Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery
Alaska North Slope 4: Lonely Air Force Station (AK71)

Images related to this file:

• alaska_north_slope_4-1.jpg
• alaska_north_slope_4-2.jpg

File Description:
The town of Barrow is in the far north of Alaska, and these are coastal villages or radar installations to the west, south, and now east of Barrow. There will be further additions. Lonely Air Force Station AK71 is 80 miles east of Barrow and on the coast. It was, and at first sight appears still to be, a DEW station until you are close enough to see that the gravel apron is deteriorating. There is a gravel runway around 5,000 feet long, a large hangar, the DEW buildings, radar under the domes, the remains of huge line-of-sight communications reflectors, and oil tanks. Some DEW sites are not worth a visit; others are surprisingly intact and this is one of those. The AI takes place three days a week and is a C130, in which case the DEW site is still functioning or under mothball maintenance, a chartered Reeve Aleutian in which case the site is closed and they are documenting wildlife, and a Cessna with a group of the curious.