Coupla beautiful flights

In the last two weeks, my pilot friend, Doug, and I have been able to do a couple of really beautiful flights. On October 15, we flew northeast to Lac La Biche, a small northern town on the edge of a large, beautiful lake. The flight took us over Elk Island National Park and across some gorgeous, ever-changing terrain. As we traveled further north, the fields gave way to forest and muskeg until Lac La Biche finally came into view. It felt like we were arriving at a resort town, as Doug flew the downwind for the active runway over the water. The 89 NM flight was just over an hour so we stopped at the lovely little terminal to stretch.

Over Elk Island National Park

Snowy fields as we head north

Arriving at Lac La Biche

I flew the homeward leg. It was as beautiful as on the way out. As we neared our home base at Cooking Lake Airport, we started to wonder what the wind was doing. Doug looked it up on his iPad and told me that there was a bit of a crosswind. Crosswind landings are still tricky for me but Doug was encouraging and said that for sure I could handle it. I wrestled our little plane down, flying a very windy approach and then holding on to it as we touched down. It wasn't my most beautiful landing but I didn't wreck the plane. Haha. I was pretty proud of myself when Doug confessed that it was a 90 degree crosswind at 12 knots gusting 18! All in all, it was a great day, a beautiful flight, and a lot of fun. Every flight is a learning experience, too.

Yesterday, Doug and I flew again, this time to Rocky Mountain House. This small town lies in the lee of the Rockies, 88 NM southwest of Cooking Lake. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I flew the outbound leg. The winds aloft were 50 knots but it was still smooth. The approach into Rocky is lovely with the mountains as a backdrop. I flew a perfect circuit and did the greasiest of landings! It was a thing of beauty! Again, we rested for a few minutes in the terminal and then outside because it was so warm and calm. We marveled at how amazing it was to be able to fly and see the things we see.

In the circuit at Rocky Mountain House

We hopped back in, with Doug in command, for our sunset flight home. It was absolutely glorious. The sky was breathtaking. We approached the city at dusk and landed at Cooking Lake just as darkness fell. It was another transcendent and wonderful flight.

Heading home from Rocky, Gull Lake in the distance

Sunset over Pigeon Lake

Radials

Last week I did a flight with an instructor to practice crosswind landings. We did one circuit at Cooking Lake, only to discover that the fabulous crosswind had suddenly shifted to straight down the runway. So we decided to fly to Camrose, 26 NM away, where the runway is oriented 40 degrees more to the north, to catch that crosswind again.

On the way there, just to use the time wisely, I went under the hood to get some instrument time. Specifically, we practiced tuning into the Edmonton VOR and tracking the radial that intersects Camrose. VOR stands for Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range. The VOR emits radio signals outward in 360 degrees. An airplane can track any one of the radials and follow it to stay on course. VORs are dotted across the landscape so once one is too far away, another one can be picked up. After we did some circuits in Camrose, we headed home and spent some more time practicing the radio navigation. I understand in a textbook way how the VOR works but I find it confusing and tricky to actually track and use it. I understood it better after our lesson that day, though.

As we were finishing up the lesson and approaching our home airport, my instructor said that he loved hopping from VOR to VOR because, "Once you're on a radial, you can just follow it forever."  As it happens, I am currently reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau, in which he talks about the many ways there are to live life and how we too easily box ourselves in with convention and expectation. The day after my flying lesson on tracking VOR radials, I read his words: "This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre." The coincidence of reading those words after learning about finding and following a VOR radial was striking to me. Just as a pilot can choose any one of the 360 possible directions emanating from the VOR and fly that way for a long time, we have freedom in life to choose our own direction. Flying has shown me that freedom once again.