Alaska Adventure Page 4

Bud, Jack & Ted's Alaska Adventure
FRAMES version

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Crossing into Canada We were ready to eat by the time we landed and were advised by the line boy that there was a nice restaurant just a quarter of a mile down the road, so we set off to walk it. We all agreed that this was the longest quarter of a mile any of us had ever experienced and quite a steep decline since the airport sets on a plateau above the town. I don't remember what I had to eat, but Bud & I agreed that although there are many reasons to live in this area, one must surely be the pretty blue-eyed waitress that served us that day. After lunch, we started walking back up the hill and hoping a car might come along to give use a lift, but no such luck today. The flight planning room at Glasgow has a nice big map that covers one complete wall and allowed a good overall view of the next leg of our trip to Calgary (390 miles) as well as the next day's journey to Ft. Nelson.

Doing a little maintenance on the shimmy damper Departing Glasgow 4:35 pm on a heading of 290 degrees, we set out for Medicine Hat 230 miles away and according to the GPS crossed into Canada at 5:58 pm (23:58 zulu). Since it is necessary to clear customs when arriving, the plan was to set down at Medicine Hat and refuel. After making contact with the controller at Medicine Hat, he indicated that the Customs office would be closed by the time that we arrived and inquired rather impatiently as to our intentions. This guy gave the impression that his air traffic controller job would be much more pleasant if he didn't have to deal with pilots! (On the whole trip, it was one of only 2 encounters with people you would rather avoid) Given the distance to Calgary and the prevailing headwinds, we decided to divert to Lethbridge for customs clearance and fuel, notified Mr. Personality of our change of plans and landed at Lethbridge approximately one hour later. The landing at Lethbridge provided us with a little excitement to break the monotony, for just at touchdown, a dramatic vibration shook the airplane. By lifting the nose-wheel, Jack stopped the shaking and confirmed that the nosewheel shimmy damper was not working very well, but nothing more serious.

Waiting in line at Calgary When we returned to the airplane, we inquired about some hydraulic fluid for the nosewheel shimmy damper which had caused us a little concern when landing at Lethbridge. We found a mechanic who was very helpful and provided us the fluid as well as a syringe to allow for filling of the damper. After filling, he safety-wired the filler plug, Jack slipped him a $10, and we were packed up and ready to go.
Calling the tower, we were given instructions to fall in with the rest of the "big iron" which was preparing to depart (A-320, 727, Dash 7) This departure took a few minutes due to all the traffic leaving this morning.
Leaving Calgary, we passed over the Banff National Park (do you remember the old TV show F-Troop and the episode "The Burglar of Banff" pronouncing both f's? Ban-ph-ph. Pay attention to this trivia stuff, you never know when you could be on "Wheel of Fortune".

That is dumping a bunch of water On the way to Grande Prairie, we spotted a couple of large storm cells, but they were well to each side of our path. In fact, on this whole trip, the weather had been great and whenever storm clouds did appear, they were nice enough to be off to one side of our route. After landing at Grande Prairie, the attendant was nice enough to run us into town for a meal at the local restaurant. When we went in, the skies were clear, but when we came out there was a dark cloud approaching from the northeast as we walked back to the ramp. A heavy squall passed through the area and caused about an hour and a half delay before proceeding. During the whole trip, this was the only time that bad weather caused a delay. A commuter plane had departed shortly before toward Dawson Creek and we inquired as to what weather they were experiencing. They had made Dawson Creek with nothing more than rainshowers, so we decided to follow suit. From Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek to Ft St. John, we encountered only light rain and avoidable clouds.
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Ancil T. (TED) Davis
atdavis1@cox.net
Last Update 05/02/97

Crossing into Canada	We were ready to eat by the time we landed and were advised by the line boy that there was a nice restaurant just a quarter of a mile down the road, so we set off to walk it. We all agreed that this was the longest quarter of a mile any of us had ever experienced and quite a steep decline since the airport sets on a plateau above the town. I don't remember what I had to eat, but Bud & I agreed that although there are many reasons to live in this area, one must surely be the pretty blue-eyed waitress that served us that day. After lunch, we started walking back up the hill and hoping a car might come along to give use a lift, but no such luck today. The flight planning room at Glasgow has a nice big map that covers one complete wall and allowed a good overall view of the next leg of our trip to Calgary (390 miles) as well as the next day's journey to Ft. Nelson.
Doing a little maintenance on the shimmy damper	Departing Glasgow 4:35 pm on a heading of 290 degrees, we set out for Medicine Hat 230 miles away and according to the GPS crossed into Canada at 5:58 pm (23:58 zulu). Since it is necessary to clear customs when arriving, the plan was to set down at Medicine Hat and refuel. After making contact with the controller at Medicine Hat, he indicated that the Customs office would be closed by the time that we arrived and inquired rather impatiently as to our intentions. This guy gave the impression that his air traffic controller job would be much more pleasant if he didn't have to deal with pilots! (On the whole trip, it was one of only 2 encounters with people you would rather avoid) Given the distance to Calgary and the prevailing headwinds, we decided to divert to Lethbridge for customs clearance and fuel, notified Mr. Personality of our change of plans and landed at Lethbridge approximately one hour later. The landing at Lethbridge provided us with a little excitement to break the monotony, for just at touchdown, a dramatic vibration shook the airplane. By lifting the nose-wheel, Jack stopped the shaking and confirmed that the nosewheel shimmy damper was not working very well, but nothing more serious.
Waiting in line at Calgary	When we returned to the airplane, we inquired about some hydraulic fluid for the nosewheel shimmy damper which had caused us a little concern when landing at Lethbridge. We found a mechanic who was very helpful and provided us the fluid as well as a syringe to allow for filling of the damper. After filling, he safety-wired the filler plug, Jack slipped him a $10, and we were packed up and ready to go. Calling the tower, we were given instructions to fall in with the rest of the "big iron" which was preparing to depart (A-320, 727, Dash 7) This departure took a few minutes due to all the traffic leaving this morning. Leaving Calgary, we passed over the Banff National Park (do you remember the old TV show F-Troop and the episode "The Burglar of Banff" pronouncing both f's? Ban-ph-ph. Pay attention to this trivia stuff, you never know when you could be on "Wheel of Fortune".
That is dumping a bunch of water	On the way to Grande Prairie, we spotted a couple of large storm cells, but they were well to each side of our path. In fact, on this whole trip, the weather had been great and whenever storm clouds did appear, they were nice enough to be off to one side of our route. After landing at Grande Prairie, the attendant was nice enough to run us into town for a meal at the local restaurant. When we went in, the skies were clear, but when we came out there was a dark cloud approaching from the northeast as we walked back to the ramp. A heavy squall passed through the area and caused about an hour and a half delay before proceeding. During the whole trip, this was the only time that bad weather caused a delay. A commuter plane had departed shortly before toward Dawson Creek and we inquired as to what weather they were experiencing. They had made Dawson Creek with nothing more than rainshowers, so we decided to follow suit. From Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek to Ft St. John, we encountered only light rain and avoidable clouds.