hippedity-hop...
Jul. 22nd, 2004 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jayToday's a multi-hop day... maybe as many as four flights, depending on whether I get a Twin Otter to Devon this evening vs. tomorrow. This morning I drove across the river into downtown Edmonton, looking for a map store that might have a GPS interface cable. Today began "Klondike Days", and I was caught in parade traffic. The map shop didn't have the cable, but a nearby computer store did. I drove -- fast -- down to the airport, afraid I'd miss my flight.
I left Edmonton on a Canadian North cargo-convertible 737... the front of the plane carries cargo pallets, as shown:
And saw two unidentified amphibians, flying for Buffalo Airways, as well as DC-3s:
I called home from Yellowknife after the first flight. There's cellphone service there... On the second, they served us "Coffee Franklin", an Irish-like coffee drink, when we crossed the Arctic Circle. In Cambridge Bay, they manually unloaded the 737 out on the dirt apron...
I went in the restroom and changed clothes (added long underwear and heavy shirt and socks). Then a Twin Otter flight to Resolute... I was with a group headed to eastern Ellesmere for kayaking, they had too much cargo for the usual smaller-but-faster Beech 100. The slower, louder, unpressurized Twin Otter took almost 3 hours to get there. 7 passengers, lots of stuff, cold inside the cabin, no restroom ;-). No security, just wave people out to the plane...
Arriving at Resolute... the ILS has been out for 2 years. It was fogged... 100-200 feet visibility. I didn't know if we'd get to land... the pilot found the harbor, then town... back west and crossed over the cemetary...then followed the dirt road at low altitude (100 feet) back towards the runway threshold.
Upon arriving... I was surprised again! There were 9 other HMP folks there at the terminal... while I walked in from the gravel apron, they paged me and began singing "Happy Birthday" over the PA system. ;-) I blushed and froze, like last weekend.
Our drill is here, as were my bags and the spacesuit. If we get planes and the weather improves, off to the crater tomorrow...
I left Edmonton on a Canadian North cargo-convertible 737... the front of the plane carries cargo pallets, as shown:
And saw two unidentified amphibians, flying for Buffalo Airways, as well as DC-3s:
I called home from Yellowknife after the first flight. There's cellphone service there... On the second, they served us "Coffee Franklin", an Irish-like coffee drink, when we crossed the Arctic Circle. In Cambridge Bay, they manually unloaded the 737 out on the dirt apron...
I went in the restroom and changed clothes (added long underwear and heavy shirt and socks). Then a Twin Otter flight to Resolute... I was with a group headed to eastern Ellesmere for kayaking, they had too much cargo for the usual smaller-but-faster Beech 100. The slower, louder, unpressurized Twin Otter took almost 3 hours to get there. 7 passengers, lots of stuff, cold inside the cabin, no restroom ;-). No security, just wave people out to the plane...
Arriving at Resolute... the ILS has been out for 2 years. It was fogged... 100-200 feet visibility. I didn't know if we'd get to land... the pilot found the harbor, then town... back west and crossed over the cemetary...then followed the dirt road at low altitude (100 feet) back towards the runway threshold.
Upon arriving... I was surprised again! There were 9 other HMP folks there at the terminal... while I walked in from the gravel apron, they paged me and began singing "Happy Birthday" over the PA system. ;-) I blushed and froze, like last weekend.
Our drill is here, as were my bags and the spacesuit. If we get planes and the weather improves, off to the crater tomorrow...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 06:35 am (UTC)Sounds like your day was a lot of fun, in its way.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 01:54 pm (UTC)Being the sentimental fool that I am, that's probably the best part of the story.
Though I admit that I'm envious of this kind of travel!
no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-23 03:05 pm (UTC)and so cool about everyone remembering your birthday. It sounds like your friends and colleagues are amazing people. (I still wish I could have been there last week for the party
the amused and ignorant
Date: 2004-07-23 04:15 pm (UTC)I saw the text about the amphibians before the photo, and I was wondering what sort of frogs or newts would live in such a cold climate, and was expecting to see photos of them on the wing of the plane or something.
I have *no* idea of what an ILS is. And of course I have little understanding of the difference between different aircraft, but at least those are google-able if I need to.
Anyway, you said you'd know by 9 am if you were headed to Devon today or not, and I'm guessing since there isn't a post from you saying otherwise, that you are, in fact, en route.
Re: the amused and ignorant
Date: 2004-07-23 04:25 pm (UTC)Re: the amused and ignorant
Date: 2004-07-23 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 12:20 am (UTC)