Pix From a Swamper - Remembering Craig Chenell

[sky's the limit]

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Number one priority in the bush is keeping one's beer cold... and in the absence of a rope....

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[bmc]

Awsome looking plane enbt!

Thats the one based on the coast between Powell River and Sechelt right? Someday I'll have to go take a look, she looks like a beauty!

The only way you can see it from land is to drive to Garden Bay at Pender Harbour. Turn off the Powell-Sechelt highway and make your way to Garden Bay. Find your way to John Henry's, the local grocery store and marina. Once there, you'll see it parked right across fromyou. It's kept on a wide dock in a cradle on a set of tracks. The dolly moves the airplane from side to side and is sheltered by a small open hanger that the plane enters and exits on the dolly on tracks.

When he goes flying, he moves the plane out of the hangar with a handheld remote device that moves the powered dolly on tracks. There's a large boom with a hook. He swings the boom over the wing, hops in the front hole, and hooks it above the center section. He has a winch that lifst the plane up off the cradle. He has a foam dock that's about 10 feet long, three feet wide, three feet deep attached to the wide main dock. He lowers in it facing the water. Hops in, disconnects and starts up. A complete one man operation for an old guy. He retired years ago, having sold his tug boat business.

The owner's name is Bill Thompson. Everybody up there knows him. He has an old restored tug parked next to N3N. Every sunny evening in the summer, he'll go flying at sunset. The pattern to land is always the same. He turns final, dive bombs the bay and pulls up into a hammerhead, recovering and joining downwind. Once on final, he side slips it all the way in and stops it in very short order.

Our family has a place up there and we make it up to Pender every second year now since we don't live in Canada anymore. You can always be gauranteed of the airshow every night.

He has a second N3N with single float under restauration. He may still have a red 180 on floats. Used to have his son's C172 on floats and his daughters Beaver ultralight there as well. Have seen either of those two machines in about 10 years.

Now you know the poop.

[xsbank]

Hey STL, that thing's so small the pilot can't even fit all the way in! Did you lower the beer in the lake with it?

[bezerker]

Had the camera with me for once on a nice flight at 11 pm last night. A bit smokey out there, but still a few nice shots.

Lake at bottom of Lowell Glacier.






Lowell Glacier (largest non polar ice field in the world)



Kaskawulsh Glacier.


Mt. Logan in the distance.

[Geko]

Great shots!

Unbelievable looks like a far away world

[sky's the limit]

XS,

It may be small, but you don't see too many 12 seat sports cars do you??? LOL It's a hoot to fly, but it's nice to get back in the bigger machines too, bum tends to get mighty sore in the 500.... The beer was mighty good, and mighty cold...!

Berzerker, nice shots. Brings back a few memories....!


Here's a couple more from the MacKenzies.

stl

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[bmc]

STL...if you ever get bummed out about your career and your job, send me an email and I'll set you straight. I think you have the best job in the world.

I often said that I my fantasy job is flying a Beaver on the west coast provided I could pick my load and pick my weather. The accessibility you have with a chopper is beyond a fixed wing. It's a real motorcycle in the air.

Please keep posting your photos here. They remind me of a time when I lived in the north and far from cililization, and how much I miss it and need to get back to it. Your photos do that for me. I have shared all kinds of your pictures with my wife and kids.

Keep the blue side up.

[Rowdy]

Departing with a load of resort guests from Male



Hang out on the beach for an hour or two..



A couple stops here and there to drop off and pick up some fine folk.



And then shutdown for the night

[sky's the limit]

Please keep posting your photos here. They remind me of a time when I lived in the north and far from cililization, and how much I miss it and need to get back to it. Your photos do that for me. I have shared all kinds of your pictures with my wife and kids.

Keep the blue side up.

Thanks BMC,

I'm glad you and your family enjoy them. There are so many of us who get to see some astounding things that nobody else does, and this thread is a great testament to that. Here are a couple from this evening, moving a geologist's fly camp off a 6500ft saddle where they do nothing but collect rocks to make stuff weigh more...! I'd have given anything to have my camera a couple times today, particularly when I was toed-in to a creek bed just west of here and two very large bull moose walked right past the machine.... quite a site but my hands were full regardless...!

Anyway, I'll do my best to keep contributing the good stuff, I'll leave the bug shots out - there are no bugs in paradise after all....

stl

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[RightCoast]

Wow, I've bookmarked this thread a long time ago and always come back to enjoy the pics. As a frequent lurker I never registered as I always thought I had more to take away from the site rather than contribute. Obviously it's been a few weeks since I've been to this thread as I was shocked to see Craig in the title. I wasn't close with Craig(never even knew he took up flying) but we hung out in the same circles through school, some of which have now also taken up flying. It was a shock to hear he had passed and just wanted to say sorry for your loss.

That's a great pic of him, I am sure some of my friends will enjoy seeing it.

I also wanted to say that though I am not a pilot this is one of my favorite stops while online. I've passed it on to many friends, some pilots, some photogs, some neither. I always get great feedback and hope you all continue to share.

[sky's the limit]

RIght Coast,

Welcome, and I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed the various posts from around Canada and beyond on this thread, it's always fun to see what other people are up to. I never met Craig, but I could go out on a limb and say I think I've met many like him, it's always hard when we lose one.

One from today.

stl

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[Crobe]

Ok STL, over the last two years I have enjoyed your amazing photos, and shots of your machine in interesting positions......But that last one takes the cake by a country mile. One thing that has always left me wondering was, how are you the pilot and the photographer? Or do you hand off your camera and say "watch this"? Thanks again for the never ending stream of jaw dropping desktop backgrounds!

Bear

[bezerker]

STL, all I can say about that one is f*$#ing A!!!

It will take a while to think of one to beat that!

[Bushav8er]

Great shot! But now some hotshot will try to put a twin otter there.

[just curious]

Maybe not. But the gravel bar in the background....

[nortont]

Ok STL, over the last two years I have enjoyed your amazing photos, and shots of your machine in interesting positions......But that last one takes the cake by a country mile. One thing that has always left me wondering was, how are you the pilot and the photographer? Or do you hand off your camera and say "watch this"? Thanks again for the never ending stream of jaw dropping desktop backgrounds!

Bear

I was just wondering the same, It's got to be Cut and Paste.

[sky's the limit]

It's all about the timer folks....

Once in a while I get someone (a Geo, driller, firefighter, etc) to shoot for me once I've set the camera up, but generally it's nice to have a camera where you can set it up, leave it, and come back to see what you get.... lol

Glad you're all enjoying the shots, I get a kick out of seeing everyone's stuff too.

Leaving for home in three hours.... ahhhhhhhhh


stl

[Adam Oke]

Haven't been able to post in a while. Here's some new shots for the 09 season.


AT-401 Walter - Booms off at the end of a run.


AT-401 Walter - Beating up the runway


AT-401 Walter - Beating up the mix unit.

[FighterPilot]

A few more shots from Norseman Days and the last few days.

[Siddley Hawker]

Great pics FP, thanks. One of these years I gotta get there for the festival.

[sky's the limit]

Last one from NWT, be working in BC next month back on the bright yellow Astar... with any luck I'll get a few more worth putting up.

Anybody got anything from the Kelowna fires?

stl

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[HuD 91gt]

Here's a couple, not many shots of A/C lately, but some nice views.

[HuD 91gt]

[Bushav8er]

HERC! Yeah! Nice shot. Where was that?

[HuD 91gt]

I beleive it was Resolute Bay.