Arrived at Prince George Canada

I always have had a dream about being a bush pilot in Alaska or Africa. This month I have a chance to get a taste for what that might be like. I have joined a group of 11 general aviation aircraft organized by Dale Hemman of Let's Fly Alaska who is taking us from Olympia Washington up through the Canadian Yukon, into Alaska and back into the lower 48 by flying the Inside Passage from Ketchikan to Olympia on our final leg. My travelling companion is Jim Whitlock, also a pilot. Both Jim and I usually fly out of Gnoss field in Novato, California.

Today was our first day of flying, and I will admit I was a bit nervous as this would be the first time I would experience flying in formation with other aircraft, at low altitude, and down within the canyons and terrain of the beautiful Yukon. Not to mention all of the registrations, rules, phone calls, flight plans and other things one needs to keep straight to fly across an international border.

Today was the first day of flight from Olympia,Washington to Prince George Canada - a total of 444 nautical miles. The weather cooperated for most of the flight. We flew over three aircraft carriers in the Seattle waters then landed briefly in Skagit after a short 100 mile shake down flight for the group. It took a little while for me to get used to flying with a plane off my left wing only a 1/4 mile away, and one ahead only 1/2 mile while flying at 1200 feet. After Sakgit, we all lined up on the runway together and took off in formation for our flight into Canada. The views were wonderful although I spent most of my time focused on flying the plane. In addition to being a calming influence, Jim took some photos that we hope to share on the bolg. You can check out our route by going to my SPOT tracker page at http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=098hhieRBQXFqJruoPS6ziHgIKHXIVERd .

We ran into a bit of rain as we approached Prince George which made visibility and keeping track of the planes in front of us a little more challenging. As we fly in a group we also land as a group all at the same time on the runway, about 1/4 to 1/2 mile apart. It all went smoothly despite the rainey conditions. Although as we taxied back to the terminal to be checked in by Canadian customs the engine on the plane in front of me sputtered to a stop - out of gas. I would say that was close one.

Stay tuned for more updates, hopefully pics to come although we are limited with iPads and the usual challenges with data a wireless in the Yukon and Alaska.

Cheers

Kevin