Flight to Canada

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The Midnight cruise around the icebergs was beautiful. Rhe sun stayed rather high, but the light change and the icebergs looked magic. It is a popular tour and three small boats with about 10 people each were cruising around. m,, and causing a nuisance for the people of Ilulissat, who get annoyed by the noise the boats make late at night.

Next morning I checked the weather of my next destination, Iqaluit (ex Froshiber Bay), one of the two possible Airports of Entry in NE Canada. And it was bad - heavy fog had closed the airport (100 ft ceiling). The forecast promised some improvement later that day, so I had time.

The problem is that there are no alternate airports in the vicinity of Iqaluit - the next airport is 130 nm away, has no customs or fuel. The next Airport of Entry (Goose Bay) is another 5 hours flight further, but it had good weather. Flying there directly would be only 7 hrs, but with heavy headwinds and passage through a weather front. All morning I planned alternatives, including staying another day in Greenland (but on Sundays the airports in Greenland are closed - would have become a two-day extra stay) etc.
During the waiting in Ilulissat airport, I started washing the Mooney a bit. That was a field day for the mosquitoes in the area - they were rather hungry.

Finally the weather reports did show some improvement, the fog was slowly lifting as forecasted, and I decided to fly to Iqaluit. But I added some (expensive) fuel to be able to continue to Goose Bay if the fog should come back. But it didn't, and the flight proceeded as planned. Again I had some radio coverage all the way over the Atlantic, but in Canada I lost contact with the controllers for some time - no problem, there is no other traffic in the neighborhood.

But getting closer to Iqaluit, it became more crowded, and when I got some ice on the wings, the controller asked the plane 40 miles ahead how conditions were there (and he had no problem). And for the approach in Iqaluit, my traffic ahead was a Boeing 767 (caution wake turbulence), and a Twin Otter followed closely behind - quite a busy airport.

Iqaluit itself is a small town, but it took me over an hour walking over the mud roads to find the restaurant (the other one was closed on Saturdays) - and they only accepted Canadian Dollars (which I don't have yet), so I got my beers and food in the bar next door. Was more interesting anyhow, as I could talk to a few Inuit - one came from Thule (the most northern town), and for her Iqaluit is already 'far South', and in Montreal she got headache from the heat there.

Although the arctic area is quite fascinating, I start to miss trees. Since my arrival in Greenland I have not seen a single tree - its time to head South.

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Photos

midnight sun
between the icebergs at midnight - but rather cold

flight track to Canada
who recognizes the map?

a glimpse of Canada
was cloudy most of the time, but a few nice views appeared

in Iqaluit
one of the friendly immigration officesr took the picture

Satellite dish in Iqaliut
at 64deg North, the Geo satellite is nearly at the horizon.