September - October - The Recreational Aircraft Association

Yorkton was reporting
surface winds at 29 gusting to
50 knots, at almost 90
degrees across the long runway.
near the foothills was 68 mph, right on the nose. This time it
was over flat Saskatchewan, during the day, and yahoo!... a
partial tailwind from the eight o’clock position of our Cyclone
in only light chop! It didn’t take long for us to cover lots of
ground and the blue skies soon started to look gray and the
forward visibility began to acquire that milky look of haze
or smoke. Our noses were the ones that soon confirmed we
had met a thick broad band of BC forest fire smoke, blown
all the way into the central part of Saskatchewan! At 8500 ft
ASL, the forward visibility was still greater than a couple of
miles. With no horizon as guide for the a/c’s attitude, level
flight was easily maintained by diligent use of the attitude
indicator.
With the increased ground speed, we now decided we
had more than ample fuel for an extension of our flight
plan to Lloydminster. We therefore contacted Saskatoon
arrival for radar following service through their terminal
area, which they obligingly provided. We were aware that
a frontal system was due to arrive from the northwest into
the Lloydminster area by nightfall and with the smoky haze,
daylight appeared to be fading earlier than expected. Our
trusty old Garmin 295 came in handy to lead us to the grass
strip of Herb Spicer’s, a short distance to the northwest of
Lloyd. There is a warm feeling one gets when spending time
with friends like the Spicer’s who also fly for fun.
The next day, as the expression goes, we were socked in.
This gave us a chance to visit aviation enthusiasts of the local
area, such as Charlie Seville and his son who build bush airplanes
out of Tripacers. Charlie is famous for always being
ready to help solve a fellow aviation enthusiast’s problems,
so I discussed the experience of the oil pressure indicator’s
Top down:
August's grandniece tries out the controls;
On final to St. Paul
Left: The Cyclone is safely ensconced in a Yorkton
hangar. Given the crosswind - 29 gusting to 50 -
discretion dictated the use of a shorter gravel runway.
movement that had me puzzled. He provided me with
insightful information that helped me understand much
better the functioning of an oil pressure relief valve which
determines what is shown on the guage.
Then that same day we were honored to meet another
great aviation personality of the area, now retired Airbus captain,
Sam Boothman. This year Sam had recently completed
a long distance flight from his home to Ellesmere Island, the
most northern part of North America, and return in a beautiful
Cessna 180. Now he plans to fly later this fall all the way
to the most southern tip of South America and back!
Visits like that make a socked in day fly, and the next
morning we set out to ride our Cyclone home, where we
arrived in time for lunch. Total flying time enroute as well
as several flights within Ontario was just over 40 hours. The
cost of fuel, oil, and other expenses, our Visa looked after.
The experience of the twenty-some days riding our Cyclone
- priceless!
September - October 2006 Recreational Flyer 31