Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Took a "Pontiac" for a "Ride"..............
I recently was asked by the Chief Pilot to do a PCC "Ride" with a newly trained Cessna 180 pilot. He seemed like he was doing well, so I said "OK". I would rather watch "ballet" than fly with some "green" pilots, especially "arrogant know-it-alls".
Trever is his name, and he isn't arrogant, and listens when you talk to him. We needed a nickname for him, and when I found out his last name was "Parisian", I knew then his new name would be "Pontiac"! So, like I said, I took a Pontiac for a "Ride"!
The cockpit of 1953 Cessna 180, C-FHDL, the "venerable old girl" I would be checking "Pontiac" out on. "Pontiac" pre-flighted her well, and out we taxied, to start our adventure. We would be stopping at a number of lakes and the Bloodvein River, so I could gauge "Pontiac's" skills.
"Pontiac" taxis out, calm, and cool, outwardly. Inside, like anybody that has ever done "rides", the nervousness is "gnawing".
Airborne!
Arrival, and docked, at Paint Point Lake. We dropped off fuel at Ross Bailey and Ernest Stefanson's camp. Pontiac's landing was OK, the approach passable. I gave him a few "pointers", and out we taxied again. We would now head to "Northern Lites", a lake where there was an old "moose camp" I used to fly to, and I wanted to look at it.
Taxiing away from the dock at Paint Point. Notice the beautiful water colour.
We arrive at Northern Lites, and Pontiac did quite well, factoring in the gusty crosswind conditions. Pontiac tied up, and then we went looking for the old "moose camp"!
Ah-hah! Found it!
An "archaeological" find!
One of the leftover "luxuries"................
How long have these two "artifacts" been here?
A "weathered" old paddle beside a giant ant hill.................
Then, back to the airplane. I made Pontiac "heel" it into shore.
Then, we taxied out, and we were off to "Paleface Lake"!
Arrived at "Paleface Lake"!
I had taken moose hunters into this lake last Fall. They left their boat and "camouflaged" it. Ha! We found it!
Old "HDL"!
Reflection in the "spinner"!
Then, we prepared to taxi out, next destination the "Bloodvein Reach"!
Arrived and tied up at "The Reach"!
The "killing rock"! Last year when I checked out Spanky in Blue Water Aviation's Cessna 185, there were bones in this same spot on the rock. Some local carnivore uses this flat rock as a "killing floor/dining table"!
The "moose hanging rack" at "The Reach" has been a landmark for years, and now it is toppled. If the wind blew it down, fine, "Nature reclaims it's own". If transient, immature canoeists or fishermen vandalised it, then they are "real assholes"! Check out how the moose hanging rack on "The Reach" used to look!
"Pontiac" pauses for a moment, and "surveys" the "landscape of life". Years from now, when his time is through, will he be remembered as a "Picasso", or just another "sign painter"? He is lost in his reflections.............
Then, Pontiac "cuts us loose", and we push off. One last "leg" back to Pine Dock, and his PCC is complete.
Pontiac prepares to "open the throttle" for our return leg home. It usually is very easy for me to gauge how a pilot will do flying floats from my first exposure to them. Some people have "webbed feet", some people have "stone feet". Some "have it", some "don't". In closing, just let me say.........
"You got it, Pontiac"!
"Adios"!
Trever is his name, and he isn't arrogant, and listens when you talk to him. We needed a nickname for him, and when I found out his last name was "Parisian", I knew then his new name would be "Pontiac"! So, like I said, I took a Pontiac for a "Ride"!
The cockpit of 1953 Cessna 180, C-FHDL, the "venerable old girl" I would be checking "Pontiac" out on. "Pontiac" pre-flighted her well, and out we taxied, to start our adventure. We would be stopping at a number of lakes and the Bloodvein River, so I could gauge "Pontiac's" skills.
"Pontiac" taxis out, calm, and cool, outwardly. Inside, like anybody that has ever done "rides", the nervousness is "gnawing".
Airborne!
Arrival, and docked, at Paint Point Lake. We dropped off fuel at Ross Bailey and Ernest Stefanson's camp. Pontiac's landing was OK, the approach passable. I gave him a few "pointers", and out we taxied again. We would now head to "Northern Lites", a lake where there was an old "moose camp" I used to fly to, and I wanted to look at it.
Taxiing away from the dock at Paint Point. Notice the beautiful water colour.
We arrive at Northern Lites, and Pontiac did quite well, factoring in the gusty crosswind conditions. Pontiac tied up, and then we went looking for the old "moose camp"!
Ah-hah! Found it!
An "archaeological" find!
One of the leftover "luxuries"................
How long have these two "artifacts" been here?
A "weathered" old paddle beside a giant ant hill.................
Then, back to the airplane. I made Pontiac "heel" it into shore.
Then, we taxied out, and we were off to "Paleface Lake"!
Arrived at "Paleface Lake"!
I had taken moose hunters into this lake last Fall. They left their boat and "camouflaged" it. Ha! We found it!
Old "HDL"!
Reflection in the "spinner"!
Then, we prepared to taxi out, next destination the "Bloodvein Reach"!
Arrived and tied up at "The Reach"!
The "killing rock"! Last year when I checked out Spanky in Blue Water Aviation's Cessna 185, there were bones in this same spot on the rock. Some local carnivore uses this flat rock as a "killing floor/dining table"!
The "moose hanging rack" at "The Reach" has been a landmark for years, and now it is toppled. If the wind blew it down, fine, "Nature reclaims it's own". If transient, immature canoeists or fishermen vandalised it, then they are "real assholes"! Check out how the moose hanging rack on "The Reach" used to look!
"Pontiac" pauses for a moment, and "surveys" the "landscape of life". Years from now, when his time is through, will he be remembered as a "Picasso", or just another "sign painter"? He is lost in his reflections.............
Then, Pontiac "cuts us loose", and we push off. One last "leg" back to Pine Dock, and his PCC is complete.
Pontiac prepares to "open the throttle" for our return leg home. It usually is very easy for me to gauge how a pilot will do flying floats from my first exposure to them. Some people have "webbed feet", some people have "stone feet". Some "have it", some "don't". In closing, just let me say.........
"You got it, Pontiac"!
"Adios"!
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Dad, your face looks really funny in those reflection pictures. hah lol and when you read this call me cause i have to talk to you, and it has to be before 2:00pm tomorrow, its very important
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