Canada/Alaska

Canada and Alaska May/June 2016.

Ive visited Canada a couple of times now but just really centred myself around the Toronto area, but back in 2005 i visited the west coast of Canada while also hitting Alaska on an organised propliner trip, i knew then after having a taste of Alaska i would always want to go back, but doing what i wanted to do as appose to filling some tour groups pockets up and going to some places i didn't want to visit, so a treat to myself for my 50th back in Oct 2015 i decided to start and organise a 3 week trip back there with the intentions of starting in the Quebec area heading west, eventually ending for a week in Alaska chasing some of the classics that the two places have to offer the aircraft enthusiast.... The idea of Canada and Alaska is you don't need to go on tour groups as most places you can get airside without hassle, and as long as your sensible shouldn't have any bother around the perimeters of the airports...also very friendly people as well as ive found out on every visit ive had out there..

So.... with everything booked up and mails sent and things organised it was off to London Gatwick on the evening of Thursday 26th May... but before the overnight coach i wanted to visit my other passion which is held every Thursday night in the spring/summer months at South Bank Middlesbrough UK... "The Redcar Bears speedway team".. The Glasgow tigers were in town, 'and being a top team'.. didn't want to miss the meeting hence why the overnight coach was booked. So after a bit of a thumping from the Scotish premier league team it was straight onto the overnight coach with a connection onto the Easybus at London Victoria, and eventually getting to Gatwick with 4 hours to chill before boarding my Air Canada Rouge flight to Toronto.. My chariot was a smart looking Boeing 767-300 C-FMXC which took me across the pond as (AC1925) in a tad over 7 hours... very smooth flight with what can be described as a very impressive service considering its classed as a low cost outfit! I had roughly 2 hours in Toronto before my connection to Montreal onboard another 767-300, C-FCAG was the machine as (AC420), and again... a very smooth flight which was made more enjoyable by a hot 26 year old Californian Yoga instructor sitting next to me "shame it was only an hour flight" anyway on a bit of a downer after not getting her number i was then told my case wasn't on the flight and was on the next inbound flight from Toronto as it didn't make the connection???.. another 2 hours! "urghhhhhh" so decided to pick the hire car up and have a blast round the perimeter and after picking up my case, headed to the hotel..

Saturday 28th May

So after a short lie in it was back to Montreal Dorval International Airport for a couple of hours, but with the light being better in the morning for departures it was straight round to shoot some stuff departing until the departure of the Air Inuit classic Boeing 737-200 which left around mid morning..... of note amongst the local Air Canada/Express/Jazz, Air Creebec, Air Inuit etc were..

C-GNVC Canadair RJ200ER NAV Canada Flight Inspection, XA-AMK B737-800 Aeromexico, C-GMAI Boeing 737-200 Air Inuit and the biz..... N860AP Hawker 4000, C-GOXG BD100 Challenger 350 due to go for Net jets as CS-CHE, N565RV GULF 4/SP, C-FNJT LEARJET 45, N189TM BAe 125-800, C-FLGN c/n 9740/C-FNVR c/n 9765 Global Express both new and in primer, N239SR Learjet 40, C-FCSS BAe 125-700.

Well a nice start to the trip which seen me shoot a lot of commuter stuff ive not shot before, but the next stop 'Montreal St Hubert' has several commuter operators which i was hoping to work and with it being a weekend, 'hopefully most would be in'.... PASCAN with their fleet of ATRs/PC12s/Beech 100 King Airs and Jetstream 31's were the reason for the visit.... but also of interest were Strait Air with Pa31 Navajos, Max Aviation with Be90/100 King Airs, Cargair with Pa27 Aztecs and lastly Heli Inter with their fleet of AS350 Ecureuil's, Bell 407 and Bell 212, and not forgetting a couple of classics that are still sat around the Airport.. a Douglas DC3C C-FDTD and Beech 3T Expeditor CF-ZWY-X. St Hubert is a busy GA field with lots of twins and light aircraft around but apart from what's mentioned above the only other aircraft worth a mention was C-GXCG Ce560 Citation Ultra,

So after an hour or so at Montreal St Hubert a small airfield/waterdrome was next.. 'St Mathias Airport' this place is unique in that it has the main road running between the Airfield and the Waterdrome.. Not expecting to see much though.. i knew of a couple of inmates in the shape of a Beech 18 and a couple of DHC,2 Beavers which were suppose to be here, plus it was on the way to the next place i was planning to visit later so worth a pop in.. anyway Beech 3NM Expeditor C-FZNH 'looking like an ex parachute machine' didn't look as though it had moved for some time, along with C-FALD Ce207 Turboprop conversion, now named a (Gbair GBAIT-7 T) and a DHC,2 Beaver 'which was locked up in the hanger, were the ones that stood out amongst all the light aircraft, while of interest on the waterdrome side was DHC,2 Beaver C-FHJW amongst the Pipers and Cessna floatplanes etc...

Next place 'Trois Rivieres Airport' was nearly a two hour drive north and one of the main reasons for visiting the Quebec area.. If im honest this place was a bit of a gamble as i didn't get any replies to my mails.. but with two ex First Air HS748s C-GJVN/GTLD and a classic B737-200 C-GTVO being here for several years it was worth the gamble.. I did manage to gain ramp access to work these now rare aircraft along with a surprise in the shape of two Enter Air 737-800s, C-FTCX/FTCZ were supposedly heading to Tucson to become SP-ENO/SP-ENP respectively after being returned to the lessors after their winter lease to Air Transat.. they were both due to leave while i was their as i had spoke to the crew but it seemed they got delayed so i left with the ramp shots i had as time was getting on..

others of interest C-FPAQ Pa31 Panther and a trio of Ce337 Skymasters C-GILW/C-GTEL and C-GJOD...

Now heading back to Montreal, i had one classic aircraft to visit in a Fire Dept training ground on the outskirts of the City, but a bit of a gamble also, as hoping the place would be open with it being late afternoon on a Saturday as again had not organised anything here.. anyway, lucky enough it was still open as there was some concert on in the grounds, Result! "so the inmate".... Vickers Viscount 700 C-FTID-X (with fake registration N6225C) is a classic in that it was Pratt & Whitney's engine test bed many moons ago and still has evidence on the nose where they mounted the test engines etc.. (45°38'56.53"N//73°38'19.56"W)

So after this classic truly getting worked at every angle it was then off to Montréal's other Airport 'Mirabel' where i had a hotel booked near here for the night. Still having a couple of hours though of sunlight left 'and not wanting to waste it being a shooter' i had a blast round the perimeter and worked what i could.. some classics here.. Nolinor Aviation with their classic Convair CV580s C-GQHB/FAWV/FTAP/GRLQ and Boeing 737-200s C-GTUK were obviously why this place was on my itinerary, but with it being the weekend i couldn't arrange a tour, "maybe next time then" others of note were a couple of new Air Canada Boeing 777-300s, Antonov AN124s belonging to Volga and ADB, an Omni Boeing 777-200 N819AX and a Canadian A/F CC150 Polaris 15005, while in Cargo was N122UP A300 UPS, Cargojet Boeing 757 C-FKCJ and FedEx ATR72 C-FTAR, but unfortunately no sign of Pratt & Whitney's classic Boeing 747SP which is based here..

So.... with what was a great first day it was off to the hotel for a well earned pint off milk, tea and some shut eye!!

Sunday 29th May.

In no rush to get up.. i had a bit of a lie in as didn't need to be at a paint ball compound until 10am to see another HS748.. so had another quick look round Mirabel then headed off first to Gatineau Airfield, which as expected didn't have much in.. only an ex DHL Ce208 Caravan C-FDJN, which is now used by the local parachute club.. then across the other side of town to see the HS748 C-GGNZ (45°30'9.38"N//75°32'52.43"W) which belongs to the Tactik Paintball outfit, also in there was a couple of light aircraft inc a PA27 Aztec and a mock up Bombardier C-Series nose!!

This place was getting busy with paintball characters eager to let fly with their fingers on the trigger, so managed to get in and out without too much of a hold up!!! so with a quick exit.... next was the short drive to the British Columbia Aviation Museum at Rockcliffe Airport. Fantastic Museum with some tasty exhibits.. more so the transports/airliners etc 'which does it for me'... unfortunately though one hanger was out of bounds for a few months due to a star trek convention.. and had several aircraft that i was hoping to shoot in it, inc the ex Air Canada Vickers Viscount 700 CF-THG and Douglas DC9-30 CF-TLL, also a Jetstar and DHC,7 to name a few... on the plus side though, some others had been moved outside due to the space they needed in the hanger, but were under protective wraps so not the best for shots..... so another place on my to do list!! I wont list the exhibits but most of the Canadian Aviation industry types were on show.. (BCA Museum Aircraft) "well worth a visit if in the area"

With the disappointment of not shooting some classic stuff i then headed over to Ottawa Airport for a few hours and hung around until the early afternoon departure of the Canadian North Boeing 737-200. Noteables here in Cargo.. N653FE Airbus A300F of FedEx, Cargojet Boeing 767-300F and 727-200F C-GUAJ/C-FCJU respactivly, while dotted around the field were the following C-GDPP Casa 212 belonging to GGG Aviation with all sorts of probes/cables etc on it.. also looking very similar were the Geophysical Survey Aircraft fleet BN2 Islanders C-GSGR/GSGX and C-GSGW Ce208 Caravan, others of interest C-GCFK DHC,8-200 of NAV Canada Flight Inspection plus two all white ex First Air 737-200's C-GNDC & C-GCPT and a single B727-200 C-GYFA all possibly ex First Air and lastly the C-GSPW B737-200 Canadian North.

So after the Smokey/loud departure from the classic baby Boeing, and with not much else of interest due i then headed back to Montreal Dorval International Airport where after the 2 hour drive, spent the rest of the day shooting arrivals... and later a quick run around Bombardier to see if i could work any new biz etc before anyone feeling my collar!!!.... Noteables were the usual Air Canada/Express/Jazz/Air Transat/Air Inuit/Air Creebec and Canadian Commuter stuff plus Airbus A330's F-HZEN of Corsair, PH-AOA KLM/D-AIKE Lufthansa and A340 F-GLZN of Air France, TF-MOM Airbus A321 WOW, N501UP Ce560 Citation .. and round at Bombardier new biz etc were...C-FLGN BD700 Global Express, C-GZQP/FANH CL605 and C-GLOZ DHC,8-400

So as sun set approached i headed to the hotel and so come to an end the second day.....

Monday 30th May

Up very early today to drop the car off and check in for my early flight to Sault Ste Marie via Toronto City with Porter Airlines.. 'the reason being' their was no direct flight between the two airports and i was hoping to shoot the stored DHC,7s at Toronto City.. anyway after a smooth hour long flight on DHC,8-400 C-GLQL as (PD404) we landed to see all the DHC,7s were well awkward for shots with only one being shot amongst the several that are stored their inc ex Greenlandair, Arkia machines, all the others were all white with some painted out UN titles which included C-GVWD.... not much else in apart from the Porter and Air Canada Express DHC,8-400s coming and going, and a Ce208 Caravan Floatplane C-GCGA of Cameron Air and Piaggio P180 Avanti C-FNGA. Time quickly passed and i was soon climbing onboard C-GLQG DHC,8-400 as (PD683) for the 1hr and 20 min flight to Sault Ste Marie. After landing i picked up the car hire and headed 35 miles to Bar River Airport to see a couple of classic HS748's C-FGET and C-FKTL " which was once a regular at my local airport Teesside in the 80/90s as G-BEBA with Dan Air" (46°25'28.17"N//84° 5'25.52"W) which have been sitting here for several years now. So with these two truly being worked in the mid morning sun i then headed down to the hanger as i could see a couple of nice looking DHC,2 Beavers C-FOCT/FJFE out on the ramp, not much else of interest here other than one other immaculate DHC,2 Beaver C-GGXX in the hanger along with a Air Nunavut Be200 Super King Air C-FZNQ getting a new coat of paint..

Back on the road and now heading back towards the town of Sault Ste Marie where the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre and waterdrome is, real tasty museum with some nice aircraft on show (Mainly De Havilland Canada built Aircraft) (Bushplane Museum Aircraft) but also has a smart Beech 18/3T Expeditor CF-UWE on a pole outside, but more importantly inside was a first type for me a Saunders ST-27 C-GCML (A twin turboprop stretched DH114 Heron) one of only two now in the world apparently and i managed to shoot both on this trip..

After an hour or so working some of the stuff their i then headed out to the waterdrome across the other side of the hanger where several tins were on floats including another DHC,2 Beaver N378V. So after a bite to eat it was back to Sault Ste Marie Airport mid afternoon to catch up with what was there... not a busy place by any means with it being a small regional airport, but a pretty interesting place never the less, the main interest being a maintenance place for DHC/Canadair aircraft which inc....Alaska Airlines DHC,8-400, ex Rwanada Air Canadair RJ200 C-GSCZ, and ex SAS DHC,8-400 LN-RDP and two all white DHC,8-100's, C-FABT/GABF, all three at the bone yard and in the process of being broken up....

Others of interest were... C-GOGG/273 Canadair CL415, C-GOGS Be300 Super King Air (Both Province of Ontario), C-FEXO Ce208 Caravan of FedEx, C-GSKU Beech 1900C Skylink Express, C-GDBS PA31, C-FFSS MU2... and on the schedules.. C-GAFQ/FYWG SA227 Metro's Bearskin Airlines and C-FGRC DHC8-100 Air Canada Express stood out amongst the Porter and Air Canada Express machines... After a visit to the local FBO.. a couple of things were due to leave and arrive which weren't really of interest to me, so called it a day and headed back to the hotel early...

Tuesday 31st May

Back to the Airport early this morning to find only C-GGIQ PA31 Navajo of Transwest Air different from yesterdays visit, then it was off to Thunder Bay on a Bearskin Airlines SA227 Metro C-FYWG as (BLS371), a great hour long flight as i got sat rite behind the cockpit and watched the proceedings including a tasty approach/landing flying around some nasty looking clouds... After picking the hire car up it was a run round the perimeter and knocking on FBO/Hanger doors to see what was in the place.. The idea of a visit here was to hopefully see some HS748s of Wasaya Airways.. and i wasn't disappointed with two going in the box!! anyway of interest around the field.....

Wasaya Airways fleet..... HS748's C-FFFS & C-GBCY, which was WFU and in basic Bengal Air colours, having never been delivered to the Indian operator, Pilatus PC12's C-GGJV,FKPI Beech 1900D's C-GWOV,GSWA,GWOX,FQWA, DHC,8-300 C-GMWT.... FedEx Ce208 Caravan C-FEXE... First Air ATR,42 C-GULU... Thunder Airlines MU2's C-GYUA, FFFG, FFSS, GZNS, GGDC, GAMC, and Beech 90 King Air C-GNEX..... Nakina Air Services Pilatus PC12's C-GEOW,GNQZ, Westjet DHC,8-400s C-GENU,FWEZ.... Porter Airlines DHC,8-400s C-GLQL, GLQX.... Air Canada Express DHC,8-400 C-GKUK... Bearskin Airlines SA227 Metro's C-GJVO,GYRL,FYWG,GJVB,GJVW... North Star Air PC12's C-GKAY,C-GVKC.... Orange Pilatus PC12's C-GRXB,GRXO,.... Skycare SA226 Metro C-GKPX.... Air Bravo Pilatus PC12 C-FPCN.... SA227 Metro's C-GSOQ, C-GSNP, which both looked to be WFU and both in the basic colours of there ex Australian operators Pel-Air and Rex Regional Express, and lastly Biz and GA C-FVNC Learjet 31, C-GUSM Learjet 45, C-FTAB, GDGD, FXAB, C-FKSL Pilatus PC12's C-FMFR Beech 90 King Air, C-FCAR Pa31 Navajo, C-GTHK Bell 212 and C-GWNF AT-802 Air Tractor belonging to the local fire department

Another reason for this visit was the ex Air Canada Douglas DC9-32 CF-TLT which now sits on the local Aviation Centre of Excellence at Confederation Colleges ramp...

So after a most welcoming visit to the collage i then headed down to the Waterdrome the other side of town, where several float planes were, which inc DHC,2 Beaver C-FEYR. Then back to the main airport for some commuters to arrive/leave until dark and then back to the hotel for some grub.. and yeah "a pint of the white stuff".....

Wednesday 1st June..

So... the next day arrives and with it see's me jumping onboard a month old Air Canada Express DHC,8-400 C-GXJZ operating (AC5809) to Winnipeg at 05.30am!! Another very smooth flight which touched down in Winnipeg in just under an hour and a half to low cloud and heavy rain!! "urghhhhhh" not the best of conditions for photography never mind the 90 minute drive up to Gimli Airport with the wipers on full speed at times... and then to make things worse was the approach road to the airport being like a swamp.... but things soon perked up when i seen the classic Curtiss C-46 C-GIBX sat on the ramp! This has been here for a number of years now with another that left several years ago along with a C-47 Dakota, so really wasn't expecting to see much else here other than the single classic piston... but a nice surprise was the two Canadair CL415's C-GMFY(257) & C-GMFW(258) and Cessna 310 C-GMLN(192) belonging to the Province of Manitoba.. nothing else really apart from Prairie helicopters with Bell 206L Longrangers and Bell 407s, so didn't hang about..

After a drive around the ramp, and shooting the C-46 from inside the car i headed back south 50 minutes to Selkirk (another airfield come waterdrome).. again though the rain wasn't letting up so just drove around the ramp trying not to get stuck in the sodden grass/mud shooting the interesting inmates which were a pair of DHC,3 Otters.. one turbine and one piston C-FKOA, C-FODJ of Green Airways.... CF-BSB Noorduyn Norseman V... C-FSRE Beech 18/3N Expeditor on floats and lastly C-GMAM DHC,2 Beaver belonging to RSL Air.

again due to the weather i just shot what i needed and headed off hoping that the rain would ease by the time i got to St Andrews 'some 30 minutes south'.... Unfortunately though no luck with the weather.. so had to do the ramps with the camera/lens getting a weeeee bit of a wash! Noteables here.... C-FAMF, C-FRPX SA226 Merlins, C-GJHX,C-GQXX,C-GCJH,C-GGQU,C-GEOL Air Sandy Pa31 Navajo's, C-FAFT, C-FSPN Be200 Super King Air's, C-GCPB, C-GTLS Be90 King Air's, C-GFOL Be200 Super King Air Wings Over Kississing, C- GFQC Beech 99 ex Perimeter Airlines as Spares, C-GBRB BN2 Islander (also WFU), C-FLDC Ce208 Caravan Amphibian and Northway Aviation's fleet inc.. C-GNWD, C-GNWU, C-GNWV, C-GNWI Amphibian, Ce208 Caravans, and C-GNWX Pilatus PC12..

Then a short drive here across the road to a compound/storage area owned by the Western Canada Aviation Museum with various states of aircraft in it, but one such aircraft being a classic, and as mentioned earlier, only two in the world left and the second ST-27 of the trip to go in the box... unfortunately though C-FLOL is not complete (only the Fuselage) but is still in the aircrafts last operator of City Express.. (50° 3'17.81"N//97° 3'0.93"W)

Now heading back to Winnipeg Airport.. the rain was starting to ease so decided to do the Western Canada Aviation Museum (WCAM Aircraft) first and then do the ramps/FBO's,

Based Airlines...Calm Air's fleet inc C-GKKR, C-FMAK ATR,42's, C-FCJQ, C-GPSR ATR,72's, C-FAPU Dornier 328 JET... Perimeter Aviation's fleet was, C-GWPS, C-FPPW, C-FOFR DHC8-100's, C-GJYZ, C-GLKY DHC,8-300's C-GIQG, C-GIQF, C-GOAJ, C-FJLO, C-FTSK SA227 Metro's..... while others inc C-FRMV, C-FCGT, C-FSKO Beech 200 Super King Air's, C-GYFB Learjet 35 of Nunavut Lifeline, C-GTGA Be1900 Skylink Express, N474UP Boeing 757-200F UPS, N809FD Airbus A310 FedEx, C-FAMF SA26 Merlin, C-FMAX DHC,3 Turbo Otter, C-GMPF Pilatus PC12, N647MK Ce560XL Citation Excel, C-GPAC Ce550 Citation, C-GSKN Beech 1900C, 142805 DHC,8-200/CC142 Canadian Armed Forces, C-FOUR MU2 WFU, and not forgetting C-FTUV (256), C-GYJB (252) C-GUMW (251) Canadair CL215's of the Manitoba Government, plus the usual Canadian main operators.. and lastly on the civil side, the local Red River Aeronautical Collage for C-GPSV BAe Jetstream 31, C-FBWG Boeing 727-100F ex FedEx, N168GA SA227 Metro, C-GYPF, C-GTZK Pa31 Navajo's all on the ramp, with C-GBNE Ce500 Citation 1, Pa31 Navajo with C/N 31-186, N155S Beech 90 King Air and Bell UH-1 c/n 12595 amongst others were in there hanger.. and later round to the Canadian Air Force side of the airport for the museum where several fighters/trainers/helicopters were, with only one which was of interested to me.. which was CL600S/CC144 Challenger 144612

Then eventually heading to the landing runway seeing out what was a very dull/damp day....

Thursday 2nd June

Another day..... another early morning departure... I left a damp and dull Winnipeg onboard another Air Canada Express DHC,8-400 C-GGDU as (AC8293), and landed just over 80 minutes later to some real tasty weather in Saskatoon... "yipeeeeeee!" I had a day and a half here in the Saskatchewan area as their was a couple of places a wanted to visit which meant some long drives.. so managed to upgrade the hire car to a VW SUV...

First..... 'and the main reason behind this place getting visited' was a visit to the ramps where nearly two dozen classic Fokker Fk28 Fellowships have been stored for several years due to them being retired from Canadian Regional, and if im honest don't think they'll see any service again with some having many parts missing etc... C-FCRW, C-GNCR, C-FCRM, C-FQCR, C-FCRP, C-FCRI, C-FCRC, C-GYCR, C-FZCR, C-FOCE, C-FXTA, C-GTAH, C-FFCR, C-FPCR, C-FTAS, C-GTIZ, C-GKCR, C-GLCR, C-FTAV, C-FCRB and C-GTEO.. never seen so many Fokker Fk28s Fellowships since a visit to the Fokker factory back in 1982!!! also hiding with the fellowships was C-FTPA Fairchild F-27J, while the other Noteables of interest around the ramps etc.... Westwind Aviation's fleet C-GPRT Beech 1900C, C-GDCG, C-GGCA Beech 1900D, C-FCPD, C-GGPX Ce402, C-GWWV, C-FWWF, C-FWWQ Beech 200 Super King Air, C-GHGK, C-FCPD BAe Jetstream 31's (Both Stored), C-GWWD, C-GLDE ATR,42, C-FDGV DHC,6 Twin Otter, while Transwest Air fleet of Saab SF340's were C-GKCY, C-GTWK, C-GTJX, C-FJVW, others worth a mention were.. Cargojet Boeing 727-200F C-GCJZ, N889DW Learjet 60, C-FCQT DC3 Dakota for new Museum, C-GWWU Ce560 Citation Ultra, C-GLDX Ce208 Caravan and C-GJBB Pa31 Navajo both weather aircraft with long probes etc.. C-FSEW Beech 200 Super King Air, C-GSAE Beech 300 Super King Air (Lifeguard 1), C-GRHD Ce425, and lastly C-FDAA Raytheon 390 Premier.....

After a blast round the ramps and hangers.. it was then off for the long drive north.... first stop taking 2 hours to Prince Albert, which had a few Noteables..... C-FMFP (166) RC690 Commander, C-GSKQ (475) Convair Cv580 both belonging to the Government of Saskatchewan, C-FNVH, C-FZPJ Pa31 Navajo's of Transwest Air and Bell 205 C-GZGK (90/39) of Guardian Helicopters

then onto Le Ronge, another 2 and a half hours drive north.. worth the effort though with some classic Convair CV580's CL415's, Beech 58 Barons and RC690's of the Government of Saskatchewan, and all sat in the sun on the ramps.. C-FVJW Saab 340, C-FPGE DHC,6 Twin Otter, C-GFSG Be200 Super King Air, all of Transwest Air, C-FBPK Be1900D, C-GTGP Be200 Super King Air, C-GIGK, C-FVEG DHC,6 Twin Otter, C-GWEA ATR,42 all of Westwind Aviation, and Government of Saskatchewan's C-GVSK (473),C-GSKR (471) Convair CV580's, C-GSPG (144), C-GVSE (143) Be58 Baron's, C-FNAO (162), C-GOVT (167) RC690 Commander's, C-FAFN (216) C-FAFQ (219) C-FAFP (218) C-FAFO (217) Canadair CL415, and biz/GA N111FW Hawker 400XP, N772MC Falcon 2000, CF-PEM DHC,3 Otter and not forgetting C-GEHR S2 Tracker on a plinth...

well... it was time to head back southbound but a quick visit to the local floatplane base near Le Ronge seen Transwest Air DHC6 Twin Otter C-FSCA , DHC,3 Otter C-FHPE and a Ce185 C-GXZA go in the box.

While there i seen a Bell 212 land locally and was told their was a local helipad with three operators based, so just out of interest popped in while in the area.. "and so glad i did".. as a nice surprise was N6979R (708) Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane of Helicopter Transport Services, along with C-GSIT (27) C-GHTL (64) Bell 212's, C-FWGN (82) Bell 206 Jetranger C-GHAV (77) AS350 Ecureuil

so after a couple of surprises it was now time for the long drive back south to Saskatoon Airport.... I was hoping to get back for the departure of the Cargojet Boeing 727-200F due out at 8pm, but it wasn't their when i got back, so presume it left early??? so after a quick look around the perimeter which produced C-GYDQ Be200 Super King Air of Westwind Aviation, C-GPOT Falcon 900 and C-GPCO AW139 of Stars and not much due, i hit the hotel for some shut eye...... arghhhhhhhhhh

Friday 3rd June

Unfortunately Air Canada had rescheduled my flights today... which now meant i was now due to leave Saskatoon early evening rather than mid day, so with me having a long day yesterday and no need to get to the airport early.. 'i had a well deserved lie in'.... One place though i wanted to visit today was another HS748 (Budgie) C-FQVE, (52° 8'39.33"N//107°10'6.55"W).... It was transported 25 miles west by road to a guys back garden a couple of years ago.. and by all accounts 'a play thing' for the kids who are very interested in Aircraft!!

I then headed back to Saskatoon and sat for a few hours shooting arrivals and departures, eventually checking in for my flight to Yellowknife via Edmonton early evening.. of interest C-GSWZ, C-GWWK Be1900D, C-GPRL, C-GWWX Be1900C, C-GWWC, C-GWEA, C-GWWR ATR,42's all of Westwind Aviation, C-GSAV, C-GLLS Be200 Super King Air's, C-GTGA Be1900C Skylink Express, N335PQ RJ700 Delta Connect, plus the usual Westjet Boeing 737s DHC,8-400s, Air Canada, ER170, DHC,8-400, which made the afternoons movements more bearable..

So finally after a longer than wanted stay today at Saskatoon Airport, i boarded the first of the two Air Canada Express DHC,8-400's flights.. C-GGMZ was my ride as (AC8487) for the hour long flight to Edmonton, and after an hour in the terminal, boarded C-GGOY as (AC8225) for the 2 hour flight.. eventually arriving at Yellowknife at midnight, with the sun still up!!! "a photographers dream"

Saturday 4th June

Up early this morning with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.... and after leaving the hotel in down town Yellowknife, came across a couple of floatplanes close by which included C-FMXS DHC,2 Beaver of Amhic Air.. next heading to the Airport where a Bristol Freighter CF-TFX in Wardair colours, (which apparently was the first wheeled aircraft to land on the north pole back in 1967) still sits on display slightly hidden by shrubs etc.. and then moving on and finally on the horizon of the Airport...the site of the tails of Buffalo Airways classic aircraft on their ramp... "what a sight" I had a tour arranged with Buffalo at mid day so planned to go back later, but in the meantime, just did the usual knocking on doors/hangers, where i had no problems, and got airside on every occasion.. very friendly place, which is always appreciated by the shooters amongst us!

Started first with Summit Air and their fleet of Dornier 228's C-FPSH, C-FEQW, C-FEQX, C-GSAX.... ATR,72's C-FEUR, C-GOSA.... DHC,6 Twin Otter's C-FASQ, C-FTXQ.... DHC,8's C-FASC, C-GASB... PA31 Navajo C-FSWN and Bell 206's/407s C-FQHB, C-GTHZ, C-GTHU... next was Air Tindi/Discovery Air with their big fleet which included types such as DHC,6 Twin Otter's C-GNPS, C-FATM, C-FATW, C-GMAS.... DHC,7's, C-GCPY/C-GUAT (both basic Air Greenland colours) C-FWZV, C-GCEV, C-GFFL...Ce208 Caravan's C-FKAY(spares), C-FAFG ... Beech 200 Super King Air's C-GDPB, C-GTUC, C-FATA, C-FCGU, C-GATK, C-GNWT, then GSM Helicopters with their colourful fleet of AS350's Bell206 Longrangers and Bell 212s, and next on the ramp First Air with ATR,42s C-FITD, C-FIQU, C-FTIK, C-GKLB and classic Boeing 737-200s C-FNVT, and lastly Northwest Territories CL215's C-GBYU(290), C-GBPD(291)... moving then onto the FBO over the other side of the Airport where Adlair's fleet of C-FGYN DHC,2 Beaver, C-GBYN Be200 King Air, and C-GFYN DHC,6 Twin Otter went into the box, along with ACASTA Heliflight AS355 and Bell 206 Jetrangers fleet, next in a big tent/hanger i got some real tasty news from the engineers who working on a Nolinor Aviation Boeing 737-200F C-GNRD in there.... one of their Convair CV580's ' and one of the last Passenger Convair CV580's left flying' was due in at 6pm bringing in some delegates who were flying around Canada!! so with that in mind and plenty of time on my hands it was back round to Buffalo Airways for the mid day visit where i met up with the Ice Pilots themselves.. Mr Joe McBryan the CEO (aka "Buffalo Joe") and his son Mickey! most of the fleet was out but what was in was still tasty, which included... Be90 King Air's C-FCGE (102), C-FCGI.... Be100 King Air C-FMWM (100), CL214 C-GDKW (280),C-FAYD (283), C-GNCS (215), C-FAYN (282) Douglas C47/DC3 Dakota's C-FLFR, C-GWZS, CF-CUE, C-GWIR (WFU)... Douglas C54 C-FBAA(12) (WFU).... Lockheed L188 Electra's C-FBAQ (417), C-GXFC still in basic Atlantic colours ex G-LOFC, Curtiss C46 Commando C-GTPO (WFU), Be55/58 Baron C-FULX (4), C-GIWJ (7) and C-FMKB Basler BT67 Ken Borek Air on lease to Buffalo.

So.... after the Buffalo tour Joe told me just to hang around on the ramp next to the taxi way/runway.. shooting stuff coming and going until nothing else of interest was due... by which time i was due to head back round for the arrival of the Classic Convair as was told it was parking on the small ramp of the shell FBO and not at the terminal side, anyway while there, others of note including some schedules services were Canadian North with their classic Boeing 737-200/300 C-GDPA/C-GZCN respectively and Aklak Air Be250 Super King Air C-FKBI, DHC,2 Beaver C-FMPD, and lastly the based Canadian Armed Forces DHC,6 Twin Otters 13803/13805 which stood out amongst plenty of GA kicking about....

After the Convair CV580 C-FTAP had landed and passengers got off, i was then invited to have a look round this classic aircraft, and while the engineers did their checks, was then told by the captain it was the old girls 60th birthday having left the production line on 4/6/56 as a Convair CV440 for National Airlines! "Happy Birthday" So after throwing half a bottle of water over the nose in celebration of her 60th i then headed back to the hotel via the downtown floatplane base to see Summit Air DHC,6 Twin Otter C-FTFX arrive with a load of fishermen.. others their were C-FATO DHC,6 Twin Otter, C-GATY Ce208 Grand Caravan and Ce185 of Air Tindi/Discovery Air..

Sunday 5th June

The Convair was on a 10am departure time, so after breakfast i headed straight back to the FBO, where all the crew and engineers where waiting for the passengers to turn up... i was invited again to stay on the ramp and worked the classic in nice light departing with the usual trail of smoke out of the Allison turboprops as she left on the long journey back to Montreal....

With the Convair gone and nothing else due in at the FBO i then headed to Buffalo Airways ramp to catch up with the based Basler Turbo Dakota that arrived last night, and staying round their until one of Buffalo's Electra's was due out to do some training, but as the sun was getting round they switched runways.. so headed back round the FBO to work this classic doing several approaches in nice light... nothing much else of interest apart from the usual visitors and.... C-GCYN Be200 Super King of Adlair Aviation, C-FPWB Ce525 Citationjet, C-GRGO DHC,8-100 and C-GSPW Boeing 737-200 Canadian North, C-GMPX PC12, C-FERJ BAe RJ85 First Air/Summit Air, C-FNAZ BAe Jetstream 31 of Northwestern Air, and lastly Air North Boeing 737-500 C-GANH....

Soon though it was it was time to say good bye to my weekend in Yellowknife and Buffalo Airways as i was heading back south late evening. Still not finished with Buffalo's fleet yet though as i was hoping to see some more classics at Red Deer tomorrow (another base of the Airline), anyway i dropped the hire car off and checked in for my First Air flight to Edmonton onboard BAe RJ85 C-FERJ as (FAB956)... and after 90 minutes landed in Edmonton.. I then picked up the hire car and drove just over an hour south to Red Deer, getting into the Hotel just before 1am!! .....and sleeeeppppp...

Monday 6th June

A leisurely lie in and breakfast was followed by a short drive to Red Deer Airport for my 9.30am ramp/hanger tour of the Airport where several Electra's/C-47 Dakota's were sat in the morning sun.... I was told the procedures and left to wonder round the ramp and bone yard on my own working some classic aircraft which this place is renowned for.. some still here from my visit back in 2005, but most were new to me, which included....

RC690/1000 Commanders C-FAKP (56), C-GSUJ, C-GPBX, C-GYFG,... Lockheed L188 Electra's C-GZCF (490) ex the one time Channel express G-CEXS, C-GZYH with its ex faded HR-AMM reg still visible, C-FLXT ex NOAA with part of the scheme still showing, C-GNPB ex Honduras A/F 555 and quite visible under the faded paint, C-GOIZ in Zantop colours ex N343HA, C-GYVI (83), C-FIJV ex Atlantic of Coventry but never had its reg of G-LOFH applied, C-GHZI, C-GLBA Buffalo.... Douglas C-47s C-FDTB, C-FROD/12927, C-FBAE(C-FDTH), CF-YQG, C-FFAY, CF-JWP ex Gateway Aviation, plus one other with no form of ID on it, Douglas DC4 C-GBNV (56) Buffalo, Be55 Baron C-GYFM (6) Buffalo, Ce185 C-FUPT (141) Buffalo, AT-802 Air Tractor C-GLLG (872), Be90 King Airs N522JP, C-FNCN, Twin Navion C-GHRS, Convair VT-29 C-GTFC, Douglas A26 Invaders C-FKBM (20) C-FPGF (?), C-GHZM( ), C-GRNT BAe 146-200 ex North Cariboo, C-FJKM PA31 Navajo and lastly the fuselage remains of N509XJ BAe RJ85..

then onto Buffalo's facilities, which included.... C-GBFE Be100 King Air.. C-GZFE Lockheed L188 Electra (still in Atlantic Colours ex G-LOFE) C-GJKM Douglas C47, C-GBAU (3) Be58 Baron and C-FGWE Cessna 310..

Once on my way back to the Airspray hanger i bumped into the TAS Group from Manchester who were out in Canada and had a couple of shooters in their group who i knew... they were going in the opposite direction to me though as they were off to Yellowknife.. and i was heading westbound later today... but before the flight out of Edmonton i had the 80 minute drive further south to Calgary and then back up north to Edmonton, which included a couple of stops along the way...

Calgary first then after the drive south, which basically was just a drive around the perimeter/ramps shooting what i could from the fence line and go.... it is however a tasty place with always something of interest, but frustrating also with so many aircraft crammed in on the ramps, "a shooters nightmare" so a lot went begging if im honest, but what i did manage to work here were...... Boeing 737-700 C-GDEJ Enerjet, Boeing 737-400's C-FLHJ, C-FLEJ both Flair Air, DHC,6 Twin Otter's 9Q-CBO (WFU), C-GKBO, C-FKBX, C-GKBG Ken Borek Air, C-FAKB but still as PJ-WIJ ex Winair, C-GALU, ERJ170 C-GSCL Flair Jet, DHC,8-200 N841HA ex LAN Columbia, Gulf 1 C-FHBO ex Petro Canada (WFU), BAe Jetstream 31 C-FCCP, CL604 Challenger C-GLSW, CL605 Challenger, C-FJHS Hawker 800XP, Regional Jet 200 N830AS ex United Express, DHC,8-200 C-FOBU in basic Prime Aviation of Kazakhstan Colours, C-GRGI Canadian North, Be200 Super King Air C-FCGC North Cariboo, Be90 King Air C-GTMA, Bell 412 C-GUNW (still as XA-SYL Heliservicio) plus no id on any of the following, but were traced as Ken Borek Air EMB110 Bandierante C-FLKB, Be200 Super King Air C-FBCN and a MU2 outside the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology was C-FTML.

Time was getting on now so i hit the drive through and then hit the outside lane for the 2 hour drive north back to Edmonton via Wetaskiwin Airport and the Reynolds Alberta Transport Museum for the Bristol Freighter C-GYQS first though.. visited this museum in 2005 so didn't go in but they have some nice aircraft and cars/bikes etc, so really worth a visit, not much in the airport though, several twins in including an Aerostar C-FNKY which stood out from the crowd of tins etc .....and then onto Edmonton.. Noteables from a tour of the perimeter/ramps and then four hours shooting the departures were .... Boeing 737-200's C-GKCP, C-GNDU, and 737-300's C-FGCN, C-FKCN, C-GCNW all of Canadian North, Do328 C-FDYN and Be1900 C-FCMB both Central Mountain Air, BAe Jetstream 31 C-GGIA Integra Air, Be200 Super King Air C-GNAM and Be1900 C-GNAJ both Northern Air Charter, Boeing 757-200F N798FD FedEx, Regional Jet 900 C-GSUF Suncor Oils, Westwind C-FAPK, BAe RJ100 C-FSUA North Cariboo, Ce560XL Citation Excel C-FKHJ, Boeing 737-700 C-GDEJ of Enerjet and lastly an ex Canadian North 737-200, which seems to be some fire training aircraft, and possibly is C-GCNV?

After seeing the last rays of light out shooting departures at Edmonton i dropped the car off and checked in for my 56 minute flight to Kelowna on Westjet Boeing 737-700 C-FWCN as (WJA819).. It was dark on arrival at Kelowna so picked the car up and headed to the hotel.. for a very late check in.. again!!!

Tuesday 7th June

On arrival late lastnight i didn't see much on the ramp.. but this morning told a different story with Kelowna's ramp full, having several Convair's and Boeing 727s park on it!! one such Convair (a rare stretched 5800), was still sporting its New Zealand reg from the lease it had out their having just arrived the week before.. There's also a boneyard at Kelowna with a number of classics in it including Convair's, Boeing 727-100, Fairchild F-27 and even a Metro.... so this place 'which ive not visited before' was a place i was looking forward to, and so far didn't disappoint... anyway had the day here so plenty of time to get round, but it was very hot.. infact tooooo hot!!!! so you've guess it 'a few pints of the white stuff was downed after the tour of the ramps perimeter etc, which seen the following go in the box..... (Boneyard first) SA226 Merlin C-GDLK, Boeing 727-30C N231FL, Fairchild F27 C-GCRA, Various Convair types C-131's N157JR,N4753B, CL-66's C-GLWF(152), C-GPQY(157), C-GTVJ(159) and onto the active ramps... CL-66 C-GNDK(160) CV580's C-GKFU, C-GKFG both of Kelowna, C-GVWX RC700 Commander, SA227 Metro's C-GKLN, C-FJKK, C-GAMI of Carson Air, C-GUJV DHC,2 Beaver, ZK-KFS CV5800 Kelowna C-GMKF,GGKF 727-200F's Kelowna, Be1900's C-FJXO Skylink Express C-GIPC, GPCW both Pacific Coastal Airways, Boeing 737-500 C-GANJ Air North, Boeing 757 VQ-BTF, Boeing 737-300 C-GKFA Kelowna.. ex Air New Zealand and did the last ANZ 737 flight, Be350 Super King Air's G-GRXX,GRUU, PA23 Apache C-GKBS, Bell 212 C-GSHC of GSH helicopters, EMB505 Phenom 300 C-GJOL, Ce560XL Citation's C-FCXL,FBXL,FKHJ, Do328 C-FDYN of Central Mountain Air, Pa31 Navajo C-GZBO Orca Air, and the usual Canadian schedules of Westjet B737s and DHC8-400s of both Air Canada Express and Westjet kept things busy...

I had booked a flight with Pacific Coastal Airways later to Victoria at 18.15pm on one of their Saab SF340's.. but a Kelowna Convair was due out to Vancouver at 17.45pm .. so checked in and went through Security and was hoping to shoot the departure of the classic Convair from terminal window airside.. only to find their was no decent windows due to alterations once airside at the airport.... anyway my taxi C-GOIA 'looking immaculate' in the new Pacific Coastal colours had me over to Victoria as (8P1526) in just over an hour with some breathtaking views of the mountain ranges below! Once landed at Victoria and after picking up the car, i spent the last couple of hours of light shooting some of the stuff parked around the perimeter and over at Viking.. 'the Twin Otter people' with some nice new examples on the ramp.. which included... C-FAFI in Reignwood Air Colours, C-GVAT in Daily Air Colours and due to become B-55575, C-GVZQ, C-GLVA, both all white, and an old Twotter, XA-UOA DHC,6 Transportes Aéreos Terrestres which was in for rebuild after crashing Dec 2014, other GA etc... N810TM GULF4SP, N988T FALCON 900, C-FQNG Sikorsky S-61N VIH Helicopters, N750EC CE750 Citation 10, C-GCXF BN2 Islander of North star, C-FEGE DHC,2 Beaver, C-FKKR SA226TC Merlin on dump, 12412 Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King based with Canadian Armed Forces, along with the usual Westjet DHC,8-400s/Boeing 737-700's, Air Canada Express DHC,8-300/400s, Pacific Coastal SF340 Be1900s and Alaska DHC8-400s Schedules,

Once the light had gone it was off to the hotel for a bite to eat/drink and shut eye.....

Wednesday 8th June

I only had the morning at Victoria which I'd planned, which still gave me enough time to have a blast round the perimeter and get round to the British Columbia Aviation Museum to shoot the classic Vickers Viscount 700 and Turbo Beech 18 before checking in for my flight to Vancouver just before mid day... Not much change from lastnight other than.... C-GURI Kamov KA32..one of two their with VIH Helicopters, C-FPCV Be1900 Pacific Coastal Airways, C-FKFZ CV580 Kelowna, C-GVKI DHC6, C-FHGA Ce208 Caravan, C-FIOB Metro, C-GVTO DHC,3 Otter, C-FEXX Ce208 Caravan FedEx and fly over's of Harbour Air DHC,3 Turbine Otter's C-FIUZ,FITF,

So...back to the terminal just after 11am and checking in for what must be one of the shortest schedule services ive been on.. 'and also it being a first type flying on for me, which is why i booked this particular flight' anyway C-GCPZ Beech 1900C of Pacific Coastal Airways as (8P635) had me over to Vancouver in just under 20 minutes... The weather was changing though with heavy rain forecast for the rest of the day.. so after picking up the car it was off to Abbotsford 'an hours drive away' Unfourtunaly though the rain was getting heavier so wasn't too good for shots around the perimeter of this place, so really was a quick blast round and back off to Vancouver for the rest of the afternoon... but some nice stuff as always at Abbotsford all the same which included... C-GMDL, C-GIEA PA31 C-FASN BE100 ISLAND EXPRESS, AT802 Air Tractor's C-FXVF(78), FFGS(73), FDHE(91) all of CONAIR, Convair CV580's C-FJVD,VH-PAL(C-GYXS), L188 Electra's C-GYCG, G-FIZU both in Atlantic Airlines colours, 130611 C-130J Hercules, 130327/130308 C130H Hercules, C-FNUL/130303 C-130H Hercules all of the Canadian Armed Forces, C-GOSX Aerostar Conair, C-GKJW Ce208 Caravan Conair, C-GWKF Boeing 727-200F University of Fraser Valley, C-GVFT BAe RJ85 water bomber conversion by the looks of it and lastly a dozen or so stored Grumman S2 Trackers, which included C-????(68), C-GHDY(73), C-GEQC(504), C-????(506), C-????(575)...

Then later back to Vancouver for the rest of the day just in time for the weather to clear up, where i stayed near the floatplane base shooting departures from the airport and catching the Floatplanes arriving back...

C-FKTE,FNTA,GILK Be300 Super King Air's, C-GBPC,FPCX,FPCV Be1900's Pacific Coastal Airways, C-GSKG Be1900 of Skylark, C-FSUA RJ100 and C-FHNC DHC,8-300 both North Cariboo, C-GLIG BAe125-700, C-FIOA,FIOB SA227 Metro's Orca Airways, Falcon 7X's C-FMHL,B-8023, C-GCMY BE1900 Northern Thunderbird Air, C-GPCJ,GPCG,FPCU SF340 Pacific Coastal Air, C-GIXI CL601-3A Challenger, C-GANJ 737-500 Air North, C-FFFH PA31 Navajo, N818JW Gulfstream G200, N104RJ Learjet 60, N5123 Falcon 50, N57LL Ce500 Citation 1, N526GX BD700 Global 6000, C-GRIA RJ200, C-GHAS,FHAX DHC,3 Turbine Otters Harbour Air, C-FYRR,C-FGQF DHC,2 Beaver's, C-FLAC,C-GIGO, C-GSAS all Ce208 Caravan's of Seair along with DHC,2 Beaver's C-FPMA,FDHC,GPZP,GOBC,FPCG and C-FIFQ North Pacific Air, and Harbour Air C-FFHQ, Ce208 Caravans C-FFGA,GEGA,GURL, C- ?JXO Be1900, C-FZAA Sikorsky S-76 HELIJET, C-FWIK Be99 and C-GPAK PA31 Navajo both Orca Air, C-GVMI Be100 King Air, C-GSKG Be1900 Skylink, C-FWAC DHC,2 Beaver Habour Air, C-FJFL DHC,2 Beaver of Saltspring Air, N395TJ Westwind, C-GROJ Pa31 Navajo KDAir, C-GKFG/FKFZ/GKFF Convair CV580's Kelowna, C-FKCJ Boeing 757-200F Cargojet, C-FPIJ Boeing 767-300F Cargojet, N545FX BD100 Challenger 300... and while on the way to the hotel later, i came across a local collage under the flight path to Vancouver and found array of interesting aircraft inc Falcon 20 C-GWPB a couple of Westwind's and Westjet Boeing 737-200, unfortunately though i didn't get in...

Thursday 9th June

So after breakfast it was back to Vancouver Airport for a couple of hours shooting through the terminal window's before my flight upto Whitehorse Yukon....of interest amongst the hordes of Air Canada, Westjet and Pacific Coastal Airways were... a very colourful MD87 VP-CNI, Ce550 Citation C-GRFC, Be1900 C-FCMN Central Mountain Air, Boeing 767-300 C-FMWP Air Canada Rouge, Ce208 Caravan's C-FEXX,FEXF FedEx and C-FAFJ Skylink and lastly SA227 Metro C-FAFR, then it was off onboard C-FWSF Boeing 737-700 (WJA143) for the hour and 45minutes up to Whitehorse... and the biggest weather vain in the world apparently? 'the Douglas C-47 Dakota CF-CPY of the Yukon Transportation Museum which Whitehorse is renowned for'

I had hoped to fly out of Whitehorse today on the Air North HS748 to Dawson and then onward onboard an Air North Boeing 737-200 to Fairbanks Alaska.. 'which is where i was hoping to end the day and start the Alaska part of the trip' but the Dawson to Fairbanks sector only takes Cruise ship passengers, and as a result couldn't join the flight.. I could have though, as a last resort flew back on the HS748 to Whitehorse, but it meant me staying at Dawson for several hours to wait for the return flight, so in the end really gutted as didn't have the time to do this and have a few hours at Whitehorse.. but all said and done, got some nice action shots of the HS748 (budgie) landing and taxiing, 'which these days is a very rare accordance' Must admit always nice to hear the sound of the Rolls Royce Darts with their ear piercing sounds!! reminds me of the old days at my local airport (Teesside in the north east of the UK) with HS748's,Viscounts and Fokker Fk27s coming and going all day!! sadly now no more....... anyway Whitehorse isn't the busiest of airports but has quality as appose to quantity.. which seen the following go in the box......

Air North.. Boeing 737-200's C-FJLB,GNAU both Stored, 737-400 C-FANB, HS748's C-FCSE,GANA(New Colours),FYDY,FYDU, ATR,42 C-FVGF (New Colours) and C-FDJH DHC,2 Turbo Beaver, Tintina Air Ce208 Caravan C-FSKS, PA31 Navajo C-GEUA, DHC,2 Beaver C-FFKL, Airspray C-FDTH (498) L-188 Electra, C-FIIL RC690 Commander, Conair RC690 Commander C-GBQD, AT-802 Air Tractors C-GXOD (75) GSYF (76) GSYK (77), Alkan Air fleet Ce208 Caravan C-FAKZ,FAKV, C-GMOK,FLPC,GTEM,FAKN Be200 Super King Air, C-GSDT PA31 Navajo, C-GAKI Do228-200, and others N3835Z BN2 Islander, DHC,3 Turbine Otter C-FDDX, Pilatus PC12 C-FMPB, and lastly RJ700 C-FBJZ Air Canada Express

and a pop over to the Waterdrome which resulted in the following being worked...... CF-JRO DHC,2 Beaver Ranger Air Charter, and Alpine Aviations fleet of two DHC,2 Beaver's C-GXZV,CF-FHZ and Ce206's C-FGSI/C-GROD/GLFW, and a Tintina Air DHC,2 Beaver C-FDUW, while also sat in a nearby heli base was Trans North Bell 206 Jetranger and C-FCHU AS355 C-GTNI,

Friday 10th June

Today was going to be a bit of a chilled out day with not much shooting.. 'well not the first four hours anyway' as i was up early and on a coach heading to Skagway from Whitehorse, which seen me pass through some valleys and mountain ranges with fantastic views before crossing the boarders into Alaska.. I had booked the Coach/Flights as a back up in case yesterday didn't happen as it was a gamble just to try and get on the Air North flight from Dawson to Fairbanks.. anyway once into Skagway i got dropped off at the small airport and joined another first type aircraft flight for me.. N208TW, a Cessna 208 Caravan of Alaska Floatplanes, which got me over to Juneau Airport in just under an hour.. again a great flight with some breathtaking views of the Alaskan scenery etc...

Once in at Juneau i managed to get on an earlier flight to Fairbanks via Anchorage which gave me an hour to shoot the commuter stuff at Juneau.. didn't have time to get to the floatplane side of the airport though which had some nice looking DHC,2 Beavers on the water... but what was of interest and went into the box was N749KP Ce206 , N1265U Ce208 Caravan, both of Alaska Seaplanes and on floats.. and N745KP Ce207

and onto my chariot, which was the Sprit of Alaska Statehood special coloured Boeing 737-400 N705AS as (ASA065), and had me whisked upto Anchorage in 1hr 25mins.. and after a short stop over in the terminal.. 50 minutes onboard another special scheme, N443QX DHC,8-400 in University of Alaska/Seawolves Anchorage scheme as (ASA2809) to Fairbanks.. I then picked up the car and had a few hours driving round the GA side of the airports ramp as the evening sun was nice for shots with not much being due for the remainder of the evening.. Noteables on the GA/floatplane side were.... N673FE Boeing 727-200 ex FedEx, N4492N G-44 Widgeon, N658DC Be250 Super King Air, N70NW Bell UH-1, N7023 DHC,2 Beaver, and locally based Warebelow's Air and Air Artic who both have several colourful Pa31 Navajo's in there fleets and Wright Air Services with loads of Ce208 Caravans and PA31 Navajo's also..... so with what was of interest to me at the GA ramp/floatplane base etc shot in nice weather, it was off to the hotel and some sleeeeeeepp.....

Saturday 11th June

So... Fairbanks then.... This morning was just the usual knocking on FBO's and Hanger doors etc trying to get access, but with it being a weekend some of the bigger operators were locked up including the likes of Evert's.. never the less had plenty of luck in getting airside with most stuff going in the box.. which included.. Learjet 35 N543LM and Be200 Super King Air N547LM both of LifeMed Alaska, Shorts 330 N261AG Artic Circle Air, and Raven Connects fleet of the single Shorts 330 N168LM, Be1900's N404GV,N815GV,N15503, PA31 Navajo's N4301C,N4112K,N3536B,N4501B,N3516A, so....... with not much due in or out, i headed 20 miles north east to shoot a DC6 N12347 which is on the road side (64°55'4.89"N//147°37'23.17"W), unfortunately now though with some big steps in the way! and then back to Fairbanks...but while on the way back a Conair CV580 C-FHKF (55) flew over heading towards Ft Wainright army base, so tried the place to see if i could get in to shoot the fire fighting Convair's and CL415s that were based....'with no luck this time though' after all it is a Army base all said and done!... and eventually back to Fairbanks where i just chilled the rest of the day shooting the movements from the floatplane base.. and not forgetting the stored DC6 N4390X, which is used for fore training now...

Sunday 12th June

This morning the weather wasn't the best at Fairbanks with heavy rain due all day!! "urghhh" so after the Air North classic baby Boeing arrival i headed to 'Chena Marina' a small floatplane base/airfield to see if their was much of interest... to be honest didn't expect to see much as i was here in 2005 with only a DHC,2 Beaver and a DHC,3 Otter of interest, anyway..not a lot got worked but a couple of nice surprised amongst the 60 or so tins were... two Beech 18s, one of which was N333FL, and two DHC,2 Beavers, N55WE, N10JX and a rare Howard DGA-15P N26J and lastly a couple of old Cessna 310s... Then back to Fairbanks for the rest of the day where i just chilled in the car and kept dry!!! managed a ramp tour with the Duty Officer.. shooting stuff from the D/O's SUV with the window down!! and a bit of luck at the old Brooks fuel ramp also, as a guy who has a hanger near by escorted me out to shoot the ex Brooks fleet of Douglas classics, sadly now though looking a bit sorry for them selves.....

Brooks Fuel Boneyard first....N95460 Douglas C-47 Dakota faded Air North tiles, N90251 DC7C, N438NA,N51802,N90201,N67018,N99212 C-54's, N114V Beech C-45, and a couple of PA31 Navajos, N9680T,N21406,

C-GANV Boeing 737-200 Air North, N885EA DHC,8-200 and N575A Be1900 both Raven Connect , Alaska N764AS Boeing 737-400 Combi.. N442QX DHC,8-400 Alaska, N575L G44 Widgeon (flew in this back in 2005).. 14+04 BD700 Global 5000 German Air Force, N392AC (26) CL415 overfly into Ft Wainright....

Monday 13th June

Today was the long drive south to Anchorage, but before i hit the highway... had a little visit organised first, 'and the main reason for anyone visiting Fairbanks'.. Evert's!! with their classic fleet of piston power... as Mr Borat says "Sexy Time" this place is incredible to say the least for lovers of piston powered airliners... not all airworthy, but hey we're talking seriously tasty aircraft here.. which includes a compound just off the perimeter road with several C-46s and Convair's in it, some in colours of airlines from over 40 years ago, which of the C-46s were.. N801FA,N4860V,N54584 and N1845M, unfortunately though i couldn't get access to it and got my hire car tyres bit by some nasty looking beast after it came over to check me out....cant get shots from the outside as most of the aircraft are hidden behind the trees/shrubs that surround the compound! so asked again on the ramp tour.. but no luck as the guy who had the compound key was away on a break.... Not a full log here as some went begging but Noteables were....

Evert's Air......

DC6's/C-118's....N6174C,N351CE,N100CE,N444CE,N7780B,N251CE,N451CE,N1036F,N4206L,N99330, N810CS US Navy colours, N400UA,N1377K, N888DG,N1027N,N3050P, N651CE ex C-GHLY(46) Conair Colours, N501XP ex C-GKUG(50) Conair Colours, N500UA, Universal Airlines, N7919C, plus several with no I/D's on them.... C-46s N54514,N7848B,N23AC,N1651M,N1822M, Ce208 Caravan's N575JD,N208CE, Pilatus PC12 N744DA, Pa32 Saratoga's N148RF,N108NS, EMB120F Brasilia's N1110J,N105EG,N269CA, DC9-N952AX DC9-40F DHL Colours, N6504Z C-119 Flying Boxcar,

Others movements of note while on Evert's ramp...N959BP Boeing 737-700, N884EA DHC,8-200 and N575Q Be1900, N3252Y Ce208 Caravan all Raven Connect, N60WL Learjet 35, N449QX DHC,8-400 Alaska Airlines, N819FX ATR,72F FedEx,

Well... After a real tasty ramp/hanger tour of Evert's, and buying a couple souvenir T-shirts etc it was off to my first stop.. Nenana Airport to catch up with a Douglas C-54 N82FA (64°32'55.36"N// 149° 5'15.57"W) that had an engine fire and made a forced landing in a field near here.. and ending up at this small airfield where its been for several years now... not much else here other than N302 Grumman G-44 Widgeon and a few light aircraft...

next was Healy River Airport.. where a couple of DHC,2 Turbo Beavers, N906JS and N907KW do Glacier flights.. others of note were.. N72663 Pa31 Navajo of Air Artic and a few tins....

Talkeetna Airport was next as its again a busy place for glacier/hunting flights and has several small operators which were....

K2 Aviation.... Ce185 N125KT, DHc,2 Beaver's N323KT,N121KT, PA31 Navajo N828KT, Pa32 Cherokee 6 N122KT, DHC,3 Turbine Otter's ,N636KT,N320KT,N727KT...... Talkeetna Air Taxi fleet..N510PR,N565TA,N2YV DHC,3 Turbine Otter, DHC,2,Beaver N9190Y,N144Q,N561TA, Ce185 N185FK, Sheldon Air Services DHC,2 Beaver N2749, Ce185 N121EE and lastly PA31 Navajo.. N59870.

So after working all the De Havilland Canada bush planes here, it was back on the road to Wasilla Airport next.... but while on route, came across another airport come floatplane base 'Willow Airport' which i didn't intend stopping at until i seen a tasty looking DHC,2 Beaver N458LJ sat outside on the road side.. so popped in which resulted in a rare Stinson V-77 N58571 with Alaska Airlines titles on it, and a PA23 Geronimo N2140P all going in the box.... Then onto Wasilla, which has a fantastic Museum with several tasty aircraft.. i didn't go in the museum as was here on the 2005 trip but worked a couple of aircraft at the airport that were of interest to me... which were C-117 Dakota N27TN and N20861 Grumman G-58 Albatross, Aero Commander 500 N623FS, not a lot else of interest other than 70 or so light and helicopters etc...

and lastly Palmer was my last stop of the day in glorious evening sunlight.. stayed here walking round the ramps shooting until 12.30am!!! and then realised i better go and get a hotel as didn't have one booked with not knowing where i was going to be tonight... anyway a couple of aircraft would have been better for shots in the morning, so decided to stay here and go back in the morning rather than push on to Anchorage........ Noteables here.... N16973 Bell 212, Erikson Helicopters and C-GKFA(52) Convair CV580 Conair both on fire Standby duty....Alaska State Forestry DHC,2 Beaver N904AK, RC840 N840AK,N905AK, Aero Commander 500's N909AK, N1010F, Douglas C-47 Dakota N305SF,N400MF, Pa23 Apache N72553, C-117 Flying Boxcar's N1394N,N8501W, Douglas C-54 N3054V, N96358, Raven Connect N972EA Be1900 Ce208 caravan N407GV,N233PC, Pa31 Navajo N4585U, Ce406F Caravan 2 N861FT,N6591R,N406GV,N6590Y, and F-BXLX Ce207 Cristal Air remains...

Tuesday 14th June

Palmer....which was a bad decision staying here lastnight, as i missed a NASA DC8 at Anchorage this morning! "urghhhhh" but on the plus side got a Douglas C-54 departing.... nothing else in different from lastnight so just worked the propliners with the sun on the other side and headed off...

Nipped into Birchwood Airport which is on route while on the way to Anchorage hoping to find a rare twin...only to find no sign of it when i drove round.. not much else apart from loads of light and PA31 Navajo N51KM and N62557 Pa27 Aztec so left for Anchorage Merrill field.....

Always something worth while here amongst all the GA and now the bonus of the ex FedEx Boeing 727-200F which is part of the local collage.. also the rare twin which was supposed to at Birchwood was here having moved a while ago apparently.. anyway N4501L a Evangel 4500 was the first production model with only a handful built, but is an interesting looking machine...

others of interest were.. Lake & Pen Air Fleet Ce208 Caravan N9602F, Ce206's N9909Z,N469PV, K2 Aviation DHC,3 Turbine Otter N929KT, Lake Clark Air Be99's N31TN,N991AK,N992AK, Ce206 N996AK, Alaska Air Transit Ce208 Caravan's N645AT,N646AT, Dena'ina Air Taxi Pa31 Navajo N400RA, Be200 Super King Air N924AC, Erikson Helicopters AS350 N814EH, Bell 412's N415EV,N397AL, MBB 105 N730TS, and others....CeF406 Caravan2 N406SD, G44 Goose N141R in Royal Navy Colours, Pa31 Panther N812TB, Beech D18 N766L, RC690 Commander N222ME, G44 Goose N47C, Beech C-45G N11DA in USAF Colours,

and lastly today Anchorage... where i was planning on having the last two full days here.. shooting the more classic stuff with visits round to Lake Hood and the FBO's between the quiet periods....

I wont list the hordes of cargo stuff as it would take me all day to go through the shots, but most Asian cargo Boeing 747-400F/800F operators come though here along with most major US carriers with Boeing 747's,767's, 777's and MD11s freighters, which don't get me wrong 'is nice' but after a while gets a bit boring, also loads of Alaskan Boeing 737-400/700/800/and 900s, and DHC,8-400's and Raven Connect with their DHC,8-200s and Be1900 and lastly Penair with Saab SF340/2000's etc, but the main reason for me is to see the classics still in here which includes a DC6 N43872 in Northern Air Cargo next to the approach road to the Airport.....and other highlights for me.. Trans Northern Fleet C-117 Super Dakota's N30TN,N28TN,N29TN, SA227 Metro's N782C,N3114G, Volpar Turboliner N404CK, Be99 N39TN, ERA Helicopters Bell 212 N359EH,N508EH, Ryan Air Casa 212's N348CA,N440RA, Evert's Air Cargo DC9-30F N930CE, DC6 N151, MD83F N73444, Northern Air Cargo Boeing 737-200F's N321DL,N322DL, USAF RC135V 64-14845, DHC,6 Twin Otter N814SS, Westwind N911CU, Gulfstream G550 B-8260, Lynden Air Cargo Lockheed L-100 N403LC, Ce525 Citationjet CJ4 N721MA, LifeMed Alaska Learjet 35 N543LM, Guardian Flight Learjet 35 N10AH, Learjet 60 N57, Boeing 737-700 N668CP Conoco Philips, Condor Retro Boeing 767-300 D-ABUM, Be350 Super King Air N5JE, Ce560 Citation XLS+ N997SS, Ce441 Conquest N128EZ, ANA Wings Boeing 737-500 JA8419 Not sure what this was doing in.. probably heading to the desert??

And later a drive round the ramps/piers of lake hood... US Civil Air Patrol Fleet DHC,2 Beaver's N8964,N5315G,N31522,N5142G,N5347G, Rusts Flying Service fleet Ce206's N626KT,N4891Z,N4596U,N4661Z, DHC,2 Beaver's N68083,N2740X, PA18 Super Cub N4361A, Ce185 N1292F, Alaska Air Taxi PA31 Navajo N27987, Ce207's N73100,N9620M, DHC,3 Turbine Otter N3125N, Skyvan N731E, Grant Aviation Ce208 Caravan's N803TH, Be200 Super King Air's N313HS,N90PB, Pa31 Navajo's N4105D,N77HV, Reeve Air Alaska Pa31 Navajo N16SC, Katmai Air Pa31 Navajo N492K, Regal Air PA31 Navajo N13AL, DHC,2 Beaver's N9878R, N9877R, Ce206's N1748R, N1797R, and the others... Beaver heaven!! DHC,2 Beaver's N9RW,N67066,N726P,N67112,N323WA,N7EQ,N47AK,N616W Crashed remains, N82SF, N74G, N791PW, N772AE, N30CG, N101BD, N4957, N70JE, N310NR, N6LU, N9260Z, N62LC, N987SP, N995SP, N343WB, N3456L, Ce208 Caravan N276MA, Grumman G44 Widgeon's N199T,N41993, Pilatus PC6 Porter N5308F, Pa23 Geronimo N1131P,

Wednesday 15th June

A Full day at Anchorage today followed by a drive around Lake Hood and later a flight in a Regal Air DHC,2 Beaver out of lake hood for $30.. A Bargain!! ;-)

Evert's Air, DC6/C-118 N9056R, N747CE, FedEx Ce208 Caravan N746FX, ATR,72's N807FX, N819FX, Eliamna Air Taxi PC12's N715NL,N715TL, Northern Air Cargo Boeing 737-300F N360WA, LifeMed Alaska Be200 Super King Air's N546LM, N545LM, Learjet 35 N544LM, Phoenix Air Learjet 36 N545PA, Bering Air Be1900 N15GA, Icelandair Boeing 757-200 TF-LLX, Rusts Flying Services Ce208 Caravan N675HP, DHC,3 Turbine Otter N2899J, DHc,2 Beaver N4444Z, GA-8 Airvan N99GA, Desert Air CV240 N153PA, Douglas C-47 N44587, N272R, Guardian Flight, Be200 Super King Air N204JS, N393JW,N13LY Learjet 35 N611TA, N81MR, Grant Aviation Ce208 Caravan's N208SM,N804TH, N9310F, K2 Aviation DHC,2 Beaver N232KT, DHC,3 Turbine Otter N17689, C-119 Flying Boxcar N9027K, Falcon 900 N793CG, Boeing 737-700's N660CP, N959BP, Ce525 Citation CJ2 N525GM, Gulfstream G100's/Astra N907TP, N100AK, B-58813, Gulf 4 N840ER, Be200 Super King Air N68MN, Ce441 N441DK, Learjet 35, CL604 Challenger N88, Pilatus PC12's N219PC, N642SF, US Coast Guard C130H Hercules 1714, Ce550 Citation II's N11AK, N590A, G1159A Gulf 3 N901EH, Star Jet Gulfstream G200 B-8129, N929WG, Be350 Super King Air N351GF.

then had a 20 minute pleasure flight from Lake Hood around Anchorage onboard a Regal Air DHC,2 Beaver N9879R.. and later to finish the day off, took some rotation shots, since the runways changed....

Thursday 16th June

Several hours at Anchorage today before boarding my flight back to Iceland.. highlights were...

Gulf 5 N138GL, Ce525 Citation CJ3 N383CJ, Ce525 Citationjet CJ4 N938LN, Hawker 800 N52RZ US Navy Boeing 737-700/C-40 6693, Gulf 4 N405QS, Be90 King Air N410SP, Boeing 747-400F Dreamlifter's N718BA,N747BC, Douglas C-47 N59314, N19906, USAF C130E Hercules 64-0541 (stored), Lynden Air Cargo Lockheed L-100 N402LC, Gulfstream G150 N541RL, Gulfstream G650 N652CH Eliamna Air Pilatus PC12 N715HL,

Then mid afternoon checked in for my Icelandair flight back to Keflavik, which was TF-LLX Boeing 757-200 as (ICE678) and had me back to Iceland in a very quick 6 hrs 40mins!!

Friday 17th June

After a smooth and quick flight of just over six and a half hours from Anchorage we landed at Keflavik.. i then picked up the hire car and headed off to Reykjavik were i was meeting an Icelandair pilot who was getting me airside to shoot the residents/schedules that Iceland's second major airport has to offer... the weather here though wasn't the best with light rain and dull conditions.. nevertheless some nice stuff got worked that you don't often see in the UK so well worth stopping off for the day in Iceland.. Noteables were.... F-ZBCI CeF406 Caravan French Customs, Eagle Air BAe Jetstream 32's TF-ORG, TF-ORD, Flugfelag Islands DHC,8-100 TF-JMK,TF-JMG, DHC,8-400's TF-FXB Be400 Beechjet N61VC, Pa31 Navajo TF-ORE, Ce207 TF-ORB, BD100 Challenger 300 N777SJ, EMB505 Phenom 300 N562TM, Douglas C-47 TF-NPK Icelandair colours, Cirrus SR22 N1158C, Cirrus SR20 N907MM, Helicopter Service Iceland Bell 407 TF-HHH, Nordurflug AS350's TF-HDA, TF-HDK, AS365 Dauphin TF-HDU, TF-JVB Ce402,

Then back to Keflavik later, where i was hoping Ed Force 1 (Iron Maiden's) Boeing 747 TF-AAK would still be in... unfortunately no sign though, as it had since departed, and not much else in either other than WOW's new long haul fleet of Airbus A330's and the regular Boeing 737-400F of Bluebird Cargo... So with little due in i went to chill with a drink and watch some of the Euro 2016 and wait for my flight back to Heathrow, which was TF-ISK Boeing 757-200 as (ICE454) and had me back to the ROW in 2 hrs 30... after landing i just went straight to the hotel and had an early night as couldn't be bothered shooting the last hour or so at Heathrow, as was the case the next morning where i just had a lie inn and headed into London for my midday train back to the North East, which brought to an end a most enjoyable trip with fond memories of some classic aircraft still in action......

Canada is always a tasty place with accommodating Authorities/Companies, as is Alaska where you can see these classic's still earning their keep, which isn't the case here now in the UK anymore, with some types in museums, but most getting the scrapmans JCB's bucket!! RIP my friends.......

as always thanks to the guys who helped me organise this trip...