A Short Day

Day 4 was a short trip. Stu wanted to go to Castlegar to stay with his dad, while Barry and I wanted to go to Nelson. These two airports are only 15 miles apart, so we were able to fly the majority of the trip together. This was our shortest day at only 2.2 hours, but it would be the most challenging flight we would make on the tour.

When we departed Salmon Arm, we considered stopping in Vernon to top up on fuel. But once we got near Vernon, we realized we had plenty of altitude, good tailwinds, and more than an hour of reserve fuel beyond our planned flight time. We decided to continue on.

We followed Highway 6 through its valley to the Needles ferry. From there, we intended to fly direct and hop over a high mountain pass, following another valley to a point north of Castlegar where we’d separate. This would save about an hour of flying that we’d otherwise spend if we only followed valleys.

It also meant that we’d need to clear an 8000-foot pass.

Approaching the pass, I had about 6000 feet to the ground below, so I took the opportunity to transfer fuel to the main tanks while there was still a good place to set down if needed. As we crossed over the mountains, I saw a fair number of clearings and a logging road, but it was pretty clear that any forced landing would mean leaving the airplane as a permanent fixture on the mountain. It was over this pass that we reached our highest altitude of the tour – 9948 feet. At this altitude, I was using full power and had little ability to climb, while Stu and his Continental-powered Merlin were able to fly circles around me.

The high part of the pass was a fairly short trip, less than 10 miles, before we came to an open valley and could begin our descent. The view of the mountains below was some of the best scenery on the trip, and the pictures Stu took of me and the RANS are amazing. These pictures also show what a little engine that Rotax is, but it’s a little unnerving to see this small airplane with a tiny engine over these huge mountains.

As we got close to Castlegar and a ‘T’ in the valley, Stu and I parted ways, and I turned north. I could see the Nelson airport from 10 miles back, but I was quite unprepared for how difficult the approach was going to be. As I crossed over mid-field, there was a river and sheer cliff less than 1/4 mile to the left and rising terrain to the right. I made the right-hand circuit, but I see now why everyone else was doing a straight-in approach. This is another beautiful airport and one I would recommend to people looking for a challenging place to go.

Barry had already arrived and tied down. While I was pulling in, he met two people in a Mooney that arrived just ahead of me. They invited us to meet them at Finlays pub in town, where we’d plan something for the afternoon. We walked to our hotel, got cleaned up, and headed to the pub. We ended up spending the afternoon swimming and lounging on the pub owner’s friend’s boat. That evening, the pub featured Yuk Yuk’s live comedy, which we stayed up to enjoy. The next morning came really early…

Last Day

Stu flew up from Castlegar and met us in Nelson at 8:30. We refueled and began the last day of our Air Adventure Tour. It promised to be long and hard, and through some tough terrain.

Our first leg was to Cranbrook. It’d be a repeat of the previous day’s leg, where we had to climb high to traverse a high mountain pass into a low valley. Again, the flight saved us a lot of time but taxed my 582 to near its limits. We passed high over the Kootenay Lakes, and even though we were well within gliding distance of land, Stu found being over such a wide expanse of water to be a bit unnerving. On the other hand, the Crawford Bay strip far below looked remarkably enticing.

Cranbrook has a very nice airport in a large valley. We shared the ramp there with a number of high-end turboprop airliners and corporate transports. The temperature was a little cooler here and much more comfortable than what we’d experienced in the previous two days.

We got fueled up and got on our way to our next planned stop of Sparwood-Elk Valley. To get there, we simply followed the Crowsnest Highway past the pretty little strip at Elko and north through Fernie. The Rockies aren’t especially high here – only around 8000 to 9000 feet – but we climbed up to over 8000 feet anyway. I told Stu it would give me more time to panic if anything went wrong.

Stu wanted to refuel at Sparwood, then head north to a notch he found in the Continental Divide. That route would allow us to hop over into Alberta and be much closer to home when we did. It would save us about an hour of flying time in getting back to Calgary. But as we closed on the Sparwood town site, we realized that the clouds to the north were dropping steadily. We decided that flying through the Crowsnest Pass to Pincher Creek would be a better choice. Unfortunately, Barry had already landed at Sparwood, so I had to call him on my cell phone to let him know we were going on.

The scenery in the Crowsnest is beautiful, and it was quite a sight to see Frank Slide from the air. Stu and I got to Pincher Creek for fuel, while Barry left Sparwood and continued on direct to Kirkby’s. From Pincher, it was going to be a quick two-hour flight to home and our own hangars once again.

It was a nice flight back. Stu and I appreciated being over the open, flat terrain again as we reminisced about the trip and the different things we’d done. I had an MP3 player patched into my intercom, and I enjoyed the tunes and scenery as we counted off the miles to home.

As we got to Indus, ten miles south of Kirkby’s, we formed up for a pass over the airfield, much like Garrett and Dan have done in their warbirds at Kirkby’s many times in the past.

We were less than 10 minutes to home, and I’d already started packing things into their proper spots. I decided to pump the reserve fuel into the main tanks, so I wouldn’t have to do it later. With only two miles to go until landing, I was lined up nicely behind Stu when everything went deafeningly quiet.

I set up for best glide and immediately throttled back. Then I turned off the fuel pump, which I realized was quite happily pumping air into the fuel system. I continued cranking the starter, trying to prime the system again. As I passed through 500 feet, I gave up on the restart and lined up on a hay field for landing. It was at this point I realized the MP3 was still playing, and I remember feeling really annoyed that after a perfect trip I was going to land a mile short.

With full flaps and high hay, the rollout was extremely short, and I ended up right behind Chestermere School. I was really glad to do this during summer holidays. It would have been quite humiliating to have 600 school kids watching me.

I radioed Stu I was OK and told him to park his plane and come for me while I figured out a new plan. While I was waiting, a welder named Mike came by in his 4×4 and helped me drag the airplane to a stubble field just north of the school. Stu soon arrived to take some of my extra things from the plane and ensure that he had pictures for posterity. (Thanks Stu, appreciate it.) I recharged the fuel line, warmed the engine, and flew the RANS out of the adjacent hay field to Kirkby’s, just across the road.

End of the Line

I’ve never been on any of the CUFC’s Air Adventures, but I think I enjoyed this more than I would have any of the others. We got a lot of comments on the trip from people at airports who seemed really interested in our journey. Some were obviously more than a little envious.

The trip really challenged my flying skills, and seeing the mountains from my own plane was an incredible experience. The nearly 25 hours and 1350 miles of flying was a fantastic learning experience, and I really appreciate now what a capable airplane the RANS really is. I can hardly wait until next year.