- EuroAirport - Amsterdam / J KLM E190: NO CATERING
- Amsterdam - Brussels / Y KLM F70: SUITCASE OR NOT?
- Brussels - Amsterdam / J KLM E190: WHERE IS THE CREW?
- Amsterdam - Seattle / J DL A330: [http://flight-report.com/en/report-12531.html]SOMETHING ABOUT PARADISE
- Seattle - Anchorage / F DL B737-800: WORST FLIGHT EVER
- Anchorage- Fairbanks / F AS B737-400: STAND BY DRINKS HER BEER
- Fairbanks - Prudhoe Bay / Y AS Dash 8-Q400: Here.
- XXX - XXX :
- XXX - XXX
- XXX - XXX
- XXX - XXX
- XXX - XXX
- XXX - XXX
- XXX - CDG
- CDG - EuroAirport / Y AF E170
That's Fairbanks Airport, a little cute airport in fact. I really like it.
The arrival hall can be spit in twice when there are international arrivals. Mostly in summer:
L'extérieur :
Check in area and the escalator leads to the airside part of the airport:
Christmas soon:
Empty apron:
The first surprise of the day (sorry I messed the picture a bit as I was not next to a window as it took of), this DC6 from Everts Air Cargo who still operates oldies. More information here: Fleet Everts Air
People say that the A340 has a slow climbing rate, check out the DC6 :)
All boarding gates are empty for the time being. There is a new Starbucks in FAI, which opened the week before:
Quiet today:
General aviation and charters to the Arctic Circles are handled in front:
Another Everts Air DC6 that just landed:
Dash 8-Q400 heading to ANC:
Artic Air is leaving to Coldfoot. I took one of those flights last year, if you are interested in this old report, link is
HERE
Ravn Alaska taking off to Prudhoe Bay with a Dash 8-100:
Follows an aircraft I never heard about: a Voplar Turboliner, also called Beech 18, more [url=https://www.google.com/search'q=Volpar+Turboliner&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8] [b] HERE [/b][/url] :[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0625.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0626.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0627.JPG[/image]
[text]Sun is rising, it is 11:15AM and it is just amazing:[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0628.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0629.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0636.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0639.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0643.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0645.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0646.JPG[/image]
[text]ATR 72-200F:[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0649.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0650.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0651.JPG[/image]
[text]And the highlight of the day, a Curtiss Wright C-46, flying since 1942!![/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0652.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0653.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0654.JPG[/image]
[text]More recent, a B1900 Air Cargo Express:[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0656.JPG[/image]
[text]And the Curtiss taking off:[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0657.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0658.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0659.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0660.JPG[/image]
[text]I was really happy to have seen those oldies.
Shortly before boarding, I head to my gate:[/text]
[image]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0661.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0662.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0663.JPG;https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/vJcSi0kT9O/DSC_0664.JPG[/image]
[text]Here's the cabin: (having a light load allows lots of pictures!)
Boarding is launched with absolutely no priorities as we are only 7 passengers bound to Prudhoe Bay with only one that has it as final destination, the 6 others, including me, have a connecting flight.
On time push back, here's another Curtiss I don't think this one will ever fly again:
Before takeoff, the seat pocket content with the safety card and the seat pitch:
Take off and a few FAI shoots and Fairbanks' region:
Standard AS catering:
Plenty of aerial shoots, the light was just perfect:
The sun that just rose is already setting again, wonderful scenery:
We are following the Dalton Highway, which is the only road to Prudhoe Bay:
Landing gear is down, we are about to land in SSC with a pretty heavy fog:
We landed a few minutes early, and my two hours layover in SCC starts here.
To conclude, here after the reason why I went to Fairbanks: Northern Lights. To see them it's a question of luck. To get to see them it should:
- Be night
- No or little moon light
- Clear sky
- Solar activity (the sun activity drives the aurora activity)
That evening all bullet points but the clear sky were checked. At around 11:00PM the sky begun to clear up and at the same time there was a bit of activity. Within minutes, the clouds disappeared and the show started. It was amazing, lights lasted for 3H and we watched them for the whole 3H, even with a -30° outside temperature. It was just amazing!
Thanks for following! Stay tune for more north soon :)
Thanks for sharing this report with nice plane and Northern Lights spotting!
The FAI airport looks quite decent and functional which I did not expected before.
Glad to hear that you have a flight with only 7 people on the plane! And the plane looks clean and new.
Look forward to your next trip!
Thank you very much !