When training for your pilots license one plans a cross country flight with your instructor and then make the flight with your instructor. Your next flight would then be your first solo cross country flight and you would repeat the same course, alone. The usual course for the first cross country out of Chilliwack is a touch and go at Pit Meadows, land at Seachelt, touch and go at Abbotsford, and back to Chilliwack. Of course I had to be different so we planed a touch and go at Pit Meadows, Seachelt, and land in Powell River, touch and go in Abbotsford, and back to Chilliwack.
At a later date I took the picture displayed of a search and rescue aircraft taking off at Tofino. It is not one that I flew. I chose this picture because it displayed the flying conditions of that day. It was mostly sunny with a few scattered cloud. A beautiful day for a cross country flight. A fellow student had booked the aircraft I was using for his first cross country as well and was eager for us to return so he could complete his flight before dark. So my instructor and I quickly did a walk around check and headed for the skys.
It was a short flight to Pit Meadows and I completed a touch and go. A touch and go is when you don't come to a complete stop or leave the runway. Once the wheels touch the pavement the flaps are raised and full power applied and you return back to flight. We then flew along the north shore mountain range past Coquitlam, over Vancouver's infamous Stanly Park, over horse shoe bay where we could see the fairies loading or sailing their course. We enjoyed the beauty of the shore line, flew off course so I could show my instructor a shopping mall in Gibsons that i had been a site supervisor to construct, and completed a touch and go at Seachelt airport. We then continued to Powell river. Flying the shore line of BC is definitely a recommendation for all readers. It was truly an enjoyable flight.
We landed at Powell River and stretched our legs for a bit, and of course a potty break. We then headed back choosing to fly the West side of Texada Island for some new sights. We also made a few deviations to our plan taking in as much site seeing as possible. Unknown to us Chilliwack was quickly, unexpectedly,and unforecasted, being engulfed in cloud which was moving in from the East.
My other instructor, who was waiting for our return so she could fly with the next student on his cross country, knew we were in trouble when, from the view of her desk, the run way began to disappear in a mist of cloud. Knowing we would be touching down in Abbotsford, she called control and requested that they divert us from Chilliwack when we checked in with a radio call. Because our flight had taken longer than expected, and the plane was booked for another flight, we dropped the touch and go at Abbotsford and did not make any radio calls to Abbotsford.
On our return we rounded the south side of the north shore mountains and noted the increased cloud cover. By the time we flew over Pit Meadows I had descended below 2000' in order to maintain ground visibility. By the time I got to Mission I was down to 800' above the fraser river. By the time I got to the pass between the north shore mountains and Sumas Mountains I considered myself to be past my comfort zone and requested my instructor to take control. My instructor took over the controls and began flying back and forth looking for the highway that would guide us to the airport which runs parallel with the highway in Chilliwack. I became very disoriented very quickly. I lost all sense of direction. I knew that mountains stood much higher than we were every direction we could go. I actually thought we were past Chilliwack and my instructor was still searching for the airport. Actually we had just flown to the east side of Sumas Mountain and suddenly we flew into Sumas Valley with more than adequate visibility. I then took over the controls and flew to Abbotsford where we called my other instructor to come and pick us up. Needless to say the next student didn't get to make his flight.
This is another one of my experiences with a flight instructor that I consider to be extremely valuable. Not all students get the chance to experience unusual flight conditions like these. But they can, and do, happen unexpectedly. Even within a 3 hr. flight conditions can unexpectedly change. To have the experience of flying it with someone whom you trust completely is a lesson I wouldn't have wanted to miss for anything. I had complete faith and trust in my instructor and use that experience to watch and avoid similar conditions. Clouds can, and do, come right down to the earth making landing under visual flight rules, well lets just say, rather interesting!
