Tag: Ontario

Flowers and plants photography

Post author By Stanley
Post date 4 April 2015

Butchart Gardens, British-Columbia, 2012.

Facing a field of flowers, a photographer has to choose among many possibilities. Here are just a few:

1) He can choose a really beautiful flower and make it the sole point of attraction. In that case, he must decide if the background will be free of any distractions.

A rose from the English Garden in Geneva, 2013.

2) He can profit from a blurred background that is of a color dramatically opposed to the color of the chosen flower.

A tulip in the Bois-de-Coulonge, Québec City.

3) He might favor an overhead or a low angle shot. As this choice of the angle of view does not apply only to flowers, I found in my archives a low angle shot of a pear tree located in St-Nicolas, Québec. Here it is, so that you can see what kind of effect can be obtained.

4) He can decide to show many flowers on the same picture, considering the interesting impact produced by all the color dots.

A field of flowers in Saint-Nicolas, Québec.

5) He might also use the flowers as accessories to direct the eye of the viewer to another point of interest like, for example, a building with special architectural characteristics.

Industrielle Alliance building, Quebec City, 2012

Flowers as accessories to improve a beautiful landscape in the background.

Sunflowers on Île d'Orléans — Sunflowers on Île d’Orléans

Photo of a part of Banff downtown, Alberta, Canada 2014

The flowers and the bumblebee are two interesting subjects; they complement each other in this picture. It would be hard for me to decide which one I prefer.

Bumblebee on a flower in the Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge, Québec City

Unless there is no other possibility, it is better to avoid shooting flowers under full sun as there will be considerable reflection on their petals. If you have no choice, use a polarizing filter, well adjusted, to reduce the undesirable effects of direct sunlight.

The ideal day to get out and take pictures of flowers is a day without wind, where there is a bright light but dimmed by an overcast sky.

The quality of colors and contrasts will be maximized if the pictures are taken during the morning or at the end of the afternoon.

Aperture has a definite impact on the final result. With a wide aperture (smaller numbers like F2.8 or F4.0) you will get a sharp subject with everything blurred around it. This will make your flower stand out. With a small aperture (bigger numbers like F14, F16), both foreground and background will be sharper, with an even better result using a wide-angle lens. Your flower will lose a bit of its impact as all the elements in the picture will now shine. Below is a picture taken in Ontario, during the Ottawa Tulip Festival.

Macrophotography:

April 2012 on the Plains of Abraham: A bee makes its way out of a crocus.

1) Remove any dirt from the plant you want to capture and choose a plant whose petals are in perfect condition.

2) Use a tripod, a remote control release and the mirror lock-up (MLU) function for better results.

3) The camera should ideally be used with manual focus, for improved sharpness. In order to verify if the picture will be in focus, look at the LCD screen and enlarge the picture (5X or 10X). You will immediately see if a minor adjustment is needed to get a sharp photo or to improve the depth-of-field.

The histogram should be checked upon taking the picture to immediately compensate for the necessary amount of light.

You can use a flash to reduce aperture. You must adjust it so that it’s not shooting at full power otherwise there will be too much reflection and you will lose all the delicate nuances of colors and contrasts.

A method that will produce surprising results is called “zoom burst”. You slowly move the zoom of a lens on all its focal length while the shutter remains open during the process. You must select a speed that is slow enough to accommodate the full deflection of the zoom. You should know that many shots are normally needed before you get a satisfying image.

Every lens offers different possibilities:

1) The macro lens is useful if you wish to capture very precise details on the flower. To add an interesting effect, you can even spray the flower lightly with water so that a few droplets remain on the petals.

2) The wide-angle lens allows you to transform an image and give it an original perspective. The effect will be more important if you shoot the flower from a special angle like, for example, from the ground up. If you must lie on the ground, use a little carpet to keep yourself clean and dry. I bought a right-angle finder to ease the workload when shooting under complicated angles. This could be a potentially interesting addition to your equipment.

3) Finally, the telephoto allows you to pick a particular flower and, because of compressed perspective, offers you a background filled with multiple colors.

Let’s end this section with a mushroom picture. The same principles apply with regards to simplicity, settings and angles of views. I could have chosen to show only an oversize shot of a mushroom, or take only part of it, but I preferred an approach that would allow me to show the radically different shapes of the specimens found at the Laurentian Forestry Center in Québec.

Mushrooms around the Canadian Forestry Service building , Québec 2014.

Real life stories as a flight service specialist (FSS): Rouyn-Noranda FSS

The newspaper “Le Moyen Terme”

Post author By Stanley
Post date 1 April 2015

A section of the front page of my newspaper "Le Moyen Terme" — A section of the front page of my newspaper “Le Moyen Terme”

Since the Quebec flight service stations were disseminated over a vast territory, the communications between the employees of each station were quite limited. It was difficult to obtain relevant information on staff transfers: such information was badly needed when came the time to choose the next transfer site.

How would an employee be able to insist that there is availability in Montreal if he did not have in front of him, during the “discussion”, such verified information? To correct the situation, once I was working at Rouyn-Noranda FSS, I decided to create my own newspaper, titled “Le Moyen Terme”.

The newspaper was distributed to every Quebec flight service stations, to the Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall, Ontario, to Montreal regional office and to Ottawa headquarters. Suddenly, the Quebec flight service specialists were having access to relevant information that was updated on a regular basis.

I had contributors from all over the province, and as the newspaper gained in credibility, even Ottawa managers started to provide me with some input. I financed the newspaper, wrote most of the articles and mailed a new edition every two months. I was indebted to nobody. This did not preclude the reception of a lawyer’s letter, but in such a controlled environment, that did not come as a surprise. I presented the letter to a well-known judge who took care of the matter for free. He closed the case in one swift move.

Each edition had ten to fifteen pages. It was typed using an old typewriter and mistakes were erased using correcting fluid. A small part of the content was meant to amuse the reader, but must of the information was of an editorial nature. The texts were generally received positively by the employees and that contributed to a regular exchange.

The "Facts and rumors" page of the "Le Moyen Terme" newspaper — The “Facts and rumors” page of the “Le Moyen Terme” newspaper

The section that was possibly the least appreciated by the regional office was titled: “Where are they?” On that page, one could find the name of every employee working at a particular station, with its seniority. The details were now readily available to everybody. The information provided by the management could now be crosschecked by the staff. This possibly annoyed some managers who, until recently, had a relatively easy task in attributing respective postings.

Page "Où sont-ils?" (Where are they?) of my newspaper "Le Moyen Terme" — Page “Où sont-ils?” (Where are they?) of my newspaper “Le Moyen Terme”

One day, I had to visit the Montreal Transport Canada regional office. A high ranking manager, aware of my visit, invited me in his office and ordered me to stop the production of the newspaper. I told him that it was out of question and that the newspaper was useful to many employees. My answer, at the time, did not make me friends in high places, but it was not my goal. The newspaper was produced for another two years. I decided to end this personal project when I had no more time to take care of it, busy with multiple university courses and a seven days a week working schedule in Iqaluit. Since I did not want to dilute or diminish the content or the quality of the newspaper I had created, I chose to stop its production.

(Note: the comic-book characters were created by Gotlib)

For more real life stories on the Rouyn-Noranda flight service station and flight service specialists, click here:

Real life stories as a FSS in Rouyn-Noranda

Flight Simulation

Flight simulation: gliding with the DG-808S over Canadian lakes and forests.

Post author By Stanley
Post date 28 March 2015

The link is finally cut between the plane and the DG-808S glider (fsx)

In the « flight simulation » section, under « challenging virtual flights », you will soon find screen captures representing the DG-808S glider built by DG Flugzeugbau. The flight departed from the Parry Sound airport (CNK4) in Ontario. The scenery has been created by Vlad Maly, from ORBX.

A DG-808S glider in flight with birds (fsx)

The command CTRL+SHFT+Y will allow an aircraft to appear and a cable to be installed between the aircraft and the glider. It is more demanding to do gliding operations in the Parry Sound region because if the pilot gets far enough from the airport, he leaves behing many options to help him land easily in case of difficulties. There are not many fields or roads. There are mostly lakes and forests. The view is interesting, but you fly with the feeling that there is really no plan B. If the glider must go down, chances are it will find itself either in water or on the top of trees.

Glider DG-808S turning base for the Parry Sound airport (fsx)

Glider DG-808S over Robert's Lake (fsx) — Glider DG-808S over Robert’s Lake (fsx)

The DG-808S can reach a speed up to 146 kT and has a gliding ratio of 5o :1. It is a high performance glider. It can carry up to 343 pounds of water to be used as ballast. In real life, the pilot uses the necessary amount of water according to the prevailing weather conditions. If there are weak thermals, the glider will easily operate without water. If there are strong thermals, it carries the maximum amount of water in its wings to add sufficient weight.

DG-808S sailplane on short final for runway 35 in Parry Sound (fsx)

Glider DG-808S over threshold 35 Parry Sound (fsx)

The flight was made using CumulusX and FSX. On final for runway 35, you will have the opportunity to fly at low altitude over Robert’s Lake and admire all the small details created to make the scenery more realistic.

A DG-808S sailplane and the Canadian flag in Parry Sound, Ontario (fsx)

End of a DG-808S glider flight in Parry Sound, Ontario (fsx)

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

Good luck and have fun!

Tags airport, challenging virtual flights, CNK4, Cumulus x, DG Flugzeugbau, DG-808S, FSX, glider, Ontario, ORBX, Parry Sound virtual airport, pilot, Robert's Lake, virtual flight, virtual scenery, Vlad Maly

Flight Simulation

Flight simulation: Parry Sound (CNK4) to Toronto Billy Bishop (CYTZ)

Post author By Stanley
Post date 26 February 2015

Flying over Toronto downtown shortly before the landing in Toronto Island (CYTZ)

I recently added, in the standard virtual flight section, a flight leaving Parry Sound for Toronto Billy Bishop.Here is an opportunity to learn a bit more about the Great Lakes region in Ontario. The Parry Sound airport, from ORBX, is a first creation by Vlad Maly for this province. The runway length is 4000 feet. Just beside the airport, there is a lake, Robert’s Lake (CRL8), with many cottages, floatplanes and sailboats that are visible when you select the appropriate season. The lake also offers 4000 feet for takeoffs and landings.

The actual flight has been made while the clouds were low enough that the flying altitude forbid the adequate reception of the Toronto Island (Billy Bishop) NDB (257khz) in the first half of the flight. A touch-and-go was made at Toronto International (CYYZ). MyTraffic2013 provided the airport with many AI aircrafts. Once over downtown Toronto, it was now time for Pilot’s FS Global 2010 to automatically install a maximum of buildings, for more realism.

On final for the Toronto Billy Bishop (Toronto Island) airport (CYTZ)

Landing at CYTZ with the CN tower in the background (FSX)

Finally, theToronto Billy Bishop (formerly Toronto Island) was modified by ORBX in order to make it more interesting and alive. You will thus find, on arrival, some staff to take care of the refueling process. Somes vehicules have also been added. Naturally, MyTraffic2013 took charge of AI aircrafts as CYTZ is quite a busy airport and needs some air traffic to enhance the realism.

Time to refuel at Toronto Billy Bishop (CYTZ)

I wish you a good flight, if you wish to try it out. I would suggest though, for a more interesting experience, that you install ORBX FTX Global Vector on your computer, as the Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX)software does not do a good job when it comes to representing the Great Lakes area. ORBX Open LC for North America further improves the flying experience.

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

Tags Canada, CYTZ, flight simulation, FSX, FTX Global Vector, Great Lakes, MyTraffic 2013, Ontario, Open LC North America, ORBX, Parry Sound virtual airport, Pilot's FS Global 2010, Robert's Lake, standard virtual flights, virtual airport, virtual flight, virtual scenery, Vlad Maly, White Digital Simulations

Real life stories: flight service and Transport Canada Training Institute

The flight service specialist training at the Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall, Ontario.

Post author By Stanley
Post date 12 November 2014
4 Comments on The flight service specialist training at the Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall, Ontario.

(Precedent story: the flight instructor license)

View of a small portion of the Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall, Ontario, in 1982

In the early 80s, the oil crisis forces airlines to greatly limit hiring. This was not the case during our pilot training course but becomes a reality when applying for a job a year later.

However, on the government side, the situation is quite different. The air traffic services branch of Transport Canada is looking for new employees to replace staff approaching retirement age. The only option immediately accessible to me is to apply as a flight service specialist (FSS). I have only a rough idea of what are the responsibilities, nothing more. But the pay and advantages are far better than what is otherwise available to a new flight instructor. It is time to send in an application.

For the Province of Quebec, two written examinations totally unrelated with aviation are held at the University of Quebec in Montreal. There are 1500 candidates (5 sessions of 300 applicants) who attempt these tests during the two days allotted for the first phase of the selection process. In the following weeks and months, those who have succeeded in the written tests must then undergo anything from personal interviews to language tests, medical examinations and security clearances.

We are now three candidates from Quebec heading towards the Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall. There will be thirty-five hours of theoretical and practical course per week, over a six months period. The pressure will be continuous and desired in order to eliminate candidates who may not react well to stress.

We will be paid to study. A candidate is guaranteed with a posting upon completion of training, providing he manages to obtain 80% and above on the written and practical evaluations. Because this 82-01 course is not dedicated to Quebecers only, it cannot be offered in French. So it is going to be in English only, and will include twenty-four students from almost all Canadian provinces.

The Transport Canada Training Institute in Cornwall is nothing short of exceptional for those who have decided to study and succeed.

In order to help the student to deal with the weekly thirty-five hours of courses and examinations, the school provides interesting amenities.Each student has a private room with daily maid service. The cafeteria offers a good choice of meals. Calories can be burned at the pool, gym, weight room, on the tennis court or on the baseball field. A snack bar remains open for late-night cravings. A bank teller is made available to students, as well as a hairdressing salon, a bar, arcade games, pool tables, etc.

Transport Canada Training Institute weight room. Cornwall, Ontario 1982

1982 TCTI, Cornwall. Students from the FSS 82-01 group are experimenting a new way to improve scoring at basketball.

So that we understand what lies ahead, we are told that there are traditionally many students in each class who will not keep pace and will be sent home, despite their efforts. For a francophone who wasn’t using a second language on a daily basis , it is clear that integrating new theory presented in English for seven and a half hours every day, five days a week, becomes demanding. I compensate for the times when my attention decreases by studying in the evening.

There is a library in the school as well as multiples rooms for flight simulators designed for every career considered by the students.

1982 Cornwall TCTI Flight Simulation Room

1982 TCTI Cornwall. Environment Canada upper air building.

In the courtyard, there is a peacock and other small animals and a water source flows into a very well planned landscape.

The amenities are simply stunning. The message is clear: “Transport Canada only ask you to study and succeed, it will take care of the rest.”

1982 Cornwall TCTI corridors to classrooms

Finally, the moment we were all waiting for as arrived. Students who managed to get through the course celebrate their graduation.

Assignments are distributed. Those who will be working in isolated postings, in northern Quebec, are well aware that the schedule does not include holidays. The FSS will be on duty every day. The new employee will be compensated for overtime and a more expensive cost of life. He will also benefit from subsidized rents.

My departure is planned shortly for Inukjuak (CYPH), along the east coast of Hudson Bay in the Nunavik. Life will soon change radically.

(Next story: enroute to the first posting: Inukjuak)

Real life stories as pilot and FSS: learning how to fly

The flight from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, to Edmonton, Alberta in 1981

Post author By Stanley
Post date 28 October 2014

(Precedent story: unexpected thunderstorm cells)

After a proficiency check, I soon find myself flying a Cessna 170B (tail wheel) on a flight across Canada, from St -Jean-sur- Richelieu, Quebec, to Edmonton, Alberta. I am accompanied by the aircraft’s owner who has not yet completed his private pilot course. The 1952 Cessna flies well, but has absolutely no instruments for air navigation, not even a VOR nor ADF. And the era of the portable GPS is not yet upon us.

Fourteen 1:500,000 VFR charts, covering the planned flight, are folded, glued and numbered. I trace the expected flight path on each chart, with 10 miles landmarks. This will facilitate the monitoring of our progress, considering the absence of navigation equipment. The preparation now completed, the take off is done on a beautiful summer day of 1981.

1:500,000 VFR charts used for a flight toward Edmonton, Canada, in 1981

We do stopovers at Gatineau, North Bay, Sudbury and then fly along Lake Superior to Wawa.

Small break in Sudbury on a VFR flight to Edmonton in 1981

We fly around Lake Superior to our next stopovers, Thunder Bay and Fort Frances. Over large forested areas, with no major landmarks, the gyroscopic precession must be corrected frequently so as not to stray too far from the intended track. Sometimes when it facilitates navigation, we either follow a railway or main roads. There are some instances where the westerly winds are so strong that our ground speed is slower than a car on a highway.

From Fort Frances to Kenora in 1981, with a Cessna C170B

Our flight path follows a line that keeps us away from areas of high air traffic. I choose to fly north of Winnipeg terminal control area, thus avoiding frequent radio exchanges with air traffic control in a language I do not master. The underperforming radio would not be of any help at any rate. This option eventually means that we must fly over Lake Winnipeg, in its southern portion. We have enough altitude to be able to glide to the other side in case of an engine failure. Nonetheless, we realize that we are gradually loosing several thousand feet due to the cold air mass above the lake. This with maximum power applied. The unexpected descent eventually ends, but it is now impossible to have an engine failure without ditching in the lake…

The crossing of Lake Winnipeg with a Cessna C170B in 1981

Near Lundar, Manitoba, the aircraft’s old gauges indicate a significant loss of fuel. It is surprising since we refueled an hour ago. We must land the plane on the nearest runway, but the strong crosswinds exceed the capabilities of the aircraft. Nonetheless, an attempt is made with the result that only the left wheel accepts the contact with the runway. As soon as the right wheel also touches the ground, the aircraft becomes airborne again. A nearby field is selected to make a precautionary landing so that the fuel status can be verified. We fly at low altitude over the electrical wires and the cows in the adjacent field, and touch smoothly at a ground speed not exceeding 15 knots. A farmer witnesses the landing and arrives in his red pick-up to offer some help. The tanks are almost full, so the plane only needs few liters of gasoline. Once this is done, we take off westward. It appears that the old fuel gauges of this 1952 Cessna are now totally unreliable…

Landing in a field with a Cessna C170B in Lundar, Manitoba in 1981.

We leave Manitoba through Dauphin and enter Saskatchewan. If we were to experience an engine failure above such uniform fields, the risk of serious problems at landing would be virtually nonexistent.

Near Yorkton, Saskatchewan, in flight with a Cessna C170B in 1981

The weather is slowly deteriorating. We choose to land in Watson, Saskatchewan, on the nearest runway.

The runway surface consists of muddy earth and grass, and it’s delimited by small red wooden panels. As we touch the ground, the tires splash mud everywhere, including under the wings.

The Watson runway, Saskatchewan, in 1981

The King George motel in Watson, Saskatchewan in 1981

Finally, the weather improves and a takeoff is made toward North Battleford, the last stop before Edmonton. The sloping terrain forces us to fly lower and lower near Edmonton, under an overcast stratocumulus, limiting our ability to see a long time in advance the correct airport from the three available (international, civil , military ). Luckily, everything goes well in choosing the right airport and approach, but we cannot say the same with radio communications. The sound quality coming from the old speaker is awful and the English spoken by the air traffic controller too fast for us. The combination of these two factors causes the controller to repeat more than once his instructions until he finally decides to slow down and we can officially say: « Roger! »

After spending few days in Edmonton it is now time for the return flight to St-Jean. This proves to be much easier and faster because the westerly winds push the aircraft. Our ground speed is sometimes double what we had managed to get on our trip to Edmonton. The journey took us twenty-five hours to go and eighteen hours to come back.

Cessna C170B in flight over Canada, summer 1981.

Climbing to 9,500 feet on the return leg to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in 1981.

VFR "on top" with a Cessna C170B in 1981 over Canada — VFR “on top” with a Cessna C170B in 1981 over Canada

Over North Bay, Ontario, the weather is ideal. But we will have to land in Ottawa while waiting for thunderstorms to move away from Montreal and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. After a total of forty- three-hours of flying time, the old Cessna 170B is landing back to St- Jean -sur- Richelieu.

(Next story: the flight instructor license)

Real life stories as pilot and FSS: learning how to fly

Accidental Night Flying…Without Night Rating

Post author By Stanley
Post date 22 September 2014

(Precedent story: The Private pilot license)

Note: For this real story, since I did not have a camera with me in the aircraft in the 1980 flight, I reproduced the flight on a simulator using a Piper Cherokee (which is the closest I could find that looks like the Grumman Cheetah).

Shortly after obtaining my private pilot license, in 1980, I was asked to pick up a plane parked in Earlton, Ontario, three hundred nautical miles northwest of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and bring it back to St-Jean. To get to Earlton, I was in the company of an experienced pilot and we left together on a single-engine Grumman Cheetah. For the return flight, each pilot would fly his own plane, following one another. My companion would lead in his aircraft because he had all the necessary navigational charts to get us back to St-Jean.

Along the way we had to deal with a cold front which delayed our arrival to St-Jean. Before the journey started, I was assured that we would arrive before darkness. It now seemed a bit tight.

A nice evening light over the parc de la Vérendrye.

My companion had accelerated the pace. Two facts became obvious: first, the sunset was beautiful. Second, I did not have my night flying rating. This sunset meant that there was about thirty minutes left before total darkness.

I called him on the radio to enquire if he still believed that we would reach St-Jean on time. He answered that we were at the limit.
I then enquire about the possible existence of a button that would illuminate the instruments at night. The button was found and soon the instruments took on a pinkish color. Then came the questions about the essential tools for a night flight. He named the few.

Réserve du parc de La Vérendrye at night time.

With minutes passing by very quickly it now seemed impossible to arrive before the official night time as we had not yet crossed the Montreal Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau control zone.

Approaching Montreal, I tried to communicate with my companion but there was no more reply. The only navigational fix available for this improvised night flight was the small red rotating beacon on the tail of his aircraft. Strangely, its intensity was gradually weakening. My companion was getting away, his plane being a faster one.

Montréal from above, in a single engine aircraft. — Montréal in sight. It is the first time that I see Montréal from high above during the night. I did not expect I would do so while flying a plane without holding a night rating.

I increased the power and adjusted the mixture to gain a few knots, while focusing on the little red dot that could direct me to St- Jean-sur-Richelieu. I was not too happy with my performance. I should have insisted from the beginning, to have a copy of all the documents. But this flight seemed so simple. Lesson learned.

We flew through the Montreal international airport control zone. In the night, the strobe lights of big airliners were visible on the approaches to landings or during take-offs. Abusing the engine a little bit, I gradually decreased the distance from my companion’s aircraft. Unable to hear anything due to the lack of documents that would provide the local frequencies being used, I simply followed the aircraft ahead of me.

Suddenly, the distant red beacon started going down in the night. I supposed we were getting close to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. My companion was certainly communicating with the airport control tower to announce his intentions. This was a frequency I knew by heart. I ran the risk of calling him on the tower frequency to ask for tips to land at night. The answer was short and uncertain, because he knew that radio communications were recorded. The only advice he could find was: “I do not know what information to give you, take your time.” The air traffic controller heard this and offered me the presence of emergency vehicles, an offer I politely declined.

A Lake Buccaneer seaplane pilot flying in the area heard the communication and told the controller: “Advise him to turn his landing light on!” I replied that it was not functional. It had been observed during the pre-flight checks at St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, but it was not supposed to be a problem since we were flying during daytime only.

The first step towards a landing is to know the relative position of the plane from the airport and its three runways. When you have never flown at night, the view is different and requires an adjustment. Once the runway in use was identified (runway 11), the next step was to imagine that the flight instructor who trained me was sitting next to me. He would require good positions in the circuit, exact altitude according to each leg of the circuit pattern, appropriate speed and flap degrees, and finally an approach with a suitable angle.

At the time, all I knew about night flying boiled down to one eminently practical aspect: there was a wooded area at the beginning of runway 11 and I did not want to descend too much and hit the top of those trees, invisible in the night. However, being too high above the runway threshold would mean that the wheels would touch too far away past the threshold and the remaining runway length would be insufficient to stop the aircraft the ideal way, that is to say in one piece.

During the final leg of the approach, although my attention was fully dedicated to the procedures, I could feel that the rhythm of my heart had accelerated. On short final, everything happened quickly. The plane flew above the wooded area, the runway approached rapidly and the two wheels of the main gear touched the runway gently. The brakes were applied immediately and everything was over.

The main issue was now solved. I requested guidance from the air traffic controller to taxi down to the flying club. He jumped on the opportunity to ask me, a smile in his voice: “Are you going to take your night flying rating now?“!

(Next story: Night landing on an ice rink).

For other real life stories as a pilot, click on the following link: Real life stories as a pilot