Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Empire Will Be Pleased

The title is what my coworker said through his Darth Vader oxygen mask as we descended from the flight levels in an unpressurized airplane after completing a tricky piece of work. We descended overhead Banff, Alberta. It is so spectacularly beautiful there that I was distracted from the work I was supposed to be doing. I was even raving about the remarkable pointiness and ridginess and beauty of the scenery to the air traffic controller. The air traffic controller was meanwhile excited by the fact that I could still talk to him. We went from the flight levels to dodging in and out of those spectacular stripey peaks and we still had excellent two way radio communications. And then we landed at Springbank. Springbank is the Buttonville of Alberta. Screaming busy with training traffic, and controllers who tell you what you want instead of listening to what you requested. The best was the one who gave me an instruction to turn right, and then chewed me out for deviating from the straight out departure clearance I had been given. Such a startling contrast from the service I got from the very next controller they handed me off to. I cannot turn right and go straight at the same time, although with some of the aerial work I do it almost seems that way. If you have the opportunity, you should go to Banff and fly around at about 11,000' in the spring. I think you should put it on your bucket list. I'm a not a stranger to mountains, Banff just seems to have especially amazing ones.

14 comments:

Will said...

You're back!

Dan in ALB said...

Is this a recent experience or one that you haves saved from some time ago?

Glad to hear from you!

Traveller said...

Only two contradictory requirements? :-)

Good to hear from you again!

Anonymous said...

nICE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN

Dave W said...

Hi there,

Always great to hear the odd snippet from you! Are you really posting or was this one set to autopost??

On the subject of the beautiful mountains - would the sniffing of 02 have any influence on your appreciation of the surroundings?

As said, great to hear from you.....

Dave from the UK

Anonymous said...

"Springbank is the Buttonville of Alberta." This is obviously encrypted, as it means nothing to those of us from south of the border (or at least to this particular USAian.)

Sarah said...

Wow! I had mostly forgotten about this blog, figuring it had now passed into history. I haven't looked at it since March.

But today, for some reason I thought of you and googled the blog up. And there you are.

Things like this make me wonder about synchronicity. It's good to see a new post, and to see Aviatrix is enjoying flying in another Canadian spring.

amulbunny's random thoughts said...

Glad to see you back posting. Missed you.

Aviatrix said...

That happened the day I posted it. Euphoria is generally a symptom of too little O2, not too much, and my lungs were fat and happy at 96% on the O2 meter. Darth Vader masks are terrible for talking into, but good for breathing out of.

I missed you guys too. I won`t promise to be regular at this blogging thing, but some days just need posting about.

Anoynmous said...

I have indeed enjoyed a view of Banff from the air. It was something like forty years ago when my family stopped there on our way to Alaska. The view from the ground isn't bad either. It's comparable to the Tetons.

Dan in ALB said...

I'm happy to hear that you are still flying and apparently enjoying it the way you do.

Thanks for sharing part with us!

GPS_Direct said...

Glad you're still flying and posting (on occasion). Your regular stories are missed...

Not that you'd want to do it anymore, but the impending 1500 hour / ATP requirement here in the U.S. will likely mean some unfilled openings...

Keep the blue side up, and may you occasionaly find some runways which are "cool" because they have stripes on them, lol.

Cedarglen said...

Glad your're back - on whatever schedule works for you.

majroj said...

You might enjoy flying over the Hindu Kush then, except for the Afghan rebels and all. Very pretty and remote. And welcome back to you!