AWPIREP AW640 DHC2 20250823 CYDA-PAEG 050

The Great Yukon Adventure - Part 3


So after a wonderful day and evening in Dawson City it is time to go flying again. We'll be heading towards Eagle today, crossing the border to Alaska on our way. I made a few screenshots while experimenting with the drone camera function of FS2024 which allows really nice close-up pictures.



Performing the last pre-flight checks. Note the rope hanging down from under the wing. There are four of them, two on each wing, and they are actually animated.



Engine warmed up, ready for departure!



Confluence of Yukon and Klondike River. Overflying Dawson City. Note the ropes dangling in the wind.



Goodbye Dawson City!



Close-up shot to show you all the amazing details on the Beaver. Weathered look, rivets, reflections etc. The longer you look at it, the more details you will notice. Stunning!



Yukon. Wilderness.



Forty Mile River joining the Yukon.



Heading towards Eagle.



Descending to the traffic pattern altitude. The boundary between Canada and Alaska is right in front of us.



Short final runway 25 at PAEG.



Landing roll. Runway is made of concrete plates.



Parking brake set! Thank you, Lady!



And engine is shut down.

This was a rather short and unspectacular flight. Will decide later on if we stay at Eagle or continue our journey along the mighty Yukon.

AWPIREP AW640 DHC2 20250822 CEX4-CYDA 144

The Great Yukon Adventure - Part 2


Just a few hours later after we touched down at Carmacks the weather situation has improved significantly. Blue skies, warmer temperatures, calm winds. Perfect conditions for another VFR flight. This time our destination will be Dawson, second largest city in the Yukon territory, cultural capital of the Yukon, home of the Klondike Gold Rush and official checkpoint during the Yukon Quest sled dog race.

I have so many great memories of this place. So let's go again. Time to fire up the Beaver!



The Beaver is loaded, fueled up and ready to go!

After departure we are proceeding northbound, following the Yukon River. The Klondike Highway also leading in the same direction. Cruise altitude again 5,000 feet.



Beautiful weather. Amazing landscape!



Klondike Highway and the mighty Yukon River.

Passing McCabe Creek I think of some more great memories from the Yukon Quest. How different this landscape looks when it is not covered in snow and ice. Just a few minutes further to the north we are passing Minto landing (CML7). The Klondike Highway will diverge to the east until it joins the Yukon River again at Dawson.



Minto. Klondike Highway turning to the right.

Heading northwest now the next point of interest is Fort Selkirk, located on the southern bank of the Yukon at the confluence of the Pelly River. Once a trading post it is now a historic site with a camping ground and landing strip nearby. The site can only be accessed by boat or airplane.



Approaching Fort Selkirk, Pelly River merging from the right.



Fort Selkirk Historic Site and airstrip.



Blue skies!



Westbound.

Flying westbound now we are passing several small creeks that join the Yukon River. One of them caught my attention, not only because of its name, Coffee Creek, but also because there seems to be a small landing strip, which is not published on my charts. Might belong to a mining company, not sure. Clearly visible on Google Maps, it can be spotted in FS2024 as well. But I wouldn't recommend landing there, it is overgrown.



Approaching Coffee Creek. Airstrip can be seen.

Flying northbound shortly thereafter another river merges in the Yukon, the White River. It clearly changes the color of the Yukon River.



White River flows into the Yukon River.

Only about five minutes later we are approaching another confluence. Stewart River joins the Yukon River there.



Confluence of Stewart and Yukon River.



Northbound, on our way to Dawson.

Then finally, after about 1.5 hours of flight, the city of Dawson appears.



Descending towards Dawson.



Klondike River and Klondike Highway both join the Yukon River here. City of Dawson can be seen on the river bank. We are turning slightly right to get to the airport.



Descending further. Klondike River and Klondike Highway can be seen.



Airport in sight!



Preparing to land. Right-hand downwind for runway 21 at CYDA.



Coming in a bit high, no big deal for the Beaver. Can't wait to get to the city again!



And here we are! Taxiing in.



Welcome to Dawson!

Second leg completed. What an amazing flight! 

AWPIREP AW640 DHC2 20250821 CYSQ-CEX4 148

The Great Yukon Adventure - Part 1


Today I will start a series of flights that will follow the Yukon River all the way from Atlin, British Columbia in Canada to the Bering Sea. Sourcing from the Llewellyn Glacier in the Juneau Icefield, British Colombia; The river heads north from Atlin Lake then turns west through Canada and Alaska, before issuing into one the world's largest river delta - The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. Flowing past hamlets, settlements and homesteads - through glacial icefields, mountains, valleys, lakelands and wetlands

A VFR flight plan for FS2020/2024 covering the entire route can be found here on flightsim.to:

>>> Download VFR flight plan: Land of the Midnight Sun - Great River Journeys - The Yukon <<<

The whole route is 1,371 NM. I don't know how long it will take to complete all those flights, I might take some detours here and there. Using the live weather function of FS2024 I need to check the weather before each flight, like in real life.

I will be using the DHC-2 Beaver for the entire flight. Wanna join me? So let's go! Hop on board and let the adventure begin!

AWPIREP AW640 DHC2 20250820 PASI-PAGS 118

Maintain VFR they said. It'll be fun, they said... Well, marginal VFR weather today. Much worse than expected. My plan was to go even further northwest, from Sitka to Yakutat. But due to the deteriorating weather situation, I diverted to Gustavus. Welcome to Alaska.



Last checks before take-off.



Departing Sitka on runway 11. Beautiful sunrise.



Heading northwest now.




Passing 6,600 feet and still climbing. Rain everywhere. No chance to climb above this thick cloud layer. Weather situation further along my planned route is worsening. I need another plan. Will be diverting.



While flying above the water and staying away from terrain I descended back below 2,000 feet. Heading towards PAGS already. Visibility could be better, though. Need to focus now and keep monitoring.



Airport in sight right in front of me. No rain at this point, but clouds closing in again. Visibility however is good enough.



Crossing midfield to enter the left-hand downwind for runway 11.



Short final.



And here I am. Parked her right next to the office. Boy I need a good coffee now.

AWPIREP AW640 B38M 20250819 PANC-PAOM 140

Hello Eagles,

today I'd like to invite you to accompany me on a flight from Anchorage to Nome. Using FS2024 and the default Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Alaska Airlines livery. The route we'll be flying today is based on a real flight that Alaska Airlines is flying as well. I just got my sim set up so that I can at least enjoy some of the endless features it has. I do have a Navigraph subscription and integrated the charts and dispatch into the default EFB which makes flight planning and operating much more easier. I'll try to give you an insight on part of the procedures that are used when operating a real Boeing 737. So let's go! Enjoy the flight



Parked at the gate, last pieces of luggage being loaded, catering truck at the back, passengers boarding. Captain and First Officer completing their respective preflight procedures.



Setting up my cockpit, presently calculating the take off performance data for RWY25R.



Starting pushback. Reading the BEFORE START checklist.



Number 2 engine coming alive. Pushback truck driver missed the centerline. Needs more coffee I guess...



Starting the number 1 engine. V-speeds already entered into the FMC: V1 137, Vr 137 and V2 145 KIAS. Captain as pilot flying (PF) will select TAKEOFF REF page on the FMC, First Officer as pilot monitoring (PM) will select LEGS page in order to manually enter route changes after takeoff and below 10,000 feet as standard procedure to reduce workload for PF.

Once both engines are started, the First Officer will complete the BEFORE TAXI procedures and checklist.



Flaps 5 will be used for this take-off. Ready for departure!



Climbing out of Anchorage. Autopilot engaged.



Now cruising at FL360 with LNAV and VNAV engaged. Note that during this phase, the PF may use the LEGS page on the FMC because of reduced workload while the autopilot is steering the aircraft. I am setting up the RNAV approach to RWY03 at Nome. I have created a custom waypoint (MAR03) for a better intercept towards final. This may also be delegated to the PM.



Blue skies!



60NM until top of descent. Note small green circle with T/D indication on the NAV display. Approach chart for RNAV RWY 03 already selected on my EFB. This is part of the Navigraph module. Approach briefing completed, DESCENT checklist about to follow.



During descent. Autopilot still in LNAV/VNAV and following the calculated descent path towards RWY 03.



Descending towards Nome.



Pretty nice weather today, expecting no problems during approach. Using live weather function of FS2024.



On final, gear down and flaps 15 set. Autopilot and autothrottle still engaged.



Short final runway 03 at Nome. Flying manually now, however autothrottle still engaged because I forgot to set up a button to disengage it.



Landing roll. Runway length is 6,176 feet. Which is just about sufficient for a Boeing 737.



And here we are! After landing and shutdown procedures completed. Engines shut down and waiting for the ground crew to bring some stairs and stuff. The return flight will be flown by the First Officer.


Welcome to Nome!

Shalom and greetings all my pals,

Presenting a darn nice cargo hauling trip recreating historic real world Northern Air Cargo 737-200C flight from PANC Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport located 5 miles southwest of downtown Anchorage to PAOM Nome Airport located two nautical miles west of the central business district of Nome

The official AW flight number is called TRA004.

Cargo being loaded into the plane. Yep somebody in Nome got rich either from fishing catches or oil strike findings enough to buy Porchse!!



Cargo door closing after finishing the cargo loading



Doing pre-flight checklist including testing rudder and all flaps which you can see the tail rudder being tested



Making sure the cargo door is properly shut



Leaving cargo apron to taxi to taxiway K



Entering into taxiway K to make long taxiing to runway 07L



Still continuing on long taxi while some driver of oil refuel tanker is trying to beat the plane in race



Making last minute runway change to enter into runway 07R for take off after being informed by the PANC airport tower that runway 07R is closed temporarily due to some debris left on the runway by previous planes



Airborne now after take off on climb to FL300 making left turn toward west with ground view of Fish Creek river and Fish Creek Estuary below the plane nose



Leaving background view of PANC area to start the route ANC J111 MCG J111 OME while continuing its climb to FL300



CONTINUED BELOW.....

Shalom and greetings all,

Since all of you have noticed that Alaskan Winds has announced new PIREP filing system on the AW website but in case any of you do not know real ICAO codes for aircraft types necessary to process a PIREP filing, here is  nice list of OFFICIAL codes for all aircraft types as seen below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ai...esignators

https://www.avcodes.co.uk/acrtypes.asp

That should help you although I am not sure if it covers very old planes made 60 years ago

How to Log Your PIREPs (Pilot Reports) at Alaskan Winds
(Note: at the time of this writing flight codes are still being added to the various sections here)

1. At the forum: sharing your flight — in the Logbooks > > >
   * Sharing your fllight here on the Logbooks is great, we hope you do it!
   * On the Lobooks there are no strict PIREP format rules.

2. At the website: sending your flight for time calculations — at the Website form > > >
   (Note: security reasons, this link is not visible on the public website — please bookmark it)
   * Sending your PIREP is not mandatory — but only those PIREPs sent will have their flight time calculated and published.

3. Before You Submit
  * Make sure your flight follows our Ops Manual values > > >
  * Make sure you're using correct Flight Code and Flight Time formats.

4. Aicraft ICAO codes
   * To find your aircraft's ICAO code just google something like "Beechcraft 1900D ICAO aircraft type designator googles AI will give it to you: "B190" in this case.
  * For a more professional approach use ICAO's search form at > > > https://www2023.icao.int/publications/DO...earch.aspx
  * Example: Beechcraft 1900D → B190

5. Flight Code Format: TTTNNN (3 letters + 3 numbers)
  * Example: TRA011 → The Real Alaska, Flight 11
 
         Available Codes
         • FBF – Flight Board
         • FSE – FSEconomy
         • TRA – The Real Alaska
         • GAT – The Great Alaskan Tour
         • IDI – Virtual Iditarod
         • YUK – Virtual Yukon Quest
         • PFF – Pilot's Free Flights (always use PFF000)

Flight Time Format: NNN (3 digits)
  Example: 134 = 1 hour and 34 minutes


PIREP Line Format: AWID ACtype YYYYMMDD FlightCode FlightTime
  Example: AW001 DHC2 20250813 TRA011 134

All submitted PIREPs are calculated and published at the start of each calendar month.
Be careful up there!

Welcome to Alaskan Winds VAS (Virtual Air Service)
Here we fly together — at our own pace, in our own way — no minimum hours, no mandatory aircraft, no rigid flight plans.

What we ask is simple:
• Respect for fellow pilots and the community
• Curiosity about Alaska
• Honor for bush flying-style of operations
• Sharing of your stories, of what you learn

If you decide to join us:
1 • Register here at the forum (our Ops Center)
2 • Go to User CP / Edit Profile / Additional Information / Bio and add a short reply to these questions on your Bio field:
     + How|where did you found AW?
     + New or returning user? (add your AWID in this case)
3 • Wait for account activation
4 • You’ll receive a private message with your AWID
5 • Go to  User CP / Change Signature remove the previous info and add your real name and AWID (visible only to AW members)


The rest is open skies!

AWPIREP AWCEO C185 20250808 PAOM-PASH 058

Guys, how I missed this...
As always my first flight after along period away from the cockpit must start at home - at Nome for me!

Today's flight carried more than just cargo — it carried a small piece of connection for the people of New Shishmaref.

With the sea ice of the Chukchi Sea shifting earlier each year, supply routes have become unpredictable, and every trip matters! Here the effects of global warming have been devastating with many houses being relocated to safer grounds.

From Nome’s windswept runway to the runway at New Shishmaref, the mission was simple: bring in the goods, the mail..
..and a reminder that even in the far reaches of Alaska, no community is ever truly isolated.

As for navigation I kept it classic — tracking the PASH NDB all the way in. Old school.


I will never grow tired of this remote landscapes!