The Patrician, November & December 2022

NORTH OF SIXTY

FLYING IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

By Derek Melton, Sustaining Member

Ihad been working as a university ecology lecturer in South Africa for four years, which meant I was due for a six-month sabbatical to conduct a solid stint of field research. At the time, I had only carried out ecological studies in Africa, so where better to go for a change than the Arctic? My family was not too enthusiastic for such a dramatic shift, but I think it all worked out well in the end. I arranged to study feeding behavior of wood bison in the Mackenzie Bison

Sanctuary (MBS) of the Northwest Territories (NWT). I would be joining a research group led by Dr. Cormack Gates who was based in Fort Smith. I had about 600 hours flying time in C172s and a C210, mainly doing wildlife surveys. Although I had a South African license, I had kept my USA PPL valid with a recent medical in the States. Since the paperwork to fly in Canada with a USA license looked straightforward, I hoped there would be an opportunity to fly to assist with the bison studies.

Wood bison is the bison sub-species adapted to northern Canada and with males weighing over 1000kg it is the largest land animal in North America. By the end of the 19th century both wood and plains bison had disappeared from much of their historical ranges due to overhunting by European settlers. However, conservation efforts in the 6,200 km2MBS on the west side of Great Slave Lake had allowed a remnant population to grow to around 2000 animals by the 1990s.

Arriving in June meant most initial fieldwork involved travelling by ATV and on-foot to get to a research camp and then to observe bison. Co-workers helped me orientate to working in semi-flooded boreal forest and vast open wet sedge meadows near lakes. I also had never needed a ”head-net” or bug jacket in Africa, but certainly did that summer in the NWT, where black flies and mosquitoes were legendary! It was a relief for us and the bison when snow started in October and the bugs disappeared. The lakes also quickly froze over allowing easier travelling by ATV, skidoo and snow-shoes.

Some adult bison had been radio tagged to monitor possible dispersal from core areas. Plus some calves were being tagged in winter so that they could be found if they died and autopsies performed before scavengers arrived, to study the reasons for calf mortality. Each radio collar had a unique VHF transmission frequency. We used telemetry receivers and a hand-held Yagi antenna when travelling by ATV to help find bison groups, but reception was often poor in forested areas. My offer to fly three monthly aerial surveys to locate radio-collared animals was gladly accepted.

It was lucky that Northwestern Air Lease at Fort Smith (CYSM) had an instructor and also a C172 (C-GRLG) for rent. After handling paperwork and conducting a check-ride in August I undertook aerial telemetry surveys over the MBS in September, October and November, with a noted daytime temperature range of +22C to -25C. As in Africa, approved wing-strut mounts were available to attach two Yagi antennae, with cabling to a left-right switch box and receiver in the cockpit. Flights with two observers originated in Fort Smith and lasted 4.5 to 4.9 hours, before a rest and refueling stop in Hay River (CYHY) and return to CYSM. In September most tagged bison were relocated in forest habitat. Ground follow-up showed that they were mainly feeding on extensive beds of lichen. By November most animals were relocated in large open meadows where they dug craters in the snow and fed on sedges.

Summer flying presented few problems, apart from keeping an eye on fuel use. Winter however was a learning experience. Early winter was probably the worst period since if the C172 was left outside, snow on it might melt and then re-freeze. The only solution then was to find warm hangar space for some hours. If the plane was left out overnight at temperatures down to -20C or lower,then a padded engine blanket was used, preferably with a small electric heater running on the block, or which could be turned on a several hours before the plane was required. In extreme cold weather a Herman Nelson diesel powered external heater and flexible duct was available to blow warm air under the engine blanket. Daylight was in short supply in November, but at least that meant the bison cast long shadows on the snow which made observation from the air easier.

It was interesting to study animals in a completely different environment than I was used to. I was impressed by the wide open spaces in Canada’s Arctic and of course I had only touched the southern edge of “North of 60”. The result was that within a year I had returned to Canada and obtained a government wildlife management position based in Yellowknife.

Over the next six years I would fly about 120 hrs in the NWT, but for recreation only. Fixed-wing and helicopter charters would be used for my involvement with work wildlife research and management. For my personal C172 rentals I was able to use charter companies in Yellowknife, such as Air Tindi, plus also in Fort Smith again and even when visiting Inuvik(CYEV) above the Arctic Circle, which allowed flights to Aklavik (CYKD) and Tuktoyaktuk (CYUB). This shows that if current, it is possible to book a check-ride and rent a plane in the North, without needing to fly all the way there and back; perhaps as an economical add-on to a remote area canoe or fishing trip?

For work I flew as a passenger, usually right seat, on many charter flights in a range of aircraft on wheels, floats and skis all across what is now the NWT and Nunavut. These flights often demonstrated the challenges of flying in the North, especially those related to weather, and the knowledge and skill of the many bush pilots operating there. I’ll describe one such positive experience.

We had been studying calving by caribou of the Bathurst Herd in the Kitikmeot region southeast of Bathurst Inlet. It was “spring”, but we were stuck on the tundra for a number of days in our wall tent because of blizzards. Eventually a ski-equipped taildragger C180 landed on the frozen lake in front of our camp to pick us up, with a very experienced pilot who we knew. We were headed for Cambridge Bay (CYCB) on Victoria Island and bumped along under low cloud in snow. I was sitting right seat with a headset and listened to the exchange with the Community Radio (CARS) operator. Visibility was just OK in blowing snow but the wind was gusting 50 knots. Runway 31 was favoured but there was quite a crosswind component from the north. Our pilot calmly noted the information and continued in low-level towards this un-controlled 5000 ft gravel but snow covered airstrip. We had a very large crab angle on final until perhaps 200 ft altitude and 500 ft before the threshold, but were yawing from side to side in the gusts. I assumed we would do a go-around, but I was forgetting the skis.

Without making a radio call, we banked north directly into the wind and with power back up flew low over the small terminal building. Within seconds we landed in a white-out on a frozen lake next to the airport with virtually no ground “roll”. We passengers all did a “well that was interesting”, but our pilot had no time for chit-chat and had us moving fast. In this wind the plane could actually take off or flip over, so still dressed in our parkas three of us held onto the wings while our pilot explained on the radio where we were to a worried CARS operator. He then headed off and returned in minutes on a skidoo with a petrolpowered auger, stiff wire and ropes. Behind him through the blowing snow we could just see fuel drums being blown over and rolling at the edge of the airstrip. Holes were augured through the three foot of lake ice, then using the wire, ropes were threaded through and back up under the ice to tie the plane down. I had never seen that before, nor since.

I’ll end with one less than good experience, which stays with me and reminds me that when possible as private pilots it’s not a bad idea to fly right seat on single pilot commercial operations. At a minimum it’s usually more interesting for us, although it’s important not to be a nuisance or distract the PIC, and sometimes we can actually be useful.

It was winter and I had been in Lake Harbour (Kimmirut - CYLC) on the south west of Baffin Island as part of Peary caribou work. I would be travelling back to Iqaluit (CYFB) by myself on a charter flight of about 30 minutes. I arrived 10 minutes ahead of the late morning planned departure time just as dawn was showing. The 1900 ft gravel runway was snow covered but in good condition. Runway 15 would be favoured for take-off because of rising terrain to the north with departure over a sea inlet from Hudson Strait. It was cold but clear and with no wind I did not mind waiting, however was surprised that I only heard the plane arriving about 2 hours after the arranged time. The C206 landed well on runway 33 and did a quick taxi to where I was standing. What happened next though put me on my guard. The pilot walked very quickly to load my bag, all the while apologizing and complaining how another pilot had let him down, so he had to change his plans to take this flight and still arrived very late. He never liked leaving a customer waiting in the cold. I tried to calm things down by assuring him that I was in no hurry, but he was in a rush to depart and return to his other priorities in Iqaluit. Seeing he had just arrived, I forgave him not doing any pre-flight inspection and not using a checklist, as he scanned the panel carefully and his hands flew across knobs and switches in a much practiced way. The engine fired and we were taxiing the few feet from parking to the threshold of 15. Before he could push full throttle I tapped his right arm and put my hand on the fuel selector which was in the off rather than the somewhat similar but opposite both position. Quite shaken by his error, he switched off and left the plane to compose himself. The engine may have quit on the take-off roll, but it also may have made it to 200 ft over the sea. Our flight back went very well, with clear blue sky, a low sun and a fantastic white landscape. The very experienced pilot had never made such an error and was thankful another pilot had been sitting right seat with him that morning. We both agreed that flying requires ones head to be 100% concentrating on the job at hand and that checklists can be helpful.

Flying “North of 60”needs a bit more planning than in southern Canada, especially with airports being wellspaced. The AIM has useful information on procedures to follow in Canada’s Northern Domestic Airspace, which is essentially most of the NWT and Nunavut north of Yellowknife and east of the Mackenzie River Valley.

Weather extremes occur mainly in winter, although summer forest fires can cause heavy smoke and even strong winds and turbulence across large areas. Having said that, flying over vast wild landscapes with only the occasional other aircraft to communicate with while aloft is quite the experience. A bit like Africa...apart from the climate.

Derek Melton has flown in Botswana, South Africa, the USA and France, in addition to Canada. He has written about flying in other countries in previous editions of the Patrician.