Canada Trip Part Two
Canada Trip Part Two
30th July
I was up to do another three day stint at Glacier Air.
First flight was with Simon in a Cessna 172 to do circuits. This
was a pre-solo assessment flight and so time was spent on the
ground with Emergency Procedures, and some on Aircraft Technical
too.
We did nine circuits, and the student was ready for solo, but
without the requisite six unspoken landings.
31st July
The morning began in a Cessna 172 with a shuttle across the
mountains to Chilliwack to pick up the Super Decathlon from
maintenance.
Marie le Bihan has the pleasure of flying
the Super Decathlon back to Squamish
Of course the Super Decathlon requires a proper check that all systems are normal and so this required inverted flying in the Glen Valley area, and a further check while flying past the Chief later.
Fires are common it seems... This one east
of SFU as we passed in the Super Decathlon
Back at Squamish Warrick
wanted to know more about the Chipmunk and so we flew in his
Cessna 172B to Langley where we went for a flight in CF CXI... He
loved it of course and is looking for one to buy.
Warrick is a good candidate for a Chipmunk, he understands
mechanics, and is into racing cars... 'Has a Ford MK1 Escort
rally car, (RH drive), and so he qualifies in the enthusiast
department as well!
Back at Squamish, one more
flight to be done in the Citabria, but the Right Magneto
failed... The Left had recently been overhauled and now the Right
fails. 'Confirms the idea of doing both at the same time.
All my bookings cancelled the next day, But:
1st August
We could fly the Super Decathlon, but it was up on the
lift, and adjustments made to its positioning were not condusive
to getting the aeroplane off the lift!
So I drove back to Vancouver where there was a huge jam getting
on the Lions Gate Bridge, the only way in from the north... I
thought I'd go to Sala Thai for lunch, but the city was packed
and parking would be a big problem... 'Better to take public
transport into the city I think.
2nd August
Soft Field landings using a little power and a lot of patience
for Marilyne in the Diamond today, and off she went for her
second solo flight to practice.
Night flying again with
James to complete the instrument training requirement.
A more intensive session this time with unusual attitude
recoveries, and limited (partial) panel flying together with
unusual attitudes likewise... I was the tormentor!
Heading for the sea off Point Roberts
3rd August
Circuits with Marilyne in the Diamond.
4th August
Airwork in the Pitt Lake practice area with Emidio in the Piper
Warrior.
The problem on this flight was the tendency to apply aileron when
a wing drops in the stall. It is a common problem with pilots
trained in the Cessna 172, and while it's something you get away
with in such aircraft it is a dangerous habit in some types of
aircraft.
Then there's the over use of rudder to compensate for a wing
drop... Pilots recover in a slip, and a slip is a height loss
manoeuvre.
One evening in a Mooney M20F over the Pitt Lake I did a stall
with one stage of flap, right wing drop, but an easy recovery.
Then the new owner's turn, right wing drop, left aileron, instant
spin! Lost a thousand feet in one turn, but spin recovery was
normal.
We worked on getting rid of the aileron habit.
Getting to grips with the Piper Warrior 1
5th August
Fresh annual check done, and trim
repaired, the Bellanca was ready to go.
So up to the Pitt Lake area Marcia and I flew, up high to learn
about power settings and constant speed propellers, turns, and
stalls, setting the mixture.
Flap limit = 86 MPH, no wonder with thin
cables to hold them down.
Flew with Stephen in his Piper Warrior 1 to do airwork and review forced landings. Four landings at Pitt Meadows and lunch there.
Nine circuits with Daryl in the Piper Tomahawk.
6th August
Airborne at 08:22 in the Bellanca to do turns over the
Stave dams, then cruised to Chilliwack with a smooth arrival
procedure for a low and over there. We went to Abbotsford and did
two circuits before the airport was closed for airshow practice
as NOTAM'd.
Did another scheduled speed reduction and descent into Boundary
Bay.
Flew with Gloria to do turns and stalls in the Pitt Lake area in the Tomahawk.
Short flight in the Warrior with Emidio to do a Practice Forced Landing.
7th August
Out of Boundary Bay to do seven circuits at Abbotsford
with Marcia in the Bellanca.
More airwork with Gloria in the Tomahawk over Pitt Lake.
More airwork with Emidio in the Warrior, Pitt Lake.
8th August
Short afternoon flight in the
Chipmunk with James.
Flying the Airvan. Photo by David Lai
9th August
Flew to Pitt Meadows with Gloria in the Tomahawk to do
circuits.
Collected the GA8 Airvan from Pro Maintenance and gave it a
flight test before putting it back in the hangar.
The intent was to fly the Volmer Sportsman for the first time since its aileron hinge repair but the radio refused to work well enough. We taxied out, got to the holding point, and then taxied back.
10th August
Flew to Chilliwack with Gloria in the Tomahawk and did five
landings before returning to Boundary Bay.
Enroute to Chilliwack
The flying saucer is a landmark put there
for the purpose of avoiding the Pitt Meadows zone
We let the Cessna go first into Boundary
Bay
With a poor radio we were
able to go flying in the Volmer for the first time, but there was
stick force required to hold the nose up all the way. Stall was
at 43 MPH IAS.
Once again someone needed convincing of the effect of sealing the
gap between the tailplane and elevator, and between the fin and
rudder. This improves aerodynamic efficiency.
After sealing the gap with tape we flew another circuit and the
change was dramatic with a large improvement in elevator control.
11th August
Radio noise was dramatically reduced when proper shielded magneto
'P' Leads were fitted. At last we have a radio we can use.
The original intent was to
go to Pitt Meadows and introduced the aeroplane to the water by
way of the ramp, but circumstances changed this plan.
So there we were on final for the Fraser River by Fort Langley,
this alighting was smooth, and afterwards we taxied around on the
water to get used to this aeroplane.
There followed two more splash and goes before we flew to Pitt
Meadows to land on the runway there.
On the water by Fort Langley
A reason to be a Fort Langley is the chance of help if you need it, but I looked down and saw that Fort Langley Air was unoccupied... Later I learned that 'CDQ, the company's Cessna 180 had been involved in a fatal crash. Very sad, my condolences to all concerned.
Not easy to see the tailwheel in the mirror
so take a picture and zoom in
Grumble Geese on the ramp at Pitt Meadows
After lunch and a refuel the Volmer waddled down the ramp into the water to the annoyance of the Canada Geese and we did nine circuits both ways East and West on the river. Alighting and slowing to displacement before accelerating to takeoff again. Back to land at Boundary Bay at 15:10 to check the aeroplane over.
After start at 18:17 the
oil pressure showed a fluctuation... The oil level was low and so
two quarts were added. This shows the importance of checking the
oil between flights.
There was not much oil on the outside and so the engine must be
burning it!
Airborne at 18:52 we flew up to Pitt Lake to explore alighting
places, and do a couple of alightings in different qualities of
water surface. For practice we did alightings in two places on
the Pitt river on the way back
Heading back to Boundary Bay in the evening
12th August
Flew the Chipmunk with Ted to Delta Heritage Air Park.
You can do a Seaplane
Rating in two days, but this is not really enough in my opinion,
and so Ryan will take some experienced flying boat pilots with
him in the future.
Bill keeps his Volmer at Langley and there are three experienced
Volmer pilots there and so I hope that Ryan's experience can be
gained with these guys as well.
As far as the training exercises are concerned, all of these were
covered in the training I gave in accordance with the Transport
Canada Instructor Guide tp12668e.
One needs to be cautious in how seaplane flying is approached.
On Sunday afternoon we flew
to Pitt Lake and climbed to 2,000 feet. The first objective was
to experience engine failures... So from 2,000 I lowered the nose
to maintain 75 mph, this is steep in a draggy aeroplane... Normal
approach is 65 mph with 1500 RPM, the extra speed is to enable
you to flare and fly 'flat' above the water to let the aeroplane
gently settle onto the water.
I raised the nose to simulate the flare... With height to spare
Ryan did the same, lowering the nose to 75 mph and flaring to
level.
Then with the remaining height I once again lowered the nose to
gain 75 mph, flared, and the aeroplane gently touched down on the
water.
We climbed to 500 feet and Ryan did a successful forced alighting.
Then we went off to do
glassy water alightings. Two up 1800 to 2000 RPM produced a
smooth level touchdown on the water.
A total of eleven splashes were made with asimulated engine
failure, and some genuine glassy water touchdowns in various
parts of the Pitt Lake.
An on step planing exercise was crried out with the aeroplane
motorboating around. All good fun.
We taxied to a stoney beach
and stopped with the wheels down.
The rocky bottom was not condusive to taxying onto the beach and
so we exited in the shallow water.
In Canada the Seaplane
Rating candidate is required to go solo, and so I was abandoned
on the beach.
This is a precarious for the instructor who could become
stranded... There were a couple of families with boats picnicking
and I was offered a ride back if I needed it.
As it was Ryan completed nine alightings in the aeroplane and
taxied back. Total time 0.8 solo.
The two of us took off at 18:06, but I noticed the oil pressure fluctuate again and so chopped the power and alighted straight ahead.
Ryan adds a quart in the middle of Pitt
Lake
Last day, 13th
August
Telus is selling one of their Quest Kodiaks and I was
asked to look at it.
I was there at 08:00 and went through the structure and logs...
Looks very good to me.
At 10:52 I was airborne
with Gavin in the Bellanca Cruisemaster with the intent to do
some performance assessments... But as we climbed higher and
higher the smoke from forest fires made the visibility worse and
worse.
Passing Mission we made a call to Abbotsford; my concern being
about whether a WestJet 737 was likely to be inbound at that
time. They cross through 'uncontrolled'
Controlled Class E airpace in the area which we would be
entering. It's Class E Mode C airspace.
There was no topping the smoke, and so we gave up, descended and
returned to Boundary Bay.
The smoke put some flying
schools off and so I was able to do circuits at Boundary Bay in
the Tomahawk with Gloria.
Then fourteen circuits were flown with Emidio in the Warrior,
engine stop at 17:42.
I had not packed for my evening departure and I was scheduled to
go to the Flying Beaver Pub at 19:30...
It was a good time with
people in the Flying Beaver, but I still had to pack and so I had
to leave at 21:30 to go and do this.
Cathay Pacific CX865 was scheduled to depart at 02:20 the next
morning.
Arrival at Hong Kong Airport was at 06:15 on Wednesday. Tuesday was a very short day!
I took the A11 bus to North Point, HK$40
The adult fare on the trams is HK$2.60
I went for a walkabout in
parts of Hong Kong with a couple of tram rides in between, and
then took the underground to Tung Chung and the S1 bus to the
airport.
Cathay Dragon KA232 was scheduled to leave at 15:20.
It's the rainy season here in Chiang Mai