The Give Hope Wings fund raising flight through the Arctic was hoping to reach the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyuktuk Thursday or Friday as it battles weather in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Weather forced unscheduled stops Gameti Rae Lakes and Old Crow to wait out weather. The Tuk stop is about the half way point of the adventure that involves three aircraft and will raise more than $200,000 for Hope Air, which provides airline and private aircraft flights for rural patients who need to travel to major cities for medical treatment.

Among the highlights of the trip was a hangar tour at Buffalo Airways in Yellowknife. On Saturday the group will take part in Fairbanks, Alaska’s annual solstice fly-in. The longest day of the year is really long in Fairbanks where it’s now daylight 24 hours a day. The group heads north to Alaska’s Arctic coast before tracing the west coast of the largest state and traveling down the west coast of B.C.