cavaricooper
July 17th, 2017, 08:34
Flying the Yukon River in the Orbx World- told by Bill Odell
I was fortunate enough to meet and become friends with Captain Bill Odell in the last century (I've always wanted to say that- I guess I'm now old enough). He was an old hand at commercial aviation (retiring out off Fairchild's from Florida Airlines), but his heart belonged to the Bush. Here are some flights he wrote about, and I hosted on my website back in the early 1990s. Some of the text will be "period references" but the enthusiasm of the man for bush flying is obvious, and infectious. I hope there are pilots here at SOH that will try these flights, and who knows, maybe we can inject some life back into the Bush Pilot Forums here and at Orbx..... If there is sufficient interest, I have other flights he narrated that are equally superb.
With the release of the 64x Flight Sim , I have been trying to concentrate on Prepar3D v4 for my back-country flying (still missing my Anuschka (sob....sob....), so here goes..... in memory of a good friend and a great patriot- Captain Bill Odell.
If other's wish to fly along, I will be at Carmacks (CEX4) on VatSim at 7:00pm EST (2300Z) this evening (July 17, 2017) for the first leg. I would suggest we all set simulator time to 2000Z to provide us with sufficient light...... if the narrative is something that interests you, bring something suitable and join me if you like... I plan on departing at 2315Z sharp....
Flying the Yukon River: by Captain Bill Odell
With the wonderful response to this adventure, came a letter from Curt Jardey who has spent a large portion of his life in this area. Curt has filled me in on a few scenery files that would enhance the journey, plus some route changes or additions that where not available before the new scenery additions. Also Curt has offered some really enlightening narrations, which with his permission, I am adding to this version.
Flying the Yukon River is a lengthy journey through the beautiful wilderness of Alaska. Picture yourself as a Bush Pilot being sent on a recon of the Yukon River after the spring thaw. Your job is to note any abnormal sightings such as erosion, blocked junctures with other rivers or streams by rocks or debris. Be especially watchful for unsecured boats that will hinder safe navigation of the river. You have the option of using a wheel plane or a float plane from the companies aircraft. Each airstrip listed on the route is adjacent to the Yukon and arrangements have been made to have fuel and other supplies available.
Since the headwaters of the Yukon River is in Canada. The closest strip to the beginning of the river is Carmacks. We have not designated the starting point floats by coordinates, leaving this option open to the pilot. A word of caution in selecting your aircraft, the river can be narrow at points and some of the strips are quite short. To really enjoy the flight and see the rough terrain we suggest that you fly over the river at 1800' and make maximum use of the full screen view. You should encounter no difficulty flying the river at that altitude, BUT beware if you get off course the little hills can suddenly turn into rather big hills.
On the ground at Carmacks, Yukon Territory, Canada. Ready on Runway 9, a 5000' gravels strip. The scenery is spectacular with glaciers etc. Our routing with airport identifier follows:
ID Name Fuel Available
CEX4 Carmacks No
CYDA Dawson Yes
Cross the border US/Canada here
PAEA Eagle Yes
L20 Coal Creek No
PACR Circle City Yes
PFYU Fort Yukon No
WBQ Beaver No
SVS Stevens Village No
FVM Five Mile No
RMP Rampart No
PATA Calhoun Mem. Tanana Yes
PARY Ruby No
PAGA Galena (Pika, Edward G.) Yes
KYU Koyukuk No
NUL Nulato No
KAL Kaltag No
KGX Grayling No
4Z4 Holy Cross No
RSA Russian Mission No
OAK Pilot Station No
MOU Mountain Village No
Following the river from here on gets tough due to the wide expanse of water, multiple channel’s and many small islands. Try flying at a higher elevation for a further/better view ahead, ie: 4500'.
Flying westward, on the Northern bank, is:
PAEM Emmonak Yes
After Emmonak, a 217 heading will lead you to:
AUK Alakanuk No
Take a 191 heading for:
SXP Sheldon Point No
The return flight will be a little different in that we will drop a few stops and replace them. We will still be following the river. This type of a flight is not out of the ordinary. Each day around you flights of this type go on and you never notice them. Did you ever wonder what those small signs with numbers facing upward were? They usually mark an underground pipeline, a high tension electric line or a railroad. Pilots fly these on a schedule basis looking for anything not normal.. They might be flying the river after a thaw or melting of glaciers looking for dangerous conditions or checking on a flood condition. So picture yourself as the one patrolling the river.
SXP Sheldon Point No
PASM St Mary’s No
MLL Fortuna Ledge (Marshal) No
K40Anvik Seaplane Base No
(the only registered seaplane base on the trip). If you did not choose to fly a float plane, land at: PANU Anvik No
KAL Kaltaga No
PAGA Galena (Pitka) Yes
PATA Tanana Yes
RMP Rampart No
SVS Stevens Village No
WBQ Beaver No
VEE Venetia Landing No
PACR Circle City Yes
PAEA Eagle Yes
CYDA Dawson City Yes
CEX4 Carmacks No
If you have replacement river textures (newriver.zip) by Holger Busekros, the Yukon River goes beyond the default “cut off point” to Lake Labarge, near Whitehorse. Also recommended is FS2000 elevated terrain mesh scenery of the Yukone by Richard Gascon. There’s two parts (9.83 mb & 10.5 mb) and a patch (2.15 mb) to down load. Richards files, as well as Holger’s can be found on Flightsim.com.
Landing air fields up river from Carmacks are:
CFP8 Cousins/Whitehorse No
CVXY Whitehorse International Yes
In reality, the Yukon River flows by/through the City of Whitehorse and run’s parallel to Second Avenue, a main road within the city. In gold rush days, stern wheeler boats docked at Whitehorse which was as far up river as they could go. Gold miners traveled from Skagway, Alaska, over Chilkoot Pass, past Bennet Lake in northern British Columbia and on up to Whitehorse. From Whitehorse to Dawson, for the miners, was via river boat. Miles Canyon, just up river a couple of miles from Whitehorse, prevented river boats from proceeding farther.
With new river textures replacing the default files, and with ET Mesh scenery installed, the virtual Yukon River basically ends at Lake Laberge (pronounced Lake LaBarge), however if you fly “over the ridge” westward from Whitehorse, the Yukon River begins once more and will lead you to Atlin Lake. Atlin Lake Airport (CYSQ) has fuel available there
There, you did it and I will venture to say it was a real experience and a lot different flying than you have experienced in FS.
Now for an addition, some very interesting history and geography courtesy of Curt Jardey.
“Once the new river textures are installed, the Yukon River in FS 2002 stretches as far as Lake Laberge; quite aways up river from Carmacks - although the Yukon flows a lot further in reality. Microsoft’s Encarta World Atlas also “stops” the Yukon at La Berge. Even the add-on mesh scenery does not do this area justice at all.
In real terms, the Yukon River flows by/through Whitehorse and far beyond. If I am not mistaken, Atlin Lake in British Columbia is the Yukon River’s source. In my FS scenery, with new river installed, the Yukon “picks up” again, west of Whitehorse - just over “the ridge”. In the gold rush days, stern wheeler river boats could navigate up the Yukon to Whitehorse. Just past Whitehorse a couple of miles up-river, there is a place called locally as Miles Canyon - the river boats could not navigate through Miles Canyon - too narrow, fast water, vertical rock cliffs on both sides. Today, a dam was built slightly west towards Whitehorse from Miles canyon. In the water above the dam is a seaplane base. It’s coordinates and data are:
CEZ5 Whitehorse Seaplane Base
N 60 40' 52" W 135 01' 47"
+2138ft
Opr: City of Whitehorse
Wwy S/N 4000' x 500'
VOR/DME 116.6 YXY (003 deg/5.8 nm to Whitehorse Int’l Airport)
NDB 302 XY (146 deg/4.9 nm to Whitehorse Int’l Airport)
In FS 2002, the seaplane base would be in the hills above Whitehorse on Solid ground. However, if yoh know someone who does scenery - you’ll have the seaplane base info to pass along. “Special note: if anyone knows someone who could do the scenery, maybe Tom Fica? We sure would like to have it to compliment our adventure.
In FS2002, the Yukon picks up again, from ending at Lake La Bege, just over the “ridge” past Whitehorse a piece and continues to Atlin Lake, British Columbia. You’ll have to use your imagination a great deal when in theWhitehorse area, up river from La Berge. After Whitehorse and really at the eastern edge of the city, the Yukon curves a tad southward then curves back slightly northward on a northerly course.
In the real world, the airport (Whitehorse Int’l) is up on “a Mesa”, near and west of Utah Flats, slightly to the south of Whitehorse city - actually it overlooks the city and the Yukon Valley. The river flows on the north side of the city center and parallel to Second Avenue - a main drag. A bridge crosses the river on the east end of Whitehorse. Across this bridge is the Whitehorse General Hospital (off to the west) and a residential area called Riverdale (off to the east). I lived in a three bedroom “row house” complex in Riverdale many, many moons ago.
The Alaska Highway goes right by the airport (east to west, on the south side of the airport - the Alaskan Highway is so close to the airport that the terminal, terminal parking lot, and tower are a stone’s throw away - literally. On the south side of the Alaska Hwy across from the airport, are trucking terminals, the Airport Chalet (motel/restaurant - great food) and both residential and commercial lots.
I can picture everything in my mind’s eye cuz I was there in Whitehorse. My description isn’t terrific, but it might let cha “see” a little bit what the area looks like for real.
FS2000 had an abandoned air strip named Squanga Lake in the airport’s menu. The airfield was built by the American Army when the Alaska Hwy was under construction. Squanga Lake is a “real goin concern”. It consists of two log cabins. One is owned by my father-in-law, Bill Good, and the other by his sister, Daisy Hall (she’s pushing daisies now). One of these days, I am going to break open Airport 260 and recreate Squanga Lake air strip for old-time’s sake. The old strip is pretty rough, but is still landable in an emergency situation.
If you don’t have the new river textures, run, don’t walk, to your favorite FS files library web site”.
Thanks a million Curt.
We would appreciate hearing from any one that has flown this adventure or any of the others we have written. Maybe you might have similar info and stories. We would love your comments. There are several more great adventures that we have on the site, hope you enjoy them. By the way I flew this in an Otter (wheels one way and floats the other). Carl did the same only his aircraft of choice was the Beaver.
I was fortunate enough to meet and become friends with Captain Bill Odell in the last century (I've always wanted to say that- I guess I'm now old enough). He was an old hand at commercial aviation (retiring out off Fairchild's from Florida Airlines), but his heart belonged to the Bush. Here are some flights he wrote about, and I hosted on my website back in the early 1990s. Some of the text will be "period references" but the enthusiasm of the man for bush flying is obvious, and infectious. I hope there are pilots here at SOH that will try these flights, and who knows, maybe we can inject some life back into the Bush Pilot Forums here and at Orbx..... If there is sufficient interest, I have other flights he narrated that are equally superb.
With the release of the 64x Flight Sim , I have been trying to concentrate on Prepar3D v4 for my back-country flying (still missing my Anuschka (sob....sob....), so here goes..... in memory of a good friend and a great patriot- Captain Bill Odell.
If other's wish to fly along, I will be at Carmacks (CEX4) on VatSim at 7:00pm EST (2300Z) this evening (July 17, 2017) for the first leg. I would suggest we all set simulator time to 2000Z to provide us with sufficient light...... if the narrative is something that interests you, bring something suitable and join me if you like... I plan on departing at 2315Z sharp....
Flying the Yukon River: by Captain Bill Odell
With the wonderful response to this adventure, came a letter from Curt Jardey who has spent a large portion of his life in this area. Curt has filled me in on a few scenery files that would enhance the journey, plus some route changes or additions that where not available before the new scenery additions. Also Curt has offered some really enlightening narrations, which with his permission, I am adding to this version.
Flying the Yukon River is a lengthy journey through the beautiful wilderness of Alaska. Picture yourself as a Bush Pilot being sent on a recon of the Yukon River after the spring thaw. Your job is to note any abnormal sightings such as erosion, blocked junctures with other rivers or streams by rocks or debris. Be especially watchful for unsecured boats that will hinder safe navigation of the river. You have the option of using a wheel plane or a float plane from the companies aircraft. Each airstrip listed on the route is adjacent to the Yukon and arrangements have been made to have fuel and other supplies available.
Since the headwaters of the Yukon River is in Canada. The closest strip to the beginning of the river is Carmacks. We have not designated the starting point floats by coordinates, leaving this option open to the pilot. A word of caution in selecting your aircraft, the river can be narrow at points and some of the strips are quite short. To really enjoy the flight and see the rough terrain we suggest that you fly over the river at 1800' and make maximum use of the full screen view. You should encounter no difficulty flying the river at that altitude, BUT beware if you get off course the little hills can suddenly turn into rather big hills.
On the ground at Carmacks, Yukon Territory, Canada. Ready on Runway 9, a 5000' gravels strip. The scenery is spectacular with glaciers etc. Our routing with airport identifier follows:
ID Name Fuel Available
CEX4 Carmacks No
CYDA Dawson Yes
Cross the border US/Canada here
PAEA Eagle Yes
L20 Coal Creek No
PACR Circle City Yes
PFYU Fort Yukon No
WBQ Beaver No
SVS Stevens Village No
FVM Five Mile No
RMP Rampart No
PATA Calhoun Mem. Tanana Yes
PARY Ruby No
PAGA Galena (Pika, Edward G.) Yes
KYU Koyukuk No
NUL Nulato No
KAL Kaltag No
KGX Grayling No
4Z4 Holy Cross No
RSA Russian Mission No
OAK Pilot Station No
MOU Mountain Village No
Following the river from here on gets tough due to the wide expanse of water, multiple channel’s and many small islands. Try flying at a higher elevation for a further/better view ahead, ie: 4500'.
Flying westward, on the Northern bank, is:
PAEM Emmonak Yes
After Emmonak, a 217 heading will lead you to:
AUK Alakanuk No
Take a 191 heading for:
SXP Sheldon Point No
The return flight will be a little different in that we will drop a few stops and replace them. We will still be following the river. This type of a flight is not out of the ordinary. Each day around you flights of this type go on and you never notice them. Did you ever wonder what those small signs with numbers facing upward were? They usually mark an underground pipeline, a high tension electric line or a railroad. Pilots fly these on a schedule basis looking for anything not normal.. They might be flying the river after a thaw or melting of glaciers looking for dangerous conditions or checking on a flood condition. So picture yourself as the one patrolling the river.
SXP Sheldon Point No
PASM St Mary’s No
MLL Fortuna Ledge (Marshal) No
K40Anvik Seaplane Base No
(the only registered seaplane base on the trip). If you did not choose to fly a float plane, land at: PANU Anvik No
KAL Kaltaga No
PAGA Galena (Pitka) Yes
PATA Tanana Yes
RMP Rampart No
SVS Stevens Village No
WBQ Beaver No
VEE Venetia Landing No
PACR Circle City Yes
PAEA Eagle Yes
CYDA Dawson City Yes
CEX4 Carmacks No
If you have replacement river textures (newriver.zip) by Holger Busekros, the Yukon River goes beyond the default “cut off point” to Lake Labarge, near Whitehorse. Also recommended is FS2000 elevated terrain mesh scenery of the Yukone by Richard Gascon. There’s two parts (9.83 mb & 10.5 mb) and a patch (2.15 mb) to down load. Richards files, as well as Holger’s can be found on Flightsim.com.
Landing air fields up river from Carmacks are:
CFP8 Cousins/Whitehorse No
CVXY Whitehorse International Yes
In reality, the Yukon River flows by/through the City of Whitehorse and run’s parallel to Second Avenue, a main road within the city. In gold rush days, stern wheeler boats docked at Whitehorse which was as far up river as they could go. Gold miners traveled from Skagway, Alaska, over Chilkoot Pass, past Bennet Lake in northern British Columbia and on up to Whitehorse. From Whitehorse to Dawson, for the miners, was via river boat. Miles Canyon, just up river a couple of miles from Whitehorse, prevented river boats from proceeding farther.
With new river textures replacing the default files, and with ET Mesh scenery installed, the virtual Yukon River basically ends at Lake Laberge (pronounced Lake LaBarge), however if you fly “over the ridge” westward from Whitehorse, the Yukon River begins once more and will lead you to Atlin Lake. Atlin Lake Airport (CYSQ) has fuel available there
There, you did it and I will venture to say it was a real experience and a lot different flying than you have experienced in FS.
Now for an addition, some very interesting history and geography courtesy of Curt Jardey.
“Once the new river textures are installed, the Yukon River in FS 2002 stretches as far as Lake Laberge; quite aways up river from Carmacks - although the Yukon flows a lot further in reality. Microsoft’s Encarta World Atlas also “stops” the Yukon at La Berge. Even the add-on mesh scenery does not do this area justice at all.
In real terms, the Yukon River flows by/through Whitehorse and far beyond. If I am not mistaken, Atlin Lake in British Columbia is the Yukon River’s source. In my FS scenery, with new river installed, the Yukon “picks up” again, west of Whitehorse - just over “the ridge”. In the gold rush days, stern wheeler river boats could navigate up the Yukon to Whitehorse. Just past Whitehorse a couple of miles up-river, there is a place called locally as Miles Canyon - the river boats could not navigate through Miles Canyon - too narrow, fast water, vertical rock cliffs on both sides. Today, a dam was built slightly west towards Whitehorse from Miles canyon. In the water above the dam is a seaplane base. It’s coordinates and data are:
CEZ5 Whitehorse Seaplane Base
N 60 40' 52" W 135 01' 47"
+2138ft
Opr: City of Whitehorse
Wwy S/N 4000' x 500'
VOR/DME 116.6 YXY (003 deg/5.8 nm to Whitehorse Int’l Airport)
NDB 302 XY (146 deg/4.9 nm to Whitehorse Int’l Airport)
In FS 2002, the seaplane base would be in the hills above Whitehorse on Solid ground. However, if yoh know someone who does scenery - you’ll have the seaplane base info to pass along. “Special note: if anyone knows someone who could do the scenery, maybe Tom Fica? We sure would like to have it to compliment our adventure.
In FS2002, the Yukon picks up again, from ending at Lake La Bege, just over the “ridge” past Whitehorse a piece and continues to Atlin Lake, British Columbia. You’ll have to use your imagination a great deal when in theWhitehorse area, up river from La Berge. After Whitehorse and really at the eastern edge of the city, the Yukon curves a tad southward then curves back slightly northward on a northerly course.
In the real world, the airport (Whitehorse Int’l) is up on “a Mesa”, near and west of Utah Flats, slightly to the south of Whitehorse city - actually it overlooks the city and the Yukon Valley. The river flows on the north side of the city center and parallel to Second Avenue - a main drag. A bridge crosses the river on the east end of Whitehorse. Across this bridge is the Whitehorse General Hospital (off to the west) and a residential area called Riverdale (off to the east). I lived in a three bedroom “row house” complex in Riverdale many, many moons ago.
The Alaska Highway goes right by the airport (east to west, on the south side of the airport - the Alaskan Highway is so close to the airport that the terminal, terminal parking lot, and tower are a stone’s throw away - literally. On the south side of the Alaska Hwy across from the airport, are trucking terminals, the Airport Chalet (motel/restaurant - great food) and both residential and commercial lots.
I can picture everything in my mind’s eye cuz I was there in Whitehorse. My description isn’t terrific, but it might let cha “see” a little bit what the area looks like for real.
FS2000 had an abandoned air strip named Squanga Lake in the airport’s menu. The airfield was built by the American Army when the Alaska Hwy was under construction. Squanga Lake is a “real goin concern”. It consists of two log cabins. One is owned by my father-in-law, Bill Good, and the other by his sister, Daisy Hall (she’s pushing daisies now). One of these days, I am going to break open Airport 260 and recreate Squanga Lake air strip for old-time’s sake. The old strip is pretty rough, but is still landable in an emergency situation.
If you don’t have the new river textures, run, don’t walk, to your favorite FS files library web site”.
Thanks a million Curt.
We would appreciate hearing from any one that has flown this adventure or any of the others we have written. Maybe you might have similar info and stories. We would love your comments. There are several more great adventures that we have on the site, hope you enjoy them. By the way I flew this in an Otter (wheels one way and floats the other). Carl did the same only his aircraft of choice was the Beaver.