MFC0060 BWEP The Interior (PAFA-PF63)

This is the third BWEP segment: BWEP The Interior Pipeline Segment. (Note ORBX Global Base/Vector Needed for V3.5-V4.5 Not needed for Prepar3d V5).

'Interior Alaska' is so vast it seems limitless and stretching 414mi/666km across this foreboding land is a single gravel road from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay. Construction of the North Slope haul road that parallels the pipeline began in 1973 and includes the first bridge to span the Yukon River. This mostly gravel highway travels through rolling forested hills, across the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle. It winds its way through the rugged Brooks Range and over the North Slope to the Arctic Ocean. Along most of its length, you’ll see no restaurants, no gift shops, no service stations — just forest, tundra, and mountains, crossed by double 'ribbons' of road and pipe.

If you’ve watched the TV show "Ice Road Truckers", then you’re familiar with this dangerous and challenging ribbon of gravel that passes over and through some of Alaska’s most remote wilderness. How remote is it up here? There are only three very small towns along the way. For many miles the Trans-Alaska pipeline is the driver’s only companion. From the midpoint (the town of Coldfoot) to the end of the road, there is nothing but wilderness. In fact, you won’t find services of any kind over the last 240-mile stretch. In other words, if you love lonely roads, this is the drive for you. But not many non-commercial travelers take this route, it is predominantly trucks and big rigs hauling heavy gear. Don't forget that it gets dangerously cold here in the winter. In fact, the highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska are both in the Interior. The highest is 100 °F (37.8 °C) in Fort Yukon on 27 June 1915 and is −80 °F (−62.2 °C) in Prospect Creek on 23 January 1971.

Aircraft: Low and slow single engine prop fixed wing: DHC-2 Beaver, Maule M7, C185, C206, C207. PC-6, PA-18 Super Cub etc, and if running in winter season perhaps you might want to add ski-wheel or tundra wheels. These make great aircraft to use in this exploration tour. There are BWEP liveries on the RTMM BWEP page, (RTMM’s Klaus Tröppner has also created some great BWEP repaints for these designated aircraft).  (Expect I’ll run the Maule M7 or Piper Cub P-18 in this trip but feel free to use the aircraft of your choice). The idea here is to run as low and slow as possible to be able to see the various scenery locations and to be able to follow the “pipes”.

For the helo pilots - specifically helicopters operated by the BWEP: refer to Klaus Tröppner’s Helicopter repaints: These include BWEP liveries of the following models that you can fly in this tour: Erickson S64, Bell212, Bell412, AS332, Bell 206, Bell 222 or the MD530.  

Hope you enjoy the trip following the pipes and visiting most of the RTMM/BWEP poi’s in this rugged area.

Tour Flight Leg Rating Conditions: IE: “6A0” or 6A1, 6A2 etc:
6=Max landing rate is -600fpm,
A=Autopilot and/or GPS use permitted: (but not recommended).
1= # of Stop-overs in the flight leg* IE: 1 = One stopover in the flight leg.  

The Tour download for this excursion is available in the Tour downloads section which contains the all the tour details, scenery requirements, stop-over locations, flight plans, sky vector map links as well as the award for completion so make sure you obtain the tour download for all of the tour specifics.