in Alaska. My plan, such as it is, is to find FSE jobs heading northeast, following the Kamchatka peninsula until I can hop over the Bering Sea.

But it turns out that airports and jobs are rather sparse in this part of the world. I've found 2 jobs which will take me 200 miles in the right direction. From there, I'm going to have to cross the Sea of Okhotsk (711 miles) by myself, hoping for a good tailwind.

So, wish me luck! I'm starting out with 1 Air Photography passenger and 231kg of canned goods. To carry this load, I had to de-fuel down to 17 gallons. That's okay -- fuel is reasonable at Monbetsu, so I'll gas up after I land.

End: RJEB, 0821; $5675.33 and 54gal

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I now have 96kg of Priority Courier materials, crossing over into Russian territory. I had a 38kt tailwind on that last leg, so that's sure a good sign!

End: UHSS, 0957; $5984.95 and 54gal

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Fuel wasn't as cheap here in Russia, but I need every last drop, so I topped off back to Full. I'm really pushing my safety margins with this leg, but I don't have much choice (other than a rather long detour to the northwest). So, I'm crossing my fingers and trusting in the GlobeTrotter. I've done 649 miles before, and that headwind has stuck with me so far, so I think this is within the realm of possibility.

Fifteen minutes after takeoff, I've leveled off at my cruising altitude, I've throttle back to a comfortable speed, and I've got 701 miles to go. My fuel gauge shows I've got 790 miles of fuel remaining. Life is good! Six hours over the sea, and I'll be landing.

End: UHPP, 1738; $5984.95 and 8gal

Whew, that was one long flight (6 hours and 40 minutes) -- my backside is sore! But I feel good that I made it, and with 8 gallons of fuel to spare.


Total Distance Flown:  37,258 nautical miles
Total v$ Deposited: $170,000

#74 Saitama, #75 Sapporo

Start: RJAA, 0922; $3822.26 and 54gal

Boy, Narita is one big airport -- it took me 15 minutes to taxi to the active runway!

It's also fairly overcast today, so I'm not sure just how wonderful my photos of Saitama will be. But, just when I need it, there's a break in the clouds....

The heavens opened up!

Beautiful downtown Saitama

 End: RJSA, 1253; $4137.26 and 32gal

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I've dropped off the 100kg of supplies I was carrying, and have now picked up 158kg of newspaper and mail. So, I'm off to Sapporo.

There's beautiful fall foliage here in Aomori. Since I've only been using FSX since April, I've not seen this before -- it's pretty impressive!

Sapporo, on the other hand, is not anything to write home about. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a nice enough place to live and work. But in FSX, it looks awfully generic and is full of auto-gen blocky buildings.

Fall colors in Japan

Blocky Sapporo

End: RJCO, 1428; $4634.11 and 22gal

It's hard to believe, but my next "desired" stop is in the middle of Alaska! Only 2500 miles or so -- if you thought these narratives were getting shorter, you ain't seen nuthin' yet!


Total Distance Flown:  36,275 nautical miles
Total v$ Deposited: $170,000