YUKON AND ALASKA AIRTOUR June 24-July 5, 2013 After the 2013 COPA Fly-in Convention in Dawson Creek, BC, COPA is in the process of organizing an Airtour to Fly the Alaska Highway! Visit the Gold Rush Town of Atlin, Whitehorse (Fly Kluane National Park and see Mt Logan, the highest mountain in Canada at 19,551ft), carry on to historic Dawson City, of the Klondike Gold Rush fame and continue on to Fairbanks Alaska and help them celebrate July 4th with a Salmon Bake. Return and further aerial touring is on your own. This Airtour is not a rally or timed event but a relaxed exploration of the Alaska Highway Klondike Highway & Yukon River route. Therefore, you do not have to start each day at a specific time. Take your time and stop at some of the small strips enroute and explore the area or drop a line in a lake or stream and we will see you at the next scheduled overnight stop. Remember why you are here. Enjoy the magnificent scenery. Accommodation: It is intended that this tour will primarily involve camping at or near all airport locations. There are hotels or other accommodations at most planned overnight stops. Tour participants will be supplied with suggested camping list, tourist information and maps. Reservations for accommodations other than camping are the responsibility of each participant. Route: The route of flight generally follows the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse and then via the Yukon River and Klondike Highway to Dawson City. At Teslin a detour is made to Atlin, Carcross and then Whitehorse. An aerial exploration is planned of the The St. Elias Mountain Range, containing the second highest peak in North America, Mt. Logan at 19,551 is the highest peak in Canada which lies in Kluane National Park. This will be briefed in Whitehorse. Skagway AK and Glacier Bay are also day trip flying options. A ride on the historic White Pass Yukon Route narrow gauge railway is also considered. From Dawson City, we will fly the Yukon River and White River then direct to Northway AK to clear US Customs. Then we will continue flying the Alaska Highway to Fairbanks AK. - 1 - Remember this is a flightseeing tour and other than the planned stops and activities the itinerary will be suited to your interests. If you require more information please feel free to contact the tour organizer. Organization: This tour is being organized by Bram Tilroe. Since 1987 he has organized many airtours for the Alberta Aviation Council and the Montana Antique Aircraft Association and has specialized in Northern Canada Tours. The most successfull tour was the 1992 Alaska Highway 50th anniversary tour which counted 130 participant and 59 Aircraft. The 2013 tour will mirror this tour with the addition of Dawson City. Most tours have been of the “flying & under the wing camping type” due to the remotesness of the areas and lack of accomodations. Past tours have included the states of Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Washington and an Oshkosh tour. Many tours have included North Western BC, Yukon, NWT and Nunavut. Airports: Although our route will take us through mountainous terrain and higher elevations no airport is above 2500’ ASL and most are well below this. The shortest runway is 2000’ and the rest are much longer. There is one turf runway and a few are sand/gravel and well maintained. Depending on conditions at the time we may have to forego some locations. Therefore we can accomodate most GA aircraft. If you have any concerns please contact the organizer. If Flying to the Yukon and Alaska has been on your bucket list please join us and experience the land of the midnight sun and there will be no night flying as it will never get dark and a flashlight on your camping list is not required. If you are interested in this tour, please email Bram Tilroe [email protected] so we can gauge the interest. We also expect many American pilots to join us as we will be soliciting through AOPA. All Flight planning information, route, fuel, maps, etc will be provided once registration forms and fees have been received. A fee will be calculated to include planning costs, maps required, T-Shirts, hats, name tags, etc. Greater detail will be provided as the planning progresses; however a preliminary outline and plan follows below. Outline: Route of flight Dawson Creek - Ft St John - Ft Nelson - Watson Lake - Teslin - Atlin - Carcross – Whitehorse – Carmacks – Ft Selkirk – Pelly Crossing – Mc Queston – Dawson City – via Yukon River to White River to Northway AK – Big Delta AK – Fairbanks AK. This is a distance of approximately 1240 NM and in a C172 type aircraft @ 110K would take 11 hours and 45 minutes of flying time and burn about 400 litres of Avgas. In addition there may be some added side trips i.e. Kluane National Park Glacier Tour, which are not included in the flying total at this time, however this should give - 2 - participants some idea. Cost of Avgas will probably run at $1.80L to over $2.10/L. We are planning on negotiating a discounted fuel rate for our tour at the various stops. We will be setting a per person registration fee to offset organizational costs, the provision of all maps, airport information, commemorative ball caps T shirt and decal, some planned tours and BBQs. At this early stage a ball park figure would probably be around $300 pp. One optional tour under consideration would be to ride the historic White Pass Yukon narrow gauge railway from Skagway AK to Carcross YT, which would add to this cost. The tour will terminate at Fairbanks at which time we can suggest return flights via various other routes, or return south via the Alaska highway route and to home base. Happy Flying Bram Tilroe COPA Tour organizer. References Please check out the following internet links to whet your appetite for this tour http://travelyukon.com/vacationplanner2012/index.html http://www.wpyr.com/ http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/kluane/index.aspx http://www.dawsoncity.ca/ http://www.travelalaska.com/ http://fairbanks-alaska.com/ http://www.hellobc.com/atlin.aspx Although not an aviation resource, in this publication you will find trip planning help and frequently asked questions about highway travel by RV, auto, caravan or motorcycle, ferry and fly/drive travel to Alaska and Western Canada. Since 1949, The MILEPOST® has been the most trusted and complete Alaskan travel guide and Alaskan trip planner for highway and ferry travel to Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and Western Northwest Territories. Updated annually, The MILEPOST® gives you nearly 800 pages of detailed information on everything from the famous Alaska Highway system to cruising Alaska's Inside Passage. http://www.milepost.com/home - 3 - Preliminary Itinerary Dawson Creek BC- via Whitehorse Yukon - Dawson City, Yukon to Fairbanks Alaska (Following the Alaska Highway and Yukon River) June 24 – July 5, 2013 Dates Description Approx. Distance NM June 24 Depart Dawson Creek BC (full weather briefing, routing details, flight 407 planning and fuel information will be provided at the COPA convention) follow the Alaska highway to Ft. Nelson and on to Watson Lake Yukon. Camping overnight at the Watson Lake Airport. June 25 Depart Watson Lake, BC follow the Alaska Highway to Teslin then 162 west south westerly via Surprise Lake to Atlin BC. Camping overnight at the Atlin Airport. June 26 Camping overnight at the Atlin Airport. Tour Atlin June 27 Depart Atlin via Carcross to Whitehorse Yukon. Camping at 90 Whitehorse or Hotel/Motel. Tour Whitehorse and SS Klondike National historic site paddle wheeler June 28 Bus tour to Skagway/Carcross to ride the White Pass Yukon historic narrow gauge railway. Camping at Whitehorse or Hotel/Motel. June 29 Glacier tour Kluane National Park. Camping at Whitehorse Airport or Hotel/Motel. (Alternate Weather Day) June 30 Whitehorse to Dawson City Via the Yukon River and Klondike highway 268 route, Possible stops at Ft Selkirk RON Dawson City. July 1 Canada Day at Dawson City Tour the town observe the midnight sun on midnight dome. RON Dawson City. July 2 Tour of the Klondike Gold Fields, Gold Panning and Dredge Tour. This takes you to world-famous Bonanza Creek. RON Dawson City. July 3 Depart Dawson City via the Yukon River and White river to Northway 335 Alaska to clear US customs. Continue on via the AK highway to Fairbanks Intl. The best on Airport Camping ground in the world. July 4 Celebrate July 4th with our American pilot friends. Attend the farewell Salmon bake at Alaska Land. Fairbanks area tour. July 5 Return home via various routes. Tour through Alaska, Through the NWT, Alaska/BC Coastal route, Trench Route. See Maps below - 4 - Proposed Route Kluane National Park Glacier tour - 5 - .