FSX CEZ3 > somewhere in BC Canada

[NickJZX 17]

So I started a journey a couple days ago, to fly from Cooking Lake (CEZ3) to somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. Haven't quite decided where to go, but most likely end up in greater Vancouver area. I figured I would track my journey somewhere, so coupled with screenshots, I'll put it here for now. Anywho, onto the flight.

This is CEZ3, small airport in Central Alberta. 1 runway and a float plane base.

This is the aircraft I'll be flying, the A2A C172R with a really nice repaint by jimmyrfr on the A2A forums.

The photo taken below was on the way to the CYEG VOR, from there I'd be flying an outbound course towards Edson, Alberta. From there I'll head to Jasper and that's where things will get tricky. Mountain Navigation. At least tricky for someone used to punching in FMC details and what not.

coming into Edson

This was after arrival to Edson and parked at the airfield. I reloaded some scenery and it changed from Fall to winter textures. Strange but not a big deal.

I don't really do flights during real time because I tend to get home later, with it getting later in the season and coming close to winter that also means night time occurs towards 6PM local. I flew to Jasper on local time, which of course was 8PMish, so pitch black navigating through mountains and at night. I'll get a shot of Jaspers grass field at the next departure, when I figure out where the next stop is! With the 20 pic limit per thread I'll add more into my flickr and then people can see a few more there, I'll link the album here; https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6RmDs5

 

For anyone interested in the addons you see here;

Simaddons West

ORBX FTX Global

ORBX Northern Rockies

ORBX PNW (later as I get closer to the coast)

A2A 172R

Rex texture direct

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I stayed in Edson a long, long time ago, in 1972 when my school Choir was touring BC and Alberta.  I remember it being eleven at night, and still light out in the farm I stayed at.  We stayed in the homes of the parishioners, and they kept giving us Canadian money.  I ended up coming home with more money than I started the trip with.  It's a beautiful stretch of country to fly over, having flown out of Edmonton before and visiting the big mall there near my client's hotel.

When I had a bad cable run to a workstation in the hotel, I called a LAN technician at random to help, it was a 300 foot run.  He taught me how to crimp the ends, he said we had been taught wrong, you have to preserve the twists in the cable, it increases the strength of the signal coming thru, governed by physics.  When I asked him how much he would charge the hotel, he said "No, my service is free, I want you to have a good memory of Canada".  I instructed my client to use him as a support technician, since we did not support cable runs, only the software.

At that point I bought a crimping tool and always carried a couple hundred feet of CAT 5 cable in my suitcase, in case any clients needed pro bono help.  We discouraged clients from using Token Ring in those days, as CAT 5 was easier to maintain.  In some places the unions would prevent us from helping, extorting the clients tons of money.

On a later trip into Ottawa, I was stopped by the Canadian customs agents, because of NAFTA.  I had to convince them that I was a specialist to provide what was not available to my clients.  Since my main purpose was to teach my clients how to use their networks and apps, they put my role down in the country as "Professor".  I paid a fee, for which I was reimbursed, and I had no trouble in Canada after that.  If I had lied saying I was just a tourist (which my supervisors coached us to do) I would have been banned from Canada forever.

Tourists don't carry crimping tools and CAT 5 cable with them, LOL!  Thanks for letting me share these anecdotes, I love the warm hardheartedness of the Canadian people and I wish I could move there someday, were it not so expensive.  My father lived in Canada, so they would probably let me in.

John

[NickJZX 17]

8 hours ago, Cactus521 said:

I stayed in Edson a long, long time ago, in 1972 when my school Choir was touring BC and Alberta.  I remember it being eleven at night, and still light out in the farm I stayed at.  We stayed in the homes of the parishioners, and they kept giving us Canadian money.  I ended up coming home with more money than I started the trip with.  It's a beautiful stretch of country to fly over, having flown out of Edmonton before and visiting the big mall there near my client's hotel.

When I had a bad cable run to a workstation in the hotel, I called a LAN technician at random to help, it was a 300 foot run.  He taught me how to crimp the ends, he said we had been taught wrong, you have to preserve the twists in the cable, it increases the strength of the signal coming thru, governed by physics.  When I asked him how much he would charge the hotel, he said "No, my service is free, I want you to have a good memory of Canada".  I instructed my client to use him as a support technician, since we did not support cable runs, only the software.

At that point I bought a crimping tool and always carried a couple hundred feet of CAT 5 cable in my suitcase, in case any clients needed pro bono help.  We discouraged clients from using Token Ring in those days, as CAT 5 was easier to maintain.  In some places the unions would prevent us from helping, extorting the clients tons of money.

On a later trip into Ottawa, I was stopped by the Canadian customs agents, because of NAFTA.  I had to convince them that I was a specialist to provide what was not available to my clients.  Since my main purpose was to teach my clients how to use their networks and apps, they put my role down in the country as "Professor".  I paid a fee, for which I was reimbursed, and I had no trouble in Canada after that.  If I had lied saying I was just a tourist (which my supervisors coached us to do) I would have been banned from Canada forever.

Tourists don't carry crimping tools and CAT 5 cable with them, LOL!  Thanks for letting me share these anecdotes, I love the warm hardheartedness of the Canadian people and I wish I could move there someday, were it not so expensive.  My father lived in Canada, so they would probably let me in.

John

That’s a awesome, during the summer it definitely stays sunny out for quite a while. It’s a great feeling when the sun doesn’t set till 9-9:30PM. 

Seems like being honest honest with customs paid off! I’m sure if you moved to Canada you’d have no trouble at all. Things are somewhat expensive but overall it’s not too bad! Some provinces run Provincial Sales Tax and the Government Sales task which ups the price but it isn’t too bad overall! Cheers for the story by the way! Its cool to read others experiences of Canada.

 

[vc10man 732]

Great post and accompanying images, NickJZX.

I have the same aircraft,same scenery and like you have been spoon-fed on punching FMC navs. This sort of adventure is worth hopping into such a lovely c172 from A2A and exploring The Rockies. I caught the Mountain(it's name escapes me at the moment, an age thing!) train from Montreal to Jasper, where I got off en route to Lake Louise and the icefields

[NickJZX 17]

Thanks! I flew down to Banff last week from EZ3 to Airdrie and then on towards Banff. I ended up losing my VOR in the mountains but I’ve been there so many tones in real life I had a solid handle on where everything is, it’s a good feeling. However I’ve only been to Jasper once so it’s definitely a bit more challenging haha. That sounds like a good trip, get to travel across most of Canada that way. Lake Louise is gorgeous, that area is my favourite part when I drive to BC some summers. 

The 172 is such a great plane to fly, I bought it because I’m chasing after my PPL and figured this would be an excellent way to get familiar with instruments and procedural things. I definitely think this is in the top 5 of purchases I have. Coupling it like you said with the Rockies makes it even better!

[vc10man 732]

As a photographer who has travelled most parts of the world, I was gob-smacked when I saw Lake Louise. I tell you, I did some hiking there to get my shots. Banff is a lovely place too. Climbed to the top of that mountain although there was a cable car to the top.Took it coming down. Saw some lovely caribou too. Later, a nice hot soak in that open-air sauna just before heading into the outskirts of Banff, worked wonders on aching limbs.

I will agree with you on the quality of that C172 from A2A.

[NickJZX 17]

If you get a chance drive up mount norquay and you can get a really nice view of the valley and the town at a couple of the stops along the road. It’s also a very enjoyable drive! 

Im eager to continue the journey, I just need to decide where to go and how to get there

[FishermanIvan 110]

No float base in Cooking Lake any more.  The water level hasn't been high enough in years!

[vc10man 732]

2 hours ago, NickJZX said:

If you get a chance drive up mount norquay and you can get a really nice view of the valley and the town at a couple of the stops along the road. It’s also a very enjoyable drive! 

Im eager to continue the journey, I just need to decide where to go and how to get there

Not sure if that is the Mountain I walked up to because the view from a top the weather station there was breathtaking. I'm sure that was the Fenlands Banff Recreation Club where I went for that sauna in their heated pool. then walked down Mt Norquay Road to my hotel in Banff.

[NickJZX 17]

2 hours ago, FishermanIvan said:

No float base in Cooking Lake any more.  The water level hasn't been high enough in years!

Yah it’s been a few years since I’ve been there. I’m not surprised, a lot of the lakes in central Alberta are more or less disappearing. 

 

2 hours ago, vc10man said:

Not sure if that is the Mountain I walked up to because the view from a top the weather station there was breathtaking. I'm sure that was the Fenlands Banff Recreation Club where I went for that sauna in their heated pool. then walked down Mt Norquay Road to my hotel in Banff.

Oh yah mount Norquay is just gorgeous haha. That’s usually the mountain I go up when I’m in passing through Banff, then back down and continue west on HWY 1. I’m not sure of the other mountains around that area.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

One thing they warned us about on the Jasper glacier tour was not to drink the water, it's a natural laxative LOL,  I didn't understand what that meant since I was only 11, I thought it meant it would make you relax.  My choirmates were in hysterics when I told them that.  Live and learn!

Just a couple of months later I had appendicitis, was rushed into emergency surgery for a rupture.  Maybe it was because I sipped the water, LOL.  The surgeon called me smiley, of course with all the juice they put in me to knock me out, who wouldn't smile.

John

[Django 1]

Hello, Nick! Best of luck with your PPL!

Great post, following it!

From an ex-DCS Su25T pilot who used to fly with you ;)

[NickJZX 17]

5 hours ago, Django said:

Hello, Nick! Best of luck with your PPL!

Great post, following it!

From an ex-DCS Su25T pilot who used to fly with you ;)

Thanks bud, much appreciated and also thanks for the guidance so far!

I took off out of Jasper today, low ceilings which made it somewhat tricky. I stayed low for the first few miles, ended up getting a chance to climb. Originally the plan was to fly to Valemont, however I found I could actually make it to CYCP (Blue river) in one go instead, so I opted for that. The departure was quite smooth, but as I got further southwest the weather deteriorated somewhat and I had a few instances of IMC conditions, fortunately I kept getting glimpses of the river and roads below, so sticking to those helped avoid any surprise mountainsides. Eventually I crossed south of Valemont at around 8000ft. Still climbing to around 9000, I was clear of a majority of the mountains around me but I had a good visual picture of the situation around as well as referencing some maps and land marks along the way to verify terrain. 

The picture above is climbing South East of Valemont, at which point I would be crossing the ridge in the background, once over that I would turn South/South West and head towards Blue River. I ran into some more IMC conditions along the valley, but again stuck to the rivers and the roads and was able to make it all the way to the airport. Here's the 172 parked at Blue River, almost at the 10 hour mark for airframe/engine! 

[JAT 185]

Nice shots.

nebojsa

[regis9 3,996]

On 2017-10-13 at 4:47 PM, vc10man said:

Not sure if that is the Mountain I walked up to because the view from a top the weather station there was breathtaking. I'm sure that was the Fenlands Banff Recreation Club where I went for that sauna in their heated pool. then walked down Mt Norquay Road to my hotel in Banff.

That's likely Sulphur Mountain you went up, it has the cable car.