Thursday Nov 14, 2019
Leg 7 CYEV Inuvik - CBA4 Midway
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Add-ons used:
After landing, the C-130 crew guided me to the FBO, where I was given a gift paper-wrapped package of forms. An early Christmas present: A brand-old Cessna 172 with Tundra tires!
I thought to myself: ‘this is the part of the world where a C172 is still a utility vehicle, and not just an expensive hobby I should find a job.’ … and as I entered the cockpit, I promptly discovered that a job had found me already. There was a hard to read note that said something about bringing goats to Midway. At first I thought this was a joke: Midway is an atoll in the Pacific, and how should I transport one, let alone multiple goats in this tiny airplane? It was probably a language thing: ‘chèvre’ in French can mean both goat and goat cheese. The cabin certainly did smell of the creature. Or the cheese. The smell is the same too (at least to me).
Luckily, at the bottom of the note, it said how much weight of ‘goat’ the plane was loaded with, and a map with ‘Midway’ marked on it, with location and elevation: 1594 ft.
The plan was starting to form: fly to McPherson Airport, by flying a heading of ~190 magnetic, homing in on the ZFM (373 kHz) NDB at Fort McPherson Airport. Then it is simply a matter of IFR (I Follow Roads) into the foothills, and I should end up right at Midway.
Let’s see if the weather is sufficient for a visual landing at the destination.
There is no METAR station at CBA4, but the report at CZFM looks like there is a reasonable chance I will make it with ~600 feet between Midway and the clouds. Probably good enough. If not, I can always land at CZFM, and inspect the load to see if it will last for a few days without care.
I take off around 13:00 local time (at MTOW with 300 kg of ‘goat’ and about 3 hours worth of fuel), and climb above the clouds.
No icing so far:
After about 20 minutes, I descend so I am already below the clouds before I reach CZFM and the hills.
A few minutes later, I fly into the forecast light snow, and find the airfield in an opening between the trees. (it was easier to see than in the picture)
Following the road south-south-west, then the ferry across the river:
In the hills, it starts to get tight between the clouds and the ground.
But then I find Midway, literally in the middle of the road.
Due to the crosswind and the heavy load, I decide to make a landing straight into the wind, using the space that is available (and the tundra tires).
A man in a Toyota Land Cruiser approaches me after I land.
‘Merci pour le chèvre!’
– De rien, est-ce que vous pouvez me dire si c’est l’animal ou le fromage? (Animal or cheese?)
'Le fromage, bien sûr! Sinon, j’aurais écrit ‘LA chèvre’! (The cheese of course, otherwise I would have said LA goat)
Afterwards, we taxied the plane into a simple garage-hut-like cover, loaded the 300kg of goat cheese into his truck, and went off to his hut. Conversation in French was difficult for me, and I couldn’t understand why he needed the cheese, but at least I earned some money and have a place to stay. Maybe he will even give me another job.
Edit: added list of add-ons used and updated Event Map location to approximate new location