TRANS CANADA AIR TRIP
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Thank you for arriving at this point - I hope you'll take a few moments to read through and follow this trip across Canada. In the superb Eaglesoft PA-30 Twin Comanche, this is a journey across a vast yet beautiful country with its many varied landscapes. I have no idea at this stage how long the journey will take (you'll have to read to the end to find out......) but then I'm in no hurry....
Leg 1
Starting off at CYAW Halifax/Shearwater (a military airbase ?) the weather was rather grim; overcast with rain (bit like being at home in the U.K.)....
...I was soon climbing towards the
clag, turning left towards Moncton DME
The weather cleared somewhat (i.e. it stopped raining) on reaching 5,500' but with a strong crosswind. The weather report ahead for CYCL Charlo was clear but with winds of 250 @ 23kts. Cruise was about 145kts @ 6,000'.
Arrived at CYCL Charlo, New Brunswick after a flight of 1' 38". The 23kt wind on finals/touchdown proved interesting but made it in one piece. Charlo is in Restigouche County on the shores of the Bay of Chaleur - lovely place. Parked up and went off to find the nearest pub.
Leg 2
Returned the following morning to find that some kind soul had shut the door to my 'plane and left a scrawled note in pencil saying not to be so thoughtless. I left him a note saying thanks but I had been in a rush to get to a) the pub and b) the khazi - though not necessarily in that order. Then I realised I had nowhere to leave the note...... Anyway, I digress. Right, time to press on: checked the oil, checked the fuel levels, checked my lottery ticket - no luck there (and no surprise either). Then it was all systems go and time to head off up and away. Another early morning hop out from rwy 31 into nice clear skies climbing to fl80 and heading towards the YVI vor. It was at this point that I realised that I'd packed the camera away so would have to do without any shots on this flight. Scattered clouds at 5,500' I was soon descending towards and then down over the St. Lawrence river. Gorgeous scenery greeted my arrival into the Portal of Quebec - Charlevoix (CYML). Imagine my surprise later when sitting in the local bistro flicking through a tourist information guide (in English I might add - the other copy was just all Greek to me. Well, French actually) saying that I'd just arrived in the most seismically active region of eastern Canada. Apparently the last big 'quake was 1925. No, not the time, the year (doh !) with an approximated magnitude of 6.2. I resolved to eat my kippers on toast, drink my lemonade sherbet and beat a hasty retreat back to the airfield and skedaddle outa that place before the next big one hit...... Oh, flight time was 1' 10".
Leg 3
....and so I did.....
....It was
straight off for another short flight to a more seismically stable part of the
region. Mmm... where to..... I know - there's a really lovely little village
that I'd heard mention of called La Macaza which wasn't too far away; leastways
it's still in the province of Quebec. A few quick calculations, twiddled a
few knobs, made the necessary adjustments and I was soon heading off.
It was now mid afternoon and with
the weather clearing was nice to see rolling hills below and the Moon through
clear skies above.
But it was soon time to make preparations for descent and I soon found myself taxiing in at La Macaza in the Laurentians after a flight of 1' 23". That "time for a bevvy" sensation soon began to ring bells and it was a case of get the Twinkie tucked up for the night and head off into town. When I say town, I mean village. What a lovely place. Found a good hostelry and started chatting with the locals (lovely bunch). They said come the morning I must go and see the main tourist attractions (note: remember this phrase - 'tourist attractions'). I asked what these were and the response was "Well, we've a picturesque little chapel, there's the deer feeding area of course. The village itself is a sight to behold. You must go see the old covered bridge - its over a hundred years old. Oh, and don't forget to go see the local penitentiary". Cough ! Say what ? Why do people have a tendency to say things like that just when you've got a mouthful of the local brew ? I managed to keep lips pursed and save giving the liquid a second airing. I said something along the lines of "how quaint" and changed the subject. T'was then off for some z's to think about the next stage......
Leg 4
I left La Macaza at 19:18z (precisely <g>) and headed off towards North Bay, Ontario - it was either there or Sudbury but Sudbury lost. The 1' 14" flight passed relatively quickly with not a lot happening. A planned cruising altitude of 6,000' became lower the nearer I got to North Bay as the cloud base was a little under 5,000' but about 10 miles short the cover cleared leaving a lovely sky with broken cloud .
North Bay Jack Garland airport - largest airport north of Toronto - was a former Canadian Air Force base but it seems that like a lot of other countries was subject to the inevitable cutbacks and down-sizing. Anyway - off into town and headed to The Fraser. I'd heard that this was the place to go to listen to some decent live music and I wasn't disappointed. Emerging a little later on and partially deaf I was mortified to learn that one of the town's attractions had shut for the day. And what was this little nugget that I'd have to pass on ? Why, the Dionne Quints Museum of course. This little place was home to identical quintuplets back in the 30's which had a quite incredible impact on the town during the Depression. Will have to try and call in another time perhaps.
Leg 5
And now a trip that's to be somewhat more northerly than westerly. I'm off to the birth place of one of my favourite film directors; James Cameron. Kapuskasing, Ontario. Where ? Kapuskasing - in the Cochrane District of Ontario. So off I went on a flight that was to last 1' 23" and cover a distance of approximately 227 miles in a mainly 340 degrees direction......
And what began as a pretty straightforward leg of my trek turned into something of a nightmare when about forty miles short of CYYU, the starboard engine began spluttering and coughing its guts up, finally cutting out completely.
I radioed ahead declaring an emergency - not having my laptop with me I couldn't
contact Eaglesoft for advice <g> (and no, Control 'E' wasn't going to help me
either....) - I was on my own. Eek ! I confess to not remembering the last
time I had to control a twin with an engine out - I soon realised though that it ain't much fun and I was
all over the place but thankfully not going in a direction due south
towards terra firma. I was not about to be Terminated by going down
like the Titantic into the Abyss - (still with me here ? Get the link ? Doh !) -
emergency procedures; think.... work your way through them....... Hold up - what
ARE the procedures ?! Double eek !
OK - don't panic (much) - deep breaths. Much muttering of prayers coupled with the odd oath brought things under some kind of control and before one could say 'CRASH !' the field was in sight. Bring her down slowly - careful now - ye Gods its awkward trying to get lined up...... steady..... left a bit..... right a bit...... down a bit..... bit more.... (I was beginning to think I was taking part in the Golden Shot (that for the Brit readers amongst us) ). And bingo - down in one piece. Relief - exultation - perspiration - opening of the bowels..... what a mixture of emotions (and odours - phew !) - I'd made it. I was soon surrounded by the emergency services of "The Model Town of the North" and limped to the parking area where, on opening the cabin door, those standing close by recoiled for reasons I couldn't at the time understand.
So - it looked like I'd not get much of a chance to get to see the sights of "Bend in the River" which is the Cree translation of Kapuskasing. I wouldn't have time to see the local museum that's housed inside two train carriages (cars); I'd missed the Lumberjack Heritage Festival (that was in July) and I was too early for the Festival of Lights - due to start in five days' time. With the engine failure perhaps it was all adding up to me not meaning to be here. Spooky or what ? 'Specially when I picked up an item saying that it'd cost $1,386. to exhume a body from the local cemetery. (Why would I want to do that ?! It was going to cost enough to fix the 'plane and move on !!). Must be time for a Coors.
Leg 6
With the clock ticking and the engine sorted, it was soon time to press on. I'd figured to make this next leg a long 'n high trip and so it was that I'd be climbing to fl120 and in the air for 3' 04" making my way to the "Gateway to the North"; Sioux Lookout, Ontario (CYXL). The flight itself was without incident and straightforward, keeping a weather eye on all the gauges more than normal after the experience of the last flight. (As an aside; the chap who repaired the engine had a peculiar glint in his eye - he only had one anyway - and tended to salivate excessively. I therefore double-checked the oxygen for laughing gas. Or worse.....). Anyway, I landed just before some rather icky weather closed in with winds gusting to 17 knots. It's a little difficult to imagine that back in the mid-30's, this airport was the second busiest airport in North America, second only to Chicago. How times change.
If I was a fisherman, I'd be in my element here, what with the extensive system of lakes and
rivers offering what appears to be a fishermans paradise. Well - I don't
fish so that was that. Still, if I have time, I could go for a trip on the
river with a couple of beers...... now there's a thought. And I'm not having
much luck with the festivals around here either; I'd missed the 25th
Blueberry Festival which was back in August and this would have been a great way
to get to meet the people from around here. A definite diary date for the
future though.
Leg 7
Chocks away.... I'm off to, bizarrely, another 'Gateway to the North'; The Pas, Manitoba - CYQD. (I suppose being such a huge country, there's gonna be more than one gate <g> ). Anyway, away I sped along at, ooh..... 140 kts, there or thereabouts for a flight of 2' 30" which took me over Lake Winnipeg then on over South Moose Lake. The weather was fine apart from some rather unpleasant turbulence during the descent which did on more than one occasion test the stomach muscles. Ok - well got down in piece but feeling a little icky but the thought of a Coors had me heading for a local hostelry to find out what's going on here. First impressions ? Its flippin' cold !! Currently -3c so skip the beer, its gonna have to be a coffee. Mmm... checked the local diary - nada. Bad start. Festivals ? Well, the Trappers Festival's in February; the Agricultural Fair's in June; the Opasquia Indian Day was in August. (I wonder why it isn't called Opasquia First Nations Day ? Oh well, I'm not getting into that one). Seems I'm not having much luck with these festivals. Well, looking at the literature, I'm down for a visit to the Sam Waller museum; its not the locally born two-headed calf but the dressed fleas from Mexico that've caught my eye :-\ Something to begin thinking about: keep heading directly west towards British Columbia or start heading more northerly into the Northern Territories ?
Leg 8
And then there was the
weather. It was obvious that at some time soon the weather would be taking a
turn for the worse and it decided to do just that today. It was -11c and I
thanked the Lord I wasn't a brass monkey. The skies were full of snow just
waiting to be 
emptied. And with the weather closing in quite rapidly a decision had to
be made; leave it for another day or get the skates on and ship out sharpish ?
I donned the skates. It was a tad difficult getting them on as I was
already wearing three pairs of thick woollen socks and the thermals were working
overtime too..... And mittens; have you ever tried tying your laces with them on
? Doh ! Ok, will have to risk the frostbite - off with 'em ! Heck - its not even
winter yet. Anyways, this trip would be taking me over to the aptly named
Cold Lake, Alberta (CYOD). So, after doing the usual checks (in great
haste I might add), I taxied out to rwy 12 and was close to cacking myself on
seeing just how quickly the weather was closing in. If I can just get a
shift on and climb above it.....
You'll see from this next shot how dark it was getting but it was too late to turn back now. Right, time to concentrate on the instruments and get above this ick. This was to be a fairly long flight and the light snow that began falling just after take-off stayed with me up to 6,000' and was ever-present for just about the whole journey at that level. So I climbed up another couple of thousand feet to clear it and although a lot of time was spent flying through the upper cloud layers, I'd cleared the snow falling. This is quite a poor shot but gives you an idea of what it was like;
Two hours and twenty three minutes later and I'm just about completing this stage of my journey. There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of activity here at Cold Lake but then being Sunday (and darned cold; there's a light snow falling) perhaps that's why.
I'm certainly seeing some changeable
weather on this trip including some sunshine but sadly no warmth (note to self;
next time, do it in the summer you doughnut....). Right then; Cold Lake. Well,
hard to believe that its named after a lake - Coldwater Lake in fact. Bizarre,
eh ? And not a lake to fall into either with its depth of around 500
metres in places. Anyway, it's in the Lakeland district of Alberta and is
home to the Canadian Forces Air Weapons Range so plenty of air activity during
the week I'd imagine. This time of year is ideal for taking to the trails
and walks around the area - the autumn/fall colours/colors <bg> a site/sight
(just kidding !) to behold. And what festivals did I miss ? Well, there was the
Waste Reduction Week back in October and I was three weeks too late to join in
the Scrapbooking weekend. Never mind, there's plenty to do here during my
short stay. This is a particularly gorgeous area but first things first;
where's the bar .....?
Leg 9
A 60 minute flight takes me now to Slave Lake, Alberta into some rather unpleasant weather; t'was mid-afternoon when I set of in a light snow shower with temperatures of around minus 4. On seeing the weather report, I'd already decided to keep this low - down to a maximum ceiling of 4,000'.
40 miles shy of Slave Lake and the weather closed in even more, not only was it getting darker but the clouds now were full of snow and the sky was beginning to look very unpleasant. You can see from the picture below what I mean whilst on finals.....
Needless to say - we have an affectionate name for this place and for once its not called The Gateway to the North but the much more aptly name of "The Jewel of the North". This little place has a mission statement of 'Working together, building a better community' - and with the temperature currently reading minus 25 I should think you'd have to be working together. This is, just like all the other places I've stopped off at so far, another beautiful place in a beautiful country. Oh, nearly forgot....festivals; I've missed the Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament (Spring time) and the Alberta Open Sandsculpture Championships in July. Darn.....
Leg 10
Decision time; head off onto a slightly more
northerly route into the Northern Territories or drop south to finish my trip in
the region of Vancouver ? Well - I want to get this finished before
Christmas as this has taken a little longer than expected (and yes, I know I
said I was in no hurry but hey.....) so I've decided to head off south west down
to Penticton (CYYF). It's still pretty darned cold so plenty of hot drinks
and warm clothing and off we go. Starting off in quite murky weather I was
soon climbing up to a cruising altitude of 12,000' to keep well above the Rocky
Mountains; weather reports for that area and destination were good, fairly clear
the nearer I got to the Rockies. And what a sight they are - magnificent,
flying over Jasper National Park which has got to be one of the most beautiful
places on Earth. I decided to extend my flight very slightly to two hours
forty two minutes by following the Okanagan Lake down past Kelowna and on down
to Penticton.
I flew downwind and you can see here how good the weather was with a scattering of clouds. This town is situated between two lakes; the Okanagan which can be seen in the distance and Skaha Lake which is the one I'm over here. Ground temperatures were somewhere in the region of minus 6. This little airport - in fact the town - is tucked between the two lakes and sits snug between rolling hills - very picturesque.
So - off into town and what can I expect ? Well - too much to list here I can tell you. There's so much going on here one could be tempted to stay longer than planned. So, priority one; find a good bar and make some plans.
Whatever I get up to here, I've decided that this has been the penultimate leg in my journey across the continent. It's now time to mull over where to complete my trip; Pitt Meadows, Vancouver - or jump across to Vancouver Island ? I'll just have to have another beer and make a decision......
Rolling out at CYYF
Leg 11
OK, I've been here a week now and it's time to get rolling. Alarm clock set to stupid o'clock and it's up before sparrow-fart. The weather here's not too bad - flippin' cold of course but used to that now. Right then, don the thermals, throw a coffee down my neck and off out to do the checks. Not raining - yet - or snowing but there's a promise of a good sunrise.
Preliminary check's done, taxi off to hold short
and do final check's before take-off:
And before you know it, I'm off on the final leg. I had decided to go over to Vancouver Island in the end - Tofino (CYAZ) - might just as well hit the east coast rather than hold short at Pitt Meadows as I was initially thinking of doing. That way at least the journey will have been coast to coast. So, climbing now with the Sun blazing its daily greeting that would sadly be short-lived, the cloud was bubbling up at a particularly quick rate. Through the clouds, Hope appeared below nicely lit up. What a great little place that is with its wood carvings around the main streets.
The Twinkie has, apart from one bowel-moving moment, proved to be an absolute pleasure to use. And cheap to run <g> It's got me through snow, ice and rain and I knew looking ahead that this was going to be an unfair final test; the weather was becoming quite appalling.
The latest forecast was not going to make for a good ending to the trip; light rain expected (no problem) but the winds were rising - currently 30kts gusting to 43. And the cloudbase level was falling all the time. Was I worried ? Nah ! It's not real..... is it ? Let me put it like this; the weather became so bad that I had a cold sweat pouring off me on finals into CYAZ. Visibility was down to about 1/4 mile max, the winds mentioned above materialised, it was chucking it down with rain (not light ...) and of course there was what seems to be the obligatory tree right at the threshold to the runway (why do they do that ?!). I did make it down in one piece but I fear that the undercarriage may need a good inspection - t'was a might heavy...... Flight time: 1' 10".
But we did it. We covered in excess of 2,900 miles over a period of just under two months starting on 28th October and finishing on 16th December (mainly weekends, obviously). It was done in an absolutely superb aircraft (thanks Eaglesoft) and I'd do it all over again. Anytime.
If you've managed to get this far too, thankyou for taking the time to read it - I hope you've enjoyed it.
Right - where to next ?
© Kevin Hardy (unless clearly stated otherwise)