Destination Chilliwack, Alternate Victoria

Plans always seem to change on the fly. 

We originally planned to make our way up to Campbell River to visit Sea Land Aviation, where John Sessions' WWII bomber, the B-25 Mitchell is currently being repainted. Immediately, there was hesitation about going up there, as the GFA's (Graphical Area Forecasts) for the BC Coast were showing very strong winds. The TAF's (Terminal Area Forecasts) also showed that the same conditions should be expected. Our sight then shifted east, towards Chilliwack. We then remembered that there was a group of Pacific Pilots organized to head east. Perfect, right?

The idea was to take a few planes up along the Fraser River to explore the sandbars, then have lunch at Chilliwack Airport. But, soon after we departed Delta Air Park, David Bianchi and I (Dave McIntosh) in the Jodel, were confronted with some very low clouds which made getting past Cloverdale impossible.

Conditions at Langley Airport were marginal VFR, and those conditions spanned north and south of the field creating an effective wall against our progress eastbound. Our friends James in his RANS S-6 Coyote, and Greg in his Tecnam, who both departed King George Airfield ahead of us were turned back by the same weather, but being ahead of us, we could hear them over the radio and it gave us an early alert about the conditions to be expected. From what we gathered, James and Greg both diverted for lunch at Pitt Meadows. Dave and I chose to head to Boundary Bay Airport for Lunch. While at Boundary Bay, we reviewed the weather and made a call that Campbell River was definitely still out as an option, but on the recommendation of some friends we bumped into at the terminal building, Victoria looked good.

We hopped in the Jodel, popped over to Delta Airpark (0.1hrs), grabbed a pair of life vests, and then set out towards Victoria. The trip across was uneventful, other than a low cloud base that did not allow us to fully reach our intended 4500' crossing of the strait. Once on the ground in Victoria we taxiied over to Victoria Air Maintenance (where Bob Jens' Mosquito was expertly restored), and where the Royal Canadian Air Cadets have maintenance done on their Cessna C-182 towplanes (seen below). 

Right outside of Victoria Air Maintenance is also the current parking spot for the Catalina Preservation Society's freshly painted PBY-5A Canso/Catalina. This airplane is best known as the Catalina, but in the Canadian Air Force it was called the Canso.

It is part way through a restoration back to original WWII RCAF configuration. Located off site, are a pair of original waist blisters, and a nose turret, which when re-installed will give the Canso a very original look. What's neat about this specific Canso is that during WWII it actually served at Victoria Airport, so in a sense, it's back home. After the war this Canso was converted to a waterbomber, and eventually made its way into the Buffalo Airways fleet, of TV's "Ice Pilots" fame. Buffalo Airways was the last company to operate the airplane before it was purchased for the Catalina Preservation Society a couple of years ago.

After taking a good look at the Canso, we hopped back in the plane, had a lesson on what clearance delivery can do for you, and then flew across the strait back to Delta Air Park, where conditions had actually improved since we left for Victoria.

With the Jodel tucked away, and a great day of flying under our belts, we closed the hangar doors and returned back to "regular" life, on the ground.

Written by: David McIntosh