Interesting Flight to Tincup Lake

I had a fun and interesting flight to Tincup Lake (one of the Econ2018 Juneau Group-2 flights). Note, this is one of those destinations that is not included in the FSX/P3d scenery libraries. Pilots must install the Juneau Group-2 scenery addon from our download site if they wish to actually see the cabins, otherwise you can always just land on the lake and 'pretend'.

Anyway, while the directions suggest a ski or float plane depending upon whether the lake was frozen or not, I opted for the Amphibious Beaver for this flight because I was uncertain of the lake conditions. While it would normally be safe to assume the lake would be frozen this time of year, I wasn't sure that my addon version of the lake would change with the season. Since I couldn't call ahead or even easily jump to that location for a quick peak, I figured that an amphibious aircraft would ensure a safe landing upon my arrival in all simulated conditions.

As I always try to do, I was using real-time weather with ActiveSky to add some additional challenge to the flights. I didn't study the nearest metar data for my destination as one would do in the real world, but I didn't ignore it completely. I did note on an aviation map that a number of nearby airports were IFR conditions. So...with the idea that I might have to turn off my real world weather to complete the flight, I started out with clear conditions or very high clouds at PAJN under VFR.

As I approached the last 75 miles of the trip, I ran into the cause of IFR affecting the airports I noted earlier. I was approaching a sizeable storm front that started as rain and quickly turned to snow. I had my VFR charts for the area ready, quickly reviewing them as I approached the cloud deck. I could see that my flight path crossed Kluane Lake at Talbot Arm, but noted that the lake was already at an elevation of 2563 ft. with approaching land elevation to the lake at around 4000 ft. This didn't give me a lot of confidence that I might be able to scud-run the last 50 miles or so to my destination.

<img src="modules/gallery3/var/albums/John-Rogers-Pics/cef9.jpg?m=1547823658" alt="VFR Chart" width="767" height="705">

I began a significant descent - about 1500 per min in an effort to stay below the approaching clouds, but was soon in IFR conditions. I veered left of my flight path to pick up the lower end of Kluane Lake by Silver City while ensuring my altitude was above 5500 - the highest elevation of the last 16 miles of terrain to the lake. Unfortunately, the combination of the storm and my descent rate resulted in a number of my weak-kneed passengers screaming in fear - leading me to expect a G-Force penalty as a show of gratitude from my passengers for getting them safely to their destination in spite of the weather.

Fortunately, once I was over the lake I broke through the cloud deck with less than 1000 ft. to the frozen lake bed below me. Using the VFR chart I planed to continue my flight over the lake, passing Talbot and Brooks Arms, overfly Burwash Landing and follow the Kluane River north to the cut that would take me to the south end of Tincup Lake. The weather cooperated for this final leg of the flight, allowing me to stay beneath the clouds, yet above the terrain leading to Tincup Lake.

To my pleasant surprise, Tincup Lake was appropriately frozen for the season, with light winds and a moderate snowfall making Tincup Cabins look like a Christmas village. This was not enough to keep several kayakers from trying to have a go at it near the dock where a boat and float plane didn't make it out before the lake froze. To top it all off, apparently the G-Force, while enough to make a chicken passenger scream, was not enough to run up a penalty for me - allowing me to pay only a small penalty for a bit less reserve fuel than I should have had upon landing.

Time for a cup of hot coffee and put my feet up in a warm cabin to enjoy the Christmas view outside. It's getting too dark to make the flight back, and perhaps the weather will be better tomorrow.

It may not be real-world stuff, but it sure can add a lot of fun to the flight simulation experience <img src="tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="smile">.





<img src="modules/gallery3/var/albums/John-Rogers-Pics/e7a.jpg?m=1547766777" alt="Tincup Lake" width="936" height="522"><br /><br /><!-- editby --><br /><br /><em>edited by: jer029, Jan 18, 2019 - 10:14 AM</em><!-- end editby -->

John,

I made my trip up to Tincup Lake about 10 days ago. I assumed the lake surface would be frozen (Cmon, January at 61 deg.N), so I took a ski-equipped DHC2 and had no problem landing on the frozen lake surface. Even though I had downloaded the Econ Group II scenery add-on, I did not encounter your scenery - honestly, I didn't expect it, so I didn't look for it. I imagine that you put it at the site of CEF9 as indicated on the sectional. I haven't done the return flight yet, so that will give me a chance to revisit the lake.

Mike

Yikes Mike! and I worked so hard on those scenes <img src="tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-computer.gif" alt="computer">. Larry has a nice pic of a fly-over of Tincup Lake Cabins that I included on the 2019 Annual Video, and the pic is summer with the lake thawed. He also has a great pic of the trout jumping at Galea that was also included there. When I created the scenery, I'm never sure how the different simulators will deal with the water textures with seasonal changes. Sometimes they will stay water in the dead of winter. That's why it was nice to see the appropriately frozen Tincup Lake.

I don't know how you missed the scenery if you had it installed correctly (make sure you use the one for your simulator setup). I believe the cabins are properly placed as they are in the real world - I think on the east shore of the wide part of the lake. Anyway - it's right at the location shown on the VFR chart shown above.

Good luck...and for you or any other pilot who missed the jumping trout at Galea. Do take another look...it took me a week to get that damn fish to jump <img src="tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-lol2.gif" alt="lol2">.

jr

John,

I had no problem with the scenery at Lake Galea, or at the Fairweather basecamp, or at the Logan basecamp. Since those were all part of the Juneau Group II flight scenery, I would have thought that Tincup Lake would have been included. But, as I say, I didn't expect custom scenery there, so I didn't spend much time looking for it.

Mike