Pre-Flight
The countdown is on. I've put in my notice at work, and C-GBFX is ready and waiting, aside from a few minor alterations I will devote myself to after leaving Fort McMurray, a prospect I look forward to with almost as much anticipation as the actual flight. Yes, I definitely can't wait to 'fly the coupe'.
In terms of planning, nothing is set in stone yet. All I know is that I have a long list of places I want to stop, punctuated by an even greater number of unknown destinations, and only about 4 months to do it in. Ok, I know what you're thinking, a 4 month vacation touring around Canada eh? must be nice! Well, I assure you that true to my miserly nature this venture relies on a very tight, shoe string budget, and has been paid for by a lot of blood, sweat and tears, (in addition to the last 1.5 years of savings). So I guess I figure I've earned it, but most of all it just simply can't be done in any less than 4 months. Not if you want to take in even a fraction of what this vast country has to offer!
No this is definitely not an attempt at breaking any sort of record for speed or longest range or anything of that nature. Remember, I've already flown C-GBFX all the way from Parry Sound, Ontario to Ponoka, Alberta in 2.5 days. Rather, this mission is the very opposite of what aviation legends like Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes strived for. My 90hp Aircoupe is one of the slowest airplanes in the sky, with only a meager 3.5hrs of endurance and 105mph cruising speed. The coupe is outside its comfort zone any time a pilot takes her more than an hour's flight from her home base! It's a Sunday flyer, a pleasure craft, a sunny weather toy, certainly not a cross-country machine. That is, unless your intent for flying across country is to take the paths less travelled, to make more frequent stops at less likely destinations just for the sake of it, to really slow down and take it all in. Then, it is the perfect machine for the job.
Let it also be noted that I have no lofty aspirations for fame or fortune by setting out on this quest. My goals are simple and trite, to climb into that cockpit every day and just fly. I just want to be up there, cruising along in my tiny little convertible without a care in the world, virtually without rules or limits or deadlines or expectations. That's when anything at all can happen. I want to stumble upon the jewels of the desert. I want to accidentally discover all the incredible secret destinations this amazing country is hiding. I can't wait to need the help of a total stranger in a town nobody knows the name of. One nautical mile at a time, I plan to cross this great country, hoping for nothing more than to make it to that next airport each day, and to each day better know myself, my country, and my God.
The countdown is on. I've put in my notice at work, and C-GBFX is ready and waiting, aside from a few minor alterations I will devote myself to after leaving Fort McMurray, a prospect I look forward to with almost as much anticipation as the actual flight. Yes, I definitely can't wait to 'fly the coupe'.
In terms of planning, nothing is set in stone yet. All I know is that I have a long list of places I want to stop, punctuated by an even greater number of unknown destinations, and only about 4 months to do it in. Ok, I know what you're thinking, a 4 month vacation touring around Canada eh? must be nice! Well, I assure you that true to my miserly nature this venture relies on a very tight, shoe string budget, and has been paid for by a lot of blood, sweat and tears, (in addition to the last 1.5 years of savings). So I guess I figure I've earned it, but most of all it just simply can't be done in any less than 4 months. Not if you want to take in even a fraction of what this vast country has to offer!
No this is definitely not an attempt at breaking any sort of record for speed or longest range or anything of that nature. Remember, I've already flown C-GBFX all the way from Parry Sound, Ontario to Ponoka, Alberta in 2.5 days. Rather, this mission is the very opposite of what aviation legends like Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes strived for. My 90hp Aircoupe is one of the slowest airplanes in the sky, with only a meager 3.5hrs of endurance and 105mph cruising speed. The coupe is outside its comfort zone any time a pilot takes her more than an hour's flight from her home base! It's a Sunday flyer, a pleasure craft, a sunny weather toy, certainly not a cross-country machine. That is, unless your intent for flying across country is to take the paths less travelled, to make more frequent stops at less likely destinations just for the sake of it, to really slow down and take it all in. Then, it is the perfect machine for the job.
Let it also be noted that I have no lofty aspirations for fame or fortune by setting out on this quest. My goals are simple and trite, to climb into that cockpit every day and just fly. I just want to be up there, cruising along in my tiny little convertible without a care in the world, virtually without rules or limits or deadlines or expectations. That's when anything at all can happen. I want to stumble upon the jewels of the desert. I want to accidentally discover all the incredible secret destinations this amazing country is hiding. I can't wait to need the help of a total stranger in a town nobody knows the name of. One nautical mile at a time, I plan to cross this great country, hoping for nothing more than to make it to that next airport each day, and to each day better know myself, my country, and my God.
posted by Ben at
6:41 PM
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