sheephunter wrote:Just dawned on me that you might be on wheels? If so, I'd reconsider and get on floats. Where are you departing from in the US and why start in the US if your goal is Eureka? Not a problem, just curious.
I will be on wheels indeed. Different reasons for that: I've never flown a float plane, and the rental rates are much higher than an old (but well-maintained ) C172.
Why US: good question actually. Mainly because that's how the idea started, and I also want to build some extra hours. Never been to the US as well, so on my way back I'll do the tourist stuff.
About the mosquito's: I've been to Kiruna (as a passenger) in sweden during summer, so I already have a very small idea of what to expect - i hope hehe.
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What would be a mogas STC: how much would it cost and is it reversible (as in: removable without permanent airplane damage) ?
I would basically fly from Florida in a straight line to Eureka, probably via Churchill for fuel. So not extremely east. Would this make a big difference for the weather etc ?
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Last edited by digits_ on Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
As an AvCanada discussion grows longer:
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sheephunter wrote:Just dawned on me that you might be on wheels? If so, I'd reconsider and get on floats. Where are you departing from in the US and why start in the US if your goal is Eureka? Not a problem, just curious.
Personally, I would rather do it on wheels to maximize the range, considering there are many unpublished airstrips that can be used for emergency or WX.
RB
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sheephunter wrote:Just dawned on me that you might be on wheels? If so, I'd reconsider and get on floats. Where are you departing from in the US and why start in the US if your goal is Eureka? Not a problem, just curious.
Personally, I would rather do it on wheels to maximize the range, considering there are many unpublished airstrips that can be used for emergency or WX.
RB
Is there some sort of unofficial list/book with unpublished airstrips ?
I looked into AC-U-KWIK, but they don't find any of those small airfields. Even Eureka wasn't in it
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Many of the fishing/hunting camps have an airstrip but most of them are short and rough, basically made for a Twin Otter or anything with big wheels and STOL capabilities.
The local pilots you'll meet down the road will provide you with the best information about those unknown places.
Though I don't know much about Eureka, I can provide you with some leads about flying the Ungava and northern Quebec.
Someone else with the experience should eventually chime in and tell us about Eureka, and that's the beauty of this forum!
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Flying an aircraft and building a guitar are two things that are easy to do bad and difficult to do right
Please, please, please remember to bring your own pump and filters... one would think that the fuel suppliers would have some way of getting the fuel out of the drums, but they don't!
Make sure that you bring an iridium sat phone (not Globalstar) and that you have plenty of time to get stuck... you aren't likely to get where you are going when you want to go there in a 172.
Good to remember that there are basically no maintenance facilities between Rankin Inlet and Resolute-- folks in Rankin will be pretty helpful if they aren't too busy. If something goes wrong, even something small, north of Rankin Inlet you will have a heck of a time getting any snags fixed.
There is a guy in Arviat who has (used to have) a 172 and he flew all over the west coast of Hudson's Bay and as far north as Igloolik and Taloyoak. The guy in charge of all Nunavut airports owns a 180 on floats in Rankin and would be a good resource as well
I put together an off strip manual a few years ago. It listed all the off strips in the area's we were flying and gave info and pictures of the strips. This is a few years out dated, but the places are still there and should not have changed too much. It has allot of the exploration strips and sites in the book but only as far north as about Hall Beach. Might be of some help, I will dig it out of my old computer and send it to you if you want to PM me your email. There are quite a few places you could land a 172 in an emergency up there, however they are unimproved strips.
One of the best investments you can have is a decent bug jacket. The black flies will absolutely drive you crazy in a very short period of time. Bug spray does not really work they will still be flying into your mouth and nose whenever you are facing down wind. Also bring a small length of garden hose, it can be used in flight to suck all the little bastards out of your plane in flight. It's amazing how them little buggers can pile into an aircraft if you have a window or door open. I also would not fly up along the coast without a firearm for protection against the bears, most use a 12 gauge shotgun. Also a bottle of Whiskey is very helpful, very hard to find north of Chirchill.
thirdtimecharm wrote: that you have plenty of time to get stuck... you aren't likely to get where you are going when you want to go there in a 172.
Good to remember that there are basically no maintenance facilities between Rankin Inlet and Resolute-- folks in Rankin will be pretty helpful if they aren't too busy. If something goes wrong, even something small, north of Rankin Inlet you will have a heck of a time getting any snags fixed.
There is a guy in Arviat who has (used to have) a 172 and he flew all over the west coast of Hudson's Bay and as far north as Igloolik and Taloyoak. The guy in charge of all Nunavut airports owns a 180 on floats in Rankin and would be a good resource as well
Thanks for the usefull information! What's so different with a C172 in comparison with other single engine aircraft ? I thought being simple and quite strong (although slow), that the chances of something breaking would be smaller than when I would be flying something bigger and complex ?
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There aren't many single engine piston aircraft floating around there... I used to have a 185 in Iqaluit and I had similar TT to you and I used to measure my trips in days and weeks. Made the mistake of flying from Iqaluit to Ottawa in the fall and had to get a job in Kuujjuaq to pay for my hotel bill.
Not saying anything bad about the 172, but if there is even a minor repair required in Taloyoak (for example) you are going to have to fly in an Engineer, put him or her up in a hotel, wait for parts, etc. My current employer will give you a deal and only charge you $1941 return from Yellowknife to Taloyoak and I am sure that Dennis will give you a shared hotel room for about $300/night
Always wondered who this Rudderbug guy was? Now I can put the name to the person. How has your winter been? You going back up with Sammy? I second the pump and definitely the Iridium Sat. phone and might add the Spot and siphon hose (for vacuuming bugs and siphoning gas). Not fully debated in my mind whether I agree with Rudder with regard to wheels over floats for this mission. Not sure I would take the advantage of range over good planning and having an available airport under me most of the time, that's why I like my amphibs, but for sure there are going to be some long legs once you leave the mainland and north of Resolute. If it were to be on wheels it would most definitely be a tailwheel on big tires. I'd also compare routes on both east and west side of Hudson Bay. You might be able to get up one side and come back the other? Baffin Island has some great scenery. Check with the maintenance guys with regard to the Mogas STC.
And yes, not one bottle of whiskey. You'll want lots. A little for you while you are waiting out weather and the rest "for trade". It is amazing what cash or Visa can't buy but a small bottle of whiskey will.
sheephunter wrote:And yes, not one bottle of whiskey. You'll want lots. A little for you while you are waiting out weather and the rest "for trade". It is amazing what cash or Visa can't buy but a small bottle of whiskey will.
Excellent point Sheep; Digits should bring a good supply of Mickeys. They are worth more than gold in those dry communities.
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sheephunter wrote:And yes, not one bottle of whiskey. You'll want lots. A little for you while you are waiting out weather and the rest "for trade". It is amazing what cash or Visa can't buy but a small bottle of whiskey will.
Excellent point Sheep; Digits should bring a good supply of Mickeys. They are worth more than gold in those dry communities.
Then it all depends on the weight of those things: might be more economical to bring 600lbs of whiskey instead of 600lbs of fuel ?
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thirdtimecharm wrote:There aren't many single engine piston aircraft floating around there... I used to have a 185 in Iqaluit and I had similar TT to you and I used to measure my trips in days and weeks. Made the mistake of flying from Iqaluit to Ottawa in the fall and had to get a job in Kuujjuaq to pay for my hotel bill.
Not saying anything bad about the 172, but if there is even a minor repair required in Taloyoak (for example) you are going to have to fly in an Engineer, put him or her up in a hotel, wait for parts, etc. My current employer will give you a deal and only charge you $1941 return from Yellowknife to Taloyoak and I am sure that Dennis will give you a shared hotel room for about $300/night
I see, this is one thing I haven't thought about yet. Is there some kind of insurance company for these things ? Probably not, but no harm in asking , right
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Then it all depends on the weight of those things: might be more economical to bring 600lbs of whiskey instead of 600lbs of fuel ?
Absolutely!!!
600 lbs of whiskey will probably buy you about 3000lbs of fuel, just make sure if your stopping some places that they are not a "dry" community that will get you in lost of trouble if you seem to have a lot of booze.
Also read this viewtopic.php?f=54&t=66266
Sounds like in the end they took fuel out of drums and both engines ended up with too much water in the fuel and failed. Keep that in mind, just because fuel is in a drum up there does not mean its just avgas
The Mister Filter Funnel will stop water and sediment. I also measure and cut the downspout from the pump so that it sits 2" above the bottom of the drum where the sediment and water will be. Drums will almost always have water from condensation except for in the winter so it is important to be very cautious and check your sumps after every fueling or morning. I am sure you know this. Also, it is nice to have a hose long enough to pump from the ground into the plane. I like to have one long enough that I can place the drum in front of the prop. and do both sides without moving the drum until it is empty. Quick connects work nice to have the pump, the filter and then the hose. With quick connect you can roll the hose to store, have the filter seperated and then the pump. Make sure you get the plugs so that fuel doesn't leak. Are you solo or do you have a passenger? It is a pain by yourself to pump from the ground and through the Mister Filter up on the wing so the inline filter is nice. If not you will have to rig bungees to hold the fuel spout in the filter. It is nice with planes with a belly pod to keep this stuff down there.
fish4life wrote:
600 lbs of whiskey will probably buy you about 3000lbs of fuel, just make sure if your stopping some places that they are not a "dry" community that will get you in lost of trouble if you seem to have a lot of booze.
Are you serious about that ? (sometimes it's difficult to know the difference between jokes/sarcasm and serious replies on boards )
If so, is this legal ? I wouldn't want to be considered a smuggler or stuff like that. I don't know the canadians attitude towards booze and stuff
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I think as close to truth as it might be is more tongue-in-cheek than anything. You could cause a lot of choas flying around the north with a plane full of booze and eventually would end up loocked up in some out of the way jail cell. I am serious about having a small amount to offer an outfitter or someone at a camp that you stop and make use of their facilities, maybe a bed or the feuler coming out after hours. Usually, it goes something like, hey I really appreciate this... what do I owe? Ahh, don't worry about it. So, a bottle of wine or whiskey is nice to have as a gift of appreciation. I remember in the early '80 a small village running out of money (and I mean right down to every last nickel & dime) due to a plane making several visits and it wasn't long before he was in jail. Anyway, the RCMP would be unfriendly to this and they do have enough problems. Once you have a route in mind, I would be calling to check fuel availability as some places will order fuel in specifically for you or at least have an idea what they need to get in on the ship. If you are before the ship arrives and they are still working on the previous years supply there just might not be any available which you need to know. Again. the Mogas STC.
As Sheep is pointing out, yes you should carry something but be VERY discrete about it. Bootleggers are the MAIN problem for most of the so called dry communities as booze and drugs are their major issues.
Yes indeed, a little bottle for the right person can get you out of trouble when you need help...or put you in big trouble!
Community + Booze = Disaster.
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This mogas STC is a waste of time even talking about. The fella isn't using his own aircraft, he is renting from a Flight school. There is absolutely no chance that this will happen. He may own the aircraft however if it is stranded on an esker somewhere and he can not return it to the flight school on time, or ever.
Naaaah, he can't be thinking a flight school is going to let him do this trip with 200TT even if the insurance company would. It would be a great trip but I was guessing anyone even considering this would have to have enough financial stability to be flying over here in his private jet and purchasing a 172 to screw around in for a few hundred hours, but with further thought, if that's the case he'd be doing it in a C180 with a carburated 520 / amphibs / LR fuel and 35" bush wheels. Now we're talking a whole lotta fun.
I used to carry 22 jerries at a time for outpost fuel hauls. Carried them to extend range often, too. There's nothing special about flying them, but keep in mind that you want to stay low if you don't want to be sucking on fumes. A well-sealed can works great, but you don't want to push its capabilities. Also make sure you can vent the aircraft, you want to be able to open your window!
) C172.
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