Wet, Dry, Wet, Dry and RK News! and Bears!

Cleared across Vancouver Harbour at 500ft!!!

Tuesday,  another stunning day here in Pitt Meadows BC and the skies are clear, other than the smoke from the fires in Siberia, or at least that s what we are told is causing the very thick haze.
The flying schedule (float plane variety) had myself flying first, which was nice as the earlier morning flights are always less windy.
To get the plane into the water is an interesting and possibly dangerous operation, such that seatbelts are not worn until you get the plane safely away from the ramp, and well out onto the river, in case it is necessary to either quickly get out onto the floats to fend off collision with ANYTHING..  or unless you have really screwed up, and abandoning ship, and swimming is the next option!!  yikes.

Luckily (or more likely, "due to having an experienced instructor along") neither of those options were needed, and we (Tom, the instructor bloke) and I go the little Cessna out onto the fast flowing river, and headed off to Pitt River to do more landing and takeoff practise.

This went well actually, and we even had our first RK newsworthy sighting.

It wasn't me!!!!  Seriously, I did not hit that sturgeon fish that is floating  upside down just where I had been landing!!  I did, however spot it as we flew past, and being that this plane is kinda also a boat, we made a command decision to inspect the suspect floater, so once again, splashed down and slowly taxied around until we could get this photographic proof that Sturgeon fish really do live (and clearly die) in the Pitt River.  oh..  and by the way.. this four foot long one is only small by all accounts. They get HUGE!!!  Seriously HUGE, like 4 to 500 lbs HUGE  ..  yikes!!  that is a small submarine, and I wouldn't want to hit one in a floatplane, it would hurt!

So, having gathered all the evidence, at the seen of the RK event (that could be a whole new abbreviation, when one thinks about it!!)  we fired up the Lycoming, and committed some more aviation.  However, things got interesting, as the instructor guy (Tom..  remember him..!!)  left me, and went for a walk around a little island while I went and did a bunch of landings and (of course) takeoffs on my own. Brave man.  (Tom..  not me..  the brave one!!  KEEP UP!)

In fact it was such fun, that the plane just kept doing landingstakeoffslandingtakeoffs  until I am sure I had miscounted the 5 required by some hefty margin, and having once again landed,  put the water rudders down and taxied slowly back to the weeny island to pick up the brave one!

So, "Mission Accomplished" I am now officially a Float Plane Pilot!  crikey, I only just learnt how to spell it!

Tom "The Brave one" and I, on the Weeny Island.

The other really cool thing that happened today was that Alison went for a flight with Tom, just to see what all the fuss is about, and had a wonderful flight, even spotting some bears, one of which had a couple of cubs.  Tom knows where to find them, as they regularly are in one of the blueberry fields, while the pickers are in the other!!   






So, a good day by any standards, and we are now packing to spend a night in Vancouver before heading across to Newfoundland!  a whole new adventure..  watch this space..  and hopefully, we can get at the internet while on the Rock!

Tom and Alison approaching the ramp.