The landing gear was reset to enable the front wheels to swivel properly. The propeller reset to give the full RPM.

Monday 6th May was busy. Three flights in Cessna 172s with students, and then a training flight in the Cessna 182 to Pitt Lake and the Pitt River.
We did stalls in the seaplane with two splashes in Pitt Lake, forced approaches, and three splashes in the river, including flapless.

The next morning we thought we might splash in Phantom Lake, but it was still frozen so we went to Clowhom Lake instead.

Tuesday 7th May, Cessna 172 circuits, Cessna 182 splashes, then two more circuit sessions in Cessna 172s.
Wednesday 8th May was very busy, two Cessna 172 flights, circuits in the Citabria, then splashes in Whistler Green Lake in the Cessna 182, and a straight and level and gentle turns lesson in a Cessna 172.
The flying school experience enabled me to practice basic training procedures in addition to the more advanced training much of a freelance instructor's life is composed of.
The fundamental initial lessons in straight and level, trimming, gentle and medium turns, steep turns and slow flight through stalls take time and patience, and must be done to form an effective foundation for everything else.
On this trip I spent a lot of time with students doing forty five degree turns, how to enter, how to roll out, how to reference the 'horizon' if you have one, the mountain sides if you don't.

9th May up early to go and splash the Cessna 182 in Widgeon Lake, send Brittani off on her second solo flight, fly with Emidio in the Citabria, and end the day with a flight in a Cessna 172.

Glassy water

I was a little lower than normal on my approach to Widgeon Lake over the waterfall and encountered a downdraft which was interesting as there was little wind about, and the lake surface was glassy.
I added power to reduce the sink rate and waited for the floats to touch the water... You watch the lake going by, and wonder when, and the touch down is always a surprise.
Takeoff was by doing a few S turns at the far end of the lake, turning and running across the waves you've created to get up on the step, then rolling one float out of the water, running a little bit on the other float, and then rolling it out of the water, nose down a little, accelerate, aim for the top of the trees, and then climb.

Using the ridge lift to soar the Citabria up to 6,000 feet for free.
If there's Sunshine, and/or wind, you can climb at cruise power in the mountains.

An unexpected tarn on the way up.

The Lions above Vancouver from the Citabria.
It seems odd being this high so near to Vancouver and not in controlled airspace.

High over Squamish Airport.

On Saturday morning I flew with Sam in the Volmer Sportsman to Pitt Meadows where we taxied down the ramp and into the Fraser river, to check it floats, and to do some water handling.
There was a lot of flotsum in the river and so we checked a clear area and took off from the river to find some water in Pitt Lake without errant logs and things.
I must admit I was a bit 'off my game', over thinking it, as this was my first flight off the water in a flying boat for a while. At least I was able to demonstrate 'corrections' of the errors I made. Nothing dangerous, just not to my standard.

The mirror is for checking the gear positon, except you can't discern it easily.
So take a digital picture and zoom in to see the gear, or the water as above.

Every second Sunday there's a breakfast at Delta Heritage Air Park and so I attended in the Chipmunk, and my brother Gary attended in the Cherokee.
Again, the lack of others flying in is an indicator that all is not well in recreational aviation.

After breakfast I flew to Boundary Bay (5 minutes) and went for a flight with Gavin in the Bellanca 14-19 Cruisemaster.
We went into the Pitt Lake practice area, and then did a couple of circuits at Pitt Meadows before stopping for soup. The Cruisemaster is a lovely aeroplane to fly.

David Lai flew back with me from Boundary Bay to Langley in the Chipmunk with a few manoeuvres on the way.

The wrong valley, 'should have been a left turn before (I told them so), but it's more scenic this way.

Monday 13th, two sessions in the Citabria, and then a late flight to Powell River in a Cessna 172 with a couple of pilot/aircraft engineers from WestJet.
The pilot was an enthusiast from Ontario, taking the opportunity to do some mountain flying while on a 737 Max course in Vancouver (true!). He was in his fifties, his friend was younger, has a PPL but hasn't flown for a while due to the expense of it.
Flying though cheaper than in Britain is still expensive for Canadians. Fiscal responsibility was not taught to my generation, and so we willingly spent loads of money on flying. Nowadays children are far more aware of the value of money, and the need to invest in their pensions...
Tuesday was a miserable wet day, no flying.
Wednesday was for circuits in the morning in the Citabria, and then I did a rental flight (half my expense) to Langley to pick up some documents I needed.
The PPL student who flew with me in the Citabria to Langley was so impressed he decided to do a circuit session in it on Thursday, the next day. It would improve his landings in the Cessna 172.
It is possible to enthuse students in other than Cessna aeroplanes, just send them up with me!

I had borrowed the old Lexus from Ted.
I borrowed it a few years ago when it was still nice, now the clutch would slip and it had been knocked about.
Wednesday night I had driven to have Thai food prepared by Bill's Thai wife and her niece at their Whistler home.

Thursday afternoon we flew the Cessna 182 to Allan's cabin on Seaton Lake... There we did some step taxying and a low power takeoff, and then I surprised him by asking him to do a flapless touch down in Anderson Lake (glassy water), it was the best alighting he'd done so far. Very smooth.
It's my job as an instructor to take a pilot beyond the comfort zone to increase the skill set, and improve safety in the future.

Seaton Lake

Friday 17th May: a local flight in the Chipmunk with Ted.

Condor style colour scheme.

Saturday 18th: Pitt Meadows; a recurrency flight with Ernie in his RV6. Low power minimum radius turns, stalls, and some instrument flying under the hood.
When I have these recurrency flights I have to look at the flying the customer does, and then plan to do something unusual, like putting the owner of an Extra 300 under the instrument hood!
Later, a few circuits on the hard runway with Bill in his Volmer Sportsman (there are two of these in my life).

Sunday I flew with Daryl and his friend Irene in the Warrior, through the Golden Ears, east to Chehalis Lake, over Rowena's, and into Chilliwack for lunch.

Rowena's, Sandpiper Golf Course

Where the clear Harrison River meets the granulated Fraser River.

Flew in the Warrior again in the evening with Emidio to the Golden Ears and Widgeon Lake.

Twelve circuits with Warwick in the Citabria. I never get bored doing circuits. Especially in tailwheel aeroplanes and seaplanes, I can't doze on the job.

On to part three