Muddy Days

The red mud that is unique to Cluff Lake

N55 52.40
W105 50.50
41 Miles N of LaRonge
FL 230
IAS - 154 Knots
GS - 210 Knots

The blue skies are finally starting to show and the sun is starting to warm up the cockpit as we come upon LaRonge. The day started early with a 0615 flight to Melfort to drop off cargo and then straight back to Saskatoon for another flight up North to Cluff Lake at 0900. I was able to bring my beautiful wife to Melfort for the morning flight since all we had was a bit of cargo. IT was her first flight with me, I think she enjoyed it although she slept all the way home. It was early so that's okay.

The flight to Cluff was questionable since the weather was 500' foot ceilings and a mile and a half visibility in light snow. But our pax wanted to try it anyways so off we left to Cluff at flight level 200 (or 20,000 ft). It was a 2 hour flight that included flying around some restricted air space and the approach was just about to minimums and the visibility low. But we put her down safely.

Now we are on our way home empty and 1 hr 1/2 behind schedule. But that's okay it has been a good day with lots of hard work. Well, we've just been cleared direct ATURU for the approach into Saskatoon ...

Mine Day

Today was a really neat day. We took off out of Saskatoon at 0645 this morning and after a smooth climb to 17'000 feet we settled down for a nice early morning flight to Esterhazy. It was a nice change for a flight since it was a south-east destination instead of due north like most of our flights. After landing on the 3000 foot strip we got to join our passangers on a tour of a potash mine. It was really amazing, it was 3000' below ground and had foot prints(mined networks) the size of Winnipeg. Really cool.

At about 1530 we returned to the air and got to dodge a few large Towering Alto-Cumulus clouds (developing thunderstorms). It felt like we were flying around large mountains and through tight canyons, pretty fun hand flying. After about 20 mins of weather deviating, we got clear of the clouds and flew a straight course back to Saskatoon and ended the flight with a real greaser of a landing. It's always nice to finish a day off with bright blue skies and lot's of afternoon to enjoy it.

Pie and Coffee

The town of La Ronge is 19,000 below, although covered in cloud, our little GPS is pointing it out for us. It's 5 in the afternoon and we've been in the air for 50 minutes now, having departed McArthur River this afternoon. We have spent the last three days touring the North for our customer and now our south bound for Regina for the evening. Regina is 287 miles off our nose and with a ground speed of 210 knots we've got another hour and 20 minutes to go.

Things are starting to get interesting as there is a line of thunder storms approach Regina from the west and they are estimating to be there at about the same time as us. Also the La Ronge Radar is down so we're flying in uncontrolled airspace that usually Winnipeg Centre is controlling. The only affect this has on our flight is restrictions on our altitudes and some times out tracks so that Winnipeg can give the proper seperation to all the aircraft flying around here right now. We had been restricted to 17'000 feet for the first 30 minutes of our flight but are now at our flight planned altitude.

We've got an okay amount of extra fuel on board which makes you feel better inside when approaching adverse weather. SIGMETS (significant weather reports) are being read over the radio by Edmonton Centre to help all the pilots best travel around the weather. We hurridily scribble these down and make the decision of where to fly through this beast of a storm. I keep on looking at the Weather Radar and say a little prayer.

But not all is bad, I have some cherry pie (from our last destination) that I'm just pulling out of it's wrapper while filling up a cup of old coffee, just have to finish it before we hit the storm.

Inflight Show

Sitting on 20'000 feet of air, with all systems working smoothly and bright blue skies outside is a relaxing feeling. We've been in the air for an hour and have almost another one to go before we arrive home in Saskatoon. We've spent the night at a mine camp in Northern Saskatchewan.

I was able to pick up company traffic, an ATR 42, on TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) and then find them visually at about 3000' below us and 5 miles off our right wing. They just had got their descent clearance from Winnipeg Center for La Ronge airport. I got to watch them from 47 miles north of La Ronge all the way to thier touch down on RWY18 at La Ronge. That was pretty cool. Although as they got lower they became merely a white dot on the vast streches of northern forest, but still very cool. I could even see their shadow on the ground as they where on final. What a crystal clear day. Wish I would've remembered to bring my camera so I could've gotten a cool picture for this blog. O-well, next time.

We should be in Saskatoon by 1330 and so far it looks like I have the rest of the 30 degree day off and it's friday to boot. I'm looking forward to home. I haven't seen my lovely wife for one whole night, so that kinda multiplies the excitement of getting home.