New2view's Blog   Life on The Blue Marble

My friend’s wife wanted to reunite with her hubby in Cranbrook B.C. where he was temporarily assigned by his employer, Zerox Corp.

I was a friend and willing pilot with a Mooney M20A airplane. So his wife and I flew from Victoria BC  to Cranbrook.  A critical decision was made along the way!

Flying mainly at lower altitude, following the trans Canada highway, I attempted to take a shortcut over some low-range interior mountains but soon realized clouds were obscuring terrain. So I made an abrupt reverse course knife-edged turn back to the visible lower highway course. The sudden turn frightened my passenger but was a prudent decision but adequate fuel now became a more serious concern.  However just after sunset, we managed to land at Cranbrook’s uncontrolled* airport

With hubby and wife reunited, we planned to return home the next day. However solid valley overcast discouraged departure. Questioning an arriving private jet pilot, and checking the MOT (ministry of transport) aviation weather report, I decided to make the return trip ‘on top’ of clouds, rather than as the previous low altitude flight,. A VFR (visual flight rules) on top flight carries some risks, since it is impossible to exactly determine the terrain below in the event of an emergency. However a direct flight home decision was based on confidence in the reliability of my trusted Mooney airplane.

We took off in my well planned Northerly direction, quickly entering the overcast clouds. Its like flying in  thick damp cotton. Strictly on instruments, we climbed slowly, having three full fuel tanks plus two passengers, i.e. this was no private jet!  As minutes ticked by we soon penetrated the solid layer of valley overcast, breaking into brilliant sunshine above the overcast!  Immediately turning 90 degrees to a Westerly heading we gradually climbed to the appropriate altitude of about 8500 feet.

From there on it was CAVU (clear and visibility unlimited) over truly magnificent, pristine, snow covered Coastal Mountain peaks that protruded above the overcast! A truly unforgettable view!

My accurate course setting brought us directly over an important ADF (auto direction finding) beacon located just South of the Okanagan Valley, as the overcast below us gradually dissapated. Wary of common Westerly mountain headwinds that often occur, we eventually crossed the Fraser valley and Georgia Straight, all the way to Victoria airport non-stop! Another personal flight experience very fondly remembered to this day!

• ‘uncontrolled’ simply means there is no control tower, just a radio operator.