Author: Stanley

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Québec City

Photography: The St-Jean-sur-Richelieu hot air balloon festival

Post author By Stanley
Post date 24 February 2016

The hot air balloon C-FNHP is being inflated at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu festival in 2012

The Nav Canada flight service specialists (FSS) working at the flight information center (FIC) at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) regularly receive telephone calls from hot air balloon pilots preparing their next flight. Actual and forecasted wind conditions are important, be it on the ground or in the air. But the FSS must also take into account the slightest possibility of a rain shower that would wet the balloon’s envelope, the variation in the convection according to the time of the day which would then affect the winds, the local effects, etc.

Although it is interesting to brief a hot air balloon pilot on the telephone, it is far better to witness their activity when getting ready for a flight. And the effect is even more striking when you position yourself in the middle of a field where more than a hundred hot air balloons lift altogether.

A first group of hot air balloons are autorized to lift at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu festival in 2012

Summer 2012. A beautiful day was expected in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Blue sky and calm winds were forecasted for the evening. There would certainly be photo opportunities (Canon 5D MKII).

The field where the balloons were being prepared was fenced, but there were here and there openings and it seemed possible to enter the area without attracting too much attention. I made an attempt and could rapidly live the frenzy associated with the preparation and launch of more than one hundred hot air balloons.

Rising hot air balloons in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu in 2012

The balloons progressively took shape and it became possible to see their designs and superb colours. Each team was taking care of the last details that ensure a synchronized launch when the signal would be given. The organizer eventually gave the go ahead signal and the hot air balloons all lifted up within a very short time span. This was a magnificent show!

Hot air ballons at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Festival in 2012

Visitors at the 2012 St-Jean-sur-Richelieu hot air balloons festival

Few years earlier, during summer 2005, a hot air balloon had flown over our house in Quebec City at about one hundred feet. This was not a normal situation to witness that balloon slowly lose altitude and get closer to electrical wires. I had taken my bike and followed the balloon since it became obvious that the pilot was trying to land, possibly short of propane gas.

The pilot did not have an easy task, flying low over the city streets, close to the wires and other obstacles. The passengers must have been wondering what would be the issue of that flight. Arriving near a school, the pilot had seen a small parking lot and tried to land there, avoiding the church steeple on the other side of the street.

We were few citizens to hang to the basket and immobilize it while the balloon’s envelope was slowly deflating. I was able to take a shot of that unusual balloon’s approach…

Hot air balloon landing on a Quebec City street in 2005

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Québec City

Air Canada and the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Quebec City

Post author By Stanley
Post date 17 February 2016

Nav Canada control tower with, in the foreground, several CL-215 and Cl-415, a Nav Canada Challenger, and an Air Transat Airbus at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB).

On a stormy summer day, Air Canada called the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) on the Montreal frequency. The pilot was flying an Airbus and was about to take-off from the Montreal Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau international airport to Halifax, but there was violent weather that had to be avoided.

Normally, big airlines have their own briefing and flight planning services. However, rapidly changing weather sometimes requires last minute adjustments. In the case of the Air Canada flight, severe thunderstorms forbid a direct path from Montreal to Halifax.
The pilot was looking for the best option: go around the thunderstorms by flying north over Mont-Joli then eastward to Halifax or fly southward to United States then head east to Halifax.

Both solutions were possible but the objective was to pick the route that would diminish the pilot’s chances to have to divert to an alternate airport.

Radar imagery became the essential tool to propose a solution. Knowing the time lapse between two images, it was possible to evaluate the weather system’s speed. By calculating what was the distance left for the system to arrive in Halifax, and knowing the system’s speed, the flight service specialist (FSS) was able to estimate as precisely as possible the time when the thunderstorms would move over the destination airport.

The pilot having calculated the estimated time of arrival to Halifax for both the south and north routes, and now knowing at what time the weather system would be over Halifax, he understood that the best option was the southern route through United States. If there was no last minute modification in the system’s speed, he would be able to land in Halifax between twenty and thirty minutes before the first thunderstorm cells arrive over the airport.

It is fairly uncommon to receive an official feedback from the pilot of a big company like Air Canada. But the next day, surprising the flight service specialist (FSS), the pilot called back, presenting himself as the one who had made a flight from Montreal to Halifax the precedent day. He wanted to thank the FSS who had helped him in his decision making since, as he said it, the route via the United States had been a success and he was able to land his Airbus thirty minutes before the arrival of the thunderstorms. That kind of call certainly helps any employee to start a working day on the good foot…!

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Québec City

The Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Quebec City and the worker using dynamite

Post author By Stanley
Post date 11 February 2016

Thunderstorms in the Province of Quebec in 2012

The Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Quebec City (CYQB) does not normally take calls from the general public since air traffic services are centered on the needs of pilots.

But a particularly urgent situation sometimes dictate a more flexible approach. I remember a telephone call we received on the 800 line, during a very hot summer day of 2007. A worker in charge of the installation of dynamite in a mine in the Abitibi region told the flight service specialist (FSS) that he was working for a big company and that an important blasting operation was to be undertaken soon. He was in the middle of the blasting site, having just completed the installation of the detonators and explosives on the whole area.

He was wondering if there could be something he did not know about the weather since there were very dark clouds coming his way. The flight information center FSS was aware of the meteorological situation in Abitibi, and it was certainly not appropriate for a blasting operation. The caller was told that gigantic thunderstorm cells were forming in his sector and that the lightning detectors were already recording hundreds of strikes.

His actual position, in the middle of detonators and dynamite, was certainly problematic, to say the least. Without asking anything else, he told us that he was getting out of the site quickly…

(Photo taken with a Canon 5D MKII)

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Tags Abitibi, air traffic services, Canon 5D MKII, CYQB, FIC, flight service specialist, FSS, Nav Canada, photo, Quebec City, Quebec flight information center, real life stories, security, thunderstorms, weather, weather photography

Novels

Novels: Il était une ville (Once Upon a Town), by Thomas B. Reverdy

Post author By Stanley
Post date 7 February 2016

Il était une ville (Once Upon a Town)

« Il était une ville » is Thomas B. Reverdy’s new novel. His precedent work, « Les évaporés », published in 2013 by Flammarion, won him the Grand Prix de la SGDL and the prix Joseph Kessel.

« Il était une ville » allows the reader to approach in a different and very interesting way the brutal collapse of Detroit in the United States. The consequences of the 2008 financial crisis on people of all ages and status is very well demonstrated.

Through multiple stories unfolding at the same time, the reader is able to live how it felt to be in Detroit during that critical period, for citizens of all social classes who stayed either by choice or because they had no other option.

Thomas B. Reverdy’s high-quality writing style is particularly refreshing and full of surprises. The reader is immersed deep in a Detroit which, instead of being the dynamic city around which the suburbs conglomerated, became a black hole from which escaped the citizens that could afford it.

Without being a historical novel, it is nonetheless a work that aims to do something more than to simply entertain the reader. I completed the reading of this book with new knowledge on the multiple life aspects of people living in a suddenly deserted megacity.

A rare book, surprisingly mature for such a young writer.

Title: Il était une ville
Author: Thomas B. Reverdy
Edition : Flammarion
ISBN : 978-2-0813-4281-9
©2015

Tags 2001 Summit of the Americas, 2008, books, Détroit, economic crisis, Il était une ville, megacity, novels, social classes, social problems, Thomas B. Reverdy, United States

Flight Simulation

Flight simulation : St.Barths (TFFJ) with the Aerosoft Twin Otter in FSX

Post author By Stanley
Post date 1 February 2016

Well, let’s start with a real life video showing that there is no margin for error when landing in St.Barths :

In that video, you can clearly see that the speed on the approach seemed excessive and the aircraft floated precious seconds over the runway. Very soon, there wasn’t enough runway left to stop the aircraft safely. So the trick is to use a reasonable approach speed and be ready to do a missed approach if the wheels do not touch early on the runway.

40014 Runway in sight at St Barths TFFJ on the left and in the middle of the island (FSX)

40015 A Solomons Twin Otter is on final for runway 10 at St Barths TFFJ (FSX)

An approach with a virtual aircraft of your choice can be done in St.Barths (TFFJ) since FlyTampa St Maarten scenery includes that airport. I tried a circuit with the Aerosoft Twin Otter, under FSX, and it went very well, since this aircraft can fly at a very low speed and can break on a dime. It might have been a different story with the same aircraft that pilot was flying in the video…

Cessna 208B N208SG landing at Saint Barthelemy Airport, Guadeloupe (on aviation postcard)

40016 The Twin Otter is now on short final for runway 10 in St Barths TFFJ (FSX)

40017 The Twin Otter lands on the threshold of runway 10 at St Barths TFFJ (FSX)

For your information, the St.Barths 10-28 runway is 2133 ft long. For the landing, the winds where blowing from 031/10G20, which provides for a good crosswind. The biggest aircraft to have landed in St Barthélémy is a Canadian built de Havilland DHC-7.

40021 A bit of sand is blown on tourists in St Barths TFFJ (FSX)

40022 A Solomons Twin Otter leaves the runway at St Barths TFFJ (FSX)

Good luck and have fun trying out that virtual flight!

There are other challenging virtual flights in my website.

For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation

Tags Aerosoft, challenging virtual flights, flight simulation, Fly Tampa St Maarten, FSX, St.Barths, St.Barths virtual airport, TFFJ, Twin Otter, virtual aircraft, virtual flight, virtual scenery

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Quebec FSS

Québec City FSS and an Air Canada DC-9 Captain

Post author By Stanley
Post date 27 January 2016

Old Quebec airport terminal with an Air Canada DC-9 and a QuebecAir BAC 1-11 (on aviation postcard)

Around 1996, during the summer, an Air Canada DC-9 captain visited the Transport Canada flight service station in Québec City (CYQB) to receive a last minute briefing on the weather conditions between Quebec and Toronto.

All the passengers were already on board, but the captain had noticed a rapid change in the size of thunderstorms approaching the Québec City airport. Wishing to make the best decision, he requested the latest information on the approaching line of thunderstorms before proceeding with the takeoff.

The weather radar and satellite pictures showed a wall of convective cells that a DC-9 would not be able to go through. It would not fly high enough nor be able to go around the system unless it made a detour through Val-d’Or to the north or the Tennessee to the south.

The captain already knew the consequences of his decision. He nonetheless took the phone and called Air Canada’s dispatch in Toronto, announcing that he would not leave Quebec until the weather was acceptable. He could envision the missed transfers in Toronto for most of his passengers, and their bad mood in face of the lengthy delays he expected in Québec City.

Nevertheless, his decision was made and he left the flight service station satisfied. He knew very well that a line of heavy thunderstorms had often been the cause of accidents and that no aircraft, whatever the size, was safe when dealing with a wall of severe thunderstorms.

The flight service specialists (FSS) were happy with the captain’s decision since, throughout the years, the FSS often witnessed far less commendable behaviour from pilots of all categories. Judgment is the capacity to evaluate consequences, and it is not given to everybody.

An Air Canada DC-9 taking off under nice weather

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Québec City

A dust devil takes a pilot by surprise in Rouyn-Noranda

Post author By Stanley
Post date 23 January 2016

April 2013, at the Nav Canada Flight Information Center (FIC) in Québec City. This morning’s meterological forecasts indicate the possibility of dust devils. This type of obstacle to visibility is rare. The pilots call the flight service specialists (FSS) to know what “PO” means on the weather charts.

In spite of the calm winds and blue sky all over southern Quebec, the weather conditions can give birth to local wind shears. If they lift sand, dust or other small particles, those wind shears will become visible and cause dust devils five to ten meters in diameter.

A pilot would have to be unlucky to cross a rare dust devil. However, I remember an event I witnessed thirty years ago while I was working at the Transport Canada Rouyn-Noranda flight service station.

On a hot summer day, an aircraft landed in Rouyn-Noranda after a cross-country flight from Montreal. The pilot was making a short stopover to have his logbook stamped at the flight service station. The weather conditions were ideal at the airport: dry air, calm winds and a cloudless sky.

Once his run-up was completed on the taxiway, the pilot slowly headed for the runway 26 threshold. Once aligned and ready for take-off, he made the last few adjustments.

Few seconds later, the flight service specialists heard an emergency locater transmitter signal. Looking again at the runway, they saw that the aircraft was still on the threshold, but upside down.

A strong windshear had overturned the single-engine aircraft. The airport wind speed indicator being located farther away from the threshold only indicated calm winds.

The souvenir of this story reminded me that nature can always surprise the best prepared pilot. I imagine that this event shocked the student pilot as he tried, like us, to figure out what had just happened. I do hope that this adventure did not discourage him from flying.

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Quebec FSS

Quebec FSS and the September 11th 2001 events

Post author By Stanley
Post date 18 January 2016

One of four F-18s over the National War Memorial in Ottawa on October 22nd 2015

During the September 11th 2001 crisis, the Canadian sky belonged, for a short period, to the military. The latter had taken the decision that every aircraft that had not taken-off yet had to stay on the ground, and those which were airborne had to expedite the landing.

There were a few exceptions for medical evacuations, but those flights were tightly monitored. All air traffic services units communicated with aircrafts in flight and agencies on the ground to advise them of the new rules now in place.

Generally speaking, regardless of the initial surprise, all pilots with whom the Transport Canada flight service specialists (FSS) in Quebec City had talked, through their multiple frequencies, offered no resistance.

But I remember the case of a pilot flying a twin-engine aircraft over the Laurentides region to whom the order of landing as soon as possible had been given. He refused to obey since it was out of the question for him to lose money on already booked charter flights, especially on a beautiful day.

The flight service specialists could understand his frustration. Nonetheless, it was not a good time to debate. It was, for all air traffic services units involved, a particularly busy day and nobody had extra time to argue at length about a request.

The message was repeated one more time. In view of his refusal to obey, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) was contacted. The reply came back quickly and the pilot was given two choices: either he landed or an CF-18 fighter jet would be launched to take care of the situation.

No need to add anything else. The pilot complied immediately.

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Quebec FSS

FSS and pilots with different styles

Post author By Stanley
Post date 13 January 2016

Pilots regularly refer to flight service specialists (FSS) when preparing for a flight. They can either phone or visit a flight service station. The FSS progressively know an increasing number of pilots who differ a lot in experience.

As with any profession, competence and a professional attitude vary for the same license. Pilots are no exception and I could divide them in three categories: 85% meet the requirements on a continual basis, 10% constantly exceed the expectations and the last 5% deals with more or less important shortcomings.

Here are two small stories involving pilots of very different style and some flight service specialists. Those events happened in the ‘80s and ‘90s:

The pilot with a gigantic ego

One day, a pilot called the Transport Canada flight service station in Quebec City (CYQB) on the local radio frequency and said: “I’ll be landing in twenty minutes at Lac St-Augustin. Call my wife and tell her to pick me up”.

That was not a polite way to request a favor. He obviously had decided that those types of private phone calls were part of our responsibilities. As the flight service specialist was working higher priorities, he told the pilot that this was something he would have to do himself.

Losing his temper, the pilot started to reel off his CV and all the contacts with whom he would communicate to set this employee’s case. His long monologue forced us to lower the air radio frequency’s volume. His ramblings blocked an important frequency and were a nuisance to the other pilots. Eventually, he ran out of ideas and the radio frequency was finally available for essential communications.

A few hours later, the same pilot made a spectacular entry in the flight service station, shouting and blasting the employees. He then left the place by slamming what could be slammed of the swinging doors we had at the time.

Luckily, special cases like that are rare. They so differ from what we are used to that it’s impossible to forget them, even decades later.

An exceptionally cold blooded pilot

I remember of a very experienced pilot who used to visit us regularly at the Transport Canada flight service station in Rouyn-Noranda (CYUY). One day, he entered the station, leaned on the briefing counter, and started to talk about different subjects before finally asking us if we had any documents in our library that were dealing with an airplane crash…

We replied by the affirmative. Considering his calm and the tone in his voice, we figured that he was just curious. He then told us that he had just crashed less than an hour ago and that the machine he was flying was totally wrecked. He was the only person on board and managed to get out with scratches only.

I must admit that I had never met somebody that could be so detached from an event of such importance!

For more real life stories about being a FSS in Quebec City, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Quebec City

Flight Simulation

Flight simulation : Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, the shortest commercial runway in the world (FSX)

Post author By Stanley
Post date 9 January 2016

One nice challenging virtual flight in FSX is to operate from the Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, the shortest commercial runway in the world.

The runway is 1299 ft long (396m) and 60 ft (18m) above sea level. The IATA code is SAB, and the ICAO code TNCS.

30314 A Twin Otter aircraft is on long final for Saba (FSX)

30315 A Twin Otter aircraft is on short final for Saba (FSX)

The ideal virtual aircraft for that runway is the Twin Otter (DHC-6) or the Britten Islander (BN-2). If you want something bigger, the De Havilland DHC-7 is going to be your perfect choice. Forget about jet aircrafts, the runway is too short.

30316 A last correction for the wind in Saba (FSX)

To add to the pleasure, use runway 30 and add a strong crosswind component, with gusts. In the screen captures below, I set the winds to 030 degrees at 10G20. For the flight, I also used Cumulus X and PrecipitFX to improve the visual effects.

30317 A Twin Otter aircraft is arriving in Saba (FSX)

30320 A Royal Tongan Twin Otter aircraft is leaving the runway in Saba (FSX)

For an even more realistic experience, I suggest you get the FlyTampa St.Maarten scenery, which will offer you three airports, which are all very well designed and present real challenging approaches : the Juancho E. Yrausquin airport, on Saba Island,the spectacular St.Barths airport and the Princess Juliana international airport in St.Maarten.

In the « challenging virtual flights » section of my website, I have already included an approach to Princess Juliana airport in St.Maarten, with the MD-11. The approach to St.Barths (TFFJ) will soon be included.

You will enjoy every minute trying to make perfect landings at those three airports. For other challenging virtual flights, visit the flight simulation page of my website.

Have fun!

For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation

Tags aviation, challenging virtual flights, Cumulus x, flight simulation, Fly Tampa, FSX, Juancho E. Yrausquin virtual airport, PrecipitFX, runway, Saba Island, short runway, St Maarten, TNCS, virtual aircraft, virtual flight, virtual scenery