beestforwardspeed
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CoopAir
Subarctic Quebec trip report. AKA: The "Bahamas of The North"
So I finally got the chance to fly up to Subarctic Quebec after wanting to go there for almost 11 years, along with actually having planned it firm for the last 6 months.
Background and Introduction:
So before I go any further, many have asked me WHY I chose to fly to such a desolate place 800 NM north of home?
Why the hell would I choose this God forsaken place with so many other "interesting" destinations?? Well, its kinda strange in a way how I came to want to visit such a desolate place, but the reason why I wanted to travel there is pretty distinct.
Apologies in advance for such a long explanation, but none of it will make sense if I don't set it up as to WHY I wanted to go here.
It all started in Oct of 2002 when I was on my way home from Paris flying on a UAL B-777 from CDG to IAD is row 27A. The flight that afternoon began like any other flight, but I noticed that we took a much more northern route than great circle.
Approx 120 NM after making landfall in North America in Far Northern Labrador (just past HINGE intersection) I hit the NRST button on my GPS and was perplexed when I saw that the nearest airport was almost 150 NM away...........
I was like......what?? How can that be........we aren't over the ocean any longer and are over mainland North America. It soon after occured to me that we must be over a pretty desolate wilderness.
As the flight progressed the wilderness went on for several hundred miles and it wasn't until reaching about 50 deg latitude that I saw signs of civilization.
I was truly stunned that such a vast remote area existed so close to home. I mean........I knew that you had places like the Amazon, Sahaha, Siberia, etc that were like this, thousands of miles from home, BUT I NEVER could have imagined an area that remote just 800 miles from my front door in the neighboring country.
WOW!!
So in the days and weeks after returning home, I studies maps, used the net and just virtually explored this area as much as I could, learning a lot about it.
When I was doing all of that, I found this town, Schefferville, that was only 30 NM left of our course and honed in on it. What was most facinating about Schefferville was that there were no roads connecting it to the outside world. The only way you could get there was by rail or air (or by snowmobile from Dec to Apr of course).
I still couldn't wrap my head around how a town in a 1st world developed country like Canada (no further north than Scotland by the way) would not have road access.
For years after I had always wanted to visit Schefferville, but never got around to doing it since the Bahamas kept stealing my money year after year!!
I finally said in late 2012, that if i dont get up there this summer, that it'll never happen!!
The Bahamas is certainly my favorite place on the entire globe, but Subarctic Quebec, was def a close 2nd, and I finally said "I'M GOING!"
At first I thought it'd be fun to take a friend or two, but the more I thought about it, it was just a lot easier to travel solo even though 80% of the time I much prefer to travel with others as its just more fun. Additionally, I was going to be VERY picky about the weather I wanted to fly in-----much beyond what was required to simply fly safely.
Even though I am IR, current, and sharp in the soup, I wanted at least 5000' ceilings and 10 miles vis on my flight up there because I was itching to take pics and video of the boreal forest up north. I mean---I'm not going to wait 11 years for this trip and fly it in even soft IMC when I can do all that at home!!
So to cut to the chase here is my trip report:
July 8th pics and video:
Westfield, MA (BAF) to Saint George, QC (CYSG) 268NM
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ede5GZ86MCA
Pics: (public link)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...065.1073741843.1634899637&type=1&l=cb0eb62db3
I called 1-866 CANPASS at about 12:30 that afternoon to report my arrival and then departed BAF at 1:15 that afternoon bound for CYSG (50 SE of Quebec City).
On the way there, I wanted to overfly 59B (Jackman, ME) as I visit there frequently and since its pretty much on the way, it made sense. It was mostly sunny to start with fair weather cumulus, but when I got to Southern NH, the cumulus became more congested and about 30-40 NM past that, there were CB's in clusters that I had planned to deviate around to the west.
At 9000' when just past EEN, I was in a lot of light turb at it looked as if going around to the west was not going to work so well. I knew that to the east towards the coast it looked clear so I asked Boston Center If I could take a 100 HDG towards MHT and then cut north on course when clear.
Then approved that and I asked for lower (5000'). In the descent to the east I was in a fairly bumpy build-up with frequent light and occasional moderate turbulence. Nothing dangerous, but it was bad enough that I was glad not to have a pax onboard.
About 10 NM later, I noticed a good sized gap (visually) that looked like a tight fit on the NEXRAD (I would not have attempted it in IMC).
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...84790065.1073741843.1634899637&type=3&theater
To get through it, I asked for a 080 HDG, and BOS app approved it. It was a cinch flying through it even though it looked tight on the radar. Just shows that the Mark I eyeball rules!!
I had a smooth ride through it and the was able to fly 060 HDG and the on course (040 HDG) about 15 NM later. The rest of the flight was uneventful and with about 80 NM to go, I got to skim the tops of a stratus layer which is always exciting of course. Soon after it quickly cleared up getting north of the front and about 12 NM from CYSG, I cancelled IFR and also canceled the S&R portion of my flight plan with Montreal Center and switched to the CTAF (which is mandatory in Canada unlike here).
Made an uneventful landing at CYSG. When I got to the ramp I called Canpass to report my arrival. After holding for about 5 min, they asked me if any of my information had changed since my prior call and told them nothing had. Right away I was told "Welcome to Canada" and was given a 9 digit entry confirmation code. I did not have any face-to-face contact with an immigration official.
Soon after I got a cab into town to the Comfort Suits and then got a bite to eat and a few beers at a local grille.
So I finally got the chance to fly up to Subarctic Quebec after wanting to go there for almost 11 years, along with actually having planned it firm for the last 6 months.
Background and Introduction:
So before I go any further, many have asked me WHY I chose to fly to such a desolate place 800 NM north of home?
Why the hell would I choose this God forsaken place with so many other "interesting" destinations?? Well, its kinda strange in a way how I came to want to visit such a desolate place, but the reason why I wanted to travel there is pretty distinct.
Apologies in advance for such a long explanation, but none of it will make sense if I don't set it up as to WHY I wanted to go here.
It all started in Oct of 2002 when I was on my way home from Paris flying on a UAL B-777 from CDG to IAD is row 27A. The flight that afternoon began like any other flight, but I noticed that we took a much more northern route than great circle.
Approx 120 NM after making landfall in North America in Far Northern Labrador (just past HINGE intersection) I hit the NRST button on my GPS and was perplexed when I saw that the nearest airport was almost 150 NM away...........
I was like......what?? How can that be........we aren't over the ocean any longer and are over mainland North America. It soon after occured to me that we must be over a pretty desolate wilderness.
As the flight progressed the wilderness went on for several hundred miles and it wasn't until reaching about 50 deg latitude that I saw signs of civilization.
I was truly stunned that such a vast remote area existed so close to home. I mean........I knew that you had places like the Amazon, Sahaha, Siberia, etc that were like this, thousands of miles from home, BUT I NEVER could have imagined an area that remote just 800 miles from my front door in the neighboring country.
WOW!!
So in the days and weeks after returning home, I studies maps, used the net and just virtually explored this area as much as I could, learning a lot about it.
When I was doing all of that, I found this town, Schefferville, that was only 30 NM left of our course and honed in on it. What was most facinating about Schefferville was that there were no roads connecting it to the outside world. The only way you could get there was by rail or air (or by snowmobile from Dec to Apr of course).
I still couldn't wrap my head around how a town in a 1st world developed country like Canada (no further north than Scotland by the way) would not have road access.
For years after I had always wanted to visit Schefferville, but never got around to doing it since the Bahamas kept stealing my money year after year!!
I finally said in late 2012, that if i dont get up there this summer, that it'll never happen!!
The Bahamas is certainly my favorite place on the entire globe, but Subarctic Quebec, was def a close 2nd, and I finally said "I'M GOING!"
At first I thought it'd be fun to take a friend or two, but the more I thought about it, it was just a lot easier to travel solo even though 80% of the time I much prefer to travel with others as its just more fun. Additionally, I was going to be VERY picky about the weather I wanted to fly in-----much beyond what was required to simply fly safely.
Even though I am IR, current, and sharp in the soup, I wanted at least 5000' ceilings and 10 miles vis on my flight up there because I was itching to take pics and video of the boreal forest up north. I mean---I'm not going to wait 11 years for this trip and fly it in even soft IMC when I can do all that at home!!
So to cut to the chase here is my trip report:
July 8th pics and video:
Westfield, MA (BAF) to Saint George, QC (CYSG) 268NM
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ede5GZ86MCA
Pics: (public link)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...065.1073741843.1634899637&type=1&l=cb0eb62db3
I called 1-866 CANPASS at about 12:30 that afternoon to report my arrival and then departed BAF at 1:15 that afternoon bound for CYSG (50 SE of Quebec City).
On the way there, I wanted to overfly 59B (Jackman, ME) as I visit there frequently and since its pretty much on the way, it made sense. It was mostly sunny to start with fair weather cumulus, but when I got to Southern NH, the cumulus became more congested and about 30-40 NM past that, there were CB's in clusters that I had planned to deviate around to the west.
At 9000' when just past EEN, I was in a lot of light turb at it looked as if going around to the west was not going to work so well. I knew that to the east towards the coast it looked clear so I asked Boston Center If I could take a 100 HDG towards MHT and then cut north on course when clear.
Then approved that and I asked for lower (5000'). In the descent to the east I was in a fairly bumpy build-up with frequent light and occasional moderate turbulence. Nothing dangerous, but it was bad enough that I was glad not to have a pax onboard.
About 10 NM later, I noticed a good sized gap (visually) that looked like a tight fit on the NEXRAD (I would not have attempted it in IMC).
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...84790065.1073741843.1634899637&type=3&theater
To get through it, I asked for a 080 HDG, and BOS app approved it. It was a cinch flying through it even though it looked tight on the radar. Just shows that the Mark I eyeball rules!!
I had a smooth ride through it and the was able to fly 060 HDG and the on course (040 HDG) about 15 NM later. The rest of the flight was uneventful and with about 80 NM to go, I got to skim the tops of a stratus layer which is always exciting of course. Soon after it quickly cleared up getting north of the front and about 12 NM from CYSG, I cancelled IFR and also canceled the S&R portion of my flight plan with Montreal Center and switched to the CTAF (which is mandatory in Canada unlike here).
Made an uneventful landing at CYSG. When I got to the ramp I called Canpass to report my arrival. After holding for about 5 min, they asked me if any of my information had changed since my prior call and told them nothing had. Right away I was told "Welcome to Canada" and was given a 9 digit entry confirmation code. I did not have any face-to-face contact with an immigration official.
Soon after I got a cab into town to the Comfort Suits and then got a bite to eat and a few beers at a local grille.
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