The weather in Ottawa was superb. It had only recently snowed, unusually the first of the year for this area (it is normally much colder – more evidence of global warming?).
I selected Rockcliffe flying club, based at Rockliffe which is about as close to central Ottawa as you can get. We went to the aviation museum which is on the other side of the airfield (which is excellent by the way) and I called in at the club to book a flight. We booked it for the next day, 29th December.
The day dawned clear and crisp, a balmy -5 C (it is usually much colder) with a moderately high pressure and a good covering of snow, so off we went.
I had booked a Cessna 172 as this is a Cessna school. This was only the second time I have flown a Cessna, but of course they are simple enough – I just don’t much like the throttle and mixture controls – I prefer the throttle ‘quadrant’ and low wing of the Piper series, but there you go!
They had just refuelled to the brim and we only just squeezed into the weight and balance limits with me (not small), my friend (a lot more not smaller) and an instructor (mercifully light). I had to go with an instructor as although I have both a JAA and an FAA license, I don’t have a Canadian one (and even if I did, they would sensibly have wanted a check flight).
I asked the instructor to do the radio work, while I flew the plane. I am fine on the radio and would probably have gotten by, but it is always the slight differences that throw you, and being so close to Ottawa controlled airspace (and of course the capital of Canada) I didn’t fancy creating air alerts through misunderstandings!
The runway was cleared of most of the slow by snowblowers, but there was enough about to make it all look white. The instructor advised me to use the soft-field technique because of this. So off we went on Rockcliffe runway 09. I was surprised at how quickly the aircraft accelerated and became light at MAUW and had to ‘hold it down’ in ground effect to gain speed as it really wanted to shoot skywards.
Up we went, a bit too slow, so I checked forward to gain speed. I am always surprised at how quickly C172’s climb and today was the same. Probably due to the flattering met conditions of low temperature and high’ish pressure.
We wanted to see my friend’s house from the air then back for a tour of central Ottawa. So we set course and followed the Outaouais river initially, then cut inland towards Casselman. It took about 20 minutes to find his house over flat, snow covered countryside. We were given a squawk by Ottawa control before take-off and used this, flying at the cleared altitude of 2000’ all the way. A quick orbit of the house, then back to Ottawa.
The countryside looked great in the snow, and with good visibility, this was easy flying indeed.
Unfortunately, due to some poor time calculations on my part, the instructor advised us that we had to go back to Rockcliffe and skip the tour of downtown as the plane was due out for another lesson at 13:30. A shame but not a problem as I am sure I will be back another time – maybe for a Canadian license?
Rockcliffe is an uncontrolled airfield and we joined downwind for 09. This involved flying over the north of the river and over Gatineau, which is in Quebec. Another aircraft was joining at mid-downwind as a 45 degree angle (common in North America). We thought he was well ahead of us, but he wasn’t. So we did a full orbit to allow for spacing until we saw that he was well onto base before continuing.
Did the downwind checks as normal and turned base.
I came onto final and was too high. I did think about a small sideslip, but didn’t think it was that bad, so pulled on the carb heat and dropped the power. I had the approach speed nicely pegged and was still a bit too high but it was starting to come off.
I missed the numbers, but it is a long runway and the exit was at the end. I noticed to airspeed dropping off so put a squirt of power on, then started to flare. I found this harder than normal as the usual visual clues were missing – the whole bloody thing looked white! I did flare and we touched. Not a great landing, but then not one measured on the richter scale either – my first landing in snow!
We taxied back and shut down at precisely 13:30, and yes, the next student was waiting – they run this place like clockwork!
The bill for dual rate wet hire (i.e. me flying with an instructor) was $CAN161 – about £GBP70! Bargain! I highly recommend Rockcliffe Flying Club and the airfield. They were a very friendly and helpful bunch and have reasonable rates (bargain by UK standards).
A really fun flight which could give me a real taste for flying in Canada!
