Saturday is my day to go flying, if the weather permits. The weather office had forecasted a somewhat calm AM with winds picking up just before noon. That was good news for me. Topped up fuel tanks and an airworthy aircraft saw me lift off at 08:30 as I went for altitude into a semi-clear morning, there was some haze to the east but very thin.

Temperature at 1000 ft AGL showed + 9° C with some ground fog further east. I settled at 4500 ft ASL and took in the landscape below. The air was perfectly smooth without even the slightest ripple. The ground falls away noticeably flying eastward over shifting fields of “John Deere-yellow and green”. I set my course for Rockyford. I was planning to explore the area from Rockyford east, past the quaint little town of Rosebud to the town of Rosedale.

I flew along the railroad that runs east along the Rosebud River and counted 37 railroad bridges, as the river snakes its way eastward. The Rosebud River makes a sharp left turn at the town of Wayne before it empties into the mighty Red Deer River just east of Wayne. It is easy to dismiss our Alberta landscape east of the Foothills as just a vast expanse of nothingness. When you fly low and slow like I do its beauty can equal just about anywhere on earth. I really enjoy this seemingly endless land that is just too vast to comprehend.

Soon the Red Deer River valley came into view which goes on all the way into the haze of the distant horizons, both to the north and to the south-east. An unbelievable panorama that is breathtaking. The wind had now increased in velocity and I was crabbing into the south easterly winds. I crossed the Red Deer River and announced my intentions to the absent air traffic at Drumheller. My goal today was to take some pictures of the fairly unknown river crossing a few miles upstream from Drumheller.

Few people know the historical significance of the Blériot Ferry that has been crossing the Red Deer River since 1913. The name Blériot may not mean much to most people but to aviators it is a name that should get their attention. André Blériot, the ferry builder, was the brother of the famous French aviator Louis Blériot, who was the first man to fly the English Channel in a heavier than air airship. The date was July 11, 1907. I found an interesting old article taken from “The Lethbridge Herald” in 1910 that can be seen below. I have not investigated further but the article suggests that the Blériot brothers could have tested their early monoplanes right here in Alberta before flying the Channel. Interesting! Can any of the readers verify the story?

Flying Machine Tried in Alberta
Herald de Lethbridge (Alberta), 7 octobre 1910, p. 3

Mystery of Didsbury Explained by Bleriot Who Tested His Machine There

Calgary, Oct. 6. — The Daily News says: That the first of the Bleriot monoplanes, the inventor of which was the first man to cross the English Channel from France to England in his flying machine, was quietly tested and tried out on a huge piece of Alberta prairie, sixty miles west of Didsbury, is a story which has just come to light.

Andre Bleriot is the man who invented his monoplane and made of it such a successful flying machine, and at the time of its first trial he was with his two brothers on their ranch near Didsbury. According to the story told by several Didsbury men, he had been working quietly on his machine for some time, and immediately he found he was successful, he took his plans and went to France.

Bleriot is a Frenchman, and his two brothers are still on the ranch near Didsbury. They are reputed to be well off, and one of them is a French count. They began ranching on homesteads and pre-emptions, sixty miles west of Didsbury, some six years ago, and are frequent visitors to Calgary. It is the intention of Andre Bleriot to establish a factory for the construction of his machines in Canada, and Montreal has been picked as the headquarters in Canada. He reached there a few days ago and will probably come west to visit his brothers in a few weeks.

It will be remembered that about one year ago paragraphs appeared in some of the provincial newspapers to the effect that a mysterious flying machine or airship had been seen around Stettler and Didsbury. It has now transpired that this was the Bleriot monoplane, and it was the inventor trying out his machine before going to France with it…

I got some good shots of the ferry from my elevated perch as I corrected my course for Linden. The anticipated fresh pie and coffee at “Country Cousins restaurant” in downtown Linden had my mouth watering and I increased the power a little bit. The wind was picking up as I landed. After a well deserved break on my journey I returned to the airfield. People driving by wave to you just as if I was their neighbor as I walked back to the immaculately kept airfield. Such is the friendly town Linden.

The wind was now quite strong and as soon as I went to full power on the take-off run, I became airborne. My ground speed showed 42 mph and the cruise at 85 mph. Winds at 43 mph are something that is not encountered every day. With everything tied down on the flight deck I climbed to 5000 ft to get out of the worst chop and gradually the wind started to subside. I decided to press on ‘cause I had more flying to do before I locked up my Merlin for the day.

It had been a good day flying and I logged 3.5 hrs on this beautiful August Heritage long weekend.