Mustang II - Alaska to Mississippi 2025
Part 1
Experimental Airplane - N727RH

Updated July 4, 2025

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.





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Part 1
Part 2
Route from Alaska to MS as flown- June, 2025 - Click for larger image
2025 Route
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    Previous Alaska pages:

Part 1



-- Background, Mission and Preparation -- Spring, 2025

Anchorage, AK

    In April, 2022 I flew the Mustang II to Alaska with the intent of keeping it there indefinitely. The detailed blog with photos is here.

    But now with our new, larger hangar in the Memphis area, I decided to reposition the Mustang II there to simplify maintenance and to have it available there. One logistical issue with the plan is that I am now on FAA 'Basic Med' which is not recognized by Canada, so I can no longer act as Pilot In Command there. Interestingly, The Bahamas and Mexico recognize Basic Med, but Canada doesn't [yet].

    MD-11 Captain, instructor and multiple experimental airplane owner Greg O'Boyle graciously agreed to fly with me - PIC from Ketchikan to Seattle, where I could take it solo from there. He also looked forward to the experience of flying at low altitude along the Alaska coastline for the scenery and experience. We got him insured and I commenced with the preparation for the flight. He scheduled to fly on the jumpseat [as passenger] on a FedEx flight into Anchorage early Sunday morning, June 22nd. If all went as planned he would fly a FedEx jumpseat from Seattle back to Memphis Monday evening, June 23rd. Loving that 'the plan came together' - that's exactly what he did.

    Greg already had an eAPIS account with the US Customs and Border Protection and I acquired the 2025 Customs decal. For our comfort we decided to stop in Port Hardy, BC, Canada and deal with both Canadian and US Customs vs. planning to fly for 3+40 non-stop from Ketchikan to Bellingham (which the airplane could've done).

    This is my 12th journey to or from Alaska in the Mustang II and my 22nd in a light plane.





-- Sunday, June 22, 2025 -- Day 1

Flight leg 1 - Anchorage, AK [PANC] to Yakutat, AK [PAYA]

    Today Greg O'Boyle and I flew from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to Yakutat to Ketchikan, Alaska in the Mustang II.
The flight was over a lot of water, but it was beautiful over Prince William Sound, the glaciers of south central Alaska and the southeast panhandle.



Greg with me as we were about to depart Anchorage.

    He had just jumpseated in from Memphis, arriving at 6 am. The weather was near instrument minimums at Yakutat, our first stop, so we gave ourselves a "weather hold" waiting for some improvement. We finally departed Anchorage International Airport at 11:37 am on a VFR flight plan to Valdez with the intention to pick up an IFR flight plan and reroute to Yakutat if the weather improved as forecast.



Cockpit in cruise :30 minutes after takeoff constantly checking the Yakutat weather




Over beautiful Prince William Sound at 3,500' VFR to stay clear of the clouds




Prince William Sound. A lot of cold water below...
The Exxon Valdez went aground in this area in March, 1989




The terminus of the immense Bering Glacier

    Combined with the Bagley Ice Field this is the longest glacier in North America. It starts at Mt. St. Elias about 100 miles to the east and the ice field actually continues into Canada where the name changes to the Seward Glacier at the base of Canada's largest mountain Mt. Logan (19,541')




The Malaspina Glacier - approximately the size of Rhode Island

    This is at the extreme northwestern end of southeast Alaska's panhandle. Mt. St. Elias (18,008') - the second-highest mountain in both Canada and the United States is about 50 miles in the distance. Mt Logan is barely discernable off the wingtip.



Breaking out of the fog on the RNAV runway 11 approach to the Yakutat airport.
The weather had been at instrument minimums when we departed Anchorage.


The route from Anchorage to Yakutat.
Flight time was 2+20, Block time (including taxi) 2+39.
324 Nautical Miles straight-line distance.


Fueling at Yakutat. $11.00 / gallon
We put on 23 more gallons for the 2 1/2 hour flight to Ketchikan.



Flight leg 2 - Yakutat, AK [PAYA] to Ketchikan, AK [PAKT]

    We departed Yakutat at 2:50 pm IFR to Ketchikan. There was coastal fog for the first part of the route until we passed abeam Juneau so I made a bit of a different request from ATC: I requested: "Direct Ketchikan, VFR On Top at 5,500', I will assume my own terrain clearance". The IFR route would've required flying 20 miles off shore for over an hour until passing west of Sitka and climbing to a much higher altitude, which didn't appeal to either of us, so this special clearance worked out nicely.


Flying along the coast above the fog layer VFR On-Top at 5,500'.
15,300' Mt. Fairweather is about 15 miles away here, somewhat covered by cloud.


Breaking into the clear as we pass Icy Strait.
Juneau is about 60 miles away off the left wingtip.


A selfie of us about halfway between Yakutat and Ketchikan over the Inside Passage.
Ketchikan is just over an hour away.


The Inside Passage :30 before landing at Ketchikan.


On final for runway 11 at Ketchikan about 5:20 pm.
Greg brought up the possibility of our continuing on to Port Hardy this evening,
but we decided to stay with the plan to overnight in Ketchikan.


Our direct route as flown on ForeFlight (the green line)



Greg at Ketchikan



At Ketchikan


    From here we took the ferry from the airport to the town which is only a 3 minute ride, and leaves every half-hour.
We stayed at "The Landing Hotel" and enjoyed halibut and salmon for dinner. At dinner we did the flight planning for tomorrow and contacted both Canadian and US Customs for the advance notice. Greg filed the eAPIS under his name and got the two permissions required by US CBP.

Tomorrow's plan is to get up at 6 am to be airborne by 9 am and go to Port Hardy, BC, Canada, Bellingham and Seattle, Washington.





-- Monday, June 23, 2025 -- Day 2

Flight leg 3 - Ketchikan, Alaska [PAKT] - Port Hardy, BC, Canada [CYZT]

    At breakfast, the weather at Ketchikan was quite low: a 300' ceiling and rain - which is not at all unusual for Ketchikan. But we stuck with the plan, got to the airport by 7:30 and started up at 8:43 am. We briefed the ODP [Obstacle Departure Procedure] and departed runway 11 at 9 am as the weather came up slightly. We entered the clouds about 1,000' AGL and never saw the ground until about 15 minutes before landing on the approach at Port Hardy 2+15 later.


On the ferry heading back to the airport. Notice the low clouds and rain.



The Obstacle Departure Procedure at Ketchikan.
We were solid in the clouds and rain before we got to the 2,000' point.
As you can imagine, it's "very important" to miss the mountains...


About to taxi out at Ketchikan.
Greg is acting as PIC from the right seat for the legs over Canada.



A cruise ship in the Tongass Narrows as we departed Ketchikan.



On approach to runway 11 at Port Hardy, BC, Canada.
The last time I was on this approach was in September, 2016
in the Navajo with the left engine shut down.
So this was my second single-engine approach to this runway... :-)
At least there was no emergency equipment standing by this time.


At Port Hardy parked in the designated "Customs box".
Greg called CAN-PASS on his cellphone from the cockpit and was cleared.
Very quick and easy.
We'd passed from the Alaska Time Zone into the Pacific Time Zone and landed at 12:17 pm PDT.


At Port Hardy. Wilderness Seaplanes is the operator who still operate the Grumman Goose commercially.



The Port Hardy airport terminal




Flight leg 4 - Port Hardy, BC, Canada [CYZT] - Bellingham, WA [KBLI]

    We departed Port Hardy a little after 1 PM PDT IFR for Bellingham. Climbed to 9,000' flying southeast along the northern coast of beautiful Vancouver Island. Greg's phone estimate to US Customs was for a 2:45 PM arrival. It was rather impressive that we landed at 2:42 and taxied up to the Customs box right at 2:45.
As we were being vectored by Victoria Approach and exited Canadian airspace, Greg announced: "You are now Pilot In Command!"
A Customs officer met us, looked at the aircraft registration and airworthiness certificates and inside checked our passports all in a reasonably short period of time. He let us stay parked in "The Box" for a bit as we stopped in the Fixed Base Operator next door: Bellingham Aviation Services.
I was very pleasantly surprised to see long-time friend and fellow retired MD-11 instructor Tom Buskirk who had been tracking me and wanted to surprise me. I hadn't seen him in over five years. Thanks Tom!!
Meanwhile Greg worked on catching an earlier jumpseat out of Seattle and got it. We kept moving so he could make his show time in just 2 1/2 hours.


Over The Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.



The route we flew from Port Hardy to Bellingham.



Tom Buskirk came out to meet me at Bellingham.




Flight leg 5 - Bellingham, WA [KBLI] - Boeing Field, Seattle, WA [KBFI]

    Final leg for Greg. Although it was good weather, I filed IFR to Boeing Field since there was a lot of congested airspace ahead. I mentioned to Greg that I was glad to be finished with the required survival vest, but the alert Marine pointed out that we still had a lot of water to fly over... Good point, Greg! We took off at 3:32 heading out over Puget Sound. I was expecting only a :30 minute flight, but ATC routed us quite a bit east of Seattle since SEA-TAC and BFI were both landing to the north. We landed at 4:18 PM, and shut down at the AeroServices ramp at 4:25 PM.


Passing Paine Field, Everett, WA while being vectored to Boeing Field.



On final to runway 32 Left at Boeing Field, Seattle, WA.



We were both very happy to safely and quickly get to Boeing Field.
Mission Accomplished!


The SPOT tracker record of the flight so far.



-- Tuesday, June 24, 2025 -- Day 3

Day off
Feeling a great relief to have the Mustang II back in the Lower 48 - where I could fly it back to the Memphis area at my leisure, I decided to take a day off and rest in Seattle. Five years ago when Matt and I picked up the Cessna Cardinal from Everett, we spent a day at The Museum of Flight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here was my chance to go again and take all the time I want.


Concorde - as viewed from under the wing of a B-17



Museum of Flight pavilion



The prototype B-727



The prototype B-737



The prototype B-747



The Great Gallery in the Museum of Flight.



Cockpit of a B-737-200.
This is the first jet that I ever flew (for People Express) in 1985.



Souvenirs - Books about the jets that I flew.

Continue to Part 2



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