Cross Country Home

We had a couple of weddings we wanted to attend at Abbotsford so I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick up my airplane. I called ahead of time and was told it shouldn't be a problem. That was the 18th. On the 30th Doris & Shaun left for Dawson Creek and I caught a ride with them to the airport. I knew my plane wasn't quite ready but I thought I would sit in the plane and honk. I know how well that works when I'm sitting in the car waiting for Doris.


To make a long story short my plane was finally ready at about 11am the next day. Then the paper work started. They wanted me to fly off 2 hrs. of testing before heading over the mountains. I gave them 30 min. I flew past Cultus Lake. I was impressed with the new found power. I landed and they gave everything a quick check.




I finally took off for Dawson Creek at 1:00. The weather report was clear till about Quesnell. Then there were some low ceilings as well as high winds expected for the north. 40 kt. winds, or 73 km. if you are so inclined. So I knew turbulence was in my future.



The flight to start was very calm winds and smooth sailing. I set my GPS for 100 mile house which is as direct towards Dawson Creek as you can get. If you drew a line from Chilliwack to Dawson Creek you would pass directly between 100 mile house airport on the right and 108 mile house on the left.

When I arrived at 100 mile house I reported my position and requested a weather report to determine if I could possibly fly direct or whether I had to take the pine pass. The report still called for low ceilings ahead so I set my GPS for Quesnell.
Nearing Quesnell the ceilings became lower and lower. I continually dropped altitude to maintain visual. It soon began to snow.



Leaving Quesnell the ceilings lifted somewhat and I was able to climb from 100' above ground to about 4000'. I set my GPS for Prince George.






I am descending in this picture to get under the cloud cover.















I finally ended up approximately 500' above the ground to get through. The snow was light and didn't last very long.
Nearing Prince George is where the winds began. You can see how the clouds indicate a more unsettled front moving in. My ride became a bit more turbulent. I called up Price George tower and notified them of my passing through.

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One could see the exact place where the front was moving through and as I passed under the final edge of it the turbulence was bad enough that I had to slow down to try to calm down the tossing of my poor little airplane. Once clear of the zone Prince George gave me clearance ahead and radar services were terminated. The Sky's cleared up and I figured I could probably make it over the top the rest of the way and set my GPS for Chetwind and Dawson Creek so if I needed to abort I didn't fly too far off course. About 30 min ahead I could see a band of cloud I would need to get over.


Reaching the band I climbed and climbed until I was barely above each cloud I was climbing over. I reached 12,500 feet and had approximately 500' left to go to get over. It is my experience that a cloud bank such as this one begins lower and rises to the centre. Past experience also told me that if I continued I would get myself into trouble so I turned around and headed into a valley.

My GPS doesn't have main roads indicated on it in Canada. I assumed the valley I was in was the one headed for Chetwind. I was wrong. As I got lower I noticed the road I was following ended. The valley split to the right so I followed that and descended into the valley. The clouds became lower and lower in the valley and as I dropped I could see I was in a place I didn't want to be. I'm sorry but I don't have any pics of this area. 70km winds down through a valley is like an amusement ride gone very bad! I applied 10 degrees of flaps and slowed the plane as much as I dared to make as tight a turn as possible on the narrow valley floor. I climbed back up out of the Valley now with a head wind slowing the process.

I had no idea where I was and really wasn't feeling much like flying around looking for the right valley. So I set my GPS for Prince George and headed back. Because I now had a head wind it took me almost 45 min. to get back to Prince George where I spent the night.








I woke early the next morning and called for a weather briefing. The weather report was clear sailing with winds only 30 kts. (55km). It was still dark when I got to the airport. I grabbed some toast and eggs at the airport and headed for my plane. I was disappointed to find my plane covered with frost. I brushed off the frost best I could I checked the oil and added a liter. ( New motors use oil till they are broken in.) I had fueled up the night before and was ready to go. With frosty wings, full fuel, and high altitude it seemed to take a little longer for takeoff. But I had lots of run way. I set my GPS for Dawson Creek.

I could see that same band of cloud 30 min. ahead but I continued on anyway. It appeared to be lower and I was right. I skimmed over the beginning of the ridge at 9,000'

For the next 30 min. or so I just enjoyed the beauty of the clouds.




Once over the clouds I set my descent for Dawson Creek at 200' per min. I was at 11,500' with temperatures of minus 20 degrees c. I'm glad I got my heater fixed as I had nice warm feet. Last time flying in minus 30 temps my feet were soo cold I couldn't walk after landing. The decent to Dawson Creek was uneventful till I was 3 min from landing and I went to make my announcement. My radio didn't transmit. As I flew around the zone trying to get my radio to work I started looking for emergency numbers. Trying to read a book and control an aircraft in 50km mechanical turbulence is quite a feat! I finally got the right person on the phone and received clearance to land. All in all it was a good flight!!