Hello to everybody,

It’s time for the journey. Just fixed my broken high beam and have read already 15 hours on this forum. Ill be heading from the GTA hopefully to somewhere in MB or SK but perhaps even as far as AB. If anyone wants to meet up on this route Id be more than glad to grab a beer or a meal. I'm aiming to leave next week sometime but the departure date is flexible (basically once I get everything I need ready/done). Ill be looking for a MIFR job, which is why I am looking more towards the prairie provinces (Only have basic 250TT MIFR and a degree). Im looking at companies like Transwest, Courtesy, West Wind, North Cariboo, etc and just want to get my foot wedged in that door somewhere. I haven't finalized my route yet as there are a few companies in NWO Id still want to stop by and chat their ears off. Will be working on which roads to take and whatnot in the following days..

Anyways, to save some fellow 200hr nothing-ers time searching, here are a list of some of the threads Ive read:


http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... p&start=25

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 25&t=76992

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... =road+trip


Thanks in advance for reading my average boring road trip thread.

PS Had a good chuckle out of someone’s "avoid hitting a moose" advice. Ill try my best.

If your headlight lenses are yellowed and pitted,
get some scratch remover (any brand - I use mothers)
from the auto wax section and spend a few minutes
with a rag and clean up the lenses.

Makes a tremendous difference at night.

Don't come up to the YT it dead.......for now

Yep.. Good headlights and a sleeping bag are things I had to use on my road trips. Things get real dark.. And I've had to sleep in my car for a few hours on several occasions.

Good luck on the journey, I had a great couple of road trips. From Onterrible all the way to the very west coast of Canada. Always came out with a job and a story.

Drive safe and enjoy the scenery.

Grab a small Jerry can for the trunk just for piece of mind.
I bought lots of canned stuff and a butane burner, that was my meals at night often.
Instant coffee, unfortunately, is good if you're a caffeine head like I am!
Mouthwash, face wipes, etc are handy. I also lived on about 20 bucks worth of trail mix from Dollarama.
LOTS of music. Reception is nasty in places.
Best of luck, PM me if you are interested in Transwest, I can lend some tips.

PS-
Are you 100% sure you want MIFR? At this stage it's pretty tough to pick, and everything seems to come together after a few years anyways. Since you're out anyways, go through Northern Ont- Red lake, Sioux Lookout etc. Some of the nicest damn people you'll ever meet up there if you don't act like a cocky GTA'er. One of the offers I received last year was from a guy whom I didn't even apply to, but my resume was given by his neighbor who I met- who stated that he never hires anyone he doesn't meet first. Handshakes go a long way.

Edit for late addition- To exemplify the depths of my nerdiness, I bought an Eliminator inverter/jump pack (also for emergencies) but used it mostly for my laptop and printer which was set up on the pass. seat, so I could fire off a personalized resume ad hoc. It's all in the details...

DanWEC wrote:Grab a small Jerry can for the trunk just for piece of mind.

Definitely. I drove across Canada a few years ago, albeit not for flying, and I needed to use my jerry can twice in one day on the Prairies. Towns were fewer and farther between than I expected, and I got much closer to empty than I would have liked. When I finally got to a town, the gas station was closed, first for a baby shower and then for a wedding, and I had to use my reserve to get to the next city. I guess in towns in which everyone's related, all the business shut down any time there's a special event.

Don't knock the SEVFR, it's a lot of fun. I've seem to have made a comfortable living doing it.

E

Yup making a stop at Canadian Tire today to grab some things. Jerry can and the headlight cleaner among other things. Ive lived on instant coffee for the last 4 months.. nescafe gold is actually really good, or at least after awhile it was. Im thinking of also getting one of those real intense laser pointers to point out the stars to myself and stay occupied at night. Or to blind a bear if it comes racing at me.

As to the type of flying question, the MIFR would be my goal but if something else fell into my lap I would obviously heavily consider it. A SEVFR job would be fine too, my buddy got picked up by a guy in one after a month long canoe trip.. says those pilots really have fun at their job. Ill be stopping at a few of the big places in Ontario too, my buddies cousin has a place in Sioux Lookout so thats definitely a stop.

Leafers77 wrote:but if something else fell into my lap I would obviously heavily consider it

I think you mis-wrote this part... I've taken the liberty to correct it for you

"but if something else fell into my lap I would be on it like white on rice, a fat man on a twinky, stink on shit and of course desperate 200hr wonders on that first job."

E

Don't knock the SEVFR

+1

Someone with 250TT could learn an awful lot,
driving a 206 (on wheels) around by themselves
for a season. A few hundred hours of PIC would
be really good for you.

You'd learn a lot more if the 206 was on floats,
but that's not going to happen.

Please do yourself this favour, try to enjoy it and take in every piece of scenery along the way. The people, the sights, sounds, smells (this town has a paper mill!); experience it, document it. The six-figure, comfy seated job, (if that's really what you want) will come eventually if you work hard along the way. Don't get too immersed in that destination that you've built up in your mind as "success".

There still remains a happy part in me that remembers when all of my possessions fit in the seats behind me and the destination was unknown.

VFR, IFR, MIFR, PIC, SIC, TURBINE, PIC TURBINE...many roads lead to Rome. Try to enjoy the journey.

esp803 wrote:Don't knock the SEVFR, it's a lot of fun. I've seem to have made a comfortable living doing it.

E

+1

For a guy straight out of college to get into a 185 or 206 (preferably on floats) is a lot of fun, and a lot of learning.. Definitely the best fun i have ever had.

Colonel Sanders wrote: You'd learn a lot more if the 206 was on floats,
but that's not going to happen.

It can, it's rare, but I know a few places that take brand new drivers and put them in 206's and 185's on floats right of the bat.

If you make it as far as YYC let me know! Would love to share a meal and some stories!

PR

DanWEC wrote: I bought an Eliminator inverter/jump pack (also for emergencies) but used it mostly for my laptop and printer which was set up on the pass. seat, so I could fire off a personalized resume ad hoc. It's all in the details...

Amazing!

esp803 wrote:

Colonel Sanders wrote: You'd learn a lot more if the 206 was on floats,
but that's not going to happen.

It can, it's rare, but I know a few places that take brand new drivers and put them in 206's and 185's on floats right of the bat.

thanks esp803 for the positive words, care to share what part of the country we floaters can try getting in ?

thanks again

Sandy Lake Seaplanes takes low timers.