Section Five: Equipment List

What is Really Necessary?

· There is virtually no limit to the amount of “stuff” which you can bring along on a trip to Alaska. Survival gear, wet suit, lifejacket, rifle, satellite phone, handheld GPS, water purification tablets, etc. The list can get quite long and before you know it, there is no room for your mother-in-law or favorite child.

• If you’re traveling as a single airplane, it probably makes sense to bring along virtually everything anyone has every recommended. Western Canada and nearly all of Alaska are very sparsely populated regions, with no roads, cell phone towers or people anywhere in sight. And the distances between airports can be considerable. In the event of an emergency, having an airplane with a parachute helps ensure that you’ll land safely, but it won’t help keep you alive until someone finds you.

• On the other hand, flying with at least one buddy airplane ensures that there is someone else who can assist in any emergency, recovery or AOG (aircraft on ground) effort. In the event of an emergency landing, they can note the location and maintain radio contact with ATC. In the event of a mechanical problem that leaves your airplane grounded, they can help fly in parts or a qualified mechanic. For this reason, it is very helpful to plan a trip to and from Alaska whereby the flying is done “convoy style,” with each plane always within radio range (e.g., not more than 50-75 miles) from at least one other plane. Additionally, before each flight all the pilots in that convoy should agree on the route and monitor a previously-designated common communications frequency (preferably 123.4); in the event of deviations due to weather, each pilot should notify the others of the new direction they’re heading towards.

• There are actually rules for survival kit requirements when flying through “sparsely populated areas” of Canada and Alaska, so check before you decide what to take. Basically, most areas above 52 degrees north latitude are considered “sparsely populated”. Edmonton is just above this point, so any portion of the trip beyond this point would fall within this designation. Firearms are no longer required survival gear in Canada.

• It is imperative to bring along all of the VFR and IFR charts and plates that you might need for a trip through Canada and Alaska. Local FBOs do not ordinarily have a supply of current aeronautical information, so they cannot be relied upon as an enroute source.

Survival Equipment

• Equipped To Survive has an excellent and very thorough website, with a primer on survival skills, comparative information on life rafts and life vests, an evaluation of various commercially available survival kits, and the publisher’s recommended survival kit.

• Some of the commercial websites selling aviation survival kits include Best Glide, Army Navy Shop, EPrices and AreYouPrepared.Com.

• The following survival equipment checklist was prepared by COPA member Craig Albright and could be used as a starting point for deciding what items to include:

Cell Phones versus Satellite Phones versus Personal Locator Beacons

• If money is no object, then go to Alaska with both a satellite phone in addition to your cell phone. Since most US cell phone companies don’t provide coverage in western Canada or Alaska, its virtually guaranteed that your cell phone probably won’t work outside of cities such as Edmonton or Anchorage. On the other hand, virtually every airport with a paved runway in Canada (and most in Alaska) has a landline telephone available for calling flight service or CanPass, and every decent hotel has a phone system that will allow dial-up access to the Internet. In summary, its nice to have a satellite phone for filing flight plans and obtaining weather updates, but it is not essential.

• If money is no object, then go to Alaska with both a satellite phone and a personal locator beacon. But the limited experience on a recent trip to Alaska was that Globalstar satellite service was poor at northern latitudes. Even when standing outdoors, with no trees or buildings nearby, keeping the antenna pointed at a single angle and not moving, the system regularly kept dropping calls every 30-60 seconds. This makes satellite phones a somewhat questionable device, if one is going to rely on it for primary survival needs.

• A personal locator beacon, especially one with a built-in GPS transmitter, is probably the best investment for being located in an emergency situation. Read the Equipped to Survive website for an exhaustive explanation of how the system works and the various options, as well as a comparison of various models. If at all possible, don’t buy a personal locator beacon and try to externally attach it to a handheld GPS unit: it’s a cumbersome and technically challenging task. Instead, spend your money on an integrated unit.

Required Documents

• Both the AOPA member’s section website and NavCanada’s website contain a wealth of information on documents and other materials which may be needed on a trip to Canada and Alaska.

· Pilots should bring the following paperwork:

o Pilot’s license and current medical certificate (US Customs will ask for this on your return)

• Proof of citizenship: passport or birth certificate and photo ID (required for each passenger as well)
• Pilot logbook
• Canadian regs say that minor children traveling without both parents should have a notarized letter from the absent parent authorizing them to leave the US. This is not a strictly enforced requirement, but the child should be prepared for a one-on-one interview with a Canadian customs official, who will ask if they’re being taken on the trip against their will or the other parent’s consent.
• Airworthiness certificate (US Customs will ask for this on your return)
• Registration for the aircraft (US Customs will ask for this on your return): be sure to have the permanent registration onboard, not the pink temporary certificate.
• POH, including weight and balance worksheet
• Copy of aircraft liability insurance coverage: confirm that your policy covers travel to Canada and Alaska (virtually all do)
• Notarized authorization letter from the actual owner of the aircraft (e.g., partnership) granting permission from the absentee partners to fly into Canada
• US Customs’ decal
• FCC radio and operator licenses (no one ever seems to care if you have these)
• All necessary aeronautical charts, approach plates and updated Garmin database cards

Clothing and Accessories

· Recommended items for spring/summer travel include:

• Lightweight jacket or windbreaker
• Sweater/sweatshirt
• Rain jacket and rain pants, especially if you plan on going fishing (it can get cold and wet on a river or ocean boat)
• Shoes suitable for hiking
• Mosquito repellant (spray or wipes), especially if you plan on going near a forest or lake
• Suntan lotion/sunglasses
• Cap/hat
• Camera with lots of film or digital storage
• Credit and ATM cards (there are machines almost everywhere)
• US currency is widely accepted in Canada, so there is no need to obtain Canadian currency in advance
• Phone card, to be able to call from hotel or public phones without the usual hassles

Home | Introduction | One: Flying in Canada | Two: Getting There

Three: Things to Do in Alaska | Four: Getting Back to the US from Alaska | Five: Equipment List

Six: Charts and Aeronautical Information | Photo Gallery: 2004