Staff House Accomodations

[PopnChipper]

Hey Everybody;

I was just wondering what staff houses are like this day in age. What sort of standards are seen as "the norm". I understand that there will be some differences across the 703, 704 and 705 operators.

How many people out there have internet provided? How many bathrooms per person? How many people total in the house? What about physical fitness facilities? Are you being placed in staff houses for rotational work, or for pairings, or medivacs?

Pictures are usually good for a laugh, and pm's would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

PnC

[North Shore]

Anyone got any pics of the 'old' Ministic staff house @ YIV?

[PopnChipper]

It's been awhile since I have been to YIV, is that the green house beside the terminal?

[The Old Fogducker]

Anyone with pictures of the staff house for the original Norcanair in Uranium City's Beaverlodge Lake?

In the style of a scene from the TV series "Mash," it was known as "The Pit." There was good reason for the name.

The best part about "The Pit" was the mouse infestation ....dozens and dozens ... if not hundreds of mice .... so many, they would come out in the daylight and scurry across the kitchen floor while you were eating the pilot's staple food .... Kraft Dinner with a peanut butter sandwich on 3 day old bread. If it was within a week of having been paid, you might still have some Mock Chicken left over that had a slight greenish yellow tinge around the edges.

We'd sit at the kitchen table after flying was done for the day, and drink beer ..... not that the practise is unusual in bush flying outfits .... but the fun part was shooting the mice in the kitchen with a pellet pistol after baiting them with cheese and peanut butter.

The shooter would retain the pistol and could shoot as many in a row as possible, as long as it was a clean kill and the rascally rodent didn't make it back to the hole. That made for lots of arguing when a mouse would barely crawl an inch inside the hole and then die ... it was a hard defeat to accept as you gave up the pistol to someone you knew was a lousy shot and was going to blow a great opportunity rather than you carrying on keeping the world safe from Communist insurgent rodents.

Some of man's best bits of entertainment .... drinking, and playing with guns. If there had only been lovely females involved, it would have been a perfect life for a summer.

There were maybe 6 to 8 pilots, one typical scuzzy 4 burner electric stove with a burned out element, a refrigerator where the never defrosted freezer was almost always stuffed to overflowing with something local that was still covered with fur and congealed blood, and the washroom was like an average 2 bedroom home .... so with 6 semi-domesticated pilots living there, it was gross. Wiping the rim of the pisser was considered to be only for namby-pamby southerners.

We never figured out who it was, but somebody used to get up in the middle of the night and pee into the toilet and not flush to mark his territory ... he must have been related to a skunk, because his pee was super powerful .... a wonderful greeting first thing in the morning. It used to reek of piss like a cheap Mexican bar's "restroom."

Going to sleep at night with the sound of mice scratching away in the walls was a fun thing too .... I always wondered if I was going to be awakened by a rodent gnawing away on my toes.

Of course, someone would always leave the door open, and the place would become one huge live trap for mosquitoes and other biting insects. Just before bed, it was a ritual to go through the place with a big can of Raid and heavily spray every nook and cranny, then sleep in that stuff ... you could still feel the micro-sized droplets raining down on your face as you climbed into your fart capturing sleeping bag to try and catch some rest.

Before long, somebody would come stumbling in during the night with his latest conquest from the bar of the Uranium City Hotel, and the symphony of sounds consisting of creaks, squeaky bedsprings, giggling, headboard slamming against the insulation free wall, heavy breathing, grunting that reminded one of pigs at feeding time, and moans were heard.

Then after some squeals and muted screams, the local cutie would need to be driven home, the sound of a mufflerless pickup grinding gears because the clutch was faulty could be heard for miles as it faded into the distance, and the pilot delivered his now dripping conquest to her residence.

The next day, he would deny any knowledge of who or what he had dragged in...... but .... some huge guy from the local mill would come around looking for him for a week to punch his lights out. We'd always make like he wasn't around.

The rooms were very narrow .... an already too small bedroom had been divided into 2, maybe even 3 subdivisions, and even a slim underfed pilot would have to turn sideways to slip between the mice infested wall and the single person cot. A bare bulb would swing from a non-UL approved extension cord, and would vary in wattage from a 25 watt refrigerator light to a 150 watter that would leave you with retina damage if you glanced at it.

The slaves that built the pyramids likely lived in better conditions. But hey .... I was finally flying "A big airplane" ... the mighty deHaviland Single Otter.

That's another series of stories in itself .... the only airplane in my career I absolutely hated working on.

The Old Fogducker

[tdp19]

I was based in Norway House MB (YNE) a little while back flying 2 weeks on 2 off, the accomodations were nice. There were 2 crew houses, 1 for the pilots and 1 for medics. When I say houses i mean trailers, that were surprisingly nice. 2 Bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen, living room with flat screen tv and satellite. Even though there was 1 bathroom, never really had a problem (except when the septic tank was full). The internet was the major drawback, when your up north from what i understand you either have dial up or satellite internet and our boss opted for the MUCH cheaper option. All in all, this crew house was nice as oppose to some that i have seen.

[hairdo]

Pretty decent. Essentially a basement apartment. Have wireless internet. 1 bathroom/two bedrooms, two people max at any given time (crew for the day). Physical fitness... go out for a walk/run/do pushups/etc... I'm more inclined to sleep, watch TV, or read. In for about 5-6ish hours between sched runs to and from home base.

-703

[Cranium]

[color=#0000FF]Anyone with pictures of the staff house for the original Norcanair in Uranium City's Beaverlodge Lake?[/color]

Checking...
Last time I was there (2004 or 5) the building was still standing anyway.

Stayed at the "new Norcanair's" staff house at the airport that time.

[The Old Fogducker]

I wonder if the mice have gnawed their way through the floor joists yet?

There is enough lead from the hundreds and hundreds of shots from the pellet pistol in that floor and baseboards, it has to cave in any day .... LOL.

[Beaver Driver]

Stayed at the "new Norcanair's" staff house at the airport that time.

I've used a pellet gun to shoot a few mice in that place too.

[CPLMike89]

Anyone here ever stay at the transwest crewhouse in YSF? if those walls could speak...

Mike W

[skywardbound]

Anyone here ever stay at the transwest crewhouse in YSF? if those walls could speak...

Mike W

They'd moan "Oh Zwart"

[Panama Jack]

Loved the story, The Old Fogducker!!!

Reminds me of the time we went after a huge rat in my ex-mother-in-law's house with a german shepard (he was male too), my ex-brother-in-law brandishing a garden shovel, and me with a 9mm handgun. The fun things you do in your 20's.

[The Old Fogducker]

Something like this excerpt from "Fawlty Towers?"

I really like "The Major" traipsing around with a double barrel 12 gauge ... too funny. Have a look at the Major dealing with "Vermin Fawlty, vermin!" starting at about 2:35 of this clip ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4VpN43hJoE

If we'd had a 12 gauge at "The Pit" I'm sure somebody would have touched off a few rounds into the floor ... that would have been funny.

The Old (call me dead eye) Fogducker

[Liftdump]

To Old Fogducker, your crew house tale was the best
posting of 2010.

[CGZMT]

Wow, surprise the Hilton, in YQK hasn't raised it's ugly head. Old, beat up trailer, sunk in the clay so the door was below the steps. Solution, just jack up the one side of the trailer and leave the back side alone. Thus, when pilots finally came home at night, the natural slope of the floor lead them right into the couch! There was the holes in the floor, the questionable stains on the couch, lazy boy, misc. food left over from who knows when. Now sitting in YGX, nice clean trailer, Sat TV, Cable, Phone Internet, not gonna lie, got it good up here. Only downside, its up here year round!

[albertdesalvo]

To Old Fogducker, your crew house tale was the best posting of 2010.

It was pretty foggin' funny, that's for sure. I bet if we could get TOFD on a roll, he could give Henri a run for his money.