Langley to Tofino

Horseshoe Bay looks like a horseshoe

 Last Saturday morning Anne-Marie and I flew to Tofino from Langley.  We had a number of reasons to do this flight including scoping out some activities for the future, a pleasant change of pace, and also to get some more practice with dealing with air traffic control.

The ferry in Howe Sound

The route planned was the north VFR route that skirts Pitt Meadows and passes over North Vancouver.  From there it crosses Howe Sound to Gibsons and turns south to Nanaimo.  Once across the Georgia Straight it is direct to Tofino over Vancouver Island.  At a planned airspeed of 150 knots this takes a few minutes over an hour.

The spine of Vancouver Island

I left plenty of time before our departure to get ready and review the frequencies.  I planned on a 65% power cruise so there was little time for hesitation.  The whole point was to stress some of the recent skills picked up with IFR training.  As soon as I cleared the Langley control zone I called up Vancouver terminal and made the request for VFR flight along the north route.  They confirmed the Gibson's to Nanaimo route, and the altitude of 8,500 feet, and I was immediately cleared for the climb.

Alberni Inlet

The view was wonderful.  There was a bit of haze, and we were high up, but we had a great flight.  CF-NZB purred along at 2,400 rpm, and it didn't take long and we were over the straight.  We only saw one jet zipping along at 8,000 feet just in front of us across our path.  Quite a sight to see such a thing below the aircraft's nose!

Approaching Tofino

There was a transfers to Victoria terminal west of Nanaimo, and then back to Vancouver west.  They asked me to stay with them as we passed out of the terminal control area with an admonishment to stay VFR at all times.  Tofino does have a reputation for fog but it was a clear day at the coast.

Very little discussion on the radio, but a person cannot relax too much.  At any moment the controller might state your call sign and an instruction and the pilot must be ready to catch it.

Lined up on runway 16

Soon enough we were dropping into Tofino.  We chatted with Nanaimo radio for a bit and then turned final for runway 16.  The whole flight was very quick, even with a bit of a headwind it was only 1.1 hours air time, wheels up to wheels down.  I found a nice sheltered corner to park the Comanche and we strolled into the nice and spacious terminal building.

CF-NZB in front of Tofino Terminal

The airport is a relatively busy place.  A helicopter was shuttling back and forth and twin-engine Beech Baron's were arriving and departing, and one larger twin turbo-prop as well.

This Inn has a bit of everything

 As luck would have it we found the car rental place open and so we picked up a vehicle for the day.  We drove into Tofino for a bite to eat.  A sightseeing walk and a nice coffee and then we went back to examine a resort along the coast as well as Long Beach.  People were enjoying the rare sunny weather and brisk south wind.  The waves were impressive.

Nice coffee and good cake

We also examined the golf course and camp ground adjacent to the airport.  It is a bit of a hike, but most places said they could pick you up if arranged in advance.  I like the thought of a trip to Tofino for a round of golf sometime this summer.

The flight plan was filed over the phone - 7,500 feet and the reverse course.  The cheerful young lady at the Kamloops FIC had me a transponder code and we were ready to go.  Orca Air runs a scheduled service and they were busy.  By the afternoon the traffic had picked up quite a bit and we had to wait for traffic to clear the runway.  Soon enough we were on our way.

The beach was impressive

With the slight tailwind we were making 163 knots ground-speed right through to Pitt Meadows.  I contacted Victoria terminal just west of Nanaimo and then they switched us over to Vancouver terminal east of Nanaimo.  Traffic then got a bit busy.  There was a lot of smaller and slower training aircraft up and about and ATC was busy.  I got vectored for traffic a few times and dropped altitude to 5,500 feet.  It was all very calm and pleasant,  and then suddenly there was a very abrupt and forceful instruction to "NZB, 4000 feet, IMMEDIATE, NO DELAY!"

I pushed the stick over without hesitation and smoothly brought us down and then leveled out and bled off the airspeed.  Anne-Marie looked out her window and sure enough there was the jet that was clearing out of Vancouver passing over us.  We were well clear but the controller wanted to make good and sure.  A few minutes later he cleared us to 3,500 feet after we passed over another piston single.  At that moment, while the jet passed over us, there was a 172 westbound at 4,500 feet, a 172 westbound at 3,400 feet, and the Comanche east bound at 4,000 feet, all of us over Howe Sound.

A view of the beach

The transit over North Vancouver had it's share of interesting air traffic control instructions to other aircraft vectoring them out of the way of the Comanche.  I don't think many small singles go through there at 160 knots plus.  We never saw any of the various 172's that were conducting training and that were vectored around to get us through.

We were cleared out of controlled airspace east of Pitt Meadows and it was an uneventful flight into Langley.  The landing was a bit bouncy as I didn't really have a nice stable approach.  Anne-Marie took a nice rest in the park nearby as I fueled, cleaned, and put away CF-NZB.  The time was 1.0 hours wheels up to wheels down.

Air traffic control is not a hassle.  I had been avoiding flying in controlled airspace but the recent IFR training has made it a very reasonable thing to deal with.  And it is nice to look out the window while doing it.  It isn't as relaxing and pleasant as a long leg over northern Saskatchewan as I must stay alert and ready with a pencil to record instructions and clearances - but that is the price to pay for flying through some of the busiest airspace on earth.