bstratt
Cleared for Takeoff
I was supposed to start my long trip to Newfoundland on Sunday, July 24th, but due to a strong swath of thunderstorms cutting N-S through central Michigan, and moving East, I decided to delay a day. Spent Sunday packing the plane and doing a THOROUGH pre-flight. Monday morning up at 4:30am, forecasts were good so I filed my IFR flight plan for the first leg (Chicago to Sarnia, ON, for customs). Drove to the airport and stood on the ramp at 5:45am with my mouth hanging open watching the southern skies light up with lightning. On the cell phone with FSS who told me if I could get off in the next 30 minutes I would PROBABLY be okay as the storms had just reached JOT! (I hate when they start throwing around probabilities!! LOL!!). Thank God I had packed and done most of the pre flight the day before. I was off in about 20 minutes although of course Chicago completely changed what I had filed. To my surprise, and worry, they initially vectored me to JOT. After flying for a few minutes I had just about decided to divert myself when they told me to turn East, then NE over Gary out over the lake, then finally direct Flint. As I was flying over Michigan, ATC asked what my conditions were and I replied CAVU. They reported storm cells in front of me but I could see the wall off to my left and could tell I'd miss it completely and so reported. Landing at Sarnia was uneventful as I taxied to the fuel pumps. This was my first flight using my CANPASS registration and Canadian customs never even showed up. Filled up my tanks and the line guy gave me a C$0.05/litre discount for pumping myself. Fuel was US$4.00/gallon (I'll provide the converted figures rather than C$/L).
Off from Sarnia to Oshawa to pick up my brother. Weather was still CAVU and Toronto Center took me direct Hamilton then right up the shoreline over Toronto City Center Airport (damn - why did I pack my camera in the suitcase) then on into Oshawa. My brother and his wife were waiting for me so it only took 30 minutes or so to refuel, pack the plane, file, etc. Fuel at Oshawa was $4.36/gallon.
Next leg was on to Trois Riviers, Quebec. Flight plan took us over Ottawa, Mirabel, then on to Trois Riviers. Flight was uneventful (best kind). Landed at TR and met the most charming bilingual lady working at the FBO. She refueled the plane ($3.58/gallon), helped push it to the side of the apron, and let us use the FBO's computer for weather info (Note: this was the only airport we flew into that didn't have a NavCanada provided direct hook up for flight info). The computer was showing that I had caught up to the front that had gone through Michigan the day before and there were TS between us and our next destination (Sept Isles) so we decided to call it a day at 5:00pm EDT. This lady then arranged a hotel room for us and drove us to the hotel while giving us a quick tour of the city and restaurants. She had just obtained her Commercial Pilot's license and hoped to be able to buy a plane as she wanted to travel North America in it. My brother and I had a lovely dinner (with a large pitcher of cold draft beer) at one of her recommendations.
Next morning up at 5:00am to check weather and flight plan using my laptop from the room. Get the front desk to arrange a taxi and we were wheels up at 6:30am. We flew over a deck below us, over Quebec City, and on to Sept Isles with a great tail wind - GPS ground speed 160 kts). Sept Isles is a larger airport (two runways) and was busy when we arrived with water bombers coming in to refuel (many forest fires in Northern Quebec). Man those things are big when you walk by them on the ramp! Refueled ($4.36/gallon), refiled and we were off to Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablons.
The stretch along the north shore of the St.Lawrence between Sept Isles and Blanc Sablon is an ATF Corridor - in essence ATC loses you about 60 DME from Sept Isles - no radar, no radio. There is a mandatory CTAF (or MF) to self announce at various points and there are RCO's at the various airports as you fly over them (but they're about 100-150 nm apart!) so you can report in. There is literally nothing between these small towns - miles and hundreds of miles of bare granite, bog and lakes (note to self - if I was ever up here permanently I'd definitely want a float plane). It was somewhat disconcerting listening to other pilots give position reports in French although when I replied in English most came back with English as well. As we approached Blanc Sablons the AWOS was reporting 200 ft ceilings in fog - no ILS just GPS (RNAV) - so I contacted Montreal Center and requested a weather update for St. Anthony in northern Newfoundland (15 minutes further on). They redirected me to Gander Center who advised 1,000 ft ceilings so I went on.
Note - In Canada (outside of the major centers) you get cleared for an approach - which one, the transition and when you descend is completely up to you. You advise them that you are selecting the GPS Rwy 28, with the XYZ transition and commencing initial descent to ###. Being used to getting vectors and altitudes it was unusual.
Was flying the GPS approach into St. Anthony and broke out of the deck at 1,600 and obtained a clear visual on the airport to my left. Advised cancelling the GPS approach and turned for a normal visual approach and landing. Refueled ($5.45/gallon) and departed on my last leg to Gander.
Climbing out of St. Anthony I could see a solid wall of CB ahead running N-S right down the center of the peninsula but the coast was in the clear. Requested to follow the coast down rather than the airway and Gander Center approved but requested I advise them when I thought I could go direct Gander. I kept climbing and finally got on top at 11,000ft. I advised on top and able to go direct was cleared. At this point one of those funny things happened. Gander Center came back and asked me if I had left Trois Riviers or Sept-Isles that morning - I replied Trois Riviers assuming that somehow they had tracked me. Center then came back and asked if I had left Chicago the day before. I hesitantly replied yeeesss? He then came back with "You sound like a Stratton". My brother and I looked at each other bewilderingly as I replied "Yes, how did you know?" Center's response was "I'm married to your cousin Karen and your parents are visiting her now while waiting for you. I'll phone the house and let them know where you are and your ETA". So we had a nice chat with Paul as we crossed central Newfoundland. Ceilings were reported 600ft at Gander but winds were light and variable so Paul suggested I use the ILS 13 as the decision height was only 200 ft AGL (Rwy 13 was also 8,900 x 200!!). I started my descent from 11,000 and was quickly getting rocked around inside the clouds. Unfortunately my Arrow only has the original Piper auto pilot and so won't follow the Garmin 430 well, it hunts. Recommended procedure is to turn to the heading bug, use that to get centered on course then switch back to NAV to engage the Garmin. So, as the localizer came alive I switched to the bug, as it came towards the center I dialed the bug to 129 and waited to see if I was on course - hmmm, somethings wrong, the needle has moved completely through the center and is continuing - what the h*ll?? scan the instruments - suddenly realize I had not reset the DG on the descent from 11,000 to 2,000 as we were getting bumped around too much and the compass was bouncing around. Okay, back to GPS - what's my track? Use that to set the DG - see my angle off course and use the DG bug in 30 degree increments to come back around to intercept - meanwhile Paul advises I'm 1 mile East of the localizer. I advised him I was re-intercepting and should be on course shortly. Reacquired the localizer and glide slope and rode it down. We actually broke out at about 1,000ft AGL. After landing I taxied to the Shell FBO (the only one which sold 100LL) where I intended to park. After shutting down the Shell fuel truck drove out with my parents who were chatting away to the driver - turns out he and his wife were good friends with my sister and her husband and my neice had stood at their wedding. I turned to my parents and said "Is there any one in Gander we don't know?"
15.1 hours on the HOBBS.
Had a great week with my parents. I had intended to depart on the Monday but there was forecast rain and scattered TS in the St. Lawrence valley while Sunday was forecasting CAVU the whole way back. Up at 4:30am for the 1 hour drive back to Gander, filed and was wheels up at 6:30am local. Notwithstanding the winds which were more favorable to St. Anthony, I decided to bypass St.Anthony and fly on to Blanc Sablon as the price of fuel was over $1 cheaper on the "mainland". Arrived at Blanc Sablon with a bit of a crosswind, taxied in and, after the obligatory rush to drain away that mornings coffee, enquired about fuel. The line guy advised they had stopped selling 100LL 5 months ago but the CFS had not yet been updated. I had two choices - return the 15 minutes to St.Anthony or continue down the coast another hour to the next airport which he "thought" had 100LL - as I was already over 2 hours on these tanks I wasn't keen on continuing (if I was considering I would have phoned to confirm - ah yes - should tell you that cell phones didn't work north of Sept Isles) so returned to St. Anthony only to discover the fuel guy hadn't come to work yet. They called him and he was on his way and arrived 5 minutes later.
Off again to Sept Isles and then Trois Riviers. In Trois Riviers we had to make the decision whether to push on or not - it was 2 1/2 hours to Oshawa and was 4:30pm local (we were picking up time changes as we flew West). I thought I could be off by 5:00pm which would give us an ETA of 7:30pm with sunset at 8:30pm (I wasn't night current). Actually touched down in Oshawa right on 7:30pm. My brother's wife was waiting and drove me to my sisters for a BBQ and glass of wine (or two). My longest day flying yet, Gander to Oshawa - 12.9 hours on the HOBBS.
The next morning I was departing Oshawa to fly to a small northern airport (Haliburton) where my wife was to pick me up at 11:00am (she had been vacationing at her family cottage and I was to join her for a couple of days before returning home). Haliburton is a small rural airport with no weather reporting, no instrument approaches and just a CTAF, not even an FBO! No forecast was available but Muskoka, about 45 miles West, and Peterborough, about 50 miles south east were reporting scattered at 1,200 and CAVU respectively. Due to haze and high traffic volume in the Toronto vicinity I opted for IFR and departed at 10:30am for what was supposed to be a 30 minute flight. First, Toronto Center seemed to vector me all around southern Ontario before allowing me to go direct so I knew I was going to be at least 10 minutes late. Sure enough the "scattered" closed in below me about 15 miles south of Haliburton. As I approached the airport I requested lower and center advised the lowest permitted IFR altitude was 3,500. If I wanted lower I had to cancel IFR and proceed VFR, problem was at 3,500 the deck was still below me - how could I cancel IFR then descend into clouds? I circled the airport and tried the CTAF several times - no response, tried my cell phone - no coverage at 3,500 in this part of rural Ontario. Knowing my wife would be worried I felt I had no choice but to divert to Peterborough. Sky cleared about 10 miles prior to Peterborough, landed in CAVU and finally got to phone my wife at 12:10 - she was only slightly hysterical and crying. She advised 4 planes had recently landed and taken off. I asked her to ask one of the pilots for the ceiling - he thought about 2,500 ASL. Airport is 1,066 ASL, highest point is 1,900 ASL according to the VFR chart. I decided to try and come in under the cloud. Departed Peterborough and climbed to 2,200 ASL which seemed to put me about 200 ft below the clouds. Flew direct and made it (obviously) but it wasn't the most comfortable flying I've done. Took her a while to calm down!
Departed Saturday (yesterday) to return home. CAVU the entire way.
Total trip - 36 hours
Oh yes, we never did make it to France. The islands are out by the Grand Banks and even though we checked every day, the BEST ceiling report we received was 300ASL! It was reported at zero most days. I'll just have to do it again!
Off from Sarnia to Oshawa to pick up my brother. Weather was still CAVU and Toronto Center took me direct Hamilton then right up the shoreline over Toronto City Center Airport (damn - why did I pack my camera in the suitcase) then on into Oshawa. My brother and his wife were waiting for me so it only took 30 minutes or so to refuel, pack the plane, file, etc. Fuel at Oshawa was $4.36/gallon.
Next leg was on to Trois Riviers, Quebec. Flight plan took us over Ottawa, Mirabel, then on to Trois Riviers. Flight was uneventful (best kind). Landed at TR and met the most charming bilingual lady working at the FBO. She refueled the plane ($3.58/gallon), helped push it to the side of the apron, and let us use the FBO's computer for weather info (Note: this was the only airport we flew into that didn't have a NavCanada provided direct hook up for flight info). The computer was showing that I had caught up to the front that had gone through Michigan the day before and there were TS between us and our next destination (Sept Isles) so we decided to call it a day at 5:00pm EDT. This lady then arranged a hotel room for us and drove us to the hotel while giving us a quick tour of the city and restaurants. She had just obtained her Commercial Pilot's license and hoped to be able to buy a plane as she wanted to travel North America in it. My brother and I had a lovely dinner (with a large pitcher of cold draft beer) at one of her recommendations.
Next morning up at 5:00am to check weather and flight plan using my laptop from the room. Get the front desk to arrange a taxi and we were wheels up at 6:30am. We flew over a deck below us, over Quebec City, and on to Sept Isles with a great tail wind - GPS ground speed 160 kts). Sept Isles is a larger airport (two runways) and was busy when we arrived with water bombers coming in to refuel (many forest fires in Northern Quebec). Man those things are big when you walk by them on the ramp! Refueled ($4.36/gallon), refiled and we were off to Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablons.
The stretch along the north shore of the St.Lawrence between Sept Isles and Blanc Sablon is an ATF Corridor - in essence ATC loses you about 60 DME from Sept Isles - no radar, no radio. There is a mandatory CTAF (or MF) to self announce at various points and there are RCO's at the various airports as you fly over them (but they're about 100-150 nm apart!) so you can report in. There is literally nothing between these small towns - miles and hundreds of miles of bare granite, bog and lakes (note to self - if I was ever up here permanently I'd definitely want a float plane). It was somewhat disconcerting listening to other pilots give position reports in French although when I replied in English most came back with English as well. As we approached Blanc Sablons the AWOS was reporting 200 ft ceilings in fog - no ILS just GPS (RNAV) - so I contacted Montreal Center and requested a weather update for St. Anthony in northern Newfoundland (15 minutes further on). They redirected me to Gander Center who advised 1,000 ft ceilings so I went on.
Note - In Canada (outside of the major centers) you get cleared for an approach - which one, the transition and when you descend is completely up to you. You advise them that you are selecting the GPS Rwy 28, with the XYZ transition and commencing initial descent to ###. Being used to getting vectors and altitudes it was unusual.
Was flying the GPS approach into St. Anthony and broke out of the deck at 1,600 and obtained a clear visual on the airport to my left. Advised cancelling the GPS approach and turned for a normal visual approach and landing. Refueled ($5.45/gallon) and departed on my last leg to Gander.
Climbing out of St. Anthony I could see a solid wall of CB ahead running N-S right down the center of the peninsula but the coast was in the clear. Requested to follow the coast down rather than the airway and Gander Center approved but requested I advise them when I thought I could go direct Gander. I kept climbing and finally got on top at 11,000ft. I advised on top and able to go direct was cleared. At this point one of those funny things happened. Gander Center came back and asked me if I had left Trois Riviers or Sept-Isles that morning - I replied Trois Riviers assuming that somehow they had tracked me. Center then came back and asked if I had left Chicago the day before. I hesitantly replied yeeesss? He then came back with "You sound like a Stratton". My brother and I looked at each other bewilderingly as I replied "Yes, how did you know?" Center's response was "I'm married to your cousin Karen and your parents are visiting her now while waiting for you. I'll phone the house and let them know where you are and your ETA". So we had a nice chat with Paul as we crossed central Newfoundland. Ceilings were reported 600ft at Gander but winds were light and variable so Paul suggested I use the ILS 13 as the decision height was only 200 ft AGL (Rwy 13 was also 8,900 x 200!!). I started my descent from 11,000 and was quickly getting rocked around inside the clouds. Unfortunately my Arrow only has the original Piper auto pilot and so won't follow the Garmin 430 well, it hunts. Recommended procedure is to turn to the heading bug, use that to get centered on course then switch back to NAV to engage the Garmin. So, as the localizer came alive I switched to the bug, as it came towards the center I dialed the bug to 129 and waited to see if I was on course - hmmm, somethings wrong, the needle has moved completely through the center and is continuing - what the h*ll?? scan the instruments - suddenly realize I had not reset the DG on the descent from 11,000 to 2,000 as we were getting bumped around too much and the compass was bouncing around. Okay, back to GPS - what's my track? Use that to set the DG - see my angle off course and use the DG bug in 30 degree increments to come back around to intercept - meanwhile Paul advises I'm 1 mile East of the localizer. I advised him I was re-intercepting and should be on course shortly. Reacquired the localizer and glide slope and rode it down. We actually broke out at about 1,000ft AGL. After landing I taxied to the Shell FBO (the only one which sold 100LL) where I intended to park. After shutting down the Shell fuel truck drove out with my parents who were chatting away to the driver - turns out he and his wife were good friends with my sister and her husband and my neice had stood at their wedding. I turned to my parents and said "Is there any one in Gander we don't know?"
15.1 hours on the HOBBS.
Had a great week with my parents. I had intended to depart on the Monday but there was forecast rain and scattered TS in the St. Lawrence valley while Sunday was forecasting CAVU the whole way back. Up at 4:30am for the 1 hour drive back to Gander, filed and was wheels up at 6:30am local. Notwithstanding the winds which were more favorable to St. Anthony, I decided to bypass St.Anthony and fly on to Blanc Sablon as the price of fuel was over $1 cheaper on the "mainland". Arrived at Blanc Sablon with a bit of a crosswind, taxied in and, after the obligatory rush to drain away that mornings coffee, enquired about fuel. The line guy advised they had stopped selling 100LL 5 months ago but the CFS had not yet been updated. I had two choices - return the 15 minutes to St.Anthony or continue down the coast another hour to the next airport which he "thought" had 100LL - as I was already over 2 hours on these tanks I wasn't keen on continuing (if I was considering I would have phoned to confirm - ah yes - should tell you that cell phones didn't work north of Sept Isles) so returned to St. Anthony only to discover the fuel guy hadn't come to work yet. They called him and he was on his way and arrived 5 minutes later.
Off again to Sept Isles and then Trois Riviers. In Trois Riviers we had to make the decision whether to push on or not - it was 2 1/2 hours to Oshawa and was 4:30pm local (we were picking up time changes as we flew West). I thought I could be off by 5:00pm which would give us an ETA of 7:30pm with sunset at 8:30pm (I wasn't night current). Actually touched down in Oshawa right on 7:30pm. My brother's wife was waiting and drove me to my sisters for a BBQ and glass of wine (or two). My longest day flying yet, Gander to Oshawa - 12.9 hours on the HOBBS.
The next morning I was departing Oshawa to fly to a small northern airport (Haliburton) where my wife was to pick me up at 11:00am (she had been vacationing at her family cottage and I was to join her for a couple of days before returning home). Haliburton is a small rural airport with no weather reporting, no instrument approaches and just a CTAF, not even an FBO! No forecast was available but Muskoka, about 45 miles West, and Peterborough, about 50 miles south east were reporting scattered at 1,200 and CAVU respectively. Due to haze and high traffic volume in the Toronto vicinity I opted for IFR and departed at 10:30am for what was supposed to be a 30 minute flight. First, Toronto Center seemed to vector me all around southern Ontario before allowing me to go direct so I knew I was going to be at least 10 minutes late. Sure enough the "scattered" closed in below me about 15 miles south of Haliburton. As I approached the airport I requested lower and center advised the lowest permitted IFR altitude was 3,500. If I wanted lower I had to cancel IFR and proceed VFR, problem was at 3,500 the deck was still below me - how could I cancel IFR then descend into clouds? I circled the airport and tried the CTAF several times - no response, tried my cell phone - no coverage at 3,500 in this part of rural Ontario. Knowing my wife would be worried I felt I had no choice but to divert to Peterborough. Sky cleared about 10 miles prior to Peterborough, landed in CAVU and finally got to phone my wife at 12:10 - she was only slightly hysterical and crying. She advised 4 planes had recently landed and taken off. I asked her to ask one of the pilots for the ceiling - he thought about 2,500 ASL. Airport is 1,066 ASL, highest point is 1,900 ASL according to the VFR chart. I decided to try and come in under the cloud. Departed Peterborough and climbed to 2,200 ASL which seemed to put me about 200 ft below the clouds. Flew direct and made it (obviously) but it wasn't the most comfortable flying I've done. Took her a while to calm down!
Departed Saturday (yesterday) to return home. CAVU the entire way.
Total trip - 36 hours
Oh yes, we never did make it to France. The islands are out by the Grand Banks and even though we checked every day, the BEST ceiling report we received was 300ASL! It was reported at zero most days. I'll just have to do it again!
