Chugach From United States, joined Dec 2004, 1041 posts, RR: 4 Posted (3 years 2 months 1 week 14 hours ago) and read 1997 times:
I took a quick overnight hop up to Fairbanks for the weekend to see some friends. Had two typically outstanding flights on AS, and was upgraded both ways thanks to my Gold status. Since these are two 40 minute flights, there isn't too much to report, but I'll go into some detail and then on to the pictures.
9/30
AS 93
ANC-FAI
Departure gate: C1
Arrival gate: 4
Seat: 2A
Aircraft: 737-700 with winglets
Thanks to a massive traffic jam on the freeway between Eagle River and Anchorage, I didn't get to the airport until right about the time boarding started. If any of you Alaskans were trying to drive into Anchorage from Eagle River or the Valley on Saturday, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It took me 32 minutes to go ONE MILE.
Regardless, I made it to ANC just in time and was through security in an instant. It was close to a full flight, although the seat next to me in first class was open. We pushed back from C1 right on time, and made the quick taxi over to runway 32, passing by the usual menagerie of AS jets at the C concourse, along with two 752's from UA and NW parked at B9 and B11, and an AS combi at B6.
Service was attentive and efficient on this brief 40 minute flight. Ten minutes after rotating we were over Talkeetna; ten minutes later we passed by the Denali Park entrance, and 20 minutes later we greased runway 1L at FAI. Weather upon landing was partly cloudy and about 35 degrees, barely warm enough to melt the season's first snowfall that had come down the night before.
I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for this leg (and I don't think anybody will be disappointed...)
Our winglet and Tinkerbell parked at the C concourse in ANC.
Mouth of the Little Su and the Aleutian Range right after the wheels went up from ANC.
Sleeping Lady (officially Mt. Susitna)
The Willow airport and the Parks Highway
Coming up on the Alaska Range with Denali and Foraker.
Getting closer...
Close-up of the rooftop of North America: 20,320 feet above sea level.
The Cantwell airport and the Parks Highway.
Denali National Park entrance and airport.
The Tanana River on finals into FAI.
The terminal at Fairbanks International Airport.
10/1
AS 180
FAI-ANC
Departure gate: 4
Arrival gate: C1
Seat: 2A
Aircraft: 737-700 with winglets
FAI is undergoing some construction, and for those of you familiar with the airport, the jetway at gate 8 has been relocated to gate 7 to make room for terminal expansion (you can see for yourself in the picture of the terminal above). In addition, the parking lot is being expanded/moved to the south, and the Airport Way loop has been moved and re-constructed.
The flight back to ANC was a carbon copy of the flight up, with one twist: shortly before the door closed, the captain came out and personally introduced himself to the first class cabin and let us know about some of the flight details, along with a weather update. I have never, in all of my travels, ever seen that before. It reinforces the reason that I have stuck with AS: they simply have some of the best customer service in the industry.
We pushed back a little bit early from gate 4, and made our way out to runway 19R, took off and basically flew in a straight line to Anchorage. The weather was cloudy the whole way, so there aren't as many pictures on this leg. We popped out of the clouds over the mouth of the Susitna River on our base leg, and made a hard left turn onto finals for runway 7R, landing a minute or two afterwards. Weather in Anchorage was showery and a balmy 40 degrees--a far cry from the day before.
And now, the good part:
Quiet day at FAI. Some GA traffic, but not much else.
Our ride back to ANC shortly after landing in Fairbanks.
Base leg looking up Knik Arm.
Nice view of 7R and 7L right before making the turn to final. The pilot waited so long to make the turn onto final that for a second I thought we were going to do something extremely rare and land to the north on 32, something that I have only witnessed once before at ANC and never experienced firsthand.
Nice view of the fall colors on short final.
All in all, two great flights on AS. Hard to ask for much more than sitting in first class with a couple of cute female flight attendants and some of the best scenery in the world out the window!
Alaskaqantas From New Zealand, joined Dec 2005, 854 posts, RR: 5 Reply 1, posted (3 years 2 months 1 week 10 hours ago) and read 1899 times:
great pictures!
Quoting Chugach (Thread starter): If any of you Alaskans were trying to drive into Anchorage from Eagle River or the Valley on Saturday, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It took me 32 minutes to go ONE MILE
This whole weekend has had bad traffic, atleast they are redoing the seward highway!
Quoting Chugach (Thread starter): the captain came out and personally introduced himself to the first class cabin and let us know about some of the flight details, along with a weather update. I have never, in all of my travels, ever seen that before. It reinforces the reason that I have stuck with AS: they simply have some of the best customer service in the industry.
767747 From United States, joined Jan 2005, 843 posts, RR: 10 Reply 2, posted (3 years 2 months 1 week 1 hour ago) and read 1747 times:
Great report!!! Nice pictures.
Quoting Chugach (Thread starter): The flight back to ANC was a carbon copy of the flight up, with one twist: shortly before the door closed, the captain came out and personally introduced himself to the first class cabin and let us know about some of the flight details, along with a weather update.
PILOTALLEN From United States, joined Nov 1999, 655 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 1655 times:
First off that was a great report, Love the pictures...I liked the pics of Denali..speaking of which, you took a photo of an airport at what looks like the base of Mt. Denali....is that Talkeetna's airport or is it another one? Thanks! -Josh
Chugach From United States, joined Dec 2004, 1041 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 1477 times:
Quoting PILOTALLEN (Reply 4): First off that was a great report, Love the pictures...I liked the pics of Denali..speaking of which, you took a photo of an airport at what looks like the base of Mt. Denali....is that Talkeetna's airport or is it another one? Thanks! -Josh
I think you're talking about either the Cantwell airport or the Denali Park airport. I didn't get a shot of Talkeetna's airport. Let me know which picture you're referring to and I'll tell you for sure
AirlineBrat From United States, joined Jan 2005, 564 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 1402 times:
All those pictures are making me homesick. The ANC to FAI flights can be one of the most spectacular legs in the world, wx permitting. My first flight to FAI was on September 3, 1988 on a UA 767-200 (DEN-ANC-FAI). We flew over the Yellowstone fires on the way up to ANC. On the ANC-FAI leg, we flew between Denali (Mt McKinley) and Mt Foraker. I was sitting on the right side of the aircraft had had a million dollar view of The Great One including the summit and the glaciers cascading down the slopes. We were flying at 35,000' and the summit is somewhere around 20,320' and growing 2cm a year. That will probably be the closest I ever get to the summit of Denali.
I lived in Fbks from 1988 to 1997... UAF class of '92! Is the new terminal expansion is over towards the old section of the building? That would be past the escalators and baggage claim area and near the ground level gate where Air North Canada used to fly out of? I think 40 Mile Air used to fly down to Northway and Tok out of that gate as well. What does the expansion entail?
I have not flown into FAI since the Summer Solstice of 2000. Need to make a trip north soon. Still have lots of friends up there. I miss living in Goldstream Valley. The valley is out of the ice fog and light pollution and provides for spectacular views of the aurora.
I'm leavin on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again....
Chugach From United States, joined Dec 2004, 1041 posts, RR: 4 Reply 10, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting AirlineBrat (Reply 9): I lived in Fbks from 1988 to 1997... UAF class of '92! Is the new terminal expansion is over towards the old section of the building? That would be past the escalators and baggage claim area and near the ground level gate where Air North Canada used to fly out of? I think 40 Mile Air used to fly down to Northway and Tok out of that gate as well. What does the expansion entail?
UAF '05 for me! The terminal is expanding the other direction, hence gate 8 being moved to gate 7. I think they are going to tear down the old part. I believe the expansion is to improve the facility and bring it up to code, as well as provide for some extra capacity.
AirlineBrat From United States, joined Jan 2005, 564 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1379 times:
When I was at UAF, DL used Gate 8 (south end), UA used Gate 7 (southeast corner) and Mark Air used Gate 6 which is next to the cafe and across from the bar. Alaska used the same gates as they do today. I may have the gate numbers wrong, it has been a while. I usually caught the UA or DL redeye down to ANC and SEA/SLC then flew east on the first flight of the morning.
As a UAF student, Christmas break tradition usually started with finishing my last final around noon. Drink a few pints and eat lunch. Hit the laundromat near the Oaken Keg then go home and pack. Drink a few more while packing. Get a ride to the airport around 9:30 or 10pm. Check in, then hit the bar until boarding which was around 11pm. Usually I knew a few folks on my flight or on one of the UA/DL/AS flights leaving around the same time. The bar was usually a big post finals party full of drunken UAF students on their way home for the holidays. This was before getting drunk at the airport or on an airplane became a big taboo.
Another beer on the way down to ANC. Get off and walk around during the layover. One more beer out of ANC then sleep until we got to SEA. Throw all my stuff into a locker then go past security and hit upper level of the parking structure for a smoke. Get on the next flight and watch the sunrise. That is usually the first time you see the sun higher than just above the horizon since late October or early November. Land in EWR around the afternoon rush hour then have a home cooked dinner waiting at my mother's house. Then sleep for 15 hours and wake up to a sunny day, catch a train into Manhattan and freak out at all the people and buildings. Fairbanks is a small town you know
I'm leavin on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again....
Chugach From United States, joined Dec 2004, 1041 posts, RR: 4 Reply 12, posted (3 years 2 months 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1374 times:
Quoting AirlineBrat (Reply 11): When I was at UAF, DL used Gate 8 (south end), UA used Gate 7 (southeast corner) and Mark Air used Gate 6 which is next to the cafe and across from the bar. Alaska used the same gates as they do today. I may have the gate numbers wrong, it has been a while. I usually caught the UA or DL redeye down to ANC and SEA/SLC then flew east on the first flight of the morning.
As a UAF student, Christmas break tradition usually started with finishing my last final around noon. Drink a few pints and eat lunch. Hit the laundromat near the Oaken Keg then go home and pack. Drink a few more while packing. Get a ride to the airport around 9:30 or 10pm. Check in, then hit the bar until boarding which was around 11pm. Usually I knew a few folks on my flight or on one of the UA/DL/AS flights leaving around the same time. The bar was usually a big post finals party full of drunken UAF students on their way home for the holidays. This was before getting drunk at the airport or on an airplane became a big taboo.
Another beer on the way down to ANC. Get off and walk around during the layover. One more beer out of ANC then sleep until we got to SEA. Throw all my stuff into a locker then go past security and hit upper level of the parking structure for a smoke. Get on the next flight and watch the sunrise. That is usually the first time you see the sun higher than just above the horizon since late October or early November. Land in EWR around the afternoon rush hour then have a home cooked dinner waiting at my mother's house. Then sleep for 15 hours and wake up to a sunny day, catch a train into Manhattan and freak out at all the people and buildings. Fairbanks is a small town you know Wink
You are making me wistful for college again! I'll never forget those Fairbanks winters...and I mean that in a good way, too. I'd definitely consider a move back up there under the right circumstances.
Anyway, AS has gates 3, 4, and 6, and NW and DL split gate 7 (used to be gate 8) in the summers.
PILOTALLEN From United States, joined Nov 1999, 655 posts, RR: 5 Reply 14, posted (3 years 2 months 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 1257 times:
I was refering to the one in front of Mt Denali...The park airport...Im not from AK but I have a friend who lives in Talkeetna and works for K2 I knew it was near the moutain but wasn't sure how close...neat stuff though!
Pawsleykat From United Kingdom (Scotland), joined Jul 2005, 1808 posts, RR: 13 Reply 15, posted (3 years 2 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 1044 times:
Looks like you had fun. I personally think that Alaska has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Great TR Chugach!
JG
"Let Go, Get Up And Hit The Dance Floor" - Hannah Montana
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