Forestry Pads...

[Phil Croucher]

Hey cap, been there, done that on Baffin Island! A good reason for not running too low on minimums, and having your own self-imposed ones!

 

As to some wall-to-wall counselling with the Twotter pilot - GPSs can be wrong, too especially up North. If I were to distrust anything it would be the GPS and not the pilot! But then, that's my experience with computers talking......

 

 

Phil

[cap]

TS/Albert Ross ------The pilot in question was only an acquaintance before the mentioned occasion, but we became fast friends afterwards and remain so to this day. He bought the expensive whiskey that evening and for a week following. His company also put out an internal Safety Letter to all it's pilots concerning the mistake made and they were instructed to cross-reference on all future occasions. He made an honest mistake in one of the worst possible areas on earth and the results could have been much worse. It was a learning experience for us both and we both learned from it. We also do other related things differently to this day because of that event and I believe we both added to the length of our careers by doing so. Neither of us could be termed "green-horns" at this business either at the time or "green" at operating in that part of the world. Perhaps we should have both known better.......ME for not confirming first where the cache was......and HIM for not cross-referencing with another navigation source rather than relying on just ONE. He TRUSTED one item on his panel 100% and I TRUSTED that he was infallible on those co-ordinates. If he would have cross-referenced with a 4:1, an 8:1 or even an 'Astro shot' (which he used almost daily anyways for navigation), he would have caught his mistake. If I had confirmed the location FIRST, before beginning my work day, then I would not have gone past the PNR fuel-wise and could have returned safely to my original start point back at home base.

[twinstar_ca]

in which case i would say :up: to both of you, cap, for making it a learning experience for others too...

[cap]

TS ---- some years later, this very same pilot was the one who flew one Weldy Phipps and his wife to the North Pole and landed on the ice cap. Weldy was the owner of a once famous Arctic firm, Atlas Aviation, that was similar to Kenn Borek Air of today's world. When that flight was made, Weldy Phipps' wife became the first female ever to set foot at the North Pole......and he was picked for that flight because he was the best that the company had to offer. His navigation aides on that flight were Doplar Radar and Astro shots because GPS was something then that Captain Kirk used on the Enterprise and cell phones were something that you were allowed to use once to call your lawyer from the jailhouse.

[twinstar_ca]

ahhhh, yes... mr weldy... also, i believe, the man who 1st put oversized tires on his cub... whiskey whiskey pop...

[launchpad mcquack]

HV: I don't suppose the chief pilot you referred to in your "tail rotor in the bush story was [edited by moderator - please do not use initials - use PM's please]. Just wondering, I had never heard that "yarn" before.

Fonebone

[cap]

TS ----those "over-sized tires" that you speak of belonged to a DC-3, also are now known as "Tundra Tires" and if put on something like a Twin Otter, allows it to land in places that are unbeliveable unless one sees it do so.

[Skids Up]

WOW, did we ever fall a long ways off the back of the orginal pad...

 

Thanks for lots of good coments though and I hope we all think about it a bit the next time we do something to put ourselves or others at risk, or perhaps something that will "force" the new guy to try and keep up.

 

It's our butt in the seat, and I haven't seen an ops/manager bunch yet, that will stand up and say, "No, that is our policy, and we'll stand behind our crews," when the job turns a bit south or there is damage done, after we get sent out on the job that "just has to be done today!" :down:

 

Fly safe, most jobs can be done tomorrow, we can land somplace else, and nobody will congratulate you, for trimming a few pesky bushes with the main blades or tail rotor.

 

From what I heard, the summer went fairly well, with a few mishaps, so let's get through the winter in good shape, in preparation for next year... :bye:

[twinstar_ca]

Some First Air Milestones

1946 Russell (Russ) Bradley forms Bradley Air Services Ltd. in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada.

1954 Bradley Air Services begins charter and aerial survey work for the DEWline construction in the vast, untamed Northwest Territories.

1958 On contract for the Geological Survey of Canada, Russ & partner Weldy Phipps mount "tundra tires" on Piper Super Cubs, revolutionizing Arctic explorations capability in the process.

 

i copied that from 1st airs web page... i knew they had put them on twotters too... but i digress and back to forestry pads...