Feature Article: Circumnavigation of VI
MISSION:
The Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island
D
By John Bullock (with Camille Angus)
ual training and practice flights help us acquire and maintain skills. While vital, few of these will stand out as memorable flights. My first night solo is one flight that lives on in my mind; my PPL flight test is another. But there is nothing like going from A to B on a specific, personal mission to reach next-level memorable. For my partner Camille and I, that mission flight was last May.
WHY CIRCUMNAVIGATION? Our reasons included: • My partner has lived in, or has childhood connections to, many parts of the island, but has not been to them for decades • as a kid I was captivated by my dad's large map of the island — the place names sounded exotic, and I have always wanted to see as many as I could • driving the entire island isn't possible and touring it by boat is out of our reach • it was a travel adventure that was still possible during pandemic restrictions • planning the 1000km mission and executing it would teach me new skills • time building toward my commercial license Finally, we thought a whale sighting would be fantastic.
8
AUGUST 2021
The flight path
THE PLAN
I decided on a clockwise orbit. My partner would be photographing the shoreline and mountains, so it made sense for her to be on the land side. I am not instrument rated, so going clockwise from Victoria also meant we could transit the most remote stretches before the weather could degrade to instrument conditions. The next decision was the altitude. I chose 2500' on the way up and 3500' after rounding Cape Scott. This would maximize our views of the shoreline, and hopefully any whales, while still leaving some safety margin. Engine failures are not ideal at any altitude, and because we would be flying over water pretty much the entire route we wore lifejackets for the duration of the flight. I based refueling stops on the maxim: "you only have too much fuel when you are on fire". This conveniently ignores density altitude and weight limits, but it held for us since: we would be relatively low; we had little cargo; and temperatures were still mild in May. Given the long distance between FBOs, I chose to refuel at both Tofino (CYAZ) and at Port Hardy (CYZT).
THE FLIGHT
I spent the first two-thirds of the flight looking for emergency landing sites while my partner took pictures. It wasn't until after Cape Scott, with over 300 nm behind us and lots of fuel to VFC | Aviation Excellence Since 1946
