Mother Nature continues to control the destinations of the Sunday morning flyouts. Following a successful and well attended trip to Powell River and return, the proposed Mother’s Day flight on May 8th to Victoria had to be cancelled because of poor weather across the Strait of Georgia, however, good old Chilliwack was available instead.
On May 15th, Chilliwack became the destination again because of weather but the following Sunday (May 22nd) Victoria was accessible with smooth conditions and light winds. A total of 3 aircraft and six people made the journey to the Spitfire Grill. Service there was extremely slow that day even in spite of not being that overly crowded, mais, “c’est la vie”.
It was interesting departing the parking area near the Spitfire Grill because Runway 27 was the active and departures from 03 (close by) couldn’t be accommodated, so it was long convoluted taxi from the parking area to the active.
The taxi clearance went something like this.
“Lima Charlie Romeo, taxi Charlie, cleared across Runway 03, to taxiway Bravo, then Alpha, cleared across Runway 32 to taxiway Sierra, Sierra to Echo, right turn Echo to taxiway Whiskey, holding short Runway 27 at Whiskey”. Yikes!
In my case I had four things going for me. On my Garmin 796 GPS, the taxi routing popped up on the “Safe Taxi” screen and was all laid out in front of me, Richard Bauch had the CFS opened to the airport diagram page and most importantly he pointed out that the two airplanes I was following were given the same clearance. ;~)
Attached to this article is an outline of the Victoria (CYYJ) Arrival/Departure Procedures for Runway 09 and 27. Review these, but remember to look in the current CFS for any changes before proceeding. If at any time one gets confused, does not understand or cannot comply with ATC’s request, be sure to advise ATC immediately.
It is also noteworthy to remember, as pointed out at the Wings & Wheels breakfast by COPA Director Joe Hessberger, that one should be on a flight plan when flying in the U. S. for any period of time because of the recent dictates of the F.A.A . and/or Border/Homeland Security.
Since transiting to Victoria requires overflying portions of the U. S. it might be worthwhile to take the time to file a flight plan. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be intercepted by a Blackhawk helicopter and/or go through the rigorous process of having to explain to U. S. Authorities what I was doing in their Airspace without a flight plan.
Guantanamo Cuba is not on my list of vacation destinations and waterboarding there shouldn’t be considered a beach or surfing event…..
Fly smart, fly safe.
– Bob Robertson