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PnP mission Ottawa - Sept-Iles and back

Lycosaurus

Well Known Member
What to do on a cold -28C morning.... why not fly two RV7 and one RV9 to Sept-Iles QC from Ottawa ON, a 500 nm leg and bring back some dogs for PnPC.
We had 7 pups and two adults of which they thought one might be pregnant. Just beautiful dogs melting your heart away. Tried to sneak one in my coat, but got caught every time.

Left at 7 AM and returned back to Ottawa at around 7 PM. Twelve hour trip, with about 8 hours of air time, over 1000 nm round trip.

Plan was to fuel the planes at our departure airport, however they were having fuel distribution problems, so we quickly adjusted the flight plan and flew to
Smiths Falls CYSH about a dozen minutes away. The flight after that was just over 3 hours for a straight 500 nm to Sept-Iles.

Either Matt or Dave had a minor emergency requiring a pit stop. They diverted to Chicoutimi CYRC while we continued on. They have the faster RV so they
could catch up to us. That’s what happens when you down a smoothie on the way to the airport.

Matt and Dave in the black RV7, John in the orange one.

[apologies for the different size photos, as they come from different sources]

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While checking for cylinder temps during engine preheat, the Dynon D10A EFIS did not even want to power up while the D100 was complaining it was cold and
density altitude was close to a mile below ground. The temp sensor later stabilized at -28C and the D10A was up and running about 5 minutes into our flight.

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Crossing the Saguenay river.

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If you look closely, the Saguenay river seems to have an ice road plowed. Hmmm, might be good for an emergency landing. Further inspection
reveals an ice breaker operating in the area.... OK, note to self not to try and land there.

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John caught us doing an eclipse of the sun. He felt the chill but still managed to grab his camera for this shot.

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I tried to reciprocate, but this photo of him looks quite ordinary.

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part 2

Sept-Iles Airport - CYZV

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Matt/Dave's plane and ours ready for refuelling. What a nightmare trying to remove the fuel caps. No elasticity left in the o-rings.
Needed to use a screwdriver to pry the caps open. Paint damage to surrounding area, but what can you do.

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John's plane getting refueled. Once we managed to pry open our fuel caps with a screwdriver, we all ran inside away from the cold and blustering wind and let the fuel guy do his thing.
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Now this is where the real fun begins...

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I though I could get away with sneaking one out. What do we call that in transportation.... spoilage! My cats warned me ahead of time though, no dogs allowed.
We're just lucky our cats let us live with them, and clean up and feed them.

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John has found a new friend.

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part 3

Lucie, part of the ground crew of PnP in Sept-Iles. Thanks.

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Our passenger with plenty of warm blankets to huddle in.

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Matt and Dave's passenger ready for a snooze.

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I believe this might be Baie Comeau. In any case, there are not many airports in that neck of the woods.

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Group selfie at 4,500 feet.

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Our flight engineer barking out orders.

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part 4

Pit stop in Chicoutimi CYRC. Fuel and stretching legs.

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Some nice weather on departure from Sept-Iles, however some light snow was encountered on our way to Lachute CSE3.

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Arrival at Lachute, with all dogs safe and sound. Another 40 minute flight and we were back at Carp airport CYRP.

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Great write-up, Alfio. I was thinking of you Saturday morning as that trip would have broken my own safety limit of -20C. Wasn't sure you guys dispatched, glad to hear you dd and that all went well.

If there were a "Pick Your Favorite Photo" portion to this post, I have to say I'm struggling to pick a winner between the two front-runners; Alfio with contraband in his coveralls, or your Flight Engineer keeping a close eye on those engine temps!
 
headset on the dog

While the photo is quite funny in itself, the real purpose of the hat and spare headset was that we were trying to muffle the engine and wind noise from our dog's ears.

Cold I can handle, but the wind was what really 'stung'.
 
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Awesome as usual! You guys do have a talent of presenters I've seen that flight suit before. Great job!
 
PNP MISSION

Alfio

Your pictures sure bring back a lot of memories..

Sept-Iles and Baie Comeau ( Live there until I left for the Air Force at 18 ) used to be my neck of the woods and now my RV-4 is based 10 nm east of CSE4 ( Lachute)...small world indeed..

You should go back in the summer, much nicer and also warmer but not by much..;)

Cheers

Bruno
[email protected]
 
Lots of Miles

Wow, that was one heck of an adventure. Thanks for traveling so many miles and hours for the pups! I keep my trips shorter, but it's fantastic that others do so much more.
 
Great adventure. It looks REEEEEEEAAAAALY cold there.


What sort of temps did you have in the cockpit? Were you dressed like that as a safety precaution or because you really needed to be? maybe you need one of those WWII heated flying suits!

How can you take those puppies without adopting one - I wouldn't be able to let them go.

I am at CSE4 (Lachute). If you are ever there please drop in and see my RV4 project. Hangar 6 on the north east corner. I'm there every weekend with my dog.


Scott
 
well done!

...brilliant way to keep the headsets on. you guys are amazing at cold weather ops.
one hint, I have a wooden dipstick for my tanks, it serves as a fulcrum when I need to lever my fuel caps out...saves the paint.
( actually I have a round '100LL'-type decal that somewhat protects the paint also!)
good reminder for everyone to lube all those parts in the fall!
 
I was using fuel lube early on and found it just gummed up the works in cold weather. I spray some LPS-2 and that seems to help, but when it is that cold, all bets are off.

Temps in the cockpit are fine, though we do have drafts coming from the slider canopy. We have a dual muffler combination that pipes in lots of heat. Also have electric heated seats. The clothing is for survival in case of having to land off-airport. It also served us well for walking from the plane to the FBOs :)

The flying is fun but carrying back dogs and knowing you made a difference really pumps me up. This is our 3rd PnP mission, of which they all have been all-day affairs. We don't seem to have many short missions available.

If you have not tried PnP volunteers, I highly recommend you do. You will visit some interesting out of the way places (like one flight we had to Ft.Albany in James Bay). Try it!
 
here's to man's best friend

Enjoyed the story.
Having seen a number of dog passengers on the forums over the past several years, how do they handle the noise level? Any problems with a frequent flyer dog? I've always wanted to get my dog in the air but have been hesitant. I considered the dog muffs but the odd shape of a bulldog's head may not be amenable to a muff.
 
Enjoyed the story.
Having seen a number of dog passengers on the forums over the past several years, how do they handle the noise level? Any problems with a frequent flyer dog? I've always wanted to get my dog in the air but have been hesitant. I considered the dog muffs but the odd shape of a bulldog's head may not be amenable to a muff.

On my PNP missions, no headset, but I've found the dogs settle down after 10-15 minutes.
With My frequent flyer dog, Dixie, I use mutt muffs. She tried taking them off initially, but felt more comfortable with them on.
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