Part 1 - Anchorage to Seattle as experienced by Greg O'Boyle Updated March 13, 2026 WARNING: Proper flight planning and preparation is required for all flights to and in Alaska. Attempting to fly this route or duplicate this trip would obviously be AT YOUR OWN RISK. 
Alaska Trip Mustang 6/22/2025: ANC-YAK-KTN After a restful sleep on a FedEx B-777 jumpseat to Anchorage I met Rick at the airport and we did our weather assessment which had some low ceilings along our route. On the weather delay, we decided to get some breakfast at The Lakefront Hotel. I packed light and it was a tight squeeze in the airplane with all the gear. The weather improved with a high overcast and light winds. It was an easy departure out of Anchorage International despite a food truck that almost ran into us on the taxiway. The Mustang II ran like a Swiss watch. We cruised about 2,500 below the clouds down Turnagain Arm and through Portage Pass. The weather was smooth and the views were breathtaking. Rick's knowledge of the topography and glaciers was top notch. I enjoyed learning all the points along the way. We saw many glaciers and rivers coming down into the Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Rick and I had so much to talk about, we just chatted the whole time. Our first fuel stop at Yakatat was mostly clear with some blue sky showing. The airport was rather large, but fairly uninhabited and the gas was really expensive. After stretching our legs and taking a bathroom break we launched on our way to Ketchikan. This leg of the trip did not disappoint. The weather was great, saw lots of cool mountains, high mountain lakes, and more Glaciers. Along the way we were largely alone and unafraid, no boats below and no other planes. As we neared Ketchikan, we saw more signs of civilization. The last stretch into the airport was great to maneuver through high mountains shooting out of the water below. After an excellent landing we did the long taxi down the hill to our parking spot. After a long day, it was great to get out, tie down the airplane and take the ferry into town. That night we had a good dinner at the restaurant, a couple well deserved cold snacks and flight planned our next day to include all the border crossing paperwork. 6/23/2025: KTN-CYZT-BLI-BFI Day two of the trip, we woke up to some cloudy skies with a little moisture in the air. We got some good breakfast at the hotel and then took the ferry back to the airport. It was a little bit of an exercise getting gas for our next leg. We got it taken care of, Canada Customs notified, IFR clearance received, and after waiting on an Alaskan 737 we launched through the slight drizzle into the clouds on an IFR SID to Port Hardy. It wasn't long and we were VFR on top of the clouds. It was unfortunate as this would've been a beautiful portion of the country to see, however it was obscured by clouds mostly, but at least we were VMC [Visual Meteorological Conditions - (not flying in the clouds)]. The approach into Port Hardy turned out to be VMC, the skies parted the last 20 miles. Rick did an excellent job wrestling the airplane onto the runway and we parked on the ramp pretty much to ourselves. We coordinated over the phone with Canadian Customs that we had arrived. After fueling up and a quick snack from the vending machine, we launched out enroute to Bellingham for another border crossing. Our previous night's planning for the times that we were arriving at each spot for customs was working out beautifully. This leg of the trip ended up being a lot of clouds as well and we didn't get to see much scenery. It was the first leg of our trip where we ran out of airplane stuff to talk about so we dug out the music and jammed to some tunes. As we approached Vancouver airspace, we got to see more and more as the clouds dispersed and it turned out to be a great day in Washington. The landing at Bellingham was uneventful and we taxied to the red boxed ramp at Customs. Since we weren't harboring any fugitives or illicit drugs, the customs officials were friendly and let us on our way. The flight schedule worked out to where I could get a jumpseat from Seattle back to Memphis. Rick taxied as I hurriedly booked my jumpseat. Flying over Seattle was great to see and ATC gave us about a 15 mile final so we got to see more than we bargained for. We packed a two week adventure into two days. Overall I was only gone from home slightly over 48 hours. Everything really fell into place, despite having some IFR flying the weather cooperated, the Mustang ran like a champ and Rick did a great job getting us there. It was a fantastic trip of a lifetime and one I will never forget. Greg O'Boyle FedEx MD-11 Captain, RV-4 / Lancair Super ES owner. |
 Rick and Greg about to depart Anchorage. |
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