EA21 Day 11
Route: PAYA - PACV - CKU
IAS: 130-150kts!!
ETE: 2 hours and 5 minutes
MSFS Time: 1700
Weather: Scattered Clouds with the following modifications: Bottom of lowest cloud layer set to 5000 feet
Distance: 265nm!!
Aircraft: Grravel ONLY
Server: West-USA (backup East-USA)
So you’ve made it this far and eagerly anticipate soaking in Alaska’s beauty in the only way it should be done: low and slow. It’s what bush planes are made for. Yeah man, it’s time to throttle back a bit.
WRONG!
Get ready ladies and gentlemen, and ditch that slowness. Grravel’s 230HP can do better! We’re gonna punch it and race today keeping that speed needle thingy in the yellow! Use War Boost if you must but don’t…ever…slow…down!!
Welcome to the ALASKAN CANNONBALL!!!
Yes you heard that right, we’re gonna race from start to finish, all 265nm of it. The longest EA distance so far and it’s gonna be mean. It’s gonna be nasty. Including a short break, can we do this in 2 hours and 5 minutes?
Our parkour gets us started where we touched down last week at the airport of Yukatat (PAYA). We’ll line up on runway 29 and eagerly wait for the start signal.
BANG!!
It’s Full Throttle and there we go, dashing of to the Orcas in Yukatat Bay! After spotting them we immediately bank sharp north making our way into the mountains and around the mighty Malaspina Glacier.
While doing so we’ll be crossing a number of glaciers and encounter some harrowing rocky bends at WP8 and WP9, giving us a brief but impressive glance of the Seward Glacier.
We’ll then execute a 36nm sprint down to WP11 right at the Pacific coast, first over Taan Fiord and then over Icy Bay.
The subsequent stretch to WP12 leads us past impressive exposed geology. Soak it in while you can because we’ll be back into the mountains before you can say “Grravel is fast” ten times, weaving through rocky ridges and over the Guyot, Yaga, Yakataga and Bering glaciers.
We’ll take a 5 minute break at WP-BREAK, which likely means a daring monster flap landing right on top of the Bering Glacier.
Sip a coffee and take a leak, quickly now!
BANG!!
War Boost to full speed and stay low because we will fly dangerously close to the waves between WP20 and WP22 flying along the icy vertical walls of the Bering Glacier mouth itself. Keep your head cool and evade the occasionally falling ice like Han Solo dodging asteroids in the Millenium Falcon.
Pull up at WP22 and head NW towards unspoiled Alaskan marshes and tundra with the sun reflecting beautifully of the numerous lakes and rivers. And perhaps a hungry bear or two.
More mountains, more glaciers! And then…a narrow gorge between WP29 and WP30. Keep punching it and you’ll soon reach Mudhole Airport (PACV) where we’ll do something you secretly always wanted to do ever since you watched Top Gun all those years ago: make those ATC guys spill their coffee! Come’on, dash by that tower as close as you dare and go straight for the finish line at Cordova Municipal Airport (CKU) where Moose Roast will be served!
Fun Fact:
The Malaspina Glacier in southeastern Alaska is the largest piedmont glacier in the world. Situated at the head of the Alaska Panhandle, it is about 65 km wide and 45 km long, with an area of some 3,900 km².
Got Gravel Discord Server
Head to this server if you want to participate in this event.
EA21-Day11.pln (8.7 KB)
