Cover page of the manga “Les montagnes hallucinées”, by Gou Tanabe.
Gou Tanabe presents H.P. Lovecraft’s masterpiece “Les montagnes hallucinées” (the French version of “At the Mountains of Madness”) as a two-volume manga. Leafing through Lovecraft is in itself a journey into the strange, but to do so by starting at the end of a book and reading from right to left adds to the weirdness of the experience.
This transposition of Lovecraft into manga is a success. And the statistics prove it. The 382 reviews left on Amazon show clear customer satisfaction, with a total of 4.9/5 stars at the time of writing.
I normally prefer color comics and graphic novels, but the black-and-white interpretation of Lovecraft’s work is a perfect match for the fantasy world into which Tanabe plunges us.
A page from the manga “Les montagnes hallucinées” from Lovecraft, by Gou Tanabe.
Lovecraft makes a phantasmagorical work credible by integrating a well-balanced mix of real and fictional elements into the plot. Unless you’re an archaeologist and paleontologist yourself, it’s hard to tell which data really belong to science. This helps to frame the reader. You recognize moments of pure imagination, but you’re still hooked.
I put myself in the shoes of someone who lived in Lovecraft’s time, when Antarctica was still a mysterious continent, unexplored in its entirety. A story filled with elements of fiction would gain in credibility, while no one could really confirm or deny some of the author’s statements.
A page from the graphic novel “Les montagnes hallucinées”.
In “Les montagnes hallucinées”, we read about sailing, aviation, extreme weather and survival in icy, isolated spaces. Readers witness the problems experienced by the various crews exploring Antarctica. The scientists’ increasingly startling discoveries force them to make risky decisions that plunge them into an unknown world. In short, themes that still appeal to most people today.
The two volumes total around 650 pages, which can be flipped through with interest in a single day, since many plates include no text at all.
Sea kayaks at Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île d’Orléans 2023
On Sunday, September 24, 2023, the company Quatre Natures organized a certified level 1 sea kayaking course the St. Lawrence River, starting from Île d’Orléans. As registration was done well in advance, we had to be a bit lucky during the activity, as it would take place as much in good weather as in bad.
So, I take a chance. Fortunately, an incredible day awaits the six students: full sun and twenty degrees Celsius. How should we dress for the circumstances? We know that the human body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. The kayaker adds up the water and air temperatures and compares the total to the temperature of the human body. With the river that day at 18 degrees and the air around 20 degrees, this gives a total of 38. As this figure is slightly higher than normal body temperature, we can wear normal clothing for water activities, rather than a wetsuit.
The morning is used to cover theory. No one sets foot in the water. The instructor discusses what the kayaker must have on board, the relative quality of different equipment, preparation, communications and radio frequencies, safety and hypothermia prevention, and so on.
Sea kayaking activity at l’île d’Orléans (photo Vadym Kravchenko)
After lunch, the kayaks are placed on the lawn and the vocabulary related to each part of the kayak is learned. The student then settles into the kayak and learns how to adjust the footbraces, hold the paddle, install the spray skirt, and so on. The boats are then brought to shore and kayaking begins.
First, we learn the basic maneuvers. How to embark and disembark, the trajectory the paddle should follow in the water depending on whether you want to go forward, backward or turn. We discuss the correct position of the body, arms and wrists on the paddle, and the importance of rotating the pelvis to force the paddle properly. We quickly realize the influence of side winds on the kayak, especially when it has no centerboard or rudder.
The river is considered level 2 for kayaking. The current is strong, and we have to deal with three-metre tides. The wind around the island is also stronger than in Quebec City. Level 1 kayakers are encouraged to seek out Level 1 locations to gain experience, and never to set off alone at this stage of their learning process.
During the exercises, you can see the container ships and the various pleasure boats offshore. The larger vessels generate waves that take between five and ten minutes to reach the shore. When these approach, the instructor warns novice kayakers to turn to face the wave, so as to limit the effects on the boat.
The container ship Hapag_Lloyd Quebec Express and the container ship MSC Paola are sailing around Île d’Orléans near Quebec City.
The BBC Manila carries wind turbine blades on the St.Lawrence Seaway near Quebec City.
Then come the emergency maneuvers: what’s the procedure for getting out of a kayak that’s just capsized? How do you help someone who has capsized?
I didn’t have time to get to this stage of the course. I capsized before. I don’t remember how I managed to extricate myself from the kayak and get back to the surface, but we’re not talking about an approved method here. The brain immediately detects the danger and organizes itself so that the body gets out of the kayak and the head doesn’t stay underwater for too long.
In the minutes that follow, the instructor teaches us how to perform the classic exit from a capsized kayak. We work in pairs. At Level 1, there’s no question of using the paddle to force the kayak to turn.
To obtain KDM 1 certification, everyone must lean sideways so that the kayak tips over. Once submerged, the student leans forward, unhooks the spray skirt attached to the kayak, and slowly taps the kayak’s hull three times to signal that he is in control of what he is doing. The instructor wants to avoid unpredictable reactions. We then push ourself out of the kayak by placing our hands at hip height on the coaming. As soon as we are out of the water, it’s imperative that we hold on to our kayak, thanks to the lifeline. It only takes a few seconds. Here and there, you can hear a little coughing as the student surfaces, but nothing more. A good sip of St. Lawrence River boosts the immune system.
Next comes the recovery of the person in the water. As we work as a team, the kayaker in difficulty clings to the front of our kayak and stays there until we catch up with his or her kayak, lift it onto our boat, empty it of water, turn it over and position it correctly.
Sea kayaking course level 1 with Quatre Natures (photo Quatre Natures)
The person clinging to the kayak then releases his or her grip, and depending on the method taught, climbs back into the boat while the latter is being held securely. The important thing here is to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. If the person doesn’t hurry and proceed step by step, the operation is a success every time.
A few more exercises follow, and it’s back to the beach on Île d’Orléans a few hours later. Once all participants have dried off and put on their warm clothes, the course concludes with a few weather notions, including the need to consult weather forecasts and radars, and to return quickly to shore when storm cells are present.
We also cover tide calculation (rule of 12) and how to attach a kayak to a car roof. How many attachment points? What equipment is available to make the job easier? Where should harnesses go to avoid breaking the kayak? Etc.
The KDM 1 certificate is awarded approximately eight to nine hours after the start of the course, depending on the instructor’s assessment. I noticed that on the way home, in the heat of the car, I really didn’t feel like rushing on the road. But you quickly come back to reality when you see how fast the cars are coming up behind you.
There is no aircraft in the sky around the Port Moresby Jacksons (AYPY) virtual airport today. No aircraft in the sky but one, a medevac flight.
Arrival of the Medevac towards the Port Moresby Jacksons (AYPY) airport. The winds forbid a normal landing.
The winds blow from 240 degree at 50G60 kts and the runways are oriented 14/32. It is way above the maximum crosswind authorized for any aircraft.
But the Shrike Commander’s crew cannot wait until the wind calms down. They must land in the next few minutes in order to save a patient’s life.
The Port Moresby Jacksons (AYPY) is in sight in the center top of the screen capture.
As there is no traffic around, the captain has told ATC he intends to do a safe, efficient but non-standard approach.
The aircraft is gradually positioned to arrive in a straight line for the AYPY hangar.
The aircraft aligns itself to face the wind blowing across the runways.
Arriving straight across the runways, facing the wind, the crew intends to land the aircraft a few feet short of a hangar. The captain requests that someone opens the hangar doors right away. The captain will terminate the approach in the hangar, protected from the wind.
Trajectory of the Shrike Commander 500S towards the hangar at the Port Moresby Jacksons airport. The hangar door has been open for the arrival.
It is safer to arrive facing the wind and immediately enter the hangar, straight ahead. No taxiing with a 60 knots crosswind.
Useless to say, ATC has already refused the request. But the pilot is the only one who decides of the best landing surface, for the safety of the passengers and himself. He proceeds with the approach after having clearly indicated which path will be followed.
The Shrike Commander 500S over the houses near the Port Moresby Jacksons airport.
The main problem for the approach is the low level mechanical turbulence caused by the gusty 60 kts winds.
If ATC wants to file a complaint, now is a good time to take a picture of the aircraft and its registration to support the case.
Flying by the AYPY control tower.
The actual ground speed of the airplane is around 20 kts.
The Shrike Commander 500S approaching across the runways at the Port Moresby Jacksons airport. The winds blow from 240 degree at 50G60.
The steady high wind speed is actually safer for the crew than if the winds were 240 at 35G60.
Ground speed of about 20 knots for the Shrike Commander 500S on final for the Port Moresby Jacksons hangar (AYPY).
Still a bit above the runway and with a 10-20 knots ground speed. The airspeed indicator shows the strength of the wind itself plus the ground speed.
Indicated airspeed 70 knots.
Frontal view of the Shrike Commander 500S about to land in front of the hangar at AYPY.
Floating like a hot air balloon or almost!
Side view of the Shrike Commander 500S on final for the Port Moresby Jacksons airport’s hangar.
The Shrike Commander will soon land in Port Moresby Jacksons.
As the aircraft touches the ground, it stops almost immediately. It is necessary to apply power to reach the hangar, as you can see with the white trail on the ground behind the aircraft.
In real life, the touch-down would have had to be as soon as the asphalt start since the presence of the hangar lowers the wind speed a bit.
The Shrike Commander lands a few feet before the hangar. Additional power is mandatory to reach the hangar.
A few seconds after the touch-down, the aircraft is in the hangar, protected from the wind, and both doctor and patient can quickly head out to the hospital.
The Shrike Commander 500S in the hangar at Port Moresby (AYPY).
Once in the hangar, the winds were adjusted to zero, which is kind of logical, unless the opposite wall is missing!
View of the Port Moresby Jacksons (AYPY)
It was now time to brace for another storm, which was the inquiry that would possibly follow the landing!
(P.S.: Tim Harris and Ken Hall were the creators of this virtual Port Moresby Jacksons international airport) and it is sold by ORBX. The aircraft is sold by Carenado).
The 2016 televised political debates on CNN between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump put forward the topic of racism in the United States. Chicago was specifically mentioned as it detains the national record for violent deaths. The book “Histoire de Chicago” allows, among other subjects, to better understand what feeds social inequalities between Blacks and Whites since the creation of Chicago.
The reader understands that it is not the cultural deficiencies that are at the base of the problems but an institutionalized racism and the economic choices of the different municipal administrations.
The city grew set against a background in which the color of a person’s skin determined the type of work that he or she was allowed to occupy. Eventually, even urban planning was designed so that Blacks and Whites would be separated: the artificial walls created by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway or the Dearborn Park are in themselves good examples.
In 2016, the polls show a strong support for the Unites States republican candidate Donald Trump. Trump knows Chicago very well and he had his “Trump Tower” built there.
The republican candidate takes over in his political platform some of the elements that have made the popularity and success of the Daley family who ruled over Chicago for decades: the exploitation of fear between ethnical groups to build and maintain a political power, the idea of building a wall and the use of torture as a simplistic solution to complex problems.
This populism attracts a certain class of American electors who are easily scared by the differences between people and cultures.
The book “Histoire de Chicago” is very much a reflection of what is happening today and the authors do no fear to raise delicate political subjects.
Cover of the book “Histoire de Chicago” by Andrew Diamond and Pap Ndiaye
Chicago
Chicago became a territory of the United States with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Subsequently, natives progressively lost their lands through different manoeuvers, among them the signature of contracts while they were drunk. Around 1830, when the Indians were definitely gone, the speculative fever started.
Railways
Starting around 1860, Chicago organized itself to become the main hub for the most important railway companies of the United States. The city grew very quickly. Passengers, livestock, cereals and other merchandise had to transit through Chicago. The city depended on the train to grow, and the railway companies depended on Chicago to be profitable.
The rapid growth of Chicago’s population was essentially the driver of migration from Europe (Irish, Germans, Polish and Italians). The evolving and often violent relationships between Chicago’s ethnic groups is well explained in the book.
Retail stores
Just before 1900, the Chicago population witnessed the creation of the first retail stores in which a customer could order through a catalogue and use credit. New categories of employees and managers were added to the working population and helped shape the middle class.
Black immigration in Chicago
Around 1910, there was an important increase in the Black immigration coming from southern United States. Chicago was an abolitionist city. This does not mean that it was favoring racial equality but that it was against slavery. In fact, Chicago progressively became the most segregated city in the United States.
Blacks were massively arriving from southern United States, not only for economic reasons but also to get away from the slavery, racial violence and segregation that was the norm in multiple states. Although far from ideal, the situation in Chicago was better than in the south of the country.
The First World War considerably reduced the number of immigrants coming from Europe. This created a serious problem for a city that was benefiting from numerous military contracts and needed a very high number of employees in its manufacturing companies. This also favored the “great migration”, which is to say “the spectacular intensification of the Afro-American migration towards the North-East and Middle West major urban centers […]” (p.143)
Chicago’s slaughterhouses
Chicago was renowned for the very high number of its slaughterhouses, in particular its pork slaughterhouses. The smell and pollution created by this activity was terrible. Chemical laboratories allowed for the commercial use of all parts of an animal. The writer Georges Duhamel wrote in his book that in Chicago “nothing leaves the slaughterhouse but the squeal” (p.63).
Black workers did not have the right to work in the Chicago steel industry and had to limit themselves to slaughterhouses where they were hired as manual workers. They had no access to qualified jobs.
The Second World War
During the Second World War, Chicago was competing with other major American cities to obtain huge military contracts. The city did not manage its efforts to show it supported the American government. Chicago eventually received billions of dollars for the construction of tanks, tractors, torpedoes, bombs and aircrafts (among them the B-29 bomber aircraft).
To compensate for the lack of manpower, since a lot of men enrolled as volunteers and had gone to war, women massively entered the workforce. Employers saw an opportunity to maximize their profits by reducing the salaries of working women, which corresponded only to 65% of the men’s salary for the same work. This represents the way women were thanked for their effort and collaboration.
Transformation of the Chicago economy
A United Airlines Boeing B747 is taxiing over the expressway at the Chicago O’Hare international airport (on aviation postcard)
Chicago experienced a profound transformation during the ‘70 s. The closure of the slaughterhouses in 1971, and the diminishing demand for steel mills products signalled the end of the industrial era. It was followed by an opening on the international and the development of a new economy based on specialized services like finance, real estate, insurance, marketing, publicity and legal services.
The Chicago mayor, Richard M. Daley, fostered the establishment of a new socio-professional class of creators in the city (design, arts, music, etc.) by considering it like another “ethnic group” who needed privileged space to express itself.
The development of housing estates and complexes during the ‘60s and ‘70 s
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Chicago landscape was profoundly modified. Huge housing estates and complexes were built (Magnificent Mile, Sandburgh Village, Marina City, Lake Point Tower, Dearborn Park) where the White population lived, in the north part of the city. The Chicago Tribune said of Dearborn Park that it was “a fortress reserved for Whites and aimed at protecting the financial district against the Blacks”.
The Daley administration had to fight against urban sprawling and consequently favored the construction of skyscrapers to maintain the presence of Whites in the central area while receiving more property taxes. Two stock exchange institutions were created, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The creation of those two institutions as well as of the complexes did not do anything to change the dynamic between the Whites and the Blacks.
The racial segregation
Although Martin Luther King was a dominant figure in the fight for the civil rights of the Blacks in the United States, the authors underline that the black population of Chicago had not waited for a leader to promote their rights as they had already started to mobilize themselves years before.
Martin Luther King’s ideas on the integration of Blacks did not receive the support of everyone in the black community, especially the Chicago black politicians who benefited from a special treatment from the Daley machine, which favored the status quo.
Chicago’s mayor Richard M. Daley experienced much success. To stay in power, the Daley Machine “rested squarely on the continued separation and competition between communities”. (p.322-323) The separation between Blacks and Whites was planned and maintained. There was and there are still two Chicagos.
A highway, the Dan Ryan Expressway, was even positioned in such a way that it would create an artificial wall between the Daley’ s district, Bridgeport and the Black Belt: “This was the most massive obstacle that the city could build, other than a wall, to separate the white South Side from the Black Belt” (p.259).
The Daley Machine
We cannot talk about Chicago without underlining the importance of the Daley family and its political machine: “Through an authoritarian control of the “machine”, Richard J. Daley and his son Richard M. Daley, each one in his own style, dominated the Chicago political scene for forty-three years, between 1955 and 2011.
During that period which saw the development and the subsequent decline of modern civil rights, the ghettoization of huge parts of the West Side and South Side, a massive immigration wave from Latin America and the transformation of the city from an industrial giant to a world-class global services economy center, Chicago barely knew one legitimate municipal election or one real debate at the municipal council” (p.16)
There was rampant corruption and secret budgets in the Daley administration. In total opaqueness, the City Hall diverted the funds reserved to disadvantaged neighbourhood and distributed it to the privileged ones.
“[…] While important businessmen, Mafiosi and others who had links with the Daley machine were getting richer, Blacks and Latinos in need were shot in the street or tortured in the precinct’s’ back rooms” (p.394)
Law firms and entrepreneurs gave huge sums of money in exchange for important contracts. The Daley Machine was never short of money.
Beechcraft N35 Bonanza N545T in flight during the years when the Daley family was reigning over Chicago (on aviation postcard)
Racial tensions and repression policies under Mayor Daley
“By the 1930s, Chicago had become, according to the historian Frank Donner “the national capital for police repression” (p.321)
The black migration that took place during the 1940s and 1950s scared the Chicago population that felt besieged. This increased racial tensions that were already present and maintained. It was easier to accept more policemen than social housing.
The muscled tactics of Mayor Daley were the most obvious during the 1968 Democrat Convention, when policemen and 7000 National Guard soldiers “went down hard on the [crowd of 10,000 young protesters] in an explosion of mindless violence” (p.315)
The exploitation of racial fears was quite successful. Daley was defending his policies by saying that “ most people are more worried about a black uproar than of a mayor that orders the use of lethal force to put an end to it and they recognized themselves far less in pacific protesters than in policemen that hit them with truncheons” (p.319).
Media propaganda and the Daley Machine’s police were efficient in convincing the Blacks to respect the established order. Torture was common in the zone 2’s precinct, in the South Side, between 1972 and 1991.
The expected arrival of a new black mayor, Harold Washington, during the 1980’s, increased the fear that everything would change in Chicago. Everything was done to undermine Washington’s candidacy, but he eventually won helped by the black vote.
There were several left-wing political movements which all had their own objectives and were unable to unite under the same progressist banner. This provided the necessary margin of manoeuver to the Daley Machine, who worked in cooperation with the federal authorities to organize the state repression.
Back cover of the book “Histoire de Chicago”
Social problems in disadvantaged neighbourhoods
During the 1995 heat wave, 739 persons died in Chicago. The social precarity helped increase the number of deaths, but it was easier to determine that the victims were responsible of their fate.
The Blacks and Latinos believed, and still do, that the problems related to their school system and neighbourhoods come from some cultural deficiencies, but in trying to understand the real nature of their problems, they overlook the ongoing racism and economic choices of the different city administrations since the creation of the city.
“The 1980 census showed that ten out of sixteen of the poorest neighbourhoods in United States were in Chicago, in the Black Belt, of course”(p.334)
In 2002, Chicago was the American murder capital, with 647 victims. In 2008-2009, the city held the record of students killed in public schools which were gang related.
Today, there are two Chicagos
Today, Chicago benefits from well-defined ethnic neighbourhoods that attract tourists in search of diversity. However, the sustained racial segregation policies have isolated the black neighbourhoods and in 2016 Chicago still has the sad reputation of being the murder capital of the United States.
“The Chicago situation looks more and more like a science-fiction scenario. While part of the city has an economic capacity that sets it among the five first in the world, the other part is frozen in an austerity situation that could very well become irreversible” (p.443)
Front cover of the Florence Arthaud’s book: “Cette nuit, la mer est noire”.
Florence Arthaud is the only woman to have won the Route du Rhum transatlantic single-handed yacht race, one of the most prestigious races in the world. She achieved her feat in 1990.
In 2011, as she was navigating alone aboard her sailboat, Florence fell into the water, off the Cap Corse coast. She shares her thoughts with us as she is convinced that in few hours, exhausted, she will lose her life at sea.
The book starts like this: “I went overboard in a fraction of a second. I am in the water. It is night, and pitch black outside. I am alone […]. In a few moments, the sea, my reason for living, will become my grave”.
Back cover of the book: “Cette nuit, la mer est noire”.
Here are few other translated quotes to give you an idea of the intensity of the story:
“I must move my legs to avoid drowning. Swim, swim. Fight against that fear that would like to paralyze me. I will die, that is for sure, but when? In how much time? To which miracle can I hang to? I try not to think”.
“I am fifteen miles off the coast; not a sign of life around me. The fear I am feeling has nothing to do with the one I encounter when I am racing”.
“The only thing now missing would be sharks. I chase away this childish fear of my spirit”.
But due to several little miracles, Florence will finally be saved.
An excellent book about the human will to survive.
Note: Florence Arthaud died four years later in an airplane crash.
Click on the link for other books on the theme “Tragedy at sea” on my blog.
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.
Their pilots had crossed 60 degree west without communicating with Iceland radio and it was now necessary to ensure that the projected passage time for 70 degree West and the altitude of the aircraft were still valid.
I tried to communicate with the crew using all means at my disposal, among which the SELCAL system which sent an alarm signal on board the aircraft. Nothing worked. Other airliners flying nearby the aircraft were requested to help by trying some calls on VHF emergency frequencies. But again, there were no replies.
Suddenly, about one hour after the moment that the pilots should have given some sign of life, I received an answer to my repeated calls. I told the crew that all the efforts had been made to contact them but without success. I asked them an official position report and an estimate for the next mandatory point of contact. Calmly, the pilot answered that he did not know why I had not received his calls and he immediately prepared an official position report.
It was kind of strange that on a day where the HF reception was excellent, and when all other companies were communicating with Iqaluit radio without any problem, this company stayed silent for such a long period of time.
I finally received the new position report but it clearly looked like an invention. If the data provided by the crew was correct, this aircraft would successfully fly 400 nautical miles in the next ten minutes. It would mean that at this speed, the crew expected to cross most of Canada in about one hour.
I advised the pilot to redo his calculations since, visibly, he seemed to have no idea of his position. He came back with new numbers, very different this time, which match what was expected.
I guessed that during the long transatlantic flight, both pilots slowly fell asleep while the automatic pilot kept the aircraft in flight. Suddenly woken up by the multiple calls, the crew did not take into account the movement of the aircraft during the hour where everybody was asleep and, worried not to get caught, rapidly transmitted totally erroneous calculations.
Nonetheless, the story ended well since the crew, now rested, provided exact information for the following position reports, allowing for a safe flight until destination.
On a summer day of 1989, a DC-8-63F took-off from Iqaluit airport’s runway 36, on Baffin Island, heading towards Los Angeles. In order to do the flight without any stopovers, the tanks had been topped. The combined fuel, passengers and cargo weight required an extremely long ground run before the wheels could leave the runway.
Viewed from the Transport Canada flight service station tower, it seemed to us that the pilot had waited until the last moment to pull on the stick. Once airborne, the aircraft flew horizontally and stayed very low over the flat terrain to profit from the ground effect.
However, few kilometers from the threshold of runway 18, the terrain started to rise enough to request a positive climb rate. The pilot slightly pulled on the stick but avoided any turn to maximize lift.
Using binoculars, the flight service specialists (FSS) watched the aircraft as it should have made a left turn a long time ago. When the turn was finally attempted, the aircraft started to sink and lose much of the altitude precedently gained. We could follow the changes of altitude through the long trails of dark smoke left behind the aircraft.
Realizing the airplane was not ready to turn yet as it was going down, the pilot had started to fly it horizontally again. Moments later, the pilot tried again and the aircraft made a five to ten degree bank before starting to climb very gently. The aircraft would not have handled anything more.
It was the first time that we were considering pressing the red button used to alert airport emergency services. But this would not have been very useful since very little help could have been provided quickly enough, taking into account the position of the aircraft, its enormous amount of fuel on board and the total absence of roads in that isolated Arctic region.
N795AL DC-8-63 Trans Ocean airborne runway 18 in Iqaluit in 1990
(Precedent story: the « Amalgam Chief » military exercise: B-52 bombers in northern Canada).
Aer Lingus Boeing B-737 on final for Iqaluit (1989)
This story is about a 1990 winter day where very bad weather conditions prevailed in Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, Canada. Bad as it was, the weather still allowed for takeoffs. Two airline companies, respectively owning a Boeing 727 and 737 had completed the boarding and expected to be airborne shortly. The weather deteriorating even more, the Transport Canada flight service specialists (FSS) had to tell the pilots that they could not proceed with the takeoff as the airport was now under the minimum visibility criteria.
The aircrafts were ready, the engines running and the pilots could not takeoff. There was a bit of tension in the air and the pilots finally decided that they would take a chance and takeoff under unacceptable conditions. The two captains were reminded by the FSS that if they tried to takeoff in the prevailing visibility, which was under legal minimums, an occurrence report would be filed against them.
The flight service specialist naturally received a reply in line with the pilot’s impatience. Nevertheless, the pilots took a second look at the weather and, thinking of a possible occurrence report, decided to delay both takeoffs.
A view from the Iqaluit flight service tower: a First Air Boeing B-727 and a Canadian Airlines Boeing B-737A new Hapag-LLoyd (D-AHLL) Boeing B-737 has just arrived from Boeing Field in Seattle. Next destination: Germany.
In being so impatient to complete their flight, those captains were neglecting that there is always the possibility of an engine failure or other major emergency on takeoff. If they had lost an engine just after being airborne, it would have been impossible to return back to Iqaluit due to the extremely low visibility; they would have been forced to fly a very long distance with one less engine to get to their alternate airport, increasing the risks for the safety of the passengers.
The threat of a potential occurrence report, which has always been the prerogative of air traffic services, forced the pilots to wait for appropriate weather conditions.
The Iqaluit flight service station tower and a First Air Boeing B-727 landing on runway 36 (1990)View from the Iqaluit flight service station tower of an Evergreen International Boeing B-727 (1989)A NWT Air B-737 on the taxiway and a Bradley Air Services Twin Otter about to land in Iqaluit (1989)An AirUK G-UKLB Boeing B737 is arriving in Iqaluit (around 1989)
(Next story: the lady who was robbed before my eyes)
Tales of a Dakota Pilot – The way it was 1929 – 1937
This is a simple and charming little book retelling the life stories of the pilot Fred Max Roberts Jr when he was flying his airplanes in the Bismark region, North Dakota, between 1929 and 1937. The book was written by his son, Fred Marke Roberts, so that some of his father’s stories do not fall in oblivion. You will find here a good idea of how things were done in the early years of aviation.
An original and easy way of refueling
When came the time to refuel, the pilots would regularly land on a farmer’s field. They knew that somebody had noticed the landing and, most of the time, a fuel truck would be sent without any previous arrangements. The pilot had nonetheless the duty to make sure he landed close to an easy access for the fuel truck. Sometimes, to simplify the refueling process a bit, the pilot landed directly on the road, outside of the city.
This habit did not seem to have change fifty years later when I did a 2650 kilometers cross-country flight with a Cessna 170B, between St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Edmonton, Alberta. During the trip, I had to land in a field near Lundar, Manitoba, a Canadian province which is bounded to the south by North Dakota and Minnesota. Soon after the landing, a pick-up truck carrying fuel approached the plane. I had not made any arrangements for fuel. In my case, a precautionary landing was needed as the fuel gauges had started to give false indications. Since fuel was readily available, the tanks were topped before the next takeoff.
Landing in a field with a Cessna C170B in Lundar, Manitoba in 1981.
Killing coyotes against the county bounty
Coyotes where frequently attacking farmer’s livestock. When the situation was getting out of control, the farmers would phone Fred Max. The latter would take off with his Curtiss Junior Pusher, accompanied by an experienced shooter and they would spot and kill coyotes. Winter was the best season for hunting from the air since the coyote’s dark colored fur contrasted against the white snow.
The farmers, on their horses, were following the aircraft’s manoeuvers to spot where the coyotes had been shot. They then brought the dead animals back to their farm. Few minutes later, the aircraft would land as close to the farm as possible and the pilots picked up the coyotes, bringing them back to the county’s bureau in order to receive the published bounty for each killed coyote.
Super Cub and wolves shot from the air in Northern Ontario, Canada, on an aviation postcard dating from the sixties.
The American Midwest farmer’s hospitality
When a pilot landed in a farmer’s field, as a stopover on a long cross-country flight, he would often be offered a meal with the farmer’s family. If darkness was an obstacle for the continuation of the flight, the pilot was often offered a bed for the night. The next morning, after breakfast, and as a thank you gesture, the pilot would offer the farmer a courtesy flight.
A practical way to lower the costs associated with a long cross-country flight
An easy way to reduce the costs associated with a long cross-country flight was to offer airplane rides to villagers who had come to meet the pilot once at the destination. The pilot landed, waited a bit and knew that, soon, few people would come to him to ask for a ride.
The pilot Fred Max Roberts Jr hanging to the wing of his monoplane
A major concern for any pilot landing in a field was to find a fence to tie the plane as soon as possible to protect it from the strong winds blowing over the Midwest plains. But really strong gusts would sometimes break the ropes.
The pilot tells the reader that he was once immobilized in the middle of a field while a storm was quickly approaching. He got under the wing of his monoplane and hanged to it in order to add some weight. But that was not enough. A strong gust lifted the plane, broke the two tie-downs and sent pilot and plane flying at about ten feet in the air. Fearing that his plane would continue to climb without him at the controls, the pilot let go. The plane maintained a level flight while backing until it suddenly rolled and crashed.
Pilot and passengers are caught in flight by a tornado
Flying and meteorology manuals teach every pilot the necessity to avoid thunderstorms because, among other reasons, of the extreme ascending and descending air currents that are present in a well-developed cell. The pilot Fred Max Roberts Jr not only went through a thunderstorm but survived a tornado while he was in flight. His story was published in many newspapers at the time. Some of the articles are reproduced in the book.
As the pilot tells it, meteorological forecasts and weather observations were not as easily accessible as they are today. During a flight with passengers in his Waco 90 biplane, the sky suddenly darkened and the weather degraded rapidly. The pilot tried his best to fly between two important cloud formations. He could hardly see his instruments due to the lack of light, even if the flight was made during the day. He was fighting to avoid being disoriented.
Suddenly, the plane started to gain altitude rapidly by itself. The pilot nosed his ship downward and applied full power. This was useless. The aircraft was still rapidly climbing, tail first. Then the ascent abruptly stopped and a dive ensued. He pulled on the stick to bring his Waco to a level flight, but the rapid descent continued. Having no other choice, he applied full throttle and set his plane for a normal climb. Again, the descent continued until the Waco was at about 500 feet above ground level.
Eventually, they got out of the storm and landed at White Rock. Fred Max then realized that his passengers, sitting in the open cockpit Waco during the storm, had not fasten their seat belts and were hanging for dear life to a brace running across the front of the passenger cockpit.
Those are some of the tales a reader can find in “Tales of a Dakota Pilot”, an unpretentious book but nonetheless a publication that might very well surprise many young pilots, as the 1930’s way of flying so differed from what a young pilot lives when he integrates today’s world of aviation.
