Try a new experience – Fly Newfoundland !
On August 13, we departed Peterborough, as usual IFR, though for
the first time for one of our trips, it was a bright, sunny day. We
climbed to 9000 ft and followed the airways along the north shore of
the St. Lawrence. VMC conditions prevailed though initial winds were
not as favourable as forecast for the first leg to Baie Comeau,
where we arrived with just our reserve fuel left after a flight time
of 3.9 hours.
From Baie Comeau, the winds were as forecast so with a nice tail
wind, we followed the north shore air routes, again at 9000 ft, with
a splendid view of the terrain all along our route. Spectacularly
rugged and sparsely populated, the airports of Sept Iles (with an
ILS and Av Gas), Natashquan (Localizer and Av Gas), Chevery , St
Augustin (Localizer but no Av Gas), and Blanc Sablon (notammed U/S
but normally has a Localizer and Av Gas). We did encounter quite
some cloud between Chevery and Blanc Sablon, but conditions became
once again VFR for our approach into St. Anthony, and our first view
of Newfoundland.
Now this was a most interesting view … grey rock, small ponds and
peat bogs everywhere, weathered trees and the remains of a burned
forest … in the midst of which was the airport … nothing else in
sight … leaving one wondering where everyone could be. However, upon
landing, there being no provision for tie down, we were fortunate to
be able to arrange for hangar accommodation in the superbly equipped
Grenfell Medevac hangar, that services many of the surrounding
communities, including those of Quebec and Labrador.
After some negotiations, we were allocated a mini-van to drive
the 52 km into the Town of St. Anthony. Practically no traffic, the
scenery was mostly rocks, weather beaten short trees frayed in their
tops, presumably from the unrelenting winter winds … a large variety
of obviously hardy vegetation growing out of mostly peat moss …
quite extraordinary, with moose grazing along the side of the road,
as well as small vegetable gardens, mostly potatoes, tended by
locals who are allowed to "homestead" pieces of fertile top soil
(removed during road construction) to grow their vegetables. The
roads are mostly built quite elevated from the surrounding land, and
lakes and ponds are everywhere at different levels in the rock. The
hotel proved most comfortable, with a helicopter parked outside our
door … assuming that guests arrive by various means. We spent the
day visiting L’Anse aux Meadows, a realistically recreated Viking
community close to the excavated remains of the actual village used
by the Norsemen. We later toured the town and surrounding area and
lunched at the Lighthouse Café which provided a good area from which
to whale watch, there being quite a few in close proximity, and two
ice bergs on the far horizon … but the latter part of August is
obviously not the best time to see icebergs, the best season we were
told being between May and early August.
The weather remaining perfectly SKC, and since our intention
after all was "sight seeing", we flew VFR out of St. Anthony over
rocky terrain spattered with lakes, very similar to some of the NWT
country, down the airway to the Deer Lake VOR. We landed in Gander
where the Shell Aerocentre personnel received us most cordially,
looked after our aircraft needs and courteously took the time to
drive us not only through the city of Gander, but to the Silent
Witness Memorial, a monument erected at the crash site where 256
members of the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles lost their
lives in the 1985 Arrow Air disaster. The monument was superbly
done, but rather a sad place for obvious reasons. I was surprised at
the gradient of the hill since the media had left the impression
that it was somewhat flatter land. Upon departing that same runway
(22), one could plainly see the route of the crash, which terminated
about 5 tree rows short of Gander Lake.
We really liked Gander, a town obviously steeped in "aviation"
history, with great atmosphere despite the fact that business is
down, mostly because the modernization of aviation equipment has
allowed the industry to circumvent Gander’s hub status as an
airport, and many larger companies such as Aeroflot no longer need
bases there resulting in much of the town’s sources for revenue
drying up. Furthermore, we learned here that only Shell provides Av
Gas throughout Nfld., and at best it is hard for them to acquire,
leaving numerous smaller airports with no fuel at all.
On to St. Johns, with a much more populous coast line, about a 45
minute flight from Gander to St. John’s International. What scenery,
those craggy cliffs, fjords and coves all along the east coast,
rocks and lakes and the Topsail mountains beneath us with a few
small communities scattered about.
Upon our arrival in St. John’s, having read about Kim Winsor in
the 99’s international magazine as the lone 99 in Nfld., I had
decided to seek her out … so imagine our pleasant surprise when
quite by chance, she was the very first person we met as we walked
in to the Atlantic Aviation Flight Academy … led there by a row of
blue and white Cherokees lined up outside the building. Kim is an
active member of CASARA, a multi/single Class 2 Flight Instructor
with the AAC, which is the only teaching facility in St. John’s and
belongs to Provincial Airlines, its teaching fleet consisting of 5
Cherokees (of which one is reputedly the highest time Cherokee in
the world, and still running just fine), 2 Senecas and one Warrior,
and a multitude of teaching staff … all in all, a very busy aviation
environment.
Once again, nigh impossible to find a rental car, but helped by
Kim’s student, Dr. Don Wyatt who drove us from car rental to car
rental … as luck would have it, we found one! Rental cars are
apparently very hard to come by during the months of July and August
throughout Newfoundland, unless booked ahead … something that is
hard to do when one is not a scheduled flight!
As we later drove down the coast , we noted along the way the
casual way of life in each of the cove villages, children playing in
the middle of the street and in some places, horses and ponies
roaming around people’s yards quite free, unfettered and not fenced
in. Down the coast, we took a boat tour to watch the puffins that
nest on a variety of islands that are protected bird nesting
sanctuaries that no one is allowed to land on, the rock formations
of each island being most interesting geologically.
St. John’s is the oldest city in North America and offers the
visitor a great deal to see and do, among other things, many
historic Aviation happenings, most of which our "tour guide" Don
Wyatt, had the good fortune to actually witness. The centre of the
city is situated around the port, all on steep hills, with most
colourful and attractive houses, including the tiny historic port of
Quidi Vidi. Further excursions were to Signal Hill, which not only
offered a spectacular view of the coastline and harbour entrance,
but is the actual spot where Marconi received the first
transatlantic wireless signal in 1901. We continued our tour out to
Point Spear, which is the most easterly point of the North American
continent. It was equipped as a fortress in WWII with shore
batteries and two howitzers "donated" by the Americans, all the
armament equipment dragged out there by horses. We later had the
further good fortune to be driven out to the Harbour Grace Airfield
by our ever knowledgeable "pilot", Don Wyatt. Now a national
historic site, Harbour Grace Airfield was built in 1927 and used by
aviators such as Amelia Earhart who took off from there for her solo
flight across the Atlantic in 1931, and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
in 1936. An interesting historic site with its own museum, the
preserved house where Amelia spent the night, the two monuments at
the strip to the famous flyers who landed there, one of which was
erected by the 99s. An access road to the Trans Canada Highway that
is currently being built adjacent to this historic strip could
potentially eventually render it more accessible to visitors. We
also drove by the Bay Bull Big Pond , another place in the St.
John’s area of historic aviation importance being where Alcock &
Brown in 1919 and Charles Lindbergh in 1934 landed.
Sunday, our proposed departure day for St. Pierre et Miquelon,
though originally forecast to be "better" conditions than Saturday,
dawned more in keeping with reputed Nfld. weather – starting out
with ceilings of 400 ft and plenty of fog, what is termed there as
"flat" conditions. Furthermore, a NOTAM was in effect for St. Pierre
that there would be no Av Gas available there until late Tuesday
evening; add to this the further complication of a restriction that
(despite all of their available amenities such as Cat I, II and III
ILS approaches) Fire and Rescue equipment must be present for all
incoming IFR flights, and this being Sunday, the required equipment
would only be present for one hour during the day for the regular
scheduled flight . So what with Wx conditions at St. Pierre
remaining low and another promise of "better tomorrow" from FSS,
with our main purpose being to see the surroundings with a bird’s
eye view, we opted to stay over in St. John’s.
FSS had informed us that conditions would improve somewhat by the
afternoon… in fact just enough to allow me to take Kim and Don up
for a short flight in our Arrow, Kim taking the controls throughout
the flight as we toured around Cape Spear, offering another
perspective of that most historic site. It was not long after
landing that we discovered what St. John’s weather can really look
like, as the fog rolled in with rain and low conditions … for the
next 2 days.
Later that same day, we proceeded to the barn where Kim keeps her
horse, the Andrea Gillis Equestrian Centre, home of the Rainbow
Riders. This facility is a Therapeutic Riding Association dedicated
to the use of some 60 physically and mentally challenged youngsters
and adults. It is run entirely by volunteers and some of the
parents, and has 13 horses all donated or loaned by private
individuals and owners, one of whom is Kim herself who is not only a
very active volunteer, but has loaned her own horse "Popples" to the
cause. All maintenance, supplies, care of the horses and fundraising
for the facility’s upkeep and activities is undertaken entirely by
the volunteers, one of their major sponsors being the Tim Horton’s
"Make a Smile" Campaign, which provides for the chair lift and
necessary ramps.
The weather for St. Pierre did not ameliorate much, hovering
around an uncooperative 200 ft with a vv of ///, as time dictated,
we would have to put that projected trip on our "will return" list.
We departed the St. John’s area IFR, and with a 700 ft ceiling,
climbed out at around 4500 for 8000ft over-the-top westward to Deer
Lake. An uneventful, smooth trip, we landed visual at Deer Lake, a
most attractive airport, and since there were no tie downs available
anywhere, we opted to make hangar arrangements with Newfoundland
Labrador Air Transport, picked up our rental car (this time
pre-booked) and proceeded south to stay in the town of Corner Brook.
From there, we toured south on the Trans Canada to Stephenville,
through the town , along the coastline and took a look at their
Airport. From there, we made an extensive tour of the city of Corner
Brook itself, where we drove up to Crow Hill to the Captain Cook
monument which not only offers a magnificent view of the coast that
he charted and the city of Corner Brook itself, but is where Cook
reputedly actually honed his cartographic skills … in Newfoundland.
The following day, since the weather was once again definitely
IMC, we took our time back to Deer Lake Airport, with a scenic
detour via the Gros Morne National Park. A Unesco World Heritage
site, it offers unique geology and stunning views, diverse
vegetation and a variety of wildlife, all a "must see" for any
nature lover, and certainly deserves a longer visit than we had time
for.
Returning to Deer Lake Airport, though somewhat improved,
conditions remained IMC. We took off IFR and proceeded over a 5000
ft overcast layer to St Anthony, where conditions had improved
enough for a visual approach. However, since an extensive Wx system
was encroaching from the west, we opted to stay over once again in
St. Anthony to let it pass. We again put the plane in the Grenfell
Hangar , rented a car and proceeded back in to hospitable St.
Anthony. As luck would have it, the weather became perfectly sunny
by mid afternoon , so we proceeded back to Fishing Point Municipal
Park where we were treated to a plethora of whale activity that
continued uninterrupted by the departure of a large cruise ship.
Listening to the conversation of the locals around us, we were
motivated to re-visit Goose Cove, just a 5 minute drive from our
Hotel, to see the latest visitor in this wild life sage – a lone
Beluga whale that has been tracked for the past 4 years by a
researcher concerned with the welfare of the Belugas. This "white"
whale has become rather tame, following boats and allowing itself to
be scratched by people, waving its fin at them, though it has a
somewhat alarming habit of liking to "hug" the propeller. Returning
from there to our hotel via a circuitous route, we observed numerous
moose grazing along the side of the highway, quite unphased by
passing traffic … and photographers like me.
The next morning dawned foggy with low ceilings, blustery winds
and quite heavy rain. We nonetheless departed for the airport … to
be treated to the sight of more moose grazing along the highway …
considered by most of the locals as somewhat of a nuisance,
requiring an "anti-moose" fence around the airport . Upon
consultation with St. Anthony flight service, helpful as ever, we
departed IFR out of the back side of the weather system sitting over
the area … into about 100 miles of IMC, turbulence, rain and even
snow, picking up some mixed icing along the way but vacating the IMC
conditions before the ice could accumulate into anything
significant.
Other than our first fuel stop at Sept Isles, where we
encountered the kind of turbulence that leaves you wondering if you
might break something, the remainder of the trip was SKC and
conditions improved as we proceeded west. Traffic into Quebec City,
our second fuel stop, was incredibly busy, our final leg uneventful
to land around 7:30 local time at our final destination,
Peterborough. Since Newfoundland time is one and a half hours later
than Eastern Standard time, we completed the 3 legs from St. Anthony
to home base in 8.7 hours air time.
The "Far East" of the western world, Newfoundland has many of the
"oldest" of historic sites, tectonic "collisions", and a rich
historic aviation involvement. It was interesting to note the
continuing necessity for aviation’s role evidenced by the number of
passengers present at all of the major airports that we visited, the
local airlines apparently keeping very busy transporting their
passengers throughout Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec…
A Province that is truly "distinct" and genuinely friendly people
who love to share their rich cultural heritage, as is written on
their automobile plates, Newfoundland offers
"A World of Difference"… and you can believe it … that it is …
that it is !"
