Nakusp

downtown Nakusp

We live in New Denver; our nearest airport is Nakusp. 
http://archive.copanational.org/PlacesToFly/airport_view.php?pr_id=3&ap_id=727

It is a 40 minute drive through countryside - about the same time it took from our apartment in downtown Ottawa to our rentals at the Flying Club at MacDonald-Cartier Airport.  
The trick here is anticipating what the weather conditions will be in the next valley west.  Recent advances in highway and airport cams lessen the suspense, but Nature often has the last laugh. From November through March it is a guessing game.
Here is a case where there is a hole over Nakusp, but it looks grim southeast over Summit Lake and through to the Slocan Valley...

looking southeast across the airstrip and village of Nakusp

Air work

other work today: log booms and tugs

Every now and then, usually when the mountains are clogged with clouds and only the valley is flyable, Bill heads off to do some air exercises.  A private pilot must be able to demonstrate slow flight, steep turns, stalls, spins, and other manoeuvres that passengers would rather not suffer through.  Upchuck time, for me, so Bill has custody of both the camera and the control yoke on these flights! 

Here is a flight school that does an excellent job of describing air exercises, plus other aspects of becoming an airworthy pilot:
http://www.langleyflyingschool.com/Pages/Private%20Pilot%20Program.html#5 

Bill practises over nearby Halfway Creek (where he spotted the log booms), then heads into Revelstoke for fuel.

flying home: Nakusp ahead

at Revelstoke fuel pump

Flyday!

Regular readers can detect a pattern to our flying adventures. Living in a steep mountain valley, we have many days – weeks – when the plane sits in its hangar. Our local sightseeing and our long distance travel happen ad hoc, i.e. when the skies clear. Aren't we lucky that we are retired and can fit our excursions around the capriciousness of weather?

Sometimes we awake to this view out our west windows:

early November panorama, Slocan Lake and the Valhallas

Bill checks the airport cam in Nakusp, and if the skies are as clear there, it's a flyday. Here are some vistas from just such a serendipitous adventure. Early November is a transition period. The colourful leaves have fallen. Fire restrictions have ended, and slash burns dot the landscape. Early snow dusts the peaks; valley snow is on the way. 

slash fires on plateau east of Kelowna

Pinnacle Lake, west of Nakusp

Mt Burnham, west side Upper Arrow Lake

Revelstoke ahead

Castlegar - Cancelgar

Selkirk College, Castlegar, from AC Dash 8

rain on landing, Vancouver airport

Last week I flew Air Canada to Ottawa.  These photos were taken on the outbound leg.  Not a flying day in the Cessna!  Alas, 6 days later was not a flying day for Air Canada either.

Bad weather delayed my return by 24 hours.  With mountains at both ends of the runway and outdated navigation electronics in the commercial aircraft that fly this route, Castlegar frequently becomes Cancelgar between November and March.  When Castlegar is closed, it means a flight to Kelowna, then a 7 hour + bus ride or 4 hour drive home. What we need is some competition from WestJet.  Fingers are crossed that they will take on this route, with their new state-of-the-art regional jets.

Here is the YCG approach, shot in good weather.  The comments are interesting, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9gxtADTSAQ