Galaxy Flyer,
Bergkamp:
Thanks very much to both of you for sharing your experience and suggestions. A McDonald's in Petropavlovsk - wow, globalization marches on! I think I'll try the Avacha hotel in UHPP - I like being able to get out of the hotel and take a walk around whatever town or village I'm staying in when I make ferry flights, it provides a most welcome break from constantly thinking about aircraft logistics.
Unavailability of internet could be a headache - I use Jeppesen FliteStar to fetch weather reports and, especially, upper winds. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one... I've found internet access in more remote places than UHPP in the recent past, so, maybe I might get lucky (or, more probably, maybe the McDonald's might have it...)
I'm least concerned about Vladivostok, because it is a major city. But, if anyone has any hotel recommendations (or warnings), or other hints and tips, I would be grateful to hear them.
Anadyr remains the unanswered question right now. It seems to be a pretty big town (at least, compared to most of the high Arctic villages we have here in Canada), and based on what I have seen in the YouTube video below this paragraph, it looks like a pretty nice town as well - although I do note that 99% of the images in the YouTube video were taken in the summertime. If anyone has been to that town and can offer suggestions about hotels, where to eat, facilities, transportation, hangars, de-ice availability, what the entry procedures were like, etc., I would be very grateful to hear from you.
I ferried another brand new Twin Otter across the High Arctic of Canada around this time last year, but that was going eastbound (across the NAT) - it was a very enjoyable and stress-free flight - despite the fact that the plane was not equipped with de-icing boots - and I am hoping that this westbound flight to Asia will be equally pleasant. Here's a link to a little blog I wrote about that ferry, with pictures and commentary about the various small towns I landed in - just in case the information is of value to anyone who ever needs to go in the opposite direction:
Across the Eastern Arctic Christmas Tour.
I'll create a similar illustrated blog about this upcoming trip (scheduled to begin about mid-January) and append it here to this thread, to provide information for others who might consider following this same route in the future.
About Russian procedures: I have not flown in Russia since 1991, and I expect things have changed a bit since then (most especially with last month's transition to using conventional Flight Levels). The aircraft avionics can display metric altitudes concurrent with altitude in feet, so no problems there. Galaxy Flyer, thanks very much for the tip about the ILS intercept and the departure clearance, that is greatly appreciated and exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for.
Below is a screen-shot of the proposed routing for the Russian portion of the voyage. Suggestions, comments, and criticisms are welcome.
