Sept Isles to Goose Bay
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25 June 2007



Pilot Section

General
 
It was clear before the day started that as a result of the stopover in Sept Isles, and a combination of flying times to Greenland, poor weather forecast today for the crossing, limited opening hours of airports in Greenland and time that is lost flying against the time zone changes, today was going to be a staging day, repositioning the two aircraft up to Goose Bay. The good news is that a weather window does appear to be opening for Tuesday 26th.
 
The question remains whether after Goose, we fly via Nuuk, the Capital of Greenland on the West Coast at Latitude 64o11’ North, or via Narsarsuaq further South at 61o10’ North. I am keen to visit Nuuk if possible because it seems a more interesting place to stopover than Narsarsuaq. However, Andre prefers the southern route with the possibility of flying on to Reykjavik on the same day. We agree to keep all options open for the moment with the principle deciding factors being the safest weather and route planning for the day. In the meantime we will reposition the aircraft to Goose Bay today and look at the detailed weather forecasts ready for whichever option looks best.
 
Consequently, there is no particular rush to get going early today. We had an odd kind of picnic breakfast of coffee and muffins in the tiny lobby of the Mingan Hotel, Sept Isles and caught a taxi back to the airport. I know there are at least two taxis in Sept Isles because it was not the same as the one which collected us last night – but Sept Isles has the feeling of being right on the edge of serious wilderness country, and is not brimming with life!!
 
The FBO at Sept Isles Airport was open this morning, and they efficiently handled refuelling while we filed our flight plans by phone with Quebec. Also at Sept Isles this morning were an owner and delivery pilot combination in a new glass cockpit Cessna 172 N1008U on their way to Europe. Unfortunately they had developed a technical problem and had been on the ground in Sept Isles for 2 days awaiting delivery of parts which they hoped would arrive later today.
 


By 1015 we were airborne and heading direct for Goose. Cruising at 11,000ft there was a layer of cloud below us which prevented us from seeing much of the barren wilderness country below. After only 1.5 hours we were descending into the cloud layer for an instrument approach to Goose Bay. We broke of the cloud at around 3,000ft and saw Goose below us for the first time. Ed started his “Tourist Commentary” on the local area and sights as we circled to land on Runway 34.
 
Goose is a huge airfield, having been a staging post for transatlantic crossings and a major NATO air base for many years. The military activity is now greatly reduced, but a Canadian Airforce F15 “pulled up” at the FBO to refuel just after us!! There are also a considerable quantity of well maintained barracks where a room can be rented for a reasonable price as we were to find out when informed the only 2 Hotels were completely full.
 
Having unloaded the aircraft and completed arrival formalities at the FBO, Ed led Andre and myself over to a large hangar which contained three beautifully restored vintage aircraft: A Royal Navy Gannet AEW aircraft, a US P51 Mustang and a US P38 Lightning.
 


Although it looked in excellent condition, apparently the Gannet has been at Goose for a year or more waiting resolution of some technical issues to make it airworthy for the Atlantic crossing. The Mustang (Miss Velma) and Lightning (Glacier Girl) however were part of a privately funded expedition (called Balero II) to take the restored aircraft to visit the “Legends of Flight” air show at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, UK. Coincidentally, the same airshow I am planning to visit with N238JG and some friends on Saturday 7th July!! It was very interesting to get a good look at the aircraft and Andre, Ed and myself spent much of the afternoon talking to the Balero II team.
 
Study of the weather forecasts still seemed to indicate a weather window could be available tomorrow, so we headed to the Serco Facilities Management office to pick up the keys to our barrack rooms, passing on the way a huge old RAF Vulcan Bomber parked beside the road – this place really is an unexpected haven for historic aircraft!
 
Coutesy of a Woodward Aviation minibus we then drove down into the small town of Goose Bay. A short walk of about 10 minutes was sufficient to see the whole town, following which we found a table at a small restaurant. The meal was first class – interspersed with a drum beating Eskimo procession coming through the restaurant!!
 
After that it was back to the barrack block and a nights sleep in anticipation of a long flying day tomorrow – subject of course to the all important weather!
 
Pilot Section
 
Here are the details of today’s flight for other pilots and people interested in the details:
 
Departure Airport:        Sept Isles (CYZV)
Departue & Handling: Trans-Sol Aviation is open from 0800 Local and closes very promptly (as we found out yesterday!) at 1700. When they are open, service is good. Now that we are out of the USA, as expected we are incurring more charges for routine services. At Goose, the following charges were incurred:
Miscellaneous Fees:    Landing Fee:   C$10.46
Handling Fee: C$75.00
Parking Fee:    C$21.99
Avgas Price:                C$1.67 / Litre (x 108 Litres)        
Detailed Route:            CYZV - Direct YYR – CYYR – ILS DME Appch 08, Circle to Land 34
En Route Altitude:        11,000ft
Flight Time:                 1 Hour 50 Minutes
Arrival Airport:             Goose Bay (CYYR)
Arrival & Handling:      Woodward Aviation
PO Box 300 Stn “C”, Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada A0P 1C0
Tel:       709-896-5036 / 9348
Fax:      709-896-2934
Accomodation:            Serco Facilities Management Inc.
                                    PO Box 1012, Station”C”, Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada A0P 1C0
                                    Tel:       709-896-6946 ext 6946
                                    Fax:      709-896-6929
                                    Cost:    C$75.24 / Room / Night



Kids Section

Did you Know : We are now far enough North that the sea off the coast at Goose Bay is still full of icebergs – even in late June!!
 
Fun Fact: The historic aircraft that we saw today called “Glacier Girl” crashed during the Second World War on a Glacier in Greenland. Recently an expedition was formed to locate it, dig it out of the Glacier and send it back to the USA to be restored to Flying Condition. Now the restoration is complete and the expedition team (called Balero 2) are going to fly the aircraft across the North Atlantic to show at a big Airshow in England. On the way they will fly over the site on the same Glacier where it crashed so many years ago! It is an amazing story!!
 
Quiz:  
Answer to yesterday’s Quiz: Air pressure is lower the higher Aircraft fly, and this meane that there is less Oxygen for the pilot to breathe. Over a height of about 12,000 feet pilots in unpressurised aircraft like N238JG must breathe oxygen to stop them suffering from lack of Oxygen and help them continue to fly the plane.
Today’s Quiz Question: Goose Bay is in a very remote part of Canada. Can you find it on your own map or atlas? What State of Canada is it in?
(Answers on the next Daily Diary!)