After not seeing an update for so long, and with the tragic news of the Rowell's, I was worried about you Phil. Glad you're home and safe. I look forward to more content! OT: Did you take any pictures while in Portland (OR)? I'd like to see what you found note-worthy in my part of the world.
-- dan stark, November 19, 2002
Thanks for the good wishes, Dan. My friend Jin joined me for the last leg of the Boston-Alaska-Baja-Boston trip. I picked him up at BWI and we landed at Logan airport (they made a United Airlines 757 wait on a taxiway while we putted down the glideslope for 04L). After we got out of the plane he said that he'd been giving me 3:1 odds on making it back to Boston alive. I do feel lucky not to have ended up like Galen Rowell though of course he was in a much higher performance airplane than my DA40.Sorry but no pictures of Portland: (1) this trip was not about photography, and (2) we didn't stop in Portland because the Winnebago is not the ideal vehicle for city sightseeing, I've been to Portland a few times before, and also we were anxious to get to the California coast.
-- Philip Greenspun, November 20, 2002
This is Philip Greenspun's sister at the keyboard. I hadn't really calculated the odds, but was loathe to see him take off from the DC area last May enroute to Canada/Alaska. I'm in favor of Philip selling the airplane and doing something completely different. He is meant to be a wonderful uncle to my four boys, one of whom is almost anatomically attached to a computer Philip sent him back in March as a Bar Mitzvah gift. I do not delude myself that Philip will ever be as good-looking or famous as JFK, Jr., but I don't want him to go down in an airplane with two screaming women in the back seat asking him "What the hell is going wrong?" (that would be supermodel wife and investment banker sister-in-law) We love you, Philip! By the way, hubby thinks flying back and forth across the country and having to deal with government workers like air traffic controllers brought you back-down-to-earth, so was well worth the trip! -- Suzanne nee Greenspun Goode, Bethesda, Maryland
-- suzanne goode, November 22, 2002
Philip, your sister is communicating with you via web-page. That's somewhat reasonable for people that have only met you once or twice (like me) but does seems worrisome in her case. =^) PS. As always I enjoy reading about your adventures. Say "Hi" when next in Boston.
-- Alexander (Sasha) Wait, December 9, 2002
A quick comment on flying in Canada and the local AFD equivalent;
In Canada, the aerodrome / airport listings and information is compiled in a document called the "Canada Flight Supplement".
Most pilot supply stores will sell these, along with current VFR and IFR charts and procedure plates. The retail going rate is around 25$ CAN for the CFS. Unlike the US AFD, the CFS covers ALL of Canada. If you need a waterdrome supplement, it is published annually in a separate publication.
More information on the CFS can be found at the Canadian Government's Natural Resources Canada Aeronautical and Technical Services' CFS page.
In addition, the CFS has a section dealing with ICAO / Canadian format flight plans.
Hope this helps.
Alan Hawrylyshen
-- Alan Hawrylyshen, December 16, 2002
Philip, I really enjoyed this and related pages and had been wondering how the trip to Alaska went. I visit photo.net frequently but had never seen any of this featured. I would personally like to see your more obvious presence on photo.net again, or at least a more obvious link to what you have been doing lately with regard to photography.
-- Landrum Kelly, February 21, 2003
The frequency 126.7 referred to in your article is no longer used for Flight services due to congestion in many areas. The best way to get the correct frequencies for flight services in the area you are flying through is from a book called the Canadian Flight Supplement, or from an app like foreflight. (if you are flying through Alberta or parts of Saskatchewan, look up "Edmonton Radio" If you are flying through BC, look up "Pacific Radio" Mannitoba and Saskatchewan, look up "Winnipeg Radio" and so on.No longer valid..."Engrave 126.7 into your brain. This is the enroute flight service frequency in Canada and oftentimes it is the only frequency monitored in remote areas. Unlike their U.S. counterparts the Canadians don't seem to monitor 121.5 at every flight service RCO. If you want to make position reports or call for help, 126.7. This frequency is not on the charts."
-- Jonas Boll, October 28, 2015