The route was from San Antonio , Texas to Toronto , Canada via Carbondale , Southern Illinois . Being my first solo flight in the US and in the new airplane, I was understandably anxious but excited to get underway. The flight went extremely well and it was great fun to be crossing the United States alone in this wonderful airplane.
Descent clearance from 9,000' into Carbondale was received a little later that I had hoped. It resulted in a busy descent to join the right downwind for runway 18R. I was actually so busy and preoccupied that I forgot that, unlike my M20J, the Ovation has speed brakes!!!!! No wonder the airport was closing in so fast…….. It was a good lesson and I've never forgotten those great little “brakes” since the Carbondale approach.
San Antonio - Texas , Carbondale - Illinois , to Toronto - Canada
Date
Departure Arpt.
Ident.
Arrival Arpt.
Ident.
Distance nm
Time ER.
Actual
Sep-26
San Antonio
SAT
Carbondale
MDH
675
3:45
Date
Departure Arpt.
Ident.
Arrival Arpt.
Ident.
Distance
Time ER.
Actual
Sep-26
Carbondale
MDH
Buttonville
CYKZ
577
3:15
The total distance, San Antonio to Toronto , was just over 1,200nm. Total flying time was 7 hours. It was fantastic to fly IFR “direct” using the Garmin/Jeppesen capabilities. Other than a few departure and arrival vectors we did not have to make a single heading change during the entire flight…….it is such a pleasure to fly in the North American system.
A quick trip to Sudbury , Ontario for a weekend of fishing. Just one hour fight from Toronto to the lower regions of Northern Ontario . The weather was typical, Eastern Canada , early fall….very changeable. Lovely, bright, blue skies one day and gray, overcast and raining on day two.
We left lots of Fish for the Next Group…..
The rainbow trout were not in a feeding mood!! Our catch was limited; as you can see in the picture below. The lakes around Manitoulin Island are numerous and the entire area is an outdoorsman's paradise. Thanks to Brian, Fran, brother Don and sister-in-law Sharon for a wonderful weekend.
October 13, 2006 - Toronto - St. Jean, Quebec - Halifax, Nova Scotia
We departed Toronto for a weekend in Halifax , Nova Scotia . Enroute we picked up my son Brad in St. Jean , Quebec . Brad is in the Canadian Air Force pilot training program. Part of the Canadian military officer's requirements includes French language training; that is his current assignment.
Toronto , St. Jean - Quebec to Halifax - Nova Scotia
Date
Departure Arpt.
Ident.
Arrival Arpt.
Ident.
Distance
Time ER.
Actual
Oct-13
Buttonville
CYKZ
St Jean & Halifax
CYJN/CYHZ
687
3:50
Halifax , St. Jean to Toronto , Buttonville Airport – head winds add one hour to the homeward trip
Date
Departure Arpt.
Ident.
Arrival Arpt.
Ident.
Distance
Time ER.
Actual
Oct-15
Halifax & St.Jean
CYHZ/CYJN
Buttonville
CYKZ
687
4:40
The flight both to and from Halifax was a big change of environment for me! Instead of flying the clear blue skies of Thailand we encountered low, overcast conditions with rain and light icing.
Outbound, ten minutes out of Buttonville, we began to notice ice forming on the leading edge of the wings and windshield. This was the first time I had ever seen icing as I have not flown much in the winter here and ice is certainly not too common in Thailand . No surprise as we were in the perfect, predictable environment for icing – flying in cloud at 9000' and -8C.
Fishing Village on the South Shore of Nova Scotia…..See more picture
I soon noticed the True Airspeed Indicator on the Garmin PFD drop to 110. What is that all about!!!!! Oh yes, pitot tubes ice up too…..a quick flick of the Pitot Tube heat switch and in a few seconds TAS was back to 180. A call to ATC requesting climb to 11,000' got us out of the clouds and ice into beautiful blue, fall skies all the way to Montreal .
ATC gave us direct routing on all segments (love it!!!). We had to request several altitude changes to get above the ice leaving and arriving into the Toronto area. This is busy Canadian air space but the controller's were, at every instance, very helpful, friendly and accommodating.
Lakes of Northern Ontario…..
