Weather ... again

I'm grounded by weather today in the Soo. Although the weather has been clearing at Soo all morning, there is a persistent low cloud bank at the northeast corner of Lake Superior that won't go away. Wawa and Terrace Bay are reporting marginal VFR conditions (ceiling at 1600 ft), and although it is predicted to get better later today, it may not be soon enough to do a flight to Thunder Bay or Dryden. And although Environment Canada says Wed. will be a great day, they aren't so optimistic about tomorrow (40-60% chance of rain with thunderstorms).

The first picture is my 2nd cousin and me at the airport in Quebec, when we canceled our flightseeing idea due to weather. The second picture is me arriving at the Soo with the airport in the distance (Lake Superior beyond) and the locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron in the middle. Sault Saint Marie is on the right, and Michigan on the left.

Rory asked whether I'd consider going south and coming back through the U.S. Unfortunately, I don't have charts for that area, and although I've done a flight into the U.S., I'm not as familar with getting as detailed weather information nor as current with differences in US airspace rules, so I'll be sticking to Canada this trip.

I saw a forest fire yesterday near Mattawa, just before North Bay. There were 2 water bombers working the fire and I watched them dipping into Ottawa River to load and then dump on the fire as I passed by about 15-20NM to the south. I could hear them on the radio talking to the fire base as well.

At Rockcliffe flying club yesterday, I talked to a pilot who had flown his plane to Newfoundland. I asked him how he managed it, because Pete and I originally had planned to try to get there. But we decided the over-water distance from Nova Scotia was too far, as we couldn't get high enough to be able to glide to land in case of emergency. He told me he just flew straight and level at 2500 feet over water for 67 NM, no problem! (which, BTW, is a gliding distance of ~3 NM at that altitude). I asked "Doesn't Rockcliffe club have a restriction about being able to glide to land?" and he said that's why he bought his own plane, so he didn't have to be bound by club rules.

Then I asked if he ever had any problems in flight. He proceeded to tell me a story about the time his alternator belt broke after leaving Fredericton. Rather than return to land, he decided to continue enroute to his destination, where he had a mechanic friend who could fix it for cheap. Only his friend is in Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton Island, 400km away. He did the recommended emergency procedures of turning off unneeded electrical equipment, but as he approached Moncton he asked for ATC permission to turn off his radios and transponder, and proceeded in radio silence and all lights off. It started getting dark as he approached Port Hawkesbury, but only when he had the airport in sight, he enabled his anti-collison beacon light and turned on the radio. He managed to land safely, but said the battery was so dead the next morning he didn't get a click from the starter as he tried to turn it over!

I wonder how much longer this guy will be a live pilot.

Ottawa River area northwest of Pembroke/Petawawa