A perfect week

Over the holidays, the weather all across Canada was brutal. We were in a deep freeze for about 10 days, with temperatures between -25 and -30 C and wind chills that dropped us closer to -40 some days. Needless to say, I didn't get any flying in during that time. All of my plane reservations were canceled. So, when January arrived and the temperatures suddenly rose to around freezing, it felt like shorts weather again and I quickly made plans to fly!

On Wednesday, January 3, I took my brother up, after having canceled our flight on December 31. The day was glorious and perfect for flying - warm (around +3 C), sunny, and calm. We flew from Cooking Lake to Vegreville, a small town 39 nautical miles to the east. It's a route I know well so it was totally relaxing. My brother is a soon-to-be student pilot. He started his flight training about 30 years ago and wasn't able to finish. Now, he's just about to sign up to resume his lessons. He's a natural pilot and even though it's been a long time since he's flown a plane, he remembers quite a bit so he understands terminology and knows what's happening. We spent five minutes on the ground in Vegreville before taking off for home. The airspace was very busy so I was on the radio a lot and we constantly had our eyes peeled for other planes. It was such an enjoyable flight and such a pleasure to be able to take him up. 

The next day, Thursday, it was a joy for me to take my daughter, Chloe, to Camrose. Chloe is currently living and studying in New Zealand and came home for the holidays. I wasn't a pilot when she left Canada! Camrose is the closest destination to Cooking Lake that still counts as a cross-country trip (it's 26 NM) so it's perfect for a quick trip. Chloe did her undergraduate degree at the university in Camrose so it was a bit of a homecoming for her. The downwind leg for runway 32, which we used, goes right over the center of town, so she got a look at the campus and some of the places she used to spend time. My landing was the most beautiful one I've ever done - we didn't even feel the touchdown. Nice. We departed right away again. The day was warm and sunny and perfectly smooth and we couldn't believe how beautiful it was to be flying. Back at Cooking Lake, I had to overshoot because I was coming in too fast. Chloe thought the go-around was very cool and badass. Once we were back in the circuit, the active runway was changed, so we crossed over the field to join the downwind for the new runway and landed nicely that time. 

These two flights were the first I'd done in a long time where I was the only pilot on board. It was fun to take my family members up and I wasn't at all nervous. 

Yesterday, Friday, January 5, I flew with two of my friends from commercial ground school, Cam, whom I've flown with before, and Michelle, who is an experienced pilot but is waiting for her Canadian license to be processed so can't fly at the moment. She came with us as a passenger, while Cam and I each took a leg as PIC. We went to Killam-Sedgewick, a 62 NM trip to the southeast of Cooking Lake. That was a new destination for me and the 16th airport I've landed at. There was a trough of low pressure running the length of the province on the western side of it. From the air, slightly on the eastern side of Alberta, we could see the clouds than had formed along that line. For us, the sky was blue but strangely hazy. The flight was beautiful and smooth and, after I landed, we discovered a lovely little terminal at our destination. We hung out for a few minutes and then Cam flew us back into nightfall. 

Hazy sky and cool colours on the way to Killam-Sedgewick

It was a dreamy, perfect week of flying.