As you may have been able to tell from the last few blog posts, I thoroughly enjoy aviation. Aviation almost brings an entire new perspective on the world for me, as everything is seen from above. As it worked out a couple of weeks ago, one of my dad’s closer clients gave me an incredibly unique experience that I am very thankful for. I had the opportunity to go on a flight across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mountains. Of course, being the aviation enthusiast that I am, was so excited to embark on this endeavor. Even now, I am still thinking about how much I enjoyed the trip, due to a unique factor; I flew the plane, at least most of the way, with the exclusion of the take-off and the very last part of final. I have to say, the hangar that the plane was stored in was a dream. Nice and dry, ground facilities, close to the main runway, (09/27), and on the north side of Victoria Int’l Airport, in close proximity to taxiway N. The aircraft that I flew was a Cessna 182Q Skylane, that had completely revamped navigation systems, which I was incredibly impressed with. What fascinated me about this particular aircraft was the plane that I flew was Stew Young’s old airplane, who happens to be a former mayor of Langford. Since the plane had special location systems that public radars could pick up, it was visible on Flightradar24, and I downloaded a copy of the flight path afterwards. The day for flying could not have been better, especially as we were listening to the Victoria ATIS systems that said, ‘sky clear’. This line of speech is always a good sign.
The pre-flight check was essentially a walk-around of the aircraft, with brief examination of the flaps, ailerons, and trim. The taxi out to runway 09 was interesting, as we had to let the engine warm before our takeoff to the east. After we waited for a WestJet 737-8 in the new Spirit of Canada livery, we started our run-up, along with a surprisingly short takeoff roll over Sidney. I took the controls over the Saanich Inlet as we climbed to 8,500ft. I cruised over Cowichan Lake, and the lower mountains. Once we were out of Vancouver’s (CYVR) airspace, I was able to perform a circle over the mountains, which was one of my favourite parts. I went about 20 degrees to the left on the heading bug, and I continued towards Port Renfrew, which looks totally different from 6,000ft. I started a very slow descent as I turned southbound towards Sooke, as I was following the coast down the west side of Vancouver Island. Along the mountains going south, there was some turbulence, but nothing to be concerned about, which was only about 12kt. I had it planned out so that I could fly straight over my house and the lagoon. As I entered back into Victoria’s airspace, I descended to 2,100ft to stay out of Vancouver’s airspace, which was any altitude above. As larger routes fly out of Vancouver near Victoria, their airspace is expanded to the US border for the departure of bigger jets. I was granted permission to do a few circles over Downtown Victoria, before starting the approach over Brentwood Bay. Approaching the same runway, I let the pilot take the controls at around 250ft, the last part on long final. As we exited the runway, I found it quite interesting that a call to ATC was required for a 100ft taxi along taxiway N. One of my favourite aviation experiences that I have ever experienced, and I look forward to more adventures soon.