A break from routine
We showed up at the airport yesterday morning to find that our little airplane wasn't feeling so well and needed some TLC. So we left our 'ho' in the hands of an AME and did what we always do when we show up for work early in the morning only to find we're not going anywhere....... we went for breakfast and coffee. After a good, cheap meal at the Sushi Cafe, I made my way home thinking I was done for the day, swapped my flight suit for my pj's and set about to relaxing. The relaxing was to be short lived. It wasn't to long before the phone rang to tell me that they got the plane back in tip top shape and we would be heading out to do our run south from Williams Lake.
After flying the same run, at the same time, every time you go flying for a few weeks, it's nice to get something a little different. We departed a gloomy Vancouver around 1530 flight planned to the Hope NDB, Bravo 22 airway to the Ashcroft NDB, followed by the Williams Lake NDB. The climb out towards Hope was mostly IMC with scattered light ice here and there. Once again, it's interesting to see the effect the Coast mountains have on the weather in BC. The weather on the coast side of the mountains seems to always be quite different then once you're on the lee side. Once we made the turn towards Ashcroft, the clouds slowly scattered out and before long, the sky cleared up to reveal the sunshine. The rest of the flight was gorgeous and we got to see some sights we don't regularly see.
Our approach into Kamloops last night was somewhat eerie. The Kamloops airport is just to the West of the City of Kamloops. The Instrument approaches all bring you in from the East, over the city. At night, there is nothing to give reference to the terrain around Kamloops except the city itself. So even if it's a crystal clear night, we end flying past the Airport, over the city and descending over the lights to assure we're clear of the terrain. This all works out great except for the fact that the dominant winds in Kamloops are out of the east and favour runway 08. So we end up with two options now, land with a tail wind, or do a night circuit for runway 26. I don't mind taking a tail wind up to around 10 knots. The runway is 6000' long and I only need a third of that to land the Navajo. However, last night the winds were blowing steady over 10 knots and gusting upwards of 20. So landing with a tailwind was not an option, leaving us to join the left hand circuit for runway 26. Because of the terrain near the airport, the night circuit is almost like an instrument approach. There is a set procedure laid out in the Canadian Flight Supplement as well as in the CAP.
It requires 6 red flashing hazard beacons up on the hillsides be fully operational and that we fly within these beacons at an altitude of 2200' ASL. The first time one does this procedure they'll quickly understand why it exists. Although you're a safe distance from the hillside, it really seems right beside you and rising rapidly, however, aside from these flashing red lights, you see nothing ahead and to the right as you come up beside the airport on the downwind leg. So it's kind of creepy looking into the blackness beside you knowing full well there's terrain there, but not being able to see it. I find myself triple checking the procedure to make sure we're doing it right. The night circuit procedure has been conducting lord knows how many times over the years without any hiccups, so it's completly safe, but it still feels wierd. I actually think a Localizer backcourse approach, or a GPS approach from the West onto runway 08 would serve Kamloops well. I would certainly prefer that over the status quo.
Coming into Vancouver was slightly different also. The winds at YVR last night were steady above 10 knots favouring runway 12. Aside from the odd aircraft departing 08R, almost all the traffic was using 12, something that doesn't happen all that often. We did our regular Booth arrival and got vectors from the Pitt Meadows VOR radial 260 (the Pitt 260) over the approach for 12, then back around on a kind of right base, squeezing in behind KD Air's Navajo and infront of a Westjet 737. By 2100 the plane was parked, the paperwork was done and we joined a gathering at the Beaver where the boss bought us a couple cold ones and steak dinner..... Not a bad day...
2 comments:
Interesting post & nice pics, as usual, Shawn. Keep em coming!
Hey Buddy,
Nice little synopsis of your day. Maybe the 8 hour lay overs in your day help the creative blogging side of your life :) Like Sam said keepem coming !
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