Day 10 - Cross-Canada Century Flight 2009

We’re in Oshkosh! After all of the delays and the frustrations of Thunder Bay, it seems incredible to be actually clear of that weather-beaten city and currently ensconced in a surreal existence in Oshkosh. Grounded by the fog and storms, I never took the time to try and envision the world’s largest aviation show. While we have only just arrived and been unable to visit the main exhibition grounds, I am already amazed by the sheer size and organization of this entire event. It makes the Century Flight group, while sizable in its own respect, appear insignificant against the myriad of aircraft and people currently gathered here in Wisconsin.

We had another early morning in Thunder Bay in the hopes of making an early start. After all, the weather forecast for this morning was for the first sun in days, but I have long since learned that the weather in Thunder Bay is never predictable. The weather appeared marginal around the city, but we diligently took the shuttle to the Esso lounge prepared to (again) wait for better conditions. We optimistically packed our baggage in the aircraft, and Bob put the finishing touches on a joke we played on the couple that took Westjet to the Maritimes. Bob had finished filling out the aircraft impoundment notice that I created, and he managed to insert it under the glass of the locked pilot door. Brent also tied some bright pink emergency tape around the propeller to ensure that the “impounded” aircraft catches the owner’s (Bob and Norm’s) attention. Bob was a bit worried that we had done too authentic a job on the form, however, so he also placed a friendly little note in the cockpit and suggested that I put my Dad’s cell number at the bottom of the “impoundment notice”. Despite these friendly give-a-ways, I’m sure that Ray and Norma will have 30 exhilarating seconds before they catch onto the prank. J

We decided to be brave this morning, and instead of revisiting Tim Hortons we followed the recommendation of one of the Esso personnel. We took the Esso van for a 15 minute drive into old Thunder Bay and a simplistic little underground restaurant that we would never found, much less patronised, on our own. It’s called the Hoatio restaurant, and is run by Thunder Bay’s Finlandio club. The little restaurant was overflowing with customers when we arrived, and it was a free-for-all seating arrangement. Everyone running the restaurant was obviously Finnish, for even the men had blonde hair. The paper placemats also have a history of the club, and I learned that the building was erected in 1909, while the restaurant was started in 1914. There were apparently many Finnish immigrants working north of here in the mines and forest industry at the time, and whenever they came to Thunder Bay on leave, they sought an affordable place to eat. Until the 1980s, the Hoatio club had long communal tables and served meals for exactly $1. While the restaurant has obviously evolved slightly since then, the simplicity of the dining and large food portions remain. It was a very interesting experience that I’m sure to remember.

Having returned to the airport, we discovered that another grounded Century Flight pilot who we so far haven’t met also tried to fly west this morning. We saw him leave and then summarily return within half-an-hour, and he jumped out of his aircraft onto the tarmac extremely upset about the “liers” at NavCanada. The NavCan briefer had apparently told him that the weather was fair all the way to Dryden, only for him to discover ceilings of only 200 feet a few miles west of Thunder Bay! He was an IFR pilot on a VFR flight plan, and he returned to the airport to replan his route to fly safely through the weather front. His unhappy experience convinced us to remain grounded for a few more hours, and we returned to the now familiar Esso lounge to make the best of the free internet and facilities.

The weather fortunately did clear up over the next two hours, and our optimism soared when our police acquaintance, Kyle, reported clear weather to the west. All of us Century Flight pilots at the Esso lounge decided to depart: us in the Beaver with Bob and Brent in the Piper to International Falls, while another Cessna pilot was also flying west to his lakeside cabin. It was an exhilarating feeling to leap off the runway, and finally take to the air after three straight days of inactivity! The ceiling to the west was slightly marginal to begin the flight, but it quickly cleared up and we were soon soaring at 2500ft onto International Falls via Atikoken and Fort Frances. How ironic to consider that we were basically retracing our last flight we flew five days ago! It was nevertheless extremely satisfying to be flying into fair weather with an added sense of purpose and determination.

We flew the entire trip today as follower to Bob and Brent in the Piper. Brent has better knowledge of the US airspaces around here, and he also operates three GPSs at all times while flying! Our aircraft, ironically enough, share very similar paint schemes, and we shot some nice air-to-air photographs while on the flight through Ontario, over Minnesota and into Wisconsin. The brief stop in International Falls in order to clear customs proved extremely easy, and we were even able to retain our Watermelon which we have carted around with us ever since our departure from Boundary Bay! In fact, having filled out the appropriate eAPIS Border Protection forms online yesterday, I would even suggest that it’s easier to cross the border by air than by car. A lot depends upon the individual Border Protection officer that you deal with, of course, but at least there are few lineups when flying!

I was amazed while overflying Minnesota at how sparsely settled this region is: short evergreen trees stretch in all directions, with absolutely no signs of mountains or urban civilization. The land is similar to the Canadian Shield, although there are fewer lakes and maybe it is a little less rugged. There are little farms and communities hidden across the landscape, but everyone here seems to live a lonely existence with very little export economy for the small farms. Wisconsin was much better: the landscape reminds me of the Fraser Valley back home, with well-to-do farms dotting the landscape. Unlike the prairies, however, the area is not nearly as dry and dusty. Another aspect of this area which stood out was the incredible number of small airports and landing strips. Although many of these airports are extremely quiet and receive little traffic, it’s nice having the option of having another safe landing area every few miles. I wish Canada had a similar number of airports, as it would make flying so much more accessible for travelling.

We stopped only once more on our flight to Oshkosh today. We touched down at about 5:30PM Central Time at Central Wisconsin airport in Wasseau, Wisconsin. While it was only 100 miles from there to Oshkosh, Brent and my Dad were concerned about fuel if we were delayed reaching our destination due to heavy air traffic. I was amazed at the size of the airport compared to the amount of traffic. The number of hangers was particularly impressive, although apparently its necessary in order to keep the aircraft safe throughout the harsh winters. My West Coast arrogance is obviously showing, for in Vancouver the summer sun causes more damage to an aircraft than any amount of rain or occasional snow in the winter!

The last leg of our flight today proved the most complicated, although it was not nearly as difficult as I once thought it might be. Oshkosh receives 10,000 visiting aircraft over the next week, and during that time this area is the busiest control zone in the world. In order to hopefully ensure safe and efficient landings, the Oshkosh organizers have received permission from the FAA to implement a unique approach pattern and landing rules. During the daytime, hundreds of aircraft approach a meeting point 10 miles outside of Oshkosh and go into holding patterns over two lakes. Aircraft continue in a holding pattern until they find an opening on the flight path to Oshkosh airport over the railway tracks, and reporters on the ground direct planes onto different runways. In order for maximum efficiency, the pilots are not allowed to talk back to the controllers except in case of an emergency, and must “wave” their wings in order to show understanding for direct orders. Additionally, in order to almost simultaneously land aircraft on the same runway, there are differently-coloured touchdown markers. There are also different approach patterns for VFR, IFR, and warbird aircraft to further complicate matters, along with two different altitudes of 1800 and 2300ASL, each with a specified airspeed.

The Oshkosh landing procedures are an amazing plan which has been precisely organized and carried into execution. There have been a few fatalities in past years, and a few aircraft “ditched” on landing this year, but otherwise everything went according to plan. In fact, because we arrived only minutes before the airport was closing at 8pm, we found almost no traffic in the air, and were able to immediately enter the approach to Oshkosh without a holding pattern. The ground reporter even gave us the option of choosing which runway to land on! This is not normal, however, and we were almost cut off by the nightly deadline; several aircraft behind us were forced to reroute to alternate airports for the night. Nevertheless, I consider us extremely lucky in getting here to Oshkosh tonight, and would definitely recommend landing in the evening, once most of the traffic has already arrived during the afternoon.

The sight of Oshkosh from the air is extremely brief, but in that short span I quickly absorbed the amazing sight laid out before me: fields and fields of aircraft parked and camped in every direction. It’s an awesome sight to behold! I didn’t have time to fully appreciate the view, however, before we were quickly landed and taxiing off the active runway. Dozens of volunteers surrounded the taxiways, directing aircraft towards appropriate parking areas. We displayed a sign reading “GAC”, which indicated that we wanted the General Aviation Camping area. Brent and Bob in the Piper ahead of us also displayed the same sign and, as a result, we’re currently parked across from one another in an area called the “North 40”. The North 40 is to the extreme north of the airport, and a shuttle-bus drive away from the main exhibition area. For some people, this might disadvantageous, but I think otherwise. We’re an easy walk from a shopping mall, and 500ft from our aircraft is a well-to-do Hilton hotel. Fully equipped restrooms, showers, and very affordable breakfast and dinner buffets promise to make this camping experience in Oshkosh extremely memorable. The restrooms allow me to easily put my contacts on in the morning and avoid using the detested portables, while the buffet is different every day. It’s excellent food, with accommodating vegetarian options. Absolutely no complaints here!

We’ve set up our tent beneath the wing of the Beaver, just like all of the other groups around us. It’s a funny sight to see rows and rows of tents and aircraft stretching across the field, each parked wing-to-wing. The Oshkosh organizers try to place a high-wing and low-wing aircraft beside each other to ensure maximum efficiency, and we’re currently parked alongside twin-engine aircraft. I only wish we had had one of these aircraft for the Century Flight trip; the twins are about as big as the beaver, but their twin engines and IFR equipped ratings allow them to fly safely over cloud without fear of engine failure or loss of visual reference to the ground. Still extremely disappointed that we never accomplished our mission to travel across Canada, but I believe that Oshkosh is going to be wonderfully unique experience that will be equally memorable.

I’m extremely tired from today’s trip and I expect that it’s going to be a full day tomorrow for exploring the airport and exhibition grounds. I hope to be able to keep updating this blog regularly, but I expect that I’ll also be very busy each day simply experiencing this amazing event. Additionally, the internet around here is flaky, and extremely overloaded due to the thousands of people currently in attendance. I might be able to continue posting to the blog, but the bandwidth is definitely not good enough for me to post my hundreds of pictures. I’ll have to wait until we’re once again travelling east and staying in hotels with dedicated high-speed internet. Looking forward to tomorrow! Good night for now from Oshkosh!