October 1984. It was time for the annual holidays. Florida was the destination. What made the trip more interesting was that the Challenger space shuttle would be launched while we would be there, and that the Canadian astronautMarc Garneau would be on board. He was the first Canadian astronaut to have the opportunity to go in space.
The Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau (upper row, extreme right) and the other american astronauts chosen for the Nasa Challenger Space Shuttle Mission 41-G (from left to right and lower to upper row: Jon A.McBride, Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, David C. Leestma, Paul D.Scully-Power, Robert L. Crippen, Marc Garneau) on aviation postcard.
The plane’s tickets were bought and one morning of the whole trip was reserved for the shuttle’s takeoff. I was planning to take a picture of the launch from Cocoa Beach. The shuttle would be airborne before daylight, while it was still quite dark.
I had a very basic Pentax camera at the time and all the settings had to be done manually. The aperture and speed were adjusted to ensure a well-balanced picture. But I never expected that the gas combustion would illuminate the sky in such a radical way. I believed, like many people, that the thundering noise from the engines would be the first sign that the launch had just happened.
But the speed of light being way faster that the speed of sound, we suddenly experienced a radical change in the ambient light. I had barely enough time to modify the settings before the shuttle entered the clouds. But I still managed to bring back a little souvenir from that day…
Challenger space shuttle taking-off in 1984 with the Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau on board
I had just seen something spectacular. I knew that on board were pilots with exceptional talent.
But two months before, while I was working as a flight service specialist (FSS) at the Transport Canada flight service station in Rouyn-Noranda (CYUY), I witnessed a different kind of performance. One day that I was listening on a frequency that is not normally used for communications between pilots and air traffic service units, I heard two pilots exchange the questions and answers found on airline pilot license written exams. The pilot’s comments gave me the feeling that they would be very lucky to succeed at such a written exam.
I took the microphone and, without announcing myself, intervened as a third party in the discussion. I asked them to repeat the questions and answers that they just gave each other since I did not have time to copy everything.
The pilots were stunned to realize that other people were listening while they were exchanging the data on the air. One of them said: “Did you hear that?” They immediately ended the radio communication. The simple fact of using radio frequencies for such activities told a lot about the quality of their judgment. And judgment is an essential quality of every performing pilot…
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Cessna 310 C-GAFO parked on the ramp at Rouyn-Noranda (around 1986-88)
During the summer season, air surveillance is needed to watch for new forest fires in the center and north of the Quebec Province. There are periods, sometimes many days in a row, where the pilots do not observe anything significant. They accumulate hours of flying, quietly waiting to see a new fire or expecting to be directed by a dispatcher to a new problematic area. Those pilots also act as spotters for the Canadair CL215’s and CL415’s.
During the eighties, in the Abitibi region, a Cessna 310 had been in flight for few hours and the pilot had not spotted anything worth a call. Wishing to add a bit of action to his flight, he decided to descend and follow the meanders of a river at an extremely low altitude. As he exited a bend, the pilot faced a standing fisherman in its boat, angling in open water. Imitating the gestures of the fisherman, the pilot later told the Transport Canada flight service specialist (FSS) in Rouyn-Noranda (CYUY) that he was not the only one surprised…
It might be hard to believe that an aircraft could fly that low, especially when exiting a bend in a river. But after many decades in the aviation world, I can say that almost everything is possible. I imagine the fisherman’s reaction, quietly angling during a beautiful summer morning. While the fisherman lowers his head, the pilot pulls on the controls…
The expression in the pilot’s face showed clearly that he had had enough action for the day…I would like to swear that it was his last daring move, but it would be to ignore that this need for extreme flying is always present in some pilots.
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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.
Medical evacuation aircraft HS-125 C-FSEN Valentine Lupien of the Quebec Government, around 1986.
During the eighties, while I was working as a flight service specialist (FSS) at the Transport Canada flight service station in Rouyn-Noranda (CYUY), I received a phone call from a Val-d’Or air traffic controller. He told me that there was a problem with the type K ARCAL. The ARCAL allows a pilot to remotely activate the runway lights.
Normally, the pilot can choose between three intensities: low, medium and high. But it now seemed that for an extended period, the ARCAL’s low intensity would not be serviceable. The controller told me to issue aNOTAM stating that nobody could use the ARCAL for an indefinite period.
I did not agree with that request. An ARCAL system that was left available would facilitate a pilot’s life by allowing him to choose between the remaining intensities during the approach, or on takeoff. The pilots of the Quebec Government HS125 in charge of medical evacuations during night time would certainly appreciate.
I told the controller that I did not know of any approved procedures relating to an ARCAL type K system failure and that I did not see why I would consider totally unserviceable a system in which only one intensity out of three was posing a problem.
He replied that those were the written procedures that could be found in the control tower and that I had to call his manager if I wanted to see them. How was it possible that official procedures pertinent to a system installed on many airports across Canada, with or without a control tower, could only be found in selected control towers? This was unthinkable.
Through my manager, I asked to receive a copy of those procedures. But it now seemed that those procedures were not in the Val-d’Or control tower but in the Montreal regional office. I tried to get them from that office, but nobody could find anything on the subject.
It was now obvious that those procedures never existed. The funny thing is that all the stakeholders were defending, one level at a time, the existence of those fictive procedures, for all kinds of reasons.
During those years, there was a program called “Incentive Award”, encouraging an employee to present new ideas that would improve the efficiency of the public service. If a proposition was accepted by the highest management levels, a certificate accompanied with a small amount of money would be sent to the employee by the Deputy Minister at Transport Canada. Realizing I would not obtain satisfaction from the regional management, I used the “Incentive Award” program to present my proposition.
One year later, I received a call from somebody who told me he was working at the national level, in Ottawa. He implied that my suggestion would not be accepted.
I told him that I paid, like other Canadians, to get the ARCAL system installed and that, as long as one intensity would remain serviceable, the ARCAL would have to be available to pilots. I made sure he understood that I could not care if he felt comfortable with the idea or not. He was advised that if he maintained his view on the subject, he would have to justify his action to the Canadian public and to the Minister of Transport, who, at the time, was Benoît Bouchard.
Two months later, I received a check and a letter from the Deputy Minister of Transport Canada thanking me for my suggestion that was improving the efficiency of public service. Fourteen months were needed to make the transition from fictive to official procedures that now apply to all Canadian airports equipped with this type of remote control of runway lights.
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Cumuliform clouds add energy to any photo. Even photos in black and white benefit from them largely, whether it is for a normal or an HDR photo.
Cumuliform clouds add dynamism to this Abbaye du Mont St-Michel scenery. France (1978)
Black and white HDR picture of lamp posts installed along the St-Lawrence, Quebec City 2012.
The stratiform clouds add to the tranquillity and the stability of a photo.
Daytona Beach under stratus clouds in 2011. The end of the afternoon allows the fresh air from the sea to move over the heated land, which helps create few cumulus fractus, visible near the buildings.
Clouds including a stratiform and cumuliform components (stratocumulus) produce an effect that is more energizing than the simple stratus, while avoiding the explosion of energy of the cumuliform clouds.
A stratocumulus adds to this otherwise peaceful scenery captured on board the Lyria train between Paris and Geneva in 2013.
The cold front
The approach of a cold front enhances the possibility of interesting photos. If it is a fast moving cold front of moist and unstable air, the photos will probably be more spectacular, as some thunderstorms will be associated with the system. A dew point of more than 15 C indicates the presence of a lot of water vapor which can be transformed into precipitation, thus releasing a lot of energy. When these conditions are combined with a really strong contrast between the new air mass which approaches and the one which goes away, the produced meteorological phenomena will certainly be intense.
In the photos below, the meteorological system approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport also had to cross a small mountain range.
A roll arcus cloud in development ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012.
A roll arcus cloud in development ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012.
View under a developing arcus cloud at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (2012)
An arcus cloud ahead of a thunderstorm approaching the Quebec Jean-Lesage airport in 2012
A roll arcus cloud ahead of a thunderstorm heading for Quebec City in 2012
The morning fog
The morning fog offers many opportunities for interesting photos. You can choose an isolated tree and capture the combined effects of the morning sun and fog. Or you may choose a cluster of trees, for a completely different effect. Both photos below were taken in Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City.
Trees in fog at Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City 2009
Sun and fog provide for a special atmosphere at the Domaine Cataraqui, Quebec City 2009
A morning fog resulting from a cold cloudless night will persist for hours if there is no wind. The cold morning air, motionless over a slightly hotter stretch of water, creates a fog that will finally disappear just before noon, when the atmosphere has been heated enough. If there had been an overcast sky during the night, chances are that the air over the water would have remained at a higher temperature, preventing the formation of fog.
The opportunities for more interesting photos arise when you witness the first holes in the fog layer.
The Ocean tugboats during a dense fog in the Bassin Louise in Quebec (2012).
We can take into account the season to estimate the speed of the diurnal reheating of the lower atmosphere. A morning fog will need more time to dissipate from late autumn to early spring: that leaves more time for the photographer to prepare. The forecasts can announce the disappearance of fog while it will not be the case if, over your sector, there is an invading layer of stratocumulus preventing the morning sun from reaching the ground.
To determine if the fog is going to dissipate as expected or will remain and possibly intensify, watch the difference between the temperature and the dew point on the hourly meteorological observations issued by weather stations near your place of residence. If the temperature and dew point spread increases, the fog is going to lift. If the difference between those two decreases, the fog is going to persist and possibly intensify.
The mist
The mist can be qualified as such when the visibility is superior to ½ mile, but do not exceed 6 miles for an observer on the ground. If the visibility is of ½ mile or less, it is called fog. This photo of the Bic National Park, near Rimouski, shows the interesting effect that the mist adds to a beautiful landscape.
Mist in the Bic National Park, Province of Quebec (2009)
Hot and unstable air in winter
When there is a warm and unstable air advection (about 0 degrees) while winter has already settled, there are good opportunities for photos. A moderately developed cumulus produces significant snow showers and this snow sticks on all the surrounding objects. All that snow would have begun to melt on contact of objects if the latter had had a temperature superior to zero degree. But, the winter being already settled, the snow persists. It gives enough time to capture some souvenirs.
A Quebec City street after a snow shower
The local effects
A photographer might benefit from learning about the meteorological local effects influencing the regions he intends to visit. The local effects are often simple to understand and they repeat themselves regularly, according to wind and season changes. The knowledge of these effects allows the photographer to be ready and position himself even before the phenomenon occurs. It limits the comments like: “If I had known that it would occur, I would have settled down here one hour earlier!“
The local terrain as well as large size bodies of water produce predictable meteorological phenomenon that can be used by a well prepared photographer. It can consist of persistent fog, repetitive snowstorms over a small sector, strong winds, cumuliform clouds alongside the mountain summits, etc. By being positioned at the right place, at the right time, the desired photo can be realized.
A change in the wind direction
A change in the wind direction suddenly increases the opportunities of interesting photos. It might announce the approach of a cold front, a warm front, a sea or land breeze, etc. In the photo below, a bit of fresher air suddenly began crossing the St-Lawrence seaway at the end of the day, thanks to the approach of a weak cold front. The water was still relatively warm and the moisture which was present over the surface became visible due to the cool air supply. The conditions were now ideal for a short-term thin fog, as long as the wind speed would not increase. Just in time for a photo.
The new wood pellets silos in Anse au Foulon in Quebec City en 2014
Familiarization with weather radars
It can be useful to get acquainted with weather radars which, for the needs of photography, remain simple to interpret. Multiple echoes of small dimension with a steep gradient of various colors indicate precipitation resulting from cumuliform clouds. The showers associated with these clouds are often moderated or strong and will be the result of approaching towering cumulus or cumulonimbus (thunderstorms). A towering cumulus presents a dark base and a white summit to the photographer. At sunset, their vertical development can be used to emphasize the last rays of light.
The side of a towering cumulus (TCU) is benefiting from the remaining sunlight over Quebec
Large echo areas of similar colors of low intensity indicate a relatively stable air generally producing steady light rain or drizzle. This should be understood as a possibility of increased humidity limiting the visibility through mist or fog.
Hoar frost
Hoar frost is a short-term phenomenon. It is thus necessary to capture the scene before the sun melts everything. The photo below shows some small twigs on which hoar frost has settled. It was taken at the beginning of the seventies. Although the quality of the photo is not exceptional, the meteorological phenomenon is well demonstrated.
A combination of snow and hoar frost observed on a Quebec field in 1976.
Forest fires
Wishing to make photos of western Canada during summer 2014, I came up against a season where hundreds of forest fires were raging. The smoke was covering some parts of Alberta and British Columbia. Some fires were important enough to require the closure of the sole highway connecting Lake Louise to Jasper. I thus decided to include the effects of those fires in the holiday souvenirs.
A visibility reduced in forest fire smoke allows a photographer to obtain, without special editing, sunsets with interesting colors.
Sunset and smoke from forest fires in Kamloops in 2014
The smoke also produces an effect similar as fog, but a fog which would be impossible to obtain at the end of a summer afternoon while the sun shines and there is a 38 degrees Celsius temperature.
An area near Kamloops, Canada, that was touched by forest fires in 2014
At dusk, the residual smoke is visible near tree tops while the setting sun strikes the mountain side. The effect is of two horizontal lines of complementary colors, blue and orange.
Forest fire smoke and sunset combined in Lake Louise, Alberta en 2014
Flight service specialist (FSS) at work in Rouyn-Noranda around 1986
On a nice summer day of July, at the Rouyn-Noranda airport, a pilot from a local flying club called our Transport Canada flight service station to get the latest airport advisory for a takeoff. He wanted to use a Cessna 172. He got the details and started taxiing. I quickly noticed that the aircraft was pulling an object. Using the binoculars, I could see that it was a cement block of about 100 kilos, attached to a rope. That cement block was normally used to immobilize an aircraft after a flight.
Aircraft Cessna C172 C-GUCU in Rouyn-Noranda around 1986
It was now obvious that the pilot had not done his walk around the aircraft, a mandatory procedure to ensure that everything is normal. Pulling that cement block on the asphalt must have required more power from the engine. I asked the pilot: “Don’t you find that more power is required to taxi today?” He answered that, in fact, he noted the need to increase the engine’s revolutions and that it was possibly due to the outside high temperature and moisture.
Without further delays, I replied: “Did you walk around your aircraft before the flight to make sure that everything was OK?” At that very moment, he understood that something needed to be done. He stopped the aircraft on the taxiway, got out and realized why a higher RPM was needed to taxi. Without saying anything that could imply his personal negligence, since he knew the radio communications were recorded, he announced that he was returning to the flying club. He had “forgotten something”…
The working position of the old Rouyn-Noranda flight service station allowed only a partial view of runway 08/26, but a complete view of the taxiway where the Cessna 172 was pulling its cement block.
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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.
Pears from Saint-Nicolas, Québec.
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
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.
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 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”
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)
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New Rouyn-Noranda flight service station. Photo taken around 2002. Unknown photographer.
Photo of the old Rouyn-Noranda flight service station. Photo taken in 1984
November 1983. After having worked every day for more than a year, it was time to leave Inukjuak, in the Nunavik, for a new Transport Canada flight service station (FSS) located in Rouyn-Noranda (CYUY), in Abitibi region in the Québec province. Things got complicated on the day of departure, the weather worsening rapidly. An Air Creebec Twin Otter departing from Kuujuaraapik (CYGW) would now do the flight. But this company’s route implied numerous stopovers along James Bay.
With the strong winds and low clouds, I was aware that we would be in for a rough ride. The clouds being merely few hundred feet above the tree tops, the pilots had to do the whole flight and the multiple stopovers while dealing with those limitations. Along the route, there was no airport equipped to allow instrument landings. The runways were short, in gravel or dirt, and trees sometimes near the thresholds forced the pilots to adopt steeper rate of ascent or descent.
After few hours of flying in this sustained mechanical turbulence, many passengers started to experiment air sickness. They had to use the practical little bag offered by all the companies. I changed my mind by looking through the window. There was no choice of music for the flight: the wheezing and grunting noises of the passengers were used as background ambiance.
We finally landed in Val-d’Or (CYVO) late in the evening. It was different to see a long asphalted runway and an airport equipped with appropriate instruments. One hour later, I was in Rouyn-Noranda. Welcome in the South…!
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Snow, ice and wood creation made by a Sillery citizen in Quebec City in 2015.
A retired couple in Sillery, Quebec, decided to add life and color in front of their house. Initially, the intention was to make a big snowman. But the project was progressively modified and a couple was eventually created. It is made of snow, ice and a bit of wood to ensure that the most fragile parts will be able to sustain the whole winter. A projector has been installed and is turned on as soon as night approaches. It is again a proof that there is no limit to imagination, and that it is not age related.
If there is a photographer out there wandering what are the picture specs, here it is: Canon 5D MKII, F22, ISO320, Canon14mm 2.8L lens, tripod and cable.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
