Full flight | Icefield Discovery Pilatus PC-6 | Kluane Icefields Tour from Silver City (C-FIDT)

Welcome onboard my first flight on the Pilatus PC-6! On 10 August 2025, I flew together with my friends from the Howl Experience as part of the Yukon Exploration program, to do a flightseeing tour of the Kluane Icefields, the world's largest non-polar icefield! Join us as I show you my experience on one of the rarest and most exciting flights I've ever done in my life!

For me, this wasn't just a flightseeing tour, this flight checked off many things on my bucket list: this was also my first time on any Pilatus aircraft, on a taildragger, and my first time taking off and landing on a gravel strip. We flew southwest from Silver City (where the Kluane Lake Research Station is located), up along the Kaskawulsh Glacier, then cruising along the icefields to Mount Queen Mary within eyeshot of Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain. We turned around near Mount Queen Mary towards the Kluane Glacier and the Kluane Ranges, before making our descent back to Silver City.

While this Pilatus PC-6 was built in 2009, Icefield Discovery acquired this aircraft only in April 2025. It is their first turboprop, and offers twice the passenger capacity compared to their previous aircraft.

A special thanks to Felix for flying the aircraft professionally, and to Warren and Lauren for coordinating with Icefield Discovery to enable these flying opportunities for our group (additionally thanks to Warren for capturing video of our departure and landing from outside). I'll definitely be back again to do a glacier landing in the future!

Filmed on 10 August 2025

Camera: GoPro Hero 12 Black (flight); Canon Rebel T7 and Samsung A35 (hangar tour)

Aircraft: Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter
Registration: C-FIDT
MSN: 964
First flight: c. Jan 2009
Delivered to Icefield Discovery: Apr 2025
Engines: PT6A-27
Configuration: 8 seats
Seat: copilot's seat
Callsign: CFIDT
Flight time: 01 hr 02 min
Departure: Silver City Airstrip (CFQ5)
scheduled: 07.00 YST actual 07.04 YST
Arrival: Silver City Airstrip (CFQ5)
scheduled: 08.00 YST, actual 08.06 YST

Aircraft history: https://www.pc-6.com/history/964.htm

My Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalung1/
PC-6: to be uploaded soon!
Howl Yukon: to be uploaded soon!

Howl Yukon program overview: https://www.experiencehowl.com/yukon

Recommended reading: Mount Logan & The Icefields, by Andrew Williams
Link - message the MacBride Museum on where to purchase, it appears it cannot be purchased online:   / 4692842044087118  

#IcefieldDiscovery #HowlExperience
‪@experiencehowl‬

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HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00:00 - intro
00:00:06 - airstrip overview
00:00:25 - exterior views of our aircraft
00:00:57 - cockpit and cabin tour
00:01:11 - checking the control surfaces
00:01:21 - our approximate flight path
00:01:30 - our pilot Felix giving the safety briefing
00:03:13 - onboard
00:04:08 - engine start
00:06:21 - taxi to runway 01
00:07:16 - engine run-up test
00:07:57 - takeoff on runway 01
00:09:25 - climbout over Kluane Lake (Lhù’ààn Mân), heading southwest
00:11:05 - Slims River mouth (Ä'äy Chù)
00:17:48 - Kaskawulsh Glacier terminus
00:21:49 - climbing along the Kaskawulsh Glacier
00:27:12 - excellent view of the glacial moraine on the Kaskawulsh Glacier
00:32:25 - Mount Sannikov
00:34:18 - Discovery Peak
00:35:30 - rotating the camera to view Mount King George and Mount Vancouver
00:38:24 - reached cruise altitude of 10,000 ft (FL100; 3,048 m)
00:40:08 - flying close to Mount Queen Mary within eyeshot of Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain
00:41:26 - northwestern face of Mount Queen Mary
00:41:36 - closer view of Mount King George
00:42:18 - Mount King George with distant view of the St Elias Mountains
00:42:32 - turning to the opposite direction around the midpoint of the flight
00:45:29 - looking east along the Kluane Icefield
00:47:31 - heading towards Mount Weyprecht, towards the upper reaches of the Kluane Glacier
00:51:51 - Kluane Glacier
00:55:35 - rotating the camera around the area of Canada Peak, heading towards the Slims River mouth
00:56:52 - Kluane Range
01:01:45 - top of descent near the Slims River, rotating the camera for another look of the Kaskawulsh Glacier terminus
01:06:18 - inspecting the airfield before landing
01:08:35 - landing on runway 01
01:09:22 - taxi to the Icefield Discovery apron
01:10:40 - engine shutdown
01:10:56 - opening the door and battery shutoff
01:11:30 - posing for our group photo after the flight
01:11:43 - bonus content: hangar tour (this and next clip filmed on August 12)
01:12:01 - Sam, another pilot at Icefield Discovery, shows the map explaining possible glacier landing sites (my next goal when I revisit the Yukon)