Wild Alaska

I have always enjoyed flight simming to Alaska, exploring most of the state, especially the scenic and challenging coastal airports along the way. For as long as I can recall, I have flown jetliners and bushplanes in all the sims to and from Alaska.

The long journey from home on the East Coast was a long one indeed—almost nine hours of airliner travel in a nondirect way from Boston via Atlanta on a memorable 757-200 for me. The 757 was cramped, yet fun and nostalgic as it’s the biggest jet I could actually find that serves our farthest state. 

Almost immediately upon arrival into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (PANC), I knew I was in airplane heaven from the immediate close-by 747s taxiing past the terminal windows to the noise of Beaver seaplanes whizzing overhead. 

I had never been to Alaska, but I wanted my boys and I to receive a “true” experience. Not really knowing how to recreate that, I just Googled as much as I could in the months leading up to the trip. I spent hours on MSFS2020 around some places, initially wanting it to be all a mountain trip. However, not all Alaska looks like the Rockies, much of it being flat, swamps, and waterways. 

The Alaskan town of Willow Lake is fairly large, an hour north of Anchorage, and home to many seaplane bases.

We rented a beautiful three-story house for relatively cheap on Vrbo that offered lakefront access. The most memorable part for me was the ability to swim in crystal clear lake water—that was also very cold—at 10 p.m. when it was still light outside.

The novelty of sunset beyond 11 p.m. was so new to us, so wild. In fact, my observation was that around 8 p.m. it seems to be getting gradually darker like it would at home for us in summer, but then the sunset just gets hung up somewhere at a lower angle than midday but doesn’t continue its descent. It just kinda stays at about a 30-degree angle for what seems forever.

The sunrise was close to 3:30 or 4 a.m. at the end of July when we were there, so we were prompted to get up early and start the day. 

The area this far north of Anchorage boasts some great views of Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America at — 20,310 feet—and was a good spot for us to drive closer up there for viewing.

MSFS2020 replicated Denali perfectly. The lake we stayed on freezes solid in winter with temperatures often falling to minus-40 degrees Fahrenheit, and I am sure MSFS2020 will simulate the solid ice lake well in a few months. Snow is far less than the southern mountain range receives

We had also rented a cabin home in Girdwood farther south and east of PANC. This gave the true Alaskan feel I wanted with the mountains, dense trees—rainforest almost—cozy-cabin stuff.

The resort is near the southern coast of Alaska and is one of the few places on earth near the ocean that gets buried in snow each year. More than 600 inches of snow typically falls here, despite its location at sea level and relatively near the ocean. Even Anchorage, northwest of here, gets more rain, far less snow. It is not that cold here, as it is similar to the climate in Boston. 

Girdwood Airport (AQY) is in a canyon valley, a very challenging place that has real Alaskan feel I was looking for. The terrain reaches well over 4,000 feet agl, so a good vertical rise is seen. It is reminiscent of Montana, where I have been often in real life on flying trips, and while there aren’t towering mountains like the Tetons, it is dangerous enough for  foolhardy pilots indeed.

Riding our bikes to the Girdwood Airport took only a few minutes and was so much fun. Having a real bush pilot airport that close was something I had not even known existed until using MSFS2020. The folks who ran the FBO and the daily helicopter rides were going almost nonstop, either to local sights or far away wildlife expeditions where they drop people in the wilderness.

While staying in Girdwood, we chose to do a guided ATV tour from Alaska ATV Adventures. The three-hour tour was led by a bush pilot named Bob, who guided us through torrents of rain, deepwater crossings, and flooded rivers. The density of the forest was incredible. 

At one point, we encountered a momma grizzly bear, who became quite upset when she noticed us and nudged her cub up a tree for safety. After a few minutes, she stood up and charged my kids and the guide two times. We fled as fast as we could on our ATVs with me in the rear, looking over my shoulder the entire time, as the level of fear I had was far more than any emergencies I have ever experienced as a pilot.

Bob told us we had been in quite a “situation,” and it appeared that even the unshakable bush pilot had not experienced anything quite like that in all the years he had been giving these tours. We felt privileged—kind of. 

Despite the scary bear encounter, one exciting realization was that you can find all these locations in sim quite easily. All I had to do was look at my iPhone photos via location and Google search the town on a mapping app. Then you can find that area in MSFS2020 via its internal map, and there you go. You can pop right in by initiating a flight right at 5,000 feet agl. This is exactly how I landed in Fish Lake to take the screenshots as it’s not a registered floatplane base and not shown on ForeFlight. 

If flying virtual Alaska is in your future, I’d recommend using a VFR sectional, ForeFlight, or built-in mapping software readily available. 

Bush flying is the way to go. Once you arrive and give some consideration to the great custom-detailed scenery availability on the in-sim marketplace, it may be well worth it. MSFS2020 even has wildlife in areas around the globe, so finding a grizzly in a safer environment may be worthwhile as well.