From Buffalo to Alaska (and Back!) by Light Plane - A Journal

Last updated: December 2006

Follow along with a father and son team of pilot and co-pilot and our online travel journal as we fly from Buffalo to Alaska in late August, 1996. We took the trip in a Cessna 172, a reliable, though somewhat slow, single engine airplane. We took along a laptop computer and a Kodak DC 50 digital camera to provide updates of each day's progress. All pictures were taken with the DC 50. Departure date was Saturday, 17 August, 1996.

The flying trip took us out of Buffalo along Lake Erie's southern shore, past Cleveland, over the dome at Notre Dame, and into Chicago. Out of Chicago, we flew through Minnesota and North Dakota, into Montana. North of Great Falls, Montana, on the eastern side of the Rockies, we turned north, and flew past Calgary up to the Alaska Highway (AlCan Highway). We passed over Whitecourt and Grande Prairie in Alberta, Dawson Creek, Fort John, and Fort Nelson in British Columbia, and Watson Lake and Whitehorse in the Yukon.

Bad weather sent us on detours to Ronald Reagan's birthplace in Dixon, Illinois, the John Deere corporate headquarters and showroom near the Mississippi River, and on to bears in British Columbia, gold miners in Juneau, Alaska, and glaciers and cruise ships in Glacier Bay National Park. On our return, we took the Southern Canadian route past Medicine Hat in Alberta, Moose Jaw and Regina in Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg in Manitoba, before crossing back into the U.S. at Minnesota, and returning via the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan.

It's all there, in stories and pictures, and I hope you enjoy the trip.

Online Journal

Highlights Be a pilot -- online quiz #1 -- Find the airport! Be a pilot -- online quiz #2 -- Find the horizon! The mountains -- up close and personal Our first bear

Table of Contents

Day 1 -- Sat, August 17, 1996 Day 2 -- Sun, August 18, 1996 Day 3 -- Mon, August 19, 1996 Day 4 -- Tues, August 20, 1996 Day 5 -- Wed, August 21, 1996 Day 6 -- Thur, August 22, 1996 Day 7 -- Fri, August 23, 1996 Day 8 -- Sat, August 24, 1996 Day 9 -- Sun, August 25, 1996 Day 10 -- Mon, August 26, 1996 Day 11 -- Tues, August 27, 1996 Day 12 -- Wed, August 28, 1996 Day 13 -- Thur, August 29, 1996 Day 14 -- Fri, August 30, 1996 Day 15 -- Sat, August 31, 1996 Day 16 -- Sun, September 1, 1996 Day 17 -- Mon, September 2, 1996 Day 18 -- Tues, September 3, 1996 Day 19 -- Wed, September 4, 1996 Day 20 -- Thur, September 5, 1996

Special thanks for making this online journal possible go to three people:  Marianna O'Brien, who not only loaned me the incredible Kodak DC50 camera that made these pictures possible, but also lent me her IBM 760E ThinkPad laptop computer, that performed flawlessly throughout the trip, when my own HP 4000 failed yet again only days before departure. LuAnne Cenci, who provided the html editing and formatting templates for these pages so that I could simply drop in each day's text and photos. Chief Pilot (my father), Joe Ruh Sr., who tolerated a Co-pilot who was grumpy and bleary-eyed every morning after meeting the late night deadline for the previous day's journal updates. There is no misery quite like uploading graphic files to a web server from a phone booth in the Yukon at 300 baud at 4 am. Co-Pilot Joe Ruh, Jr. September, 1996

Update - February 2000 We've received hundreds of emails from visitors to this web site in the last few years. Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement. Let me respond to two of the most frequent questions or comments -- from student pilots and from pilots outside the United States:

Leave comments or ask questions in the guest book:

Student Pilots (or those who want to be) -- perhaps the most valuable thing you can do as a student pilot is to join the AOPA - the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. It provides a tremendous resource for those learning to fly, or learning about flying. Their web site, especially the section reserved for members, has a huge library of online back issues of the AOPA Pilot magazine, with hundreds of articles about flying and learning to fly. They have special programs specifically designed to help student pilots get started in the exciting world of flying by matching them with mentors who provide the encouragement necessary to get the ticket. For those of us living in the U.S., the AOPA is the best voice we have available to make sure the interests of the general aviation pilot are defended and promoted in dealing with federal, state and local governments. Every general aviation pilot who cares about the future of flying should become a member. The more of us who join, the more influence AOPA will have in front of our elected officials. Visit their web site at http://www.aopa.org. Non-US Pilots -- If your dream is to visit the US and take a flying trip, it is probably easier than you realize. The US and Canada both are filled with lots of airports, relatively inexpensive aircraft (compared to what you're probably paying in your home country), and, if you time it right, generally great flying weather. You can find some information for visiting pilots on the AOPA web site mentioned above. Also, be sure to visit one of the better private aviation web sites in the US - AVweb - at http://www.avweb.com. Membership is free and gives you access to lots of information and a place to post questions and learn from pilots across the US and Canada (and, probably, from pilots in your home country.) Keep your dream alive, but be sure to check the long range weather forecast before you plan the trip. Good rule of thumb - flying in September in most parts of the US will be pretty good, although the daylight hours are starting to get short. The weather is dramatically different across the US, so be sure to check the details on the regions in which you plan to fly. September 11 Postscript: Be sure to check the AOPA web site, or the FBO from which you want to rent your airplane, for updated information on regulations that affect foreign pilots flying in the United States.  It's still possible, but not as easy as before. Flying in Upstate New York? -- If you fly, or want to fly, in the Buffalo, Rochester, or Syracuse area, consider joining the Artisan Flying Club, based at Greater Rochester International Airport (KROC).