Mid-Week Rowena's Excursion with My Mum!

The morning began very wet and very grey, and the plans I had made the previous evening to take my Mum flying today seemed like they would have to be cancelled.

After the rain stopped, I decided to check the METAR's and TAF's to see if this drying trend would continue into the afternoon. Thankfully, the conditions were forecast to improve and our proposed flight to Rowena's would be a go.

I picked up my Mum and I drove us out to CAK3 (Delta Air Park). We pulled the trusty Jodel out of her hangar and quickly got acquainted in the cockpit. "Clear!" and she roared to life.

The winds were relatively strong and from the SE. This necessitated a runway 07 departure and proper crosswind control inputs while taxiing to the end of the runway; the taildragger really wanted to weathercock into the wind.

Transponder on, take-off time recorded, and throttle full. Here we go! We made quick use of the grass runway and were on our way eastbound. We climbed up through Boundary Bay Airport's airspace, calling them before entering of course, and then leveled at 2000', just below the base of the broken cloud layer. There was a very noticeable wind from the south and I was easily able to demonstrate and explain to my mother, the concept of crabbing into the wind, which was essential today. Besides the wind, there was also a fair amount of light turbulence with the occasional heavier chop.

We blew past Fort Langley, literally, then across Glenn Valley and Mission, and further east towards Rowena's. The whole way there I was anticipating poor weather conditions at the golf course, since all the nasty weather and winds were getting crammed up against the mountains on the north side of the Fraser River. But, as we rounded the last little mountain we came upon the only smooth air on our whole trip out; very smooth in fact. There were wispy clouds hanging onto the hillsides like a cobweb in a haunted mansion. It was rather beautiful.

We touched down, parked and secured the airplane, then walked over to the Rivers Edge Restaurant where we enjoyed some earl grey tea and a lovely apple pie.

On the recommendation of my friend Daniel, we decided to have a look at the airstrip at the top of Stave Lake on our way home. But as we walked back to the plane it was starting to rain very lightly, and by the time we got into the Jodel it was raining quite healthily. We took off and climbed out the same way we came in and were faced with mildly reduced visibility from the rain, but nothing too bad, and we could see beautiful sunshine breaking through the clouds to the west so we pushed through.

As we passed Hatzic Lake, my Mum and I both looked north towards Stave Lake and it did not look welcoming at all. Lots of dark grey clouds and rain helped us quickly decided not to even bother trying to get up to the top of Stave Lake, so westward we continued.

The view up Stave Lake. No thanks!

On our way home, we said a quick hello (from the air) to Daniel and his little girl who's turning four tomorrow! Happy Birthday! And then, we joined the circuit for King George Airpark for a touch-and-go, which has become a fun little habit that tests my obstacle clearing and short field abilities in the Jodel.

From King George it was a straight out towards Delta where I was faced with a decent crosswind. I set up for a wheel landing, carrying a little extra speed and a wing low into wind. It worked perfectly, as our into wind wheel touched down first, then both wheels down while holding in greater and greater aileron inputs into the wind, and using opposite rudder to maintain our track. As we slowed, I let the tail down and slowed to a speed that I could safely turn and clear the runway. Down and clear, we taxiied back to the RAA hangar where the Jodel has her roost.

We opened up the big sliding hangar doors, pivoted the Jodel, and pushed her back in the hangar. I had joked to my Mum about how nice it was that the rain was cleaning the Jodel as we flew home, but just like a freshly washed horse, or dog, as soon as we touched down back at Delta Air Park, the Jodel got covered in mud that was kicked up from the main gear tires. On top of the wings, underneath them, on the sides of the fuselage, and on the tail. This animal seemed to relish in its own filth.

 
 
My Mum and I then spent the next 20 minutes cleaning up the Jodel and making her presentable before tucking her in for the night.

Sadly, it was just a single airplane adventure, but none-the-less an enjoyable opportunity for some mother-son bonding.

Until next time, fly smart and fly safe!

Written by: David McIntosh (The Author)


 

Family Day at the Bar Adventure

So, what does one do on a beautiful Family Day?

Leave the kids at home with the wife and fly out to the gravel bars for the day with your aviation family.  (Don't worry, I'm still married and had the wife's permission to go.)

On my way, just past the Mission Bridge

BC General Aviation was hosting a fly out on the gravel bars up past Agassiz.  Since this was my first time flying onto the gravel bars, I did some research on what to expect.  Well, what I found out is to expect the unexpected.  You never know what you'll encounter, there can be soft spots, big rocks, small rocks, logs, branches etc.... so a fly by or two was required.


The winds today were light to none, except for at an altitude of 50' to 800' where the breeze was rolling over the hills and trees making for some interesting attitudes and movement in the aircraft. 

My first fly by, I got a general idea of where I may decide to land.  My second go around, I went nice and low to check out how big those stones were.  There were some big ones and small ones but they seemed to be embedded in the sand.  Hmmm.... what to do?

The plan was to come in at a normal approach speed, but then to touch down as slow as possible to minimize the possibility of kicking up stones into my prop or tail feathers.  Well, it was looking really good, stable approach, had my touch down point in sight..... then at about 10 - 5' the wind stopped and she dropped! BANG!  Oh, my poor baby, what did I do to you?

After a short roll out on what felt like a cobblestone runway, everything sounded normal, my landing gear and wheels were still there.  Ok, lets taxi to the other planes...one bump at a time.

C-IMMY made it!

I shut down the engine and secured the plane.  Let me look at what I did to my bird.  During my walk around I found I still had 3 propeller blades (in perfect condition), the vertical stab, rudder and stabilator were all there and not a nick of damage.  Yahoo!  Time to relax and enjoy the day.

Lots of fantastic examples of general aviation planes.

One by one, the planes started to arrive.  I didn't know most of the pilots but knew I would make some new friends today.  I met the gang who formed the BC General Aviation group. The B.C. General Aviation Association is a not for profit group who's mission is to make British Columbia more accessible to general aviation and to foster the camaraderie and sense of adventure that we all crave as we take to the skies.  Check them out at: www.bcaviation.ca

Van City Seaplane's DeHavilland Beaver

Photo Curtesy of: Peter Grimm 

I knew this was the right place to be when Pete
from Van City Seaplanes showed up with a beautiful DeHavilland Beaver.  Naturally I had to go greet and help the guys beach the Beaver.  Again best plans don't always work out and the guys got pretty wet trying to get the Beaver beached.  My experience told me to wait and see, and at the end the Beaver was beached and I somehow managed to stay dry.  Ryan helped unload the kids and Pete's wife since he was already wet. 

It was nice to sit and relax and take in the sun's   The smell of the campfire was soothing while I kicked back and took it all in. We had a couple visitors fly past to do some low and overs.  It felt like we had our own private airshow.

After socializing and relaxing for a couple hours, it was time to depart back  home.

I must admit, I was a bit concerned about my departure.  Will I kick up a rock on take off and damage my prop and tail feathers?  Shoot, where would be the best spot to take off from?  As I taxi out, I kept using stumps and logs as reference points where the best surface was for taking off.  I turned the plane into the breeze, did a run up and crossed my fingers.  The take off was again bumpy but uneventful.  After getting airborne I did a 180 degree turn and did a low and over to give the aviator salute goodbye. 

I'm looking forward to the next BC General Aviation fly out.

Stay safe my friends,

David Bianchi

Our Pacific Pilot jackets arrived and they look great!   "Thank you" to David B. for all his work!"

Aeroplane Model - For Sale - detailed wood carving

Model wooden aeroplane for sale: Detailed wood carvings include moving parts: wheels, propeller and rudder. Ident from local flying school. Length: 35 , Wingspan: 40cm, Height 25 cm.
 Buy here: aviationnews@uniserve.com

U.S Airspace issue resolved.

Canadian GA and business aircraft can again take shortcuts over U.S. airspace on their way to Canadian destinations. The FAA has amended a NOTAM issued a couple of weeks ago that made such overflights illegal without special security measures. As we reported last week, the NOTAM, apparently issued at the request of the TSA, cancelled the decades-long agreement between the two countries that allowed Canadian aircraft to transit U.S. airspace without security or Customs requirements. The NOTAM caught authorities and groups on both sides of the border by surprise and caused some major headaches for private and commercial operators who had to take long detours around the U.S. border or risk interception by U.S. authorities. It was apparently all a mistake but one that took two weeks to resolve, said Canadian Owners and Pilots Association President Bernard Gervais. "The subsequent 15 days required relentless discussions and communications between COPA, AOPA, IAOPA, Canadian Business Aviation Association, Air Transport Association of Canada, FAA, Transport Canada, and more," Gervais said. "This event was apparently an oversight, a mistake and unfortunately normal protocol between TSA/FAA and our Transport Canada Civil Aviation Security was skipped or forgotten." Gervais said the matter has been a learning experience on both sides of the border. "COPA received assurance that such an event would not repeat itself without proper coordination," he said. "Canadian and U.S. staff pulled together in an amazing collaboration to resolve this issue."

Live Web Cam: Delta Heritage Air Park (CAK3)

Greetings All,

Winter seems to have me flying a bit less, so adventures are somewhat limited. During this cabin fever season I came across the link to the Delta Heritage Air Park Live Webcam which I had heard about forever, but never got around to actually checking out.


The link is below. To use it, follow the instructions. It's very easy.

Click the "remember log-in" button so you don't have to fill in the log-in info every time you want to use it.

This webcam is a very handy tool to let you know what the conditions are like at CAK3. A great thing to check if you're headed to the pancake breakfast, a fly-in, or meeting friends there before heading out on an adventure of your own.

http://www.deltaheritageairpark.org/videoCam.html

If there's a grey Mazda 3 parked next to the RAA hangar, that will usually mean that I'm there, or airborne.

The Webcam is mounted to the building that houses Mary's Place (Coffee shop) and is pointed North. In view you can see the fuel pumps, the windsock, and the RAA hangar on which the windsock is mounted.

The RAA hangar, as well as the paved taxiway running across the webcam view in the foreground are roughly aligned with the grass runway (25/07). The white picket fence aligns approximately perpendicular to that. This is a good tool for judging the conditions at CAK3, and you can get good idea of the crosswind component, but obviously decisions to land in any sort of adverse conditions lie solely with the PIC. Just sayin'.

While we wait for Spring to arrive, feel free to pass along any tools or pieces of knowledge that we can post here to help make 2016 a safe and enjoyable year for us all.

Happy winter flying!

Cheers,

David M