Making things happen.
Making things happen.
October began with a final dual session with Alan in the Piper Cub followed by the group kindly lending me the aeroplane to do my 'one hour with an instructor' dual flight to maintain the validity of my own UK PPL.
Canada
In this life I have been very good at facilitating flying futures for people; if
only I could have done it for myself!
Never mind, we all have good fortune and bad fortune in different ways, and
hopefully there's a balance, "accentuate the positive". My life has been about
many travel experiences, meeting a lot of good characters, and much learning.
So here we are on Air Canada flying to Vancouver... The objective was to get Annabel a flight in a flying boat, some other seaplane experiences, and tailwheel time... In particular, Annabel wanted to log some De Havilland Beaver time.
The first officer came to the back of the Boeing 777 for a break and to talk
with the flight attendants, and so I decided to go for a chat... I asked him if
he knew Kevin... He knew Kevin very well, and it just happened that Kevin was
the Captain on this flight, not only that, Kevin also flies a Beaver on floats!
Annabel also came back, and she discovered that a flight attendant, Annie, had
her CPL, but had not flown for a while. Later on I would get Annie back into the
air.
Coincidences? Fate working in the favour of those who dream.
Kevin invited us to the cockpit after arrival
at the gate.
First objective was achieved when Bill took
Annabel for a few
splashes in the Volmer Sportsman flying boat.
Tailwheel flying began in the Super Decathlon from Squamish.
Introductions
6th October, we went to Langley where Annabel went for a flight with Emidio, and then to Pitt
Meadows where we met up with Amy at her flying school for tea.
Amy's Flying School is doing very well.
While we were there we met Don who bought the Cessna 120 from me back in 1992,
it's still awaiting refurbishment in his hangar.
What I didn't know about Don was that he once flew F104s in the Canadian Air
Force.
The objective was to fly via Garibaldi Lake to
Boundary Bay.
But, the Lower Mainland was on the edge of being fogged in.
Even so, it was a brilliant experience out of Squamish.
From Squamish we drove to Bill and Ju's house by Green Lake, Whistler, and stayed two nights.
My favourite float plane still flies from Green Lake.
10th October, the intent was to go to Powell River from Boundary Bay in the Cessna 172, but
then I received an urgent call from Colette to pick up the Citabria from
Maintenance and fly it up to Squamish, much to the chagrin of Annabel. And
apologies to Andreas and Amy who we were supposed to meet for lunch.
Not only that, Annabel would be thrown into the deep end and fly the Cessna 172
from Chilliwack through Vancouver Harbour airspace, the terror of the Lower
Mainland's complicated controlled airspace, and speaking to controllers in a
foreign aviation language...
As it was, my brother Gary and my niece Jessica would follow in the Cherokee, so
Jessica was put in the Cessna 172 to help Annabel with the radio communication.
Being adaptable to changes of plan is important in association with me!
Clouds in the mountains meant that we had to route via the Pitt Meadows zone
(though I stayed to the north), Vancouver Harbour, and Howe Sound.
All was smooth going until we arrived over Squamish town where upon moderate to
severe turbulence made for a rough ride into the airfield.
With Annabel now checked out and flying as Pilot In Comand
we took the valley route for a quick return to Boundary Bay.
11th October, Captain Annabel took me for a Lower
Mainland tour with the intention to gain radio communication experience.
We flew up to Widgeon Lake, then across to the Golden Ears to fly between them,
a touch and go at Chilliwack, then through the training areas (hornets nests!),
over Langley, and back into busy Boundary Bay.
Tim had met Annabel at an aviation event in England and happened to be visiting
Vancouver as part of his aviation safety work.
So while Annabel went seaplane flying with David in his Cessna 185, Tim flew
with me.
We all met up at Mary's Half Moon Cafe by Victoria Airport for lunch, (I had
liver, bacon, and onions), and then went our separate ways.
Tim and I flew to Squamish from Victoria, climbing to pass between the Golden
Ears, pass over Pitt Lake to Widgeon Lake, and then through the mountains to
Squamish.
After tea, we flew down Howe Sound, around the City of Vancouver, and then back
to Boundary Bay.
The Beaver Experience
It took a couple of goes before we safely landed on the short 'aircraft carrier' runway at Duncan.
There, Kevin picked us up to go to Quamichan Lake on Vancouver Island where the De Havilland Beaver was moored.
The weather was too poor to fly inland and so we went seaward where Kevin did a
few splash and goes before swapping seats with Annabel to give her some dual
training.
We stopped on the beach of a nearby island to eat a packed lunch, and then flew
back to Quamichan Lake where Kevin did two splashes the wash some of the salt
water off.
Cardinal Flight to Powell River
The objective was to go for lunch at Julie's Cafe, but we arrived too late at 14:30. We did manage to buy sandwiches and sticky buns with cash!
Sandwiches and sticky buns in Powell River Flying
Club.
To be legal one must do some solo night landings, and so I flew the Tomahawk out
of Boundary Bay.
On the 19th October I flew with Annabel to do the Vancouver City tour in the
dark followed by a night touch and go at Pitt Meadows, and again at Abbotsford.
Abbotsford demonstrated the variable intensity runway lighting.
Busy Warwick had not flown since I flew dual with him to renew his pilot licence
a year ago, and so we took the opportunity to fly from Victoria to Courtenay and
back.
Annabel flew me over in the Tomahawk and she had a day out with a friend who
lives in Victoria.
The weather had just cleared when Warwick and I arrived at Courtenay, it had
been fogged in earlier.
We met up with Bob and Valerie for lunch at the nearby White Spot and then left
as the weather was moving back in.
There has been an awkward airspace grab at Nanaimo, and this gave us some
problems... I was not happy with my performance this day.
Better weather at Victoria.
In England Annabel has the smaller Glastar version of this aeroplane.
Daryl, who owns the Taifun 17E, together with his long time friend John, came for a flight around the mountains and the city in the Cessna 172 from Boundary Bay.
Diamond DA40-180
I was asked to test fly the DA40 after it's Annual Check.
Insurance required both Alice and me to have a check out with a Certified Flight
Instructor... I am a Certified Flight Instructor and so I could do Alice's check
flight, at the same time as checking the aeroplane out with a few stalls and
turns...
We then flew to Chilliwack for lunch with friends who arrived in their Cardinal
and Warrior aeroplanes.
As Alice was now checked out, and so she flew us back to Boundary Bay...
Back to Squamish for more tailwheel time in the
Citabria.
Both with Annabel and with Howard who has an aeroplane at Elstree in England.
23rd October was a busy day.
First off, was a Glacier Air Cessna 172 flight with Annabel and Annie up to Lake
Lovely Water and back.
Then Annie flew with me in the Citabria, her first flight in a while. Trained in
a Cessna 172 the Citabria was a very different experience for her, but she did
very well with a review of airwork. I did not expect her to takeoff and land the
aeroplane.
Finally, Howard wanted to experience the busy Lower Mainland and so we took the
Cessna 152 down Howe Sound, around the City of Vancouver, touch and go at
Boundary Bay, touch and go at Pitt Meadows, high over Widgeon Lake, and across
the mountains back to Squamish.
And so ended a successful trip to British Columbia.
On Saturday we had thought to take the Cessna 185 amphib into Widgeon Lake, one
of my favourite places...
But low cloud and drizzerable weather meant this had to be cancelled... Instead,
I had another breakfast at Boundary Bay.
I washed the car in the rain before I gave it back... Drove to Richmond for a
hot chocolate, filled the petrol tank, and had a ride to the airport.
Strong winds delayed Air Canada flight 860 to London as the travel time
would be an hour shorter than normal... Just over eight hours.
'Caught the RA2 bus to Guildford...
