Searching for the pump after landing does not produce any result, I therefore shut-down in front of a big hangar.
A fuel bowser labeled Jet-A1 comes by and asks if I need fuel. I tell him yes, but not his kind, he then disappears. No further news, but 30 Minutes later I manage to get hold of the fuel company by phone, and yes, they have AVGAS, and yes there are coming to the aircraft. All good.
Some time later a fork equipped heavy duty caterpillar rolls a 55USG/200l blue drum of the precious juice on the tarmac
I’m just in time to stop the driver going away and give me a hand at uprighting the drum, before being on my own… the onsite maintenance facility has neither pump, nor time, nor manpower available.
Now is the time to get my emergency servicing gear out of the baggage compartment… consisting of a siphon hose pump (which I call a wiggle hose ) bought some 20 years ago during the Oshkosh convention, a foldable plastic water canister of 10l capacity, and my Mr Funnel filter/funnel.
The refuelling operations is slow, but works, and after about 1hr all of my 3 tanks are full again. 1/4 of the drum is still full, a leftover which I happily give to the owner/pilot of an amphibian Cessna who miraculously turns up when I’m done
Airborne again, 2nd long leg…
The scenery holds for a while, beautiful. Same for the weather.
Leaving the Hudson Bay both change, more and more pine trees riding the barren surface, less ice. Rain showers multiply.
Now approaching the day’s destination Yellowknife, the weather worsens. Moderate (to severe…) turbulence hits, surely produces by a couple of massive thunderstorms. I’m happy that all my stuff, including the aux tank, is nicely secure as I bump my head, or is it the opposite, into the canopy a couple of times. This despite the tight 5 point harness…
Luckily this stuff is encountered and avoided some 50NM prior reaching the goal… and the landing is performed in fair weather. My walk upon exiting YLL is akin to a seaman’s, the unstable motion will last for a couple of hours
Straight 28 @ CYZF
Day 10 No flying day
Yellowknife contains another POI of my list… it is the home of legendary Buffalo Airways
For those not in the known, the company’s reputation has been made by buying, flying, restoring, and maintaining old (and some very old…) airliners, 2nd WW transport, and some other exotic models.
Some of the operations have been documented in the series Ice Pilots, of which I bought and watched the hires version a few years ago. Searching for Buffalo Airways will return a lot of details about the company, YT movies and more. They are different opinions about the operation and the company itself, but I will only say that I was, and still am, in awe
I was very keen on visiting their facilities, and registered myself for a tour, which I was able to take next day. To top my luck I was the only visitor, and got a personal tour by the friendly and good looking women of Buffalo Airways, thanks a bunch gals
The whole place oscillates between a functioning airline and a junkyard, carcasses of airplanes, shiny firebombers on the ramp, radial engines from newly overhauled to unsalvageable littering the workshop, and much more…
The afternoon was dedicated to visiting the town of Yellowknife itself. Very attractive, surrounded by lakes and pine trees, modern with parks and a lot of possible activities, I sure could live there. In the Summer
The ice road… molten for now…
An attractive town
Day 11
CYZF Yellowknife – CYDA Dawson City
Whilst visiting Buffalo Airways yesterday, I bumped into Joe, the president, and one of his son Mikey, General Manager. Hearing about my trip triggered their curiosity and they had asked me to come by for tour of YLL before my departure.
So I now taxi in front of their big hangar for a small chat and a photo session. I’m also given one their beautiful enbroided cap, which I’m to wear during my stay at Oshkosh… which I later duly forget to do… again, thanks guys, pretty cool.
A short chat with the old man Joe
Time to take-off. Again quite a long leg, 4:38h. Zillions of lakes interrupted by pine woods, little mining operations, good weather.
As the flight progresses, the scenery changes, hills grow into mountains, lakes become rivers.
The clouds also change, and I have to resort to circumnavigating some of the more threatening baby CBs.
Visibility starts to drop, and with it comes a smell of burnt something… slightly worried until I’m sure that it emanates from the ground… and I now recall the abbreviation FU mentioned in the weather reports It seems there are a lot of forest fires during the Summer in northern Canada, and also in Alaska. None of them has been seen during the tour, but the smoke became pretty thick on this leg. Riding on the ADI indication on the latter part of the flight, I perform an RNAV approach into Dawson City, as the visibility deteriorates even more due to the setting sun…
After tying-down YLL, the US Customs and Border Protection decal is applied in anticipation of tomorrow’s entry into the US.
Luckily my hotel provides a courtesy pick-up, as the airport is located a good distance from Dawson City. I like and did a lot of walking on this tour, mainly to/from hotel/airport, but I save myself for a city tour on this one
Dawson City rides on it’s Klondike gold rush image, and replacing the trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc, with horses would get one transported to the end of the eighteen-hundreds. It attracts all kind of tourists and travellers alike thru its dusty streets. Quite an ambience
A part of the evening is spent organising tomorrow’s day. In the final stages of planning the tour, I had spotted Northway AK, in the US, as a convenient Port of Entry into the US. Located close to the Canadian border, and on my way to Talkeetna AK, where I have arranged with Sheldon Air Service for the required 50h maintenance inspection of YLL.
So I file the necessary eAPIS, and phone US Customs to agree on my arrival at 09:00am at Northway next day. Upon checking my mails before going to bed, I notice a Landing Denied message from CBP.
Stupid me, I have filed my eAPIS without thinking about the 1h time change that will occurs on the 40mn flight. Flying due West during these days of the tour makes tracking local time sometimes difficult, as is the fact of having changed to the wrong side of UTC
I refile with the correct time and go to sleep.
Day 12
CYDA Dawson City – PAOR Northway – PANC Ted Stevens Anchorage – PATK Talkeetna
The visibility is still reduced as I set off for Northway. I fly at reduce settings in order to land at exactly the time agreed. Approaching the field and landing just before me, an American registered Husky. We both park on the designated area, as told by the FBO guy.
Turning base to finals for Northway…
The CBP Officer drives up, and checks out the Husky and its two occupants. My turn now. Now there’s an unhappy officer… polite, but very firm in telling me that I was not supposed to come to Northway, that I had been sent a landing denial, and that I might have to fly back to Canada. I’m nevertheless allowed to set foot down on American soil, and once I tell him the whole story including the verbal approval, he becomes quite nice. As the place is out in the boonies, no cell phone network is available, so we proceed to the briefing office and the CBP officer now uses a land line to talk to customs headquarters. Half an hour later I’m told that I have to now fly to the Ted Stevens Anchorage airport to clear customs, as they are equipped for biometrics, etc. Northway is probably reserved for registered Canadians or Americans.
A bit strange since my biometrics must be on file somewhere in the US virtual vaults, as taken during previous trips…
I’m not allowed to refuel, probably since I’m not officially in the country, so I double check on the remaining fuel… and fuel required, including eventual holding allowance.
Enroute to Anchorage
Base vector for Anchorage
Anchorage is as busy as a bee hive, and I’m not sure about the controller’s happiness when I annonce myself on one of the busy arrival frequencies. Nevertheless, with the usual US efficiency I’m vectored and squeezed between a couple of heavy jets, and can easily offer and comply with a 160 to 2 miles speed. Told you, RVs are great
Busy surroundings