Space Storms.

Fall has arrived here in Saskatoon. It brings the usual cool weather, nice colours on the trees, and for the last few nights, unbelievable displays of the Northern Lights. Being from Ontario, I haven't spent too much time far enough north, where you're able to see the Aurora on a regular basis. The flying has been even more visually rewarding than the usual sights can be!

Speeding down the runway in Saskatoon at midnight, we're headed off to Stony Rapids. This is a pretty long trip on a regular day, but tonight we're taking a paediatric team with us to retrieve a sick baby. More people on the plane means less fuel, and on top on the lighter fuel load, we have a strong headwind to fight. All things considered, we're stopping in La Ronge for fuel on the way up, then riding the wind back home via direct.

Flight Level 230.

Cruise power is set and the gauges are green. After all of the checks are done and I've finished the paperwork for the first leg, I get to have a nice long look out of the heated glass. I knew from the night before when I flew to Flin Flon that the Northern Lights were active, so I decided to bring my camera along to try and snap a few pictures. There was a nice display going on, but at 23,000 we were still cutting through a small layer of cloud, so I needed to wait until our next leg for pictures.

On final, runway 36.

Gear is down, 3 green confirmed. La Ronge radio tells us as we are on final that the runway may be icy due to some snow that melted during the day. On landing we found that the runway was as advertised. The braking action was poor, and the taxi back to the ramp was slick. Steering with beta helps a lot. A few hundred pounds of liquid dead dinos later, and we're on our way.

Flight Level 280.

Once again, off the ground and heading to CYSF. This time we're high enough to see the Aurora in all it's glory! I love the unique vantage point. Seeing the dancing green and purple light from that high, it feels like they are going to come right through the windows! Up here at  FL280, we have a 65 knot headwind, so I'm able to watch the show for a long time.



FL280 between YVC and YSF.

Down and clear in Stony.
The medical crew are on their way to the hospital, it's 4am, and I'm lying on the ground taking pictures of the airplane with the lights above. This is a truly Northern experience. It's cold, clear, and the wolves are howling! I may look silly in the middle of the night, lying on the cold ground, but it is the coolest thing looking up at the sky. It's fascinating and beautiful.



Unreal.

Flight Level 210, direct Saskatoon.
On the last leg of the trip the views are still killer. I feel lucky to be able to see these shows on a somewhat regular basis. The weather in Saskatoon is snowy by 6am, so we'll be doing the ILS for 09. I'm PNF on this leg, so I am in charge of the radios, FMS, and all kinds of other stuff. Both jobs are busy, but I'd say the PNF job has a slightly higher workload. Luckily the weather wasn't all that bad and we picked up the runway at the beacon, so at the end of an all night shift, it was nice to not have to worry about going around!


A little fuzzy but still awesome.

It was another awesome night on the job. Life is awesome, and so is the flying!