|
Phil and David’s Excellent Adventures: CYVR
By Captain Dav1d 1998-01-30
January 1998 brought another excuse to go west, to Vancouver, to attend the yearly COMDEX/PacRim computer show. Both Phil and I work in the computer industry, and when we travel together, we usually rent an airplane and do some touring. This trip was no exception. Let me give you "my version" of the trip...
The Westbound Journey
I flew west on a Canadian Airlines B737, and I took full advantage of the "I’m a pilot, so can I visit the flight deck?" routine. The crew was nice enough to let me visit during the mid-point of the journey, and I got to stay up there for about 2 hours.
The B737 is a rather old aircraft, with vacuum gauges just like in my Cherokee! There is only a single new piece of equipment that looked "electronic", and that was the new TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System). It’s a small round (4 inch diameter) screen, coupled with external radar that listens to other aircrafts’ transponder signals, and displays the results with indicators that include relative altitudes (eg. +2000ft, -1000ft).
When the captain asked what I did for a living, and I mentioned the word "computers" in my answer, he immediately launched into a million questions about Windows95, and the new computer that he just bought, and on and on. I spent about half an hour talking about computers, then gently turned the conversation around to flying. We spent the rest of the time talking about airplanes.
The Rental Aircraft
Later in the trip, Phil and I had arranged to rent an airplane at Boundary Bay airport. The choices were a Cessna 172M, or a Grumman Traveler. Phil and I decided on the C172, and arranged to be at the airport for 0800 local for our check rides. We were told we could keep the plane until 1300 local. (Incidentally, we were told that the Grumman is owned by an airline captain, who leases it back to the school so that the plane gets used when he’s unavailable to fly it. This Traveler was rented by our own Billy Lowe on a previous trip to Vancouver, which is why we chose this particular rental place of the 5 or so rental places on the field at Boundary Bay.)
We arrived at Boundary Bay (CZBB), very close to the appointed hour (slightly late due to ground traffic, but not too bad). The instructor was already there, waiting for us, with C172 questionnaires, and other routine paperwork. As we were talking, and filling out the answers, we found out the instructor has actually spent some time in Toronto, and was familiar with Buttonville. It’s a small world.
The check rides went very smoothly. I went first. He asked me to do three landings: the first one any way at all, the second with full flaps, and the third with no flaps. All of this was done in the circuit. I also handled all of the radio work. I tried to be very conscious of the aircraft registration ("Hotel November Victor"), but habit overcame me once and I replied with "Quebec Echo Romeo", but quickly corrected myself.
Phil’s checkride went just as smoothly. Better, in fact, since his radio work was perfect, and he never said "Tango Uniform Sierra".
Having successfully completed the checkrides, we asked the instructor where we could go for some good sightseeing. The sky was 2000 overcast, so our original goal of flying up to Whistler was shot. We thought next about flying over to Victoria, but the clouds in the channel were even lower. Eventually, we decided to follow the Fraser River inland, and go to Chilliwack for pies. (The restaurant at the Chilliwack airport is world-famous for their home-made pies.)
If you’ve read my previous Vancouver stories, or Phil’s, you’ll know that Phil and I have flown this territory before. Previous flights have included:
- Sightseeing around Mt Baker, in Washington state, at an elevation of over 11,000 feet
- A trip to Tofino, which is on the beach of the Pacific Ocean, on Vancouver Island
- Orbits of Vancouver Harbour and Stanley Park
- North over the ski mountains at 7500 feet, ... and more!
After much discussion, we decided that I would fly first, do the harbour, and go to Chilliwack. Phil would fly the return leg. We departed CZBB, and headed north for the harbour. We stayed below the cloud deck, which was conveniently also below the Vancouver TRSA. We checked in with them just before being handed off to the Harbourmaster. Because of the volume of air traffic in the harbour, there is a separate harbour control tower, situated on top of one of the buildings in downtown Vancouver.
While flying over the harbour, ... [Continued on Page 2]
|
.
