Toughest Place In Canada To Fly?

[Riptide]

Where in all of Canada do you suggest is the toughest place to fly? This question usually brings up some good responses (and a few arguments!).

 

[twotter]

Without a doubt.... The wet coast.. on floats.. Not within Georgia Straight, but the west coast of the Island, the central coast and of course, the north coast..

Absolutely gorgeous on a good day, but look out for the ugly ones...

 

[imfsub12]

winnipeg manitoba, the praires are really tough to fly in. every thing looks the same....

 

[Double Wasp]

I would say the arctic coast. Let me just say YCB, 30 knots, 2`C, and rain that falls horizontally. And then with a smile the captain says would you mind getting on the wing to fuel. Welcome to the arctic in July. 😀

 

[Randy_G]

If you want a place where everything looks the same, try the Arctic in winter on an overcast day. The prairies ?? All roads go north/south or east/west, it's so flat you can see the next 20 towns. So how is it difficult to navigate ?? 😉 😛 Besides, if you're not sure, just get a little lower and read the side of a grain elevator, they have the name of the town written on them. Of course you do get the odd person wondering why every town is called "Pool". :huh: :blink: 😛 😀

Cheers

 

[Riptide]

Well, I haven't PIC'd in much of Canada, but I can say that Newfoundland is pretty tough! I have literally taken off on a beautiful crisp winter morning, and before landing, dodged snow, flew through rain showers, got shaken in high winds that came from nowhere, and was "followed" by a fog bank - all within a local half-hour flight! Sounds exagerated, but any pilot who has flown in Newfoundland can testify to our "wonderful" weather. Then there's the number of times I've followed the Trans Canada Highway at 500' AGL because the weather trapped me! You can take off in what seems to be beautiful weather as far as the eye can see, but is actually just a circle of clear. By the time you realize this and turn back, the airport is closed in and you have no choice but to keep going to the next airport which, on the Rock, can be hundreds of miles away! Thank God I fly floats now!

 

[twotter]

While I can appreciate what you folks are saying, I'm sure you don't understand what's involved in flying out here on the wet coast... We've got mountains, turbulence, wild winds, swells, waves, crap weather, crappier weather reporting, weather that changes every 5 miles, did I mention the fog??? I still think that flying the Goose out of YZT is one of the toughest jobs in Canada...

 

[Charles W.]

Twat-er:

I agree with you.

Chas.

 

[bandaid]

I'm not a pilot but a paramedic. For me as a passenger I have had some real testers of intestinal fortitude both on the West coast and in the Rockies. I have a fond appreciation and admiration for the pilots with whom I have flown.

 

[twotter]

Thanks Bandaid,

Words like that are always appreciated..

🙂

 

[407 Driver]

Hey BandAid, Welcome !
I thought that your worst "real test of intestinal fortitude" was the day after I backed into your new Sports-Car in the Pub parking lot :blink: :blink: 😱
Any flight that we ever did was no match for that tragedy ! 😀
You sort of looked like - -> :hide: the next day 😉

 

[downwash]

Having flown in all of our provinces and territories, and a very good chunk beyond, the high Arctic has offered some of the most rugged times, as have Labrador and the 'wet coast,' but the worst in this memory are probably those of the Queen Charlottes and Hecate Strait in gale season, when the weather can be bad enough in itself, but the winds are easily able to wrest control of the machine from you in a wink. Trips around Rennell sound and over to Sandspit, then across to 'Rupert, are true survival stories but, at least, there are some of us still here to tell them. :blink: B)

 

[CTD]

Never had the pleasure of working the Charlottes, but I've heard they are no fun.

Newfoundland is no picnic, mainly becasue of the weather, but I'd have to say that the eastern Arctic and northern Labrador would have to qualify as the worse (and best) places places I've flown.

There is extremely rugged terrain, with relief that exceeds most of the hills in the west. The east side of Baffin around Auyuittuq park had cliffs that fall close to 7000' to the ocean. The Torngats, Kiglapaits and Kaumajets in Labrador are equally spectacular. Of course, the weather can be brutal beyond your wildest imagination.

But what I think makes these places the most difficult, even more so than those areas with more severe topography, is the incredible remoteness, lack of vegetation, and - when I was up there - lack of communication. I don't know how many times I'd be scooting along, picking my way through the weather, and realize that the nearest helicopter to come get me if I had a problem was 900 miles away, and had to come through the same wx to find me. 5680 was useless, and unless you were near a NWS site, Arctic Radio was not an option. The nearest full-on SAR capability was in Trenton ON.

With no trees and no shelter, even a failure to start for a dead battery could be a disaster if the weather got bad and nobody could get to you. Pretty serious stuff.

 

[CTD]

And here's what it can get like on the south coast of Newfoundland. I landed at Hope Brook that evening with a 52 knot wind, which eventually got up to 92 that night. We pinned the A-Star down using two front end loader buckets on the skids, and a Cat dumper for a wind block.

 

[CTD]

South coast NF again, around the Dashwoods area. Thjis one appears on the cover of the new Vortex, for an article on, you guessed it, whiteout.