Monday, 15th I arrived at Calgary Airport on WS19 from Heathrow... We were
delayed as a change of gate meant there were no staff to marshall the 787 in,
and to operate the air bridge. Everyone connecting to Vancouver became anxious
as the connection time became tight... We all ran a marathon through to
Immigration and then onwards to the gate for the connecting flight, WS123.
Hot and sweating we arrived to find the connecting flight was also delayed, so
we could have taken an easy stroll.
I bought a bottle of water from a
machine, and downed it.
Alice picked me up from Vancouver airport and dropped me off at Robert's empty apartment downtown on Burnaby Street.
The next day I drove up the Sea to Sky Highway to visit Glacier Air at Squamish
Airport.
"You can fly with Shondra" they said, "Shondra you should fly with
Michael"... So I went for a pleasant seven circuits in the Citabria where we
experienced different (but good) landing techniques.
An encylopedia - me?
On Wednesday I was invited to attend Bob Leroux's Instructor Refresher Course at
Langley, Kwantlen College.
David was about to give a briefing about spinning,
and so I settled in at the back of the class, to sit quietly... No!
I was
referred to as David's "encyclopedia", and was asked for a few explanations...
Later another instructor gave a briefing on Forced Landings, and so I added my
ten pence worth then as well.
I went for a ride to
Chilliwack and back with Nick in his Cherokee 160.
On Friday Leigh wanted to take his friend Neetha for a flight, and so we took
the Cessna 172 for a flight around the Golden Ears.
Then it was up in the
Chipmunk for Christian's biennial recurrency flight. We did aggrevated stalls,
and Practice Forced Landings, PFLs.
Christian bought the Chipmunk from Ted
and continues to look after it as a true custodian.
On Saturday 20th I drove up the Sea to Sky again to Squamish, I didn't fly that day, but the next day I was booked to fly with Roel in his Pelican PL.
The objective was to be able to accurately land on the runway at a place Roel chose, and we would try do do this by completing a 180 degree precision approach from down wind, power off.
Eleven circuits were flown, and these also involved side slip/forward slips to land precisely at a nominated position on the runway.
Catherine is learning tailwheel, and so I sat in the back to do seven circuits
with her.
Ultimately she would like to get into aerobatics.
The Promise
Ted sponsored my RIAT trip (at Fairford in England) during the summer, and there
I said I would come to Canada and we would go for another flight in the
Chipmunk.
Ted owned the aeroplane for twenty two years, and we flew together
in it from St Hubert to Langley when he purchased it, and thereafter for two
decades.
Ted has passed eighty years old and I think it's important we fly
for as long as we can, and if that means a safety pilot (like wot I am), that's
fine... We're not all gathering flying hours for a future career, we're flying
for the joy of it.
Ted up front.
Our route was to the Golden Ears which were sufficiently clouded over to make
the usual passage between them a little too risky, and so we circled around them
and then headed eastbound to Harrison Hot Springs, and turned around to fly back
to Boundary Bay.
Sentimental journey.
Post flight nosh at the
Flying Beaver Pub, CYVR South Side.
Warwick needs to renew his CPL after letting it lapse, and so we went for a
flight in a Piper Warrior from Blackbushe Aviation in August.
He has a lot of
flying hours in the Piper Tomahawk and so I managed to put him back in a
familiar place here in Canada.
I took the aeroplane solo to and from Victoria, and did a couple of flights from there with Warwick in between.
Squamish Again
Both Colette and I needed some aerobatic practice and so we took the Super
Decathlon up for a bit of flying.
First I checked that it flew inverted...
Then we did Aileron Rolls, followed by Loops. I checked that I could still do
Slow Rolls left and right, and then finished off with a quarter upwards Clover
Leaf.
Years of teaching aerobatics means that my muscle memory is still
there.
Howard has a Cirrus at Elstree, but here he visits his daughter in Whistler, and
has nothing to fly... So I put him in the Citabria and teach him some tailwheel
techniques.
We did some scenic flying, steep turns, stalls, and four
circuits, then we went for lunch at the nearby Crabapple Cafe.
On Friday I flew in the morning with Dave Duncan: steep turns, slow flight and
turns, stalls, and spins left and right.
The Citabria is a true spinning
aeroplane, and so you can go to the right.
Then I flew with instructor Anthony in the Super Decathlon to fly inverted, do some Barrel Rolls, then back to basics: Wingovers, and finished with a Half Cuban.
Aki has come a long way since she took over being the Chief Flight Instructor at
Sea Land Air from me.
She achieved her Class 1 Instructor Rating and so can
teach new instructors, and this has been followed by becoming an examiner to do
PPL and CPL Flight Tests.
Aki hasn't flown a Cessna 172 for a long time and
she will have to do flight tests for people in this type as well. So under a low
ceiling we flew seven circuits.
She was reminded about how heavy the Cessna
172 is compared to the more pleasant characteristics of the Diamond aeroplanes.
Ian Morrison sat in the back, so after Aki had finished, he and I did four
circuits together. There was low marine cloud and so we flew 500 foot circuits
under special VFR until an arriving IFR flight meant we had to land.
Ian has
let his licence lapse as well.
A difference from Britain is that if you let your licence lapse for more than 5
years you have to do the Air Law exam and then fly with an instructor like me,
training to come back up to the Flight Test Standard. I can then sign the
logbook to revalidate the licence.
In England, if you go a day beyond the 24
month cycle without the 12 hours logged including one hour with an instructor,
you have to do an expensive flight test with an examiner. It's a lot less
difficult in Canada.
Indeed I had to do a flight test to revalidate my PPL
when I returned from Canada, but I was fortunate in being able to fly with a
friendly examiner in a Condor.
Rowena's - Sandpiper Golf Course
On Sunday Alice wanted me to introduce her new friend to flying... He had
already flown with her in the Cessna 172 with tentative gentle turns.
Sam,
Alice, my brother Gary and I flew out to Rowena's - Sandpiper Golf Course for an
excellent lunch there in the golf club restaurant.
Approaching the Glen Valley I pointed out the Great Wall of China, and a Junk
(ship) moored in a pond.
Sam and I worked on trimming the aeroplane, flying
at different airspeeds, and doing regular turns.
Proper trimming is the
secret to easy flying, and then we can relax our grip as well.
Being trimmed
and relaxed is pleasant flying.
After Sandpiper we flew to Chilliwack where the restaurant had closed at 15:00,
and the terminal (with it's toilets) was locked.
What a difference from when
the restaurant was open until 19:00 and very nice dessert pies were baked on the
premises... "I Fly For Pie".
Now I am told they come from Costco!
We flew
back along the river at 1,000 feet, and then climbed a little to pass between
the Langley and Pitt Meadows zones, over the Buddhist Temple, and back to
Boundary Bay.
With light winds we were given a straight in to runway 25, (active 13), but no backtrack as someone else was behind us... They got a backtrack!
Conclusion
Many things are not changed for the better here...
As mentioned before, the
government's legalisation and active promotion of cannabis use means that you
smell the stuff everywhere. I had a walk by the beach one evening, sat for a
while, but was assailed by cannabis smoke from someone on the beach upwind of
me.
This, and the ever horrible road system with aggressive drivers cutting
you up while racing to the next red light, means I am glad I don't live here.
It's the cost of being able to do some flying in a fantastic place to do it.
Sandpiper Golf Course is a
beautiful place to be.