Tour books and posters all rave about flightseeing, but I'm having some qualms about being in a small plane. After seeing the age of some of the pilots I started having concerns about being in a plane with only one person who could navigate. I'm not afraid of flying, but heights do make me week-kneed. Nevertheless, I've taken small cablecars up mountains in Europe and taken a helicopter flight in Kauai, and they were fantastic.

Trying to decide whether flightseeing is worth the agitation and trying to arrange the nights lodging in Talkeetna specifically to be able to flightsee. Your thougts?

Two other specific questions: 1) one operator offers the toursaver discount only on the 7pm flight. Does time of day matter to visibility?

2) how important is the glacier landing to the experience?

stillhouse
This was one of the highlights of our trip to Alaska. Many things I have forgotten as it has been many yrs ago but I have not forgotten that flight and landing on a glacier lake.

Dear stillhouse:

We did a flightsee over the Harding Icefield. It was fabulous and one of many hightlights on our Alaska trip.

MY

We did the summit flight over McKinley on a clear day last June and it was spectacular! We had an excellent female pilot who couldn't haven't done a better job as far as we're concerned. Here are some factors that we experienced that you may want to consider. Our teen DD had problems getting her ears to cooperate on the decline, but our pilot leveled out and circled until her ear pressure equalized--this added at least 20 minutes to our trip, but no one seemed to mind. ;-) For the summit flight, you are required to wear O2 masks beginning at 12,000 ft for the high altitude, but that was no big deal for anyone on our flight.

The company took one of our toursaver coupons and applied it to our afternoon flight--phone to see what they can/will do for you. I don't know which coupons/companies are included in the 2006 book so I can't offer more advice than that.

Only you would know how important the glacier landing would be to you. We did not do it, but we did walk on glaciers and do some ice climbing. It depends on what you want to get out of your trip.

There are lots of options for flightseeing in Alaska. We are really glad that we did it, but your concern about small planes may mean you choose some other neat adventure--Alaska offers MANY of them!

You will love Alaska! Enjoy!

Forgot to mention that we did not stay in Talkeetna. We left Anchorage that morning, were surprised that Denali could be seen in all it's glory, and drove on to Talkeetna to try to get a flight. We got there around 10, but the first flight open was 1, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch and visit in Talkeetna then drove back to the local airport. (However, our luck is not typical--we were early in the season so seats were still open & Denali was showing her lovely face coincidentally on the same day we were driving to Healy.) After the flight, we easily drove on to Healy, where we stayed at the Denali Lakeview Inn for several nights. And we stopped several times along the way to Healy to watch moose, porcupines, and caribou.

You need to determine if seeing McKinley is important to you. You are not likely to see it without a flight. Also be aware of different flight options, the glacier landing in a ski plane is a great experience but be advised, there is little ice and it's mostly snow. It is far better for ice with a helicopter glacier landing. The above describes a summit flight (not summit view) this goes over the top and require twin engines. They are totally separate from ski planes and there is no landing option available. This is my favorite flightseeing of McKinley, there is nothing like looking down on it.

As a side note, a great many times the Talkeetna Aero owner- Eric does the summit flights, he is highly experienced. My husband is also a private pilot but works as an AP mechanic. He rode up front with him last trip and the two, talked flying, which extended to some time on land.

Be aware that if you upgrade either the Talkeetna Air Taxi or Talkeetna Aero coupon they all go with Talkeetna Aero.

I spoke with Talkeetna Air Taxi last night and they require a glacier landing flight with the toursaver. They recommend the tour which circles Denali. They apply 220 towards the cost of $290-so for 2 people it ends up costing $360-only good on the 7pm flight.

I think I'm going to opt for the
Summit flight on Talkeetna Aero, once I confirm that they'll take the toursaver coupon. $225 and more flexibility for scheduling. No glacier landing, but I was ambivalent about this anyway and I've been on snowfields/glaciers before.

stillhouse

well done !! do not miss the flightseeing of Mt McKinley.
It is one of the highlights in Alaska as a must !
You won't have so many opportunities to see int from ground, unless you are very lucky

we did the summit flight without glacier landing and it was fantastic.
That day who had booked the glacier landing could not do it as weather condition on the glacier did not allow it while the circle ON and AROUND the summit was perfect

We did a flightseeing of McKinley's summit from Talkeetna. (Talkeetna Air Taxi, I think was the name). We stayed near Denali and went to Talkeetna for a morning flight on our way to Fairbanks. The morning that we went (March) was too cloudy and snowy, so we were unable to take the flight. We spent 3 nights in Fairbanks and then stopped back in Talkeetna on our way back to Anchorage. We were able to take the flight on the second try.

I was shocked at how small the plane was. I seriously think the inside of my Ford Focus is bigger! It was just my husband and myself along with the pilot and when my husband suggested that I ride up front, the pilot told him that he needed to in order to balance the weight I was nervous, but once in a lifetime, you know? I could feel how our weight affected the small plane during take-off and landing and my fingers were clenched to the sides the whole time, but it was amazing -- don't skip this!

I thought that we were going to do a glacier landing, but we were told it wouldn't happen. They told us that they can only usually do those in the summertime when there are more climbers on the mountain. The climbers assist with creating a "runway" on the glacier so that the plane can takeoff again once it's landed. Since it was March the mountain was empty, so no runway. It was still a fabulous flight -- I'd do it again in a heartbeat, even with how nervous I was!

Either are spectacular trips so I'm betting you'll have a great time.

The mountain is so huge that it will blow your socks off. The Coloradans always like to talk about all their ``14ers'' but all of those are starting from a higher base elevation of 6-7 thousand feet. Much of land around Denali's base, however, is at 2-3 thousand feet so the top to bottom view is 17-18 thousand feet vs. 7 or 8 thousand in Colorado. It makes a huge difference.

One of the coolest views I ever got was on an old MarkAir 737 back from Fairbanks when the pilot tipped his wing so we all could get a better view. Even from commercial airspace it was incredibly impressive.

We also did the Summit Flt with Talkeetna Aero and loved it. There planes for the summit flt are not that small. I think they are 7 or 8 passenger. You need to have oxygen for the summit flt as you are up to 20K ft. I believe. The smaller planes fly around or have view of MCKinley but are not actually summit flts. They do however do the glacier landings. We did use our 2 for 1 coupon with Talkeetna Aero. My wife who can get queezy in car or boat or planes, took precautions and was fine. One of all time best excursions.

Thanks for everyone's help. We ended up booking Talkeetna Aero for 6/19. Coupons only good on 11am flight. Summit flight -250 for 2 people.