It was a beautiful day for flying as I took off. Winds were calm, clouds few and the sun bright. As I climbed to 4500’ I called Stu, and he told me he was just east of Carstairs. Perfect timing!

We discussed a destination and decided to head to Lacombe for lunch. The air was smooth and in no time we were on final for Runway 16. Two greaser landings and we were parked. Heading into the clubhouse we met Jon Fromm.

As we talked another pilot walked in and said he was going out for a flight. Jon asked him to check out the Gull Lake airstrip if he was over there. Hmm, I’d never landed on an ice runway. Jon told us where the strip was located and that it was clear and in good shape.

After lunch I decided that it would probably be a good day to land on the Gull Lake runway. We flew to Gull Lake and while Stu orbited a couple of thousand feet above, I made a couple of low passes to inspect the runway and check the wind. As the wind was negligible, I decided to land on runway 33 (approximately) in case the braking action was very low, and I over-ran the runway. No trees or shoreline to get in the way.

As I lined up for a short final my pulse was definitely rising. I touched down nicely and let the airplane slow down on its own. The runway had some light snow patches, but they didn’t cause any problems at all. The light snow cover did help the braking a little, but it was still marginal. As I taxied to the north end, I had trouble turning as I couldn’t get enough traction to brake and unlock the tailwheel. The runway was not wide enough for me to turn around but luckily there is a turn area at the north end. Even then I thought I would have to get out and push the tail around, but a snow patch finally gave me the traction I needed.

A couple of photos later I fired MLB up and took off to the south. The lack of traction prevented much of a run-up so it was a rather quick takeoff. Stu and I formatted up again and headed home. We had a nice cruise around Sylvan Lake looking at all the fishing huts. They were enjoying the beautiful weather as much as we were.

A few minutes later I was setting up for landing in Carstairs and Stu continued on his way back to Kirkby’s. What a great way to spend the day and what fun to add to my flying adventures.