EXERCISE WHOOPER FINN: FIELD REPORT NO. 8

Steve and I renewed an old acquaintance at Fort Frances, Bruce Caldwell, for this is where the track of Whooper Finn met that of the 1996 Expedition (which crossed Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic).
We were weathered in then for three days and it looked like this could be a repeat performance with strong gusty winds forecast for a few days. The temperature dropped significantly as we crossed the 49th Parallel into Canada. For the first time in weeks we saw Gary, a confirmed sun worshipper, in his insulated puff jacket. We hoped this wasn't a foretaste of more to come.

The weather outlook remained similar for the next few days but a slight reduction in wind speed down to 25 knots was forecast so we decided to go anyway, as the weather looked better to the West.
The plan was to fly around the South of the Lake of the Woods and as I climbed out into the headwind and mid afternoon turbulence I knew it was going to be a tough round. We flew along the border for the most of the flight across miles of forest and a myriad of small lakes, punctuated by an occasional gravel road, but very few other signs of human activity. Progress was painfully slow at times, and we were forced to divert to Warroad airport, back in the USA. We announced our arrival, and experienced a very tricky landing in turbulent and gusty conditions, but the place was deserted. Fortunately fuel was available from self-service pumps by swiping the VISA card.

One of the airport staff arrived, as we were about to depart, under pressure to reach Winnipeg. We were naughty and omitted to tell US Customs of our arrival or departure and he turned a blind eye to our presence. For our purposes, we declared Warroad temporarily part of Canada in the interests of flight safety. Steve flew the next leg to Steinbach and hunted for the best ground speed at various heights. He finally settled on 4500 feet where it was penetratingly cold, but at least we made some headway against the wind. It was always disconcerting to see the trees being blown around by the strong wind, especially when they were ¾ of a mile below! However by the time we reached Steinbach, the forest turned into prairie farmland and the wind dropped to make the landing a relatively mundane affair. Light was the next problem, and with the delays due to the headwinds it was quite possible that it would get dark before we reached our destination, Saint Francois Xavier airfield. This lay just at the western edge of the Winnipeg control zone. With an hour left we departed Steinbach. I flew at 200 to 300 feet above the open farmland, where the headwind was lightest, to make maximum speed, crossing the largest electricity powerlines at the pylons, as the wires were difficult to see in the fading light. We arrivedwith 10 minutes to spare.

It was good to meet old friends again, and Ollie and Nick Skavinski were making the ground team welcome as we arrived. I arranged to have spares sent here so that we could carry out an oil change and service the aircraft. The weather continued windy the next day with a few heavy showers floating around. The temperature was noticeably lower, with overnight frosts damaging the farmer's crops in the surrounding area. This didn't dissuade the mosquitoes, which were particularly numerous this year due to the wet Spring. Steve and Jimmy donated a pint of blood each for the continuation of the species as they set up a Volleyball net. Of course the bite was painless, but the itching the following day was ferocious.

Time was ticking by and there was poor weather forecast for the Western Canada region. We headed West the next morning in good conditions for once. The route took us South of Lake Manitoba, one of the possible alternate release sites for the Whooping Cranes. It certainly looked like good crane habitat, being criss-crossed with shallow waterways. The land here is bowling green flat, and from our vantage point, the straight roads disappeared into the distance like an arrow. A curve is a point of interest out here, so the locals probably have Corner Appreciation Societies, where they meet up and travel to view the finer points of corner geometry.

We made good time despite the weather and stayed overnight at Wynyard, Saskatchewan. We made ourselves comfortable in their clubhouse, a 10'x 8' two room affair with a washroom and a television. It was black and white but it worked! All this, unattended in the middle of the prairie! We gained access by using the last three figures of the emergency radio frequency (as advertised in the window). An aircraft landed and we gave a lift to a group going to a baseball team in town. News travelled fast in a place like this, and half an hour later the local press reporter arrived to interview us and photograph the team before the sunset.

In the morning we left for Saskatoon, flying over more prairie farms. This is a big country, below us the farmers were unable to plant their crops due to the wet Spring. The surface was dry but the big seeding machinery was sinking into the fields unable to do its job. We were told of one farmer who has 13,000 acres, and he had only seeded 3,000. In two days if the remaining area were not seeded he would be unable to gain crop insurance and it wouldn't get done. The situation was serious enough for the provincial government to offer a premium of C$10 per acre for farmers to employ contract seeding firms. They were even seeding large areas by crop duster aircraft. In the eastern provinces they were praying for rain after one of the drier Springs in recent history.

The visibility was good, and it was possible to see all the vehicles driving on the gravel roads for miles around as they kicked up a huge trail of dust. We took to calling them roadrunners. The large trucks looked as if they were outrunning a forest fire. We flew over a stationary train, which must have been 7 or 8 miles long. It turned out to be on a line used for parking the grain rail trucks, but it was an impressive sight.

We made it to Saskatoon, a busy airport serving a large urban and rural community across the whole of Northern Saskatchewan. The Aeroshell General Aviation Centre welcomed us with open arms, and must be one of the friendliest and professional outfits we have yet visited. We made the place our home for two days at their insistence. Diane, the Customer Services manager, arranged interviews for two television channels and the local newspaper. We were on the front page the next day and Jimmy had a starring role on the Channel 3 news. Autographs were optional. Our ego was further boosted, as Diane wanted a team photograph for their 'Hall of Fame'. This was the same wall of photographs which includes Bill Cosby, Celine Dion, and 'The Fonz'.! When they next visit Saskatoon they will be puzzled by the presence of the Whooper Finn Team photograph.

It was about this time that I discovered my VISA card missing. I knew exactly where it was. Sitting in the swipe machine in Russell Flying Club 250 miles back. I should explain that Russell is in the middle of the prairie and unattended. The key for the Clubhouse hangs on a nail at the side of the door. Once inside the key for the fuel pumps hangs on a keyring made from a hammer shaft. You have to fill in all the pump details and swipe the credit card yourself. During all this additional administration I left the card sitting on the machine.

I telephoned the Clubhouse, and of course it was unattended. The only other phone number I could find was that of Tremaine Aircraft Maintenance. I got through to Dwayne Tremaine, a man I have never met, and explained my predicament. He suggested putting the card on the Greyhound bus that passes through the town at 1a.m., as the post to Saskatoon can take anything up to a week. Sure enough next morning there it was, ready for collection at the Bus Depot. I can only pass my sincerest thanks to Dwayne for his efforts as it effectively saved us a 500-mile drive and the loss of a critical flying day. This story in itself is testament to the best side of the Canadian and American people we have met, and in this case didn't even meet!