All Alone Up There... Again

This past week I completed my fourth PPC ride in ten months and renewed my single pilot IFR rating on the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. With my Line Indoc (where a pilot with more company experience comes along to show you the operations) completed, next week I'll take to the sky all on my lonesome once more.

The bulk of the flying I'll be doing on the Caravan will be on one of NT Air's two only "scheduled" runs. Leaving Prince George, I'll head North to Williston Lake, stopping as required at Mackenzie, Ospika, Fort Ware, Tsay Keh, and possibly a few other strips along the route. Other then Mackenzie and, of course, Prince George, all of the strips are turf and gravel, perfect for the Caravan. While the Caravan is also capable of pulling quite a load off of short strips, the majority of the strips are lengthy and well with the aircraft's capabilities. I felt that I was just starting to really enjoy the 208B when the whole Skyward fiasco went down, so I'm happy I get another chance at the controls of this airplane.

The Williston Lake area is basically one long trench that was flooded in the 60's to create a reservoir for the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River. Mackenzie, named for famous Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie, sits on the south end while the First Nation community of Tsay Keh sits on the North end. The First Nation community of Fort Ware or Kwadacha, lies 70 kms up the Finlay river from Tsay Keh. The area has is fueled economically by forestry. Logging roads carve through the forest all over the place while Mackenzie itself has multiple sawmills, pulp mills, and specialty wood production facilities.

C-GDOX in Fort Ware

Cruising down the Finlay River Towards Tsay Keh from Fort Ware

Cruising in the Caravan

Ospika Camp

Ospika Arm, Williston Lake

Cruising over the Rocky Mountains enroute to Fort St John

DOX in Dawson Creek