Unexpected stop in Quebec City and Fredericton
Trip Start
Sep 11, 2010
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114
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Trip End
Sep 11, 2011
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Monday, June 6, 2011
Adam exited the ‘plane with a big grin on his face and the subsequent photo’s showed this to full effect. All too soon though it was time for Kate and Sarah to leave the airport and get back to work and home respectively so we said our goodbyes to them and Adam and set to to refuel the EZ for the onwards flight. Although our destination for the day was Halifax, NS, it looked like the weather would not be so cooperative and a decision was made to go to Quebec City and review the situation from there.
We had lovely views of Ottawa’s twin town of Hull, in Quebec, after take-off as we turned to the north-east. It wasn’t too long before we came alongside the St Lawrence River and followed it on its path to the open ocean. As it widened and narrowed we enjoyed the views it afforded as we flew along cruising at 7,500ft above the ground. The weather was still good and as we approached Quebec City it looked like it would continue to be so ahead. We landed and parked up at the Avijet fbo to make our minds up on where to get to next.
Using the internet facilities in their pilot’s lounge we found that Fredericton, NB, was still having the good weather and would be a good bolt-hole as Halifax was still experiencing the low cloud ceiling that would stop us reaching there. Wishing to shorten the distance and flight time a ‘phone call was made to the Rochester, NY, FAA office to check whether, now that we had received our authority to fly into and through the USA, we could use the permission right now and route over the northern portion of Maine. Yes was their answer, so after filing our flight plan we topped up the fuel tanks and made our way to the runway. We were going to fly pretty much directly east to Fredericton and the clouds were still high enough for us to enjoy the views as we passed over the forested ground below. Entering USA airspace, we had difficulty contacting the Boston ATC but a relay from a scheduled airliner at least informed them that we were trying. Eventually getting two-way communication they didn’t seem too interested in us and we were left to freely fly our way towards the Canadian border again. Once there it was only a short distance to the Fredericton Airport and after landing we made our way to a parking place and arranged tie-downs although the wind was not expected to get up overnight. Exiting airside via the Moncton Flying College (training a large group of Chinese pilots for their airlines) - thanks Andrew - we telephoned for a taxi to take us to a local hotel. Once checked-in it was after 2000 (we had lost another hour), and had to dial up for an evening meal to be delivered to the room. It was delicious and hot and it did give us a chance to try and catch up with some blog-writing! A beautiful sunset could be seen out of the picture windows, set off by the contrails of the numerous transatlantic-bound aircraft.
Comments
Glad your first venture into US airspace went ok
Well done for getting the Americans to let you in!