wrote:
: I think the weather will make your decision for you. I flew the
: White Pass route several times when I was there and when the weather
: was good, it was a piece of cake. When the weather was marginal, there
: weren't a whole lot of options. Any coastal WX system tends to fill up
: the passes with low hanging clouds. If you know for sure there are
: breaks ahead, you can go over the top. Otherwise, you're done for the
: day (assuming you're VFR).
:
Unfortunately, I'm aware the weather will make the decision... As I
recall, there tended to be two different types of overcast days. The low-hanging,
droopy, bulbous overcast, and the (relatively) high, flat overcast. The former will
likely fill up the passes and preclude entry, but hopefully the latter will allow a
reasonable down through either pass. I was just thinking Taku inlet since I'll be
coming from the highway (or Atlin), and it's quite a bit wider than White Pass. If
the weather's glorous, a run straight over the icefield is something I've always
wanted to do. The peaks are only 4-6000, so if CAVU it should be reasonable.

I looked into the IFR, but unless you're big iron (read: AK airlines and super
D-GPS they've been working on since we moved there in '92) you're pretty much stuck
with relatively high minimums. Of the three published approaches (GPS, ADF, LDA),
we're only equipped for the LDA and it only gets you to 2200' or so. Ironically, the
ADF is the lowest of all of them! With few airway routes, MEAs from 8-10k, and summer
temps often 50-60 degrees, I don't think a non-deiced PA-28-180 is up for a full IMC
approach. It's gotta be a pretty good VFR day to get in IFR.

: Also, I just recently heard about the "Alaska Airmen's Association
: Logbook."
: Apparently the Milepost for pilots. Is this really the indispensible
: guide like the
: Milepost is for driving? I saw (after some searching) that the '94
: edition was the
: latest as of '99. New ones available and comments?

: That '99 reference was probably from me wasn't it? Thanks to a
: rec.aviation* poster, I was able to borrow the old version of the
: Logbook for my trip. Since then, I've pestered a few people at the
: Alaska Airmen's Assoc. without success. Initially, they told me the
: were working on an updated version for release in 2001, then 2002, and
: so on...

: If you do locate an updated version please post details here. I'd
: like to get one. It was one of the more valuable resources that I took
: on my trip.

: John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

I think it was your reference. I hadn't heard of the Airmen's Association or
the Logbook until yesterday when I was phoning AOPA and the AK-FSDO's for "general
information packets" on the trip. When I called the Airmen's, I was told of the
logbook and that I could order one. I didn't get one (will today), but I didn't know
to ask about the revision year, either. I'll find out when I call them up today and
post back.... (stupid 4-hour time difference...

-Cory


************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************