Aviation

Sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be. And no, I’m not talking about relationships. I had to cancel my first night training flight in over a year due to a number of factors, but mainly due to an INOP defrost/heater system. Most pilots who fly in the lower mainland are used to cancelling flights due to weather, but its far less often that cancellations occur due to aircraft deficiencies. I’m hoping I look back on this post as a reminder that it’s better to cancel a flight and stay on the ground than to try to push through unsafe or sometimes just unfavorable or distracting conditions.

It occurred to me recently that in almost five years of flying, I hadn’t actually flown to Victoria International Airport (CYYJ), located approximately 35 nautical miles SW from Boundary Bay. It also so happens that I have a brother currently living in Victoria, so a flight to Victoria could serve the actual purpose of picking him up for a visit (rather than the usual mission of boring holes in the sky). This post is mostly going to serve as a set of notes for myself as there were a couple points I want to remember about this flight, notably corrections and reminders from ATC about procedures related to flying in and out of CYYJ.

Yesterday, I decided to make use of the gorgeous weather we had been having at the start of October and take a quick flight out to Squamish (CYSE). I had overflown the airport before when enroute to Pemberton but never actually landed, so this would be the first time I’d been on the ground there. The weather was forecasted to be CAVOK but very windy, 15 gusting to 25 knots in some areas near the water, so I anticipated some significant turbulence near the mountains and at CYSE, which is known to have strong surface winds.

This last weekend provided an awesome weather outlook of CAVOK around Vancouver and inland so I decided to take a buddy and head east to Princeton for a short but nice mountain flight. I would have liked to take another passenger but unfortunately the combo of Princeton having the 100LL pumps unavailable and a gross weight limit of 2150 pounds on the Cherokee meant it was a one passenger, full tanks flight.

A couple weeks ago I decided to head to a small airfield on the coast that I had overflown when enroute to Powell River from CZBB. Sechelt (CAP3) is a nice little field with a 2400 x 75’ asphalt runway and open clubhouse complete with leather couches and a ping pong table. For this flight I brought along a good friend of mine who also happens to be a geology student, so I figured flying up the Howe Sound close to the mountains would make a nice detour enroute.

After a several month flying hiatus during the foggy and cloudy Vancouver winter, the weather finally turned up and gave me a chance to get back into the air. Something I had been meaning to do for some time was get some mountain flying experience, and given the sudden occurrence of unlimited ceilings it seemed like as good a time as any to take a maiden voyage into the mountains. I loaded up ForeFlight on my iPad and planned a flight up to Pemberton via Squamish then back down via Lillooet Lake/River and Harrison Lake. Here is an approximate SkyVector plot of the planned route:

I recently bought a share of an airplane share corporation, where 38 shareholders get the use of 3 airplanes at a very competitive wet rate. After completing my initial checkride yesterday, I wanted to make good use of one of the last remaining sunny and cloudless days of the season so I took the Cherokee 140 out for some circuits to practice landings with the &“Hershey Bar” wing (named so due to the rectangular profile as viewed from above). The wing definitely provides less lift in ground effect than the tapered wings I was used to on the later generation Warriors, and my touch-and-go with 0 degrees flaps gave my passengers and I a bit of a kick to the spine. Nonetheless, it was a nice flight and the landings with 25 or 40 degrees of flaps went pretty well. After some circuits at YPK we headed over to downtown to do some orbits at 2500’ before heading back to ZBB via Burnaby. I shot a quick (and shaky) video around downtown to capture some of the evening sunset we were lucky enough to enjoy.

I had another chance to get a morning flight in before work last week, so I figured I’d take a quick flight up to Hope for some scenery. The weather was a bit cloudy with some rain enroute, but cleared up to be nice and sunny by the time we were back at CZBB. Unfortunately the Warrior wasn’t available, so the flight was done in a 152. I had almost forgotten how much louder and slower they are generally… Anyways here are some photos and a short clip for you to enjoy!

Since obtaining my PPL (private pilot license) in the summer of 2013, I’ve been looking for opportunities to get out for morning flights to enjoy the beautiful area around Vancouver. I had a friend and co-worker tell me about his recent flight to Powell River and I thought it would be a great opportunity for a morning flight before work!

This flight also marks the first time I’ve tried the aviation app ForeFlight, in conjunction with a Bad Elf GPS Pro 2200. I have to say, I am very happy with the app and GPS combo and am really looking forward to not needing to buy a new CFS every 56 days! Not to mention the flight planning portion was sped up by a factor of at least 5 having the live METARs and TAFs, distances, headings and calculated fuel burns all updated after each tap of the screen.