An Early Morning

One of the Benefits of an Early Morning Departure


0410 in the morning my alarm starts squealing, urging me to get out of bed. It's Monday morning after a week of holidays, what a way to jump right back into things. I have a flight scheduled for 0630 this morning. I like to get to work an hour and 30 minutes before departure, which makes for early mornings usually. Company requires us to be there only an hour before departure, however to order fuel we need to give an hours advance notice, so I like to get to work in time to figure out what we'll need and then fax the fuel load off.

The wind bites into me as I step out side into the dark. The first real snow of the year stings my face and whips through my thin pants, gonna have to get the long underwear out soon. Winters nearly here, brrr. The drive to work is slow as the highway is covered in snow and ice. I guess at 0500 in the morning there just isn't enough traffic to warrant a snow plow on the highway. Or it's government employees and they don't start till 0900...

I arrive at work only an hour before departure due to the slow and nerving drive in. The captain has already ordered fuel, that's nice, I don't have to rush. While checking the NOTAMS (Notifications to alert pilots to important changes or info at airports or along airways) I notice the fiction index for the runway in use this morning is only .28. That's about the equivalent of the friction on a skating rink. Interesting. But by the time we are ready to go, half an hour late due to the late arrival of our passengers, which is understandable thanks to the weather, the friction Index has gone up to .52. That's a bit better, not a whole lot though. But soon we're airborne and the harsh weather is all below us. With only a bright sunrise to contend with, we finish up the After Takeoff checklist and let the plane accelerate to about 170 knots holding a 1500'per minute climb. By the time we come back tonight I'm sure that things will be well cleaned up and just a little whiter. Nice.

General Aviation

Maple Creek Airport with the Cypress Hills in the distance

I'm sitting in Maple Creek today for about 6 hours. It's unbelievably warm for Nov 20th, about 12 degrees. This is the first time here and I enjoy this spot, it is one of the nicer small airports I've been to, the place is old but well taken care of. The clubhouse has lots of old pictures on the wall that are fun to look at and plenty of magazines, some as old as the pictures. The general aviation seems to be doing well here, but definitely slowing down from earlier years. It amazes me and saddens me at how prosperous and busy these small airports once were, and how slowly they are fading away to the high cost of ownership, insurance and fuel. The pictures on the walls of the club house show large classes of student flyers and ramps full of planes from the 70' and 80's. Today there are five planes based at the airport and not many more club members. I hope general aviation stays alive in these smaller communities. It offers a bright contrast to aviation and freedom to many who dream of walking the clouds.

Position Postings

Enjoying the Present, Pondering the Future, Just South of Stoney

A while ago in my company a few position postings came up that I decided to apply for. One was captain on a Cessna 401 courier job, the other was as a First Officer on a Beech 1900. Both offer different pros and cons right now to where I am sitting in my career. First off the C401 job offers very valuable PIC (Pilot In Command) time that I need eventually in my career, I'd say the sooner the better. And it isn't only the time in my log book that matters but it is the experience that I would gain and knowledge I would receive from a single pilot IFR(instrument Flight Rules) job. But this position doesn't offer a pay raise, nor that many hours a year, probably only around 300 a year.

The F/O job on the Beech 1900 offers heavy commuter experience and a nice pay raise. However I don't want to end up being a career F/O and it would possibly make me take a pay cut whenever I do decide to go captain. Luckily I shouldn't really have to make my own decision as I suppose that if I was to be offered a position...; which after a simulator evaluation ride, I wonder if I will be. As I made a few blunders during it that if it had been for real I sure wouldn't ever be making another mistake, ya know what I mean, eh. Shutting down the left engine when you have a right hand engine fire sure doesn't help a situation... Anyways, If I was to be offered a position I would take whatever they offered me as either one would be a challenge that I'd appreciate to take on. I guess we'll see what happens, and if I get none right now I wouldn't be down or worried. I'm sort of on the fine line of hours for the jobs anyways and enjoy my current position right now. I know that sooner or later there will be more positions opening.

Saturday Morning

A Company Jetstream Off of Cluff


It's Saturday morning and I'm suppose to be in my warm bed with my warm wife, but instead after a late call last night I'm now sitting in a sort-of warm cockpit with a sort-of warm cup of coffee. A company plane had a starter problem up North last night, so we get to come pick up their over due passengers and bring them back South.

Right now at about 30'000 feet over Northern Sask there is a Jetstream of about 150 MPH out of the West. After leveling off at FL250 and battling an 85 MPH head wind we decided to descend to Fl190 where we only had to put up with a 55 MPH head wind. The fuel burn went from about 530 pph to 680pph (pounds per hour, but we saved ourselves about 15 minutes, so we should still be pretty near our planned arrival fuel. We are void of passenger right now so we could take enough fuel to get home with, we're hoping not to have to load anymore on with these crazy winds. There was also forecast to be some severe CAT (Clear Air turbulence), but it's been fairly smooth so far, let's hope it stays that way.

Amendment

Ahh, peace at last. I'm sitting in my office at 25'000 feet above the world below with views out of my window towards the East, South and West. Half the sky is clothed in darkness, while the sun is well below the horizon on the other side, just setting a dim glow. Stars are just starting to come into view in between the horizons from deep within the galaxy.

The day was rather hectic after our first flight, which was to Wolleston Lake at 0800, was cancelled due to the weather in Saskatoon sitting at 1/4 mile vis in heavy snow and drifting snow. About an hour and a half after sitting and waiting for the weather to improve, the passenger decided to call off the trip. Thirty minutes later dispatch had another trip booked for us to leave at noon on a sched flight to Regina, that's if the weather would allow. After planning our day out a second time we where advised that we were needed somewhere else. A few people needed picking up in P.A. to go up North to a mine!

So cancel that flight plan and scribble some more numbers and make another phone call to Flight Services. Now all we are waiting for is our plane to thaw out in the hanger as it had sat outside for a few hours and was covered in snow and ice. About 2 o'clock we were ready to be pulled out and de-iced, to finally head off on an adventure. After sitting in the de-ice line for 45 minutes and just when the plane in front of us is finished being de-iced, we get another call from dispatch to return to the hanger, our trip has changed!

We're to go direct up North to Points., with a load of passengers and then bring some back. I file the plan through Edmonton radio on our taxi back with just a bunch of numbers from memory. After filing and canceling three times, I'm sure there is going to be some lost or mess up flight plan in the system. So we taxi back to the hanger, pick up our passengers and then get back to the de-ice bay, were we quickly get a splash and then fire up to finally get on our way. Well, now our double caliber brakes, which have gotten plenty of snow on them have frozen up, we're not moving. I have to hope out of the plane and take the a screw driver to them to separate the frozen discs. It works, but now our de-ice hold over time, which was about 7 minutes is past due and we need another spray. All I want to do is get airborne! It almost seems like there is something telling us not to go, hmm?

But at about 1535 in the afternoon, seven and half hours after we were originally planned to depart, we finally reached a hundred knots and our wheels left the frozen runway. Amazing. Now, sitting in the wool covered seat with near blackness all around me, things are quiet, and relaxing. In 45 minutes we'll be touching down for the last time today. That there was a long and tiring day.

Too Much Coffee

Hard at Work

The Western horizon is a long line of hazy red as night is rolling across the white North. We're South bound at 24,000 feet for home from Points North. We spent the morning hopping between northern towns picking up and dropping off people. And then spent the afternoon drinking coffee and playing crib in the small warm kitchen of Points North while the snow fell and wind blew outside. We've still got about 50 minutes till we're home and I'm starting to feel the coffee. I'm gonna be sore by the time we land. It's my captains leg to fly, I'm really hoping he's going to make a smooth landing tonight or it could get messy up front here...

The other KingAir has a tube up front for such a time as now. Sadly this plane doesn't...

Now is when you start thinking of wanting to fly something bigger, something that has a decent lav on board...

...45 minutes to go, time is passing slowly...thank goodness for the tail wind tonight...

Other Action Going on at Points, Exploration for Uranium