July 18, 2010 "RUDY" the C182 huffed and puffed and with a full tank of fuel (75 usable to be exact), and a cargo of 100 pounds, he lifted off 26L at CYPK with Kapitan Erissa, the G-spot Susan and Chrissy the Navi on board. Fun just broke lose that day at 21:00 Zulu time! Rudy was going on an adventure with 100 other planes from all over the North American continent. An adventure planned by the Century Flight Club, headed by none other but the famous Mr. John Lovelace, the producer of WINGS OVER CANADA, and currently, the producer of THE AVIATORS featured on Global TV once a week. He wanted to shoot 100 planes flying to the YUKON. Destination: WHITE HORSE. Enroute, Rudy landed in Quesnel, Smithers and Deaselake BC. On route, He ran into strange pilots, hairy clouds and gusty runways…..
Pictures will tell a 1000 tales….. so here are some for you to savour. Talking of savour… I apologise, if a roasting pig is not kosher …or Haram. I might have been offended too a few years ago when I tried to be vegetarian. Pork rules, as Emeril ( the infamous chef on Food TV) would say.
Note: Okay… inside story…. Susan is called the G-Spot because her duty in the plane was to handle the SPOT …our personal satellite tracker. During the trip, the first words out of her mouth, muttering to herself, everytime she climbs aboard, was " Gee… the SPOT is not working… I wonder why". Hence her nickname. As for the NAVI…. that’s a scary story. Navi thinks navigating in the air is like reading a map on the road. Half way flying up the Alaska Hyway she decided she needed some "road signs" to appear to her in the clouds or in the blue yonder, coz she got us hopelessly lost at one time. I found out later she thought when I asked her if she knew what the "Compass Rose was, she thought it was a "movie". I kept saying, look for the compass rose to find out our bearing….. and she ignores me half the time. But Navi knows it all. She insisted at one point my Garmin 530 GPS was making a mistake !!! I should ignore the GPS was her comment. Okay, I tried…. and……She mistook the HUGE Kluane Lake for "the Stewart River". Got us flying to Alaska instead of Dawson City. ( I know, I am the Kapital… the responsibility rests squarely on my shoulder) !! So, we endearingly nickname her the NAVI. As for me, I am just the KAPITAN. "plane" and simple. Huh, it was a good think I believe in the mantra…." the fuel on the ground is useless to you"…. so, I always top up. SO, when Chrissy the NAVI misleads me , I have plenty of fuel to find our way home. LOL
3 things we learned from the flight
1) the runway behind you is useless
2) the fuel on the ground ( at the ramp) is useless
3) the sky above you is your friend. ( when lost… climb… but NOT into the clouds).
3(a)…… STAY AWAY From the CLOUDs when flying VFR. Oh yeah, and check Carb heat when the air is moist !!
Check out some amazing pictures from this flight below!
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