Fly-in trip

[Chadk66]

Just returned from a 5 day canadian fly-in trip to Southern Ontario with my dad,brother in-law and his dad. What an awesome time. Caught and released between 250-300 walleyes in 5 days between the four of us. Alot of small ones but quite a few 2-4 lbers. Even got weathered in for an extra 8 hours on the final day and the bush pilot and I got lost on the flight home below a 300' overcast. Not ideal VFR flight conditions. The compass wasn't working very well and we got turned around a bit and before you know it we were lost. The pilot had forgotten his gps in the office so we were wingin it. Just flew around for awhile and did a little dead reckoning on his map until we found a lake he recognized and then made it home. Kinda tough flyin a plane readin a map and watchin for other traffic. The pilot did a great job and didn't seem too concerned for a 21 year old kid. Anyway we used Howey Bay Camps out of Red Lake Ontario and they are highly recommended.
chad

[TQO]

First of all, I wouldn't think that Red Lake is in Southern Ontario.

Second of all, if you are flying with a pilot that gets lost, get yourself a new pilot. Advenuture is fun, but planes go down every year, and its no fun when you're on one.

The whole story kind of sounds like an April's fool joke. And they come highly recommended?

TQO

[chadk66]

well I think you kinda read a little too much into my post. I'm gonna assume that you have been lost at least once in your life. There's two ways to handle that, get concerned and start stressing out or handle the situation and keep it in perspective. That's what the pilot did. Afterward, I talked to several local people that have been up with very seasoned pilots under those circumstances and had the same thing happen. What does getting lost have to do with going down in a perfectly good airplane with plenty of fuel. Wasn't like we couldn't have called Red Lake flight service and gotten a directional steer or something. That is a last resort for pilots, they still have to keep their pride. And Howey Bay camps was not the operator of the charter airlines, they just contract with them. They provided the cabin and the lake. I think you need to lighten up a little bit. I am a pilot by the way and a Certified Airframe and Powerplant Technician and was in no way concerned about being temporarily lost. That stuff just happens.

[THUMPER]

Red Lake is in North West Ontario. Actually in the Northern section of NW Ontario. The Bush Pilots I know are keeners and all their equipment is in top operating condition. They usually have time on their hands when they are weathered in and spend time on their planes. A compass not working just right and having to use a map to get his bearings and leaving the GPS at home are enough reasons to never fly with this guy again. This is not meant as a bash but an observation. Even though most flight for these trips are short anything can happen.

[Mac]

Kind of reinforces the old saying doesn't it?

"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."

There is no fishing good enought to die for.

[chadk66]

I have been on quite a few fly-in trips and all the ones recently the planes all had gps units in them. When I got in this plane I noticed right away that there was a gps holder but no gps in it. I kinda thought man, I wouldn't consider going up in that soup without one but I guess he knows what he is doing. So when we landed, I asked him about the gps. He said that it went on the fritz and needed to be recaliberated or something and he kept forgetting to grab another of the companies out of the office. I said I bet you aren't gonna forget next time are you. He laughed and said I would doubt it. The other thing that kind of surprised me was that the local airport (land) has other navigational aids on it. VOR and DME. The plane wasn't equipped with either one of them either. I guess if I owned that charter service I don't think I'd be sending people out without at least a couple navigational instruments working. Compass's have their place but if you don't know where you are, it doesn't matter whether you have a compass or not. But still I have to believe if it got serious, we could still just have radio'd the flight service station and got a directional steer from their radar. But as a pilot I understand that you hate to do that for several reasons.

[cisco]

That 21-yr-old is still a kid. But, perhaps he has the disposition sought by the military in recruiting fighter pilots. Put simply, daring and more than a little crazy -- with almost no concern for life.

I've flown with some strange bush pilots. NO MORE. I'll drive in, or boat in to wilderness, but I've had it with show-boat bush pilots reeking with bravado -- on my money and with my life in their hands.

In Alaska, Maine, Ontario, and Quebec, the majority of bush pilots I've seen are very young. That tells me something.

[Jack]

Sounds like a great adventure and a great story to me. I believe you when you say were in no danger These are the kinds of things that make lasting memories. The tight-a$$e$ that would cry, complain and probably bring a lawsuit over something like this should keep living their lives vicariously through stories like these. If I get a chance, I'd like to go up with this guy. He sounds like a gas. You guys can go ahead and hammer me for ripping you, but this guy was telling a pretty cool story. This is the one that gets bigger with time and you re-tell it around the fire many, many times. Keep your A-type personalities in cyber-space.

[gofish-leech lake]

I agree with Jack. I think there are pepole on this board that just love to pick apart posts, It was a good story and so what if the location was a little off or he got more fly time. Some of you need to lighten up and go fishing.

Good story ChadK66
gofish-leech lake

[cisco]

Perhaps we should get the airlines to remove instruments and to retire their pilots at age 25, instead of age 60. Just think of all the adventure we'd have and the really great stories we could tell -- provided, of course, we survive.

I can live with being less "adventuresome," but I have taken my last bush pilot flight. If I can't drive or boat in, I don't need to go.

[ufda]

I don't understand the lost = dangerous comments. I probably wouldn't fly with this guy either, though I flew as a helicopter crew chief with army pilots that couldn't find their own __ with both hands. (The stories I could tell!!!) But being lost with a bush pilot in a plane with pontoons over country that is more water than land means you can land many places. If you couldn't survive for several days with fishing tackle and plenty of water until someone came to find you, you shouldn't be over that type of country with any pilot. So, again I think the pilot might have been dangerous, but I don't think the situation was.
IMNSHO
ufda