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4th Trip Across Canada

TroyBranch

Well Known Member
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We hadn't flown the Ten to our home town in NB for 5 years. We always end up going some where else. We figured it was time we head back for a summer visit with our family. The new part about this trip is my wife has started working on her Pilot licence. We thought the safest thing for all the trips we do in the ten was for her to know how to fly. Two pilots are always better than one. She bought a 1975 Cessna 150 that she takes her training in. She also gets time on the 10 and the Carbon Cub. Learning right out of the gate that all planes fly differently is important. So many just learn on one plane and then they realize there is so much more to learn. The plan was for her to fly left seat across the entire country.

We loaded up the ten and set out for an over night in Thunder Bay, an easy day with one stop. We left mid morning with our first stop in Shoal Lake Manitoba for fuel. The crops were in full color all the way across the prairies.



The 510NM leg was around 3 hours and it was time to have our lunch that we packed. This was a fairly active airport with great fuel prices. We were greeted by some great people and got filled up. We relaxed for a while watching the spray planes coming and going as we ate lunch.



We were soon on our way climbing out of Shoal Lake watching the spray planes work below us.



Lake Manitoba came into view and we soon passed along its south shoreline. The ride was smooth and cool at 9500.



We were on with Winnipeg Centre and got handed to Winnipeg Terminal and cleared through their zone. A few scattered clouds started to form below us.



Once cleared through there zone it was back on with Winnipeg Centre and a climb to 11500. The scattered clouds were coming up. We rather smooth rides up high then beating in the bumps down low. OAT when down to -2C. Here we are cruising over Lake of the Wood country.



Not many places to land in these parts. The best options are the bogs. They have the smallest trees or none at all. We spent many hours over north Ontario, bog coming up good time to switch tanks, road coming up switch tanks, that was the routine.
Thunder Bay soon came into view and we finished off the late afternoon leg. It was an easy 1000nm day. No complaints from any one, not even from the guy in the right seat. Got the plane tied down, off to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.
The next day was a short flight to Sudbury. We always make time to visit my relatives there. We climbed out of Thunder Bay to begin cruising the shore line.



We followed the shore until about Wawa and made our way direct to Sudbury. Kids were enjoying the ride and the sites out the window, hard to tell from the picture. LOL



Here we are passing Wawa for the last view of the Lake Superior.

 
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It was a 2.5 hour flight to Sudbury and we got in around noon. We spent the day visiting with family and touring the city. Went to the base of the 1200ft smoke stack and saw the big nickel. Sudbury is a mining town.
Next morning we headed to the airport to pack the plane. We filled up and planned to fly direct to home. This would be about 650NM for our routing. We had descent conditions for much of it other then thunder storms to get around near Quebec City. Once past that it was perfect conditions. We cruised along fairly low enjoying the scenery.



It wasn’t long and we were in the St Lawrence Valley and the cells on the radar started to show. We made the decision to get on the right side of them early so we would have a better chance at getting home.



Once past them, we were vectored right over Quebec City. Soon cleared the zone and direct for Charlo NB where I was able to book a hanger for 2 weeks. Best money I spent on the trip. Never once worried about the plane. We started our descent and passed Campbellton.



Next was Charlo where our family was waiting. The winds were kicking up pretty good and it was rough. Jody soon crossed mid field for the down wind and set up for final.



With all the turbulence and the cross wind she decided to not land this one. I was so proud of her just the same. She willingly flew, which meant stay awake, across the entire country! Right after touch down she said, I am sleeping all the way back! This was the easiest trip for me across Canada yet! We got out of the plane, hugged our parents then got the plane in the hanger. Two weeks of time with the family was about to start.

 
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Great write-up, Troy. So good to see your wife taking the controls. I need to get her to talk to my wife. :) We've been into Charlo as our weather alternate, and over NB one always needs a weather alternate! Enjoy some lobster and beer and great times with family.
 
Jody! Jody!!

Way to go Jody! Two more pilots to train great job Branch Aviation!

Troy%20-%201.jpg
 
Touring my home town.

After a week or so of no flying I figured we better go explore the area. Our home airport of Bathurst was being worked on and was closed; this is why we kept the plane in Charlo. It is about an hour to get there so it made it tough to just go fly, but well worth it for a hanger. I wanted to give the plane a good cleaning and fill it up, it always amazes me how much crumbs kids can make!

That plan was to take my Dad and Father in law flying. My father got his pilots license in the sixty’s and end up giving it up because of the lack of planes to fly and us kids that came along. I guess that is where I get my passion for aviation. He always does the flying when go together and he still just loves it. He finds the ten to fast for sight seeing though no matter how much I try to slow it down.:D He find the Carbon Cub just perfect for him but I wasn't making a 4000 plus NM trip in that.

The plan was to depart Charlo and fly across the bay to the Gaspe coast of Quebec and then fly the coast down to Bathurst and then up the Nepisiguit river to Mt Carleton area. Here is the crew.



We flew the coast to Bonaventure and then turned around to jump across the bay again.



We crossed over Heron Island. It is shaped like a fish and only people that are lucky enough to fly will see that. This is where many people go to dig clams. I was told that many years ago there was a homestead on the island.



We flew the coast all the way down to Bathurst. Here we are going by Youghall Beach with Bathurst in the back ground. Many cottages and homes here.



This area is called Carron Point. The bay is very low and they use to dredge the channel when the ships would come into the Pulp mill that no longer exists.



The big City Center of Bathurst.



We then headed up the river to fly past my parents place and then up river as we call it. We flew past Brunswick mines that is now closed. I was amazed at the clean up effort that was done in the shutting down of this mines. The mines and the mill employed a very large percentage of the area in the past.




We toured the areas that we spent many hours driving and snowmobiling on. Also got to see the many new wind mills that have been placed.



After a hour and half of enjoying the familiar area by air, it was time to land. We all had a great flight, filled the plane with fuel and made sure it was ready for the trip back west. I don't get to take my Dad flying very often as we live so far apart but it sure is a great day on the days I do. My father in law just loves going every time he gets a chance as well. It was pretty special to take them both at the same time.

 
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Troy,

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Your (former) blog was instrumental in our decision to upgrade from the RV-8 to the RV-10 as our family grew. It's good to see Jody working on her license. Merideth did the same-- in fact she flew us to Oshkosh last year where we met you guys.

Best,
Guy
 
Troy,

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Your (former) blog was instrumental in our decision to upgrade from the RV-8 to the RV-10 as our family grew. It's good to see Jody working on her license. Merideth did the same-- in fact she flew us to Oshkosh last year where we met you guys.

Best,
Guy

That is great to hear. We do remember meeting you, you hauled lots of stuff if I remember right. We missed Osh this year because of this trip and we hope to be back next year. Jody has been using her spare time to study so the Blog has kind of gone on the back burner.
 
Heading back home.

The vacation was coming to an end and we had one last item to attend. The band from high school had a plan to get together and play at the local bar. Many friends from high school had planned to be there. It was great to see so many old friends and listen to some good rock tunes. It was not going to be a late night as we had some miles to make the next day.




We got out to the airport late morning and packed the plane. It was sad to say our goodbyes to the family but it was time to go. We had 2000NM to cover in order to get home. The weather was windy and the ride was bumpy until we got above the scattered layer. First stop was going to be Trois Rivieres for lunch then off to Timmins Ontario to visit Shania….Just kidding;-) Trois Rivieres has the best Poutine ever! Soon the St Lawrence came into view.




In the middle of the ST Lawrence there is a beautiful Island with a 1500ft runway on it, looks like a great stop.




We flew by many ski hills that were road trip destinations when I was much younger. Not long we were over Quebec City. The controllers here are quite impressive, speaking both French and English.




Soon we were descending into Trois Rivieres. I usually do my radio work in French as it is good practice for me. I find I get much better response from other traffic if I do so. This stop has good fuel prices and great food. When travelling with a family it is always nice to not have to work to hard to find food.




After lunch everyone was very full so it wasn’t long before they all fell a sleep. I don’t think we even got to cruise altitude. The ride was quite rough so we climbed to 8500 ft for smooth air. We were then rewarded with 45 kts on the nose. Better than being beat up for 3 hours. The areas north of Montreal are just beautiful. Many small airports and out door activity options.




After we past the last of the civilization there was even more lakes. If only the ten could have floats!




As we neared Timmins a high over cast helped with the sun. The winds lightened as we headed west.





Timmis came into view and all the passengers started waking up. My son woke up 4 minutes before landing and commented how short of a flight it was. Yes just 3 hours short I mentioned! We landed in perfectly calm conditions.



We grabbed our over night bag and tied down the plane. Off we went to the hotel.

 
Timmins to Calgary

We were now 1300 NM from home and it looked like we had good weather all the way. There was a severe cold from coming into Calgary and we planned to race it. Winds in the 40kt range were forcasted. Our routing was going to be North of Nipigon Lake. We had a big low to the south of us creating all kinds of bad weather and a high moving in from the north. A perfect opportunity for tail winds west bound.



We headed north west out of Timmins. Here is a town call Nakina. Based on what I could see was the pave road stopped here. It looked like a great little town to go visit.



Nipigon lake came into view soon after. If you love fishing, I have been told it is the place to go.



Hours went by with lake after lake after lake.



Our first stop was to be Sioux Lookout. We had flown over it before when coming from Red Lake. It is fairly close to town and has a self serve fueling station. The taxi ways are up hill to which is really cool. It was just to be a quick stop for us as we were pressing on to Regina for food. We had tail winds all the way for the 2.5hr flight.



A quick turn around and we were on our way again. Here we are passing over Lac Du Bonnet in Manitoba just NE of Winnipeg, this is another great fuel stop.



Once passed Winnipeg, our route took us over Lake Manitoba.



It was nice to have Prairie under our feet again. Tank switch were now by the clock again instead of the road or the bog.



Regina came into view and we started down in the bumps. The forest fire smoke started to show. It was windy and hot on the ground. The AC in the building was great relief along with the food after a 3 plus hour flight. Airborne again out of Regina everyone was cooking in the plane on the taxi. We climbed to 8500 and should have went to 10500 to clear the smoke. The headwinds kept us down.



We cleared the smoke just before the Alberta border and the bumps got less. Flying in really rough air in smoke lower vis conditions is not that much fun after the 1000NM mark. Storm where building quite heavily to the north of Calgary but it looked like we had lots of time. We landed at 4:30 local completing a 1300NM day. This was the best trip we ever had traveling across Canada. We always had to work so hard to get back home. This time was easy only because we stayed north in the good weather. The RV10 proved itself again as a very reliable aircraft. Lots of fuel and one quart if oil is all it needed. Sorry we missed Oshkosh but sometimes family takes priority...hopefully see you there next year.

 
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I can just see the house I lived in while going to school in Thunder Bay in your photo. However It took me two days to drive from Edmonton to Thunder Bay. Many of those hours on the road were spent dreaming of a 10. Hopefully within a year I will be ordering the empennage.
 
I, two hunting buddies, and a Black Lab made a trip (in a Cirrus) from TN to AB back in October to do some duck and goose hunting. The furthest west we got was Grand Prairie, AB. We stayed in Fairview, AB. What a gorgeous trip it was. I have to admit that I'd only been to Toronto in the past, but, like the Bahamas, the best is in the "out islands", not the cities. I fell in love with western Canada while I was there and can't wait to go back.Your post brings back very pleasant memories.
 
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