Schefferville to Saguenay-Bagotville

As I head generally back in the Denver direction (southwest), my limited range takes me next to Saguenay-Bagotville airport, in Alouette, Quebec. Here are some fun things to do, in the Saguenay-Bagotville area.

Taxiing out for takeoff at Schefferville airport, I see that the ubiquitous L-5 Sentinel aircraft is taxiing out ahead of me. I often see this Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated aircraft moving semi-randomly around the ramps and runways, doing what appear to be ground-loops, at almost every airport I visit. On many occasions, I've had to wait awhile, sometimes several minutes, for ATC clearance to take off, while this AI aircraft repeatedly loops its way down the runway, until it's finally found its way to a place on the airport that doesn't interfere with a takeoff clearance. Sigh...

Climbing out from Schefferville, and turning left onto my flight planned southerly course toward Saguenay-Bagotville airport.

So once again, I'm passing over this interesting circular lake in Quebec province, with a huge island in the middle, named Manicougan Reservoir. I learned earlier, from researching it during a previous flight in this area, that this annular lake was formed 214 million years ago, by the impact of a 3 mile diameter meteorite. Also known as the Eye of Quebec, this lake can be seen from space.

There's so much water up here in Canada! Think of the boating, swimming, fishing! And the mosquitoes! In this snapshot, I'm passing over a beautiful lake, which I think is "Lac Pipmuacan," or Pipmuacan Reservoir, about 90 miles from my destination. At this point, I'm focusing my attention on beginning my descent into Bagotville.

Another snapshot, this time from inside the aircraft, while still over Lac Pipmuacan, about 2 nautical miles from the Top Of Descent (TOD) point depicted on the moving map display. I setup the G1000's Vertical Navigation (VNV) profile in this aircraft for a 2.5 degree descent slope, so it advises me when I need to start down, and gives me a recommended descent path all the way down to the altitude at the initial approach fix (IAF). Very cool stuff. In the past, none of the aircraft I used to fly a lot, had any of this avionics sophistication, so I would always have to make a mental calculation, based on the airport elevation, my calculated groundspeed (GS, by timing waypoint crossings along my route), my desired vertical speed (VS), and my cruising altitude, and estimate about where I would be along my route of flight, when I needed to start down. I occasionally miscalculated what my GS would be when descending, or didn't exactly achieve my planned descent VS, and ended up arriving near my destination, way too high, and needing to dive to the airport. The sooner I recognized what was happening, the less of a dive it needed to be. The G1000 VNV capability makes this descent process so much easier!

I like to fly the instrument approach when I can, even in clear weather, since it gives me more familiarity with the avionics, and especially at unfamiliar airports, it can reduce the number of surprises when nearing the airport. Coming into radio range of the airport, and picking up the Automated Weather Observation Service (AWOS), it becomes obvious that I guessed wrong, when setting up for the runway 11 approach at the airport, since the opposite-direction runway 29 is currently in use.

Now I've setup the G1000 for the ILS runway 29 approach. This approach is a little more complex than the runway 11 approach, which was basically straight-in after a left turn. This one requires a left turn away from the airport, to turn onto the final approach course outbound, then a procedure turn to reverse course, and then tracking straight-in to runway 29, intercepting the localizer and glideslope along the way.

Tracking the segment of the approach to intersect the outbound course, with the airport ahead and to the right.

Descending through 8,200 feet, with the moving map showing the airport off to the right, and the turn to the outbound course about 14 miles ahead, or about 3 minutes, at my current speed.

Peeking out the starboard-side cockpit window, to spot the airport off to the right.

Finishing up the procedure turn, and turning onto the final approach course, inbound to the airport.

Tracking the localizer and glideslope, with higher terrain depicted along both sides of the approach course, about 10-15 miles off either wing. Slightly high on the glideslope, as the aircraft initially balloons up, after applying full flaps.

On short final to Saguenay-Bagotville airport. I guess it's not all that surprising, that there is yet another stand of tall trees, off the approach end of the runway.

Parked on the ramp at Saguenay-Bagotville airport, with a collection of what appear to be rescue helicopters and some F-4 fighters, parked in the distance.

Iqaluit to Schefferville

Looking around from Iqaluit, I honestly couldn't see a single airport with a non-gravel runway within range, and I wondered why anyone would make this their first landfall in North America. Then I zoomed in, and panned around, on the flight planning map, and started to see some airports within range of the SF50. Whew. There's got to be a better way to do that! So, anyway, my next flight is from Iqaluit to Schefferville airport, near Schefferville, Quebec. When I saved my situation after the last flight, I intentionally shutdown everything that would've made sense in the real world, so I'm testing myself this time, on how to get the airplane powered up and ready to fly.

Starting out at Iqaluit with high winds and blowing snow. The simulator shows ripples of blowing snow, moving slowly across the ramp. The display of the snow ripples is a little granular and repetitive, but it feels pretty realistic, all the same.

Powering up and starting the engine was no problem. I don't have the real airplane's manual, but my made-up checklist seemed to do the trick. Taxiing out towards the runway 34.

Taking runway 34 for takeoff, with a 20 knot wind at 350 degrees, almost straight down the runway.

Cruising at flight level 260 (26,000 feet), enjoying a beautiful blue-sky sunny day up here, with a thick layer of clouds below.

Just approaching the top of descent (TOD) marker on my flight path. The magenta vertical navigation (VNV) pointers have appeared on the primary flight display, next to the altimeter, and the white VPTH shows that the vertical path is armed and ready to capture.

On the ground at Schefferville airport. I flew the GPS circling approach to runway 35, in the waning evening light, and spotted the airport with no problem, but the circling approach isn't aligned with the runway, and I somehow let both my heading and altitude get away from me, and I was way off to the side, when I got near the airport. The weather was good enough (2,000 overcast), that I was easily able to climb to pattern altitude, and circle back in the pattern for a normal landing. Just another reminder, that letting my attention slip for a few seconds, is enough to ruin a perfectly good approach!

Narsarsuaq to Iqaluit

The last leg of my transatlantic crossing is from Narsarsuaq to Iqaluit airport, in the small fishing town of Iqaluit, formerly known as Frobisher Bay, in Nunavut territory, northern Canada. This turns out to be a fairly long 680 nautical mile flight (after adding some extra miles for a GPS instrument approach to today's favored runway 16), but not beyond the SF50's capability, with reasonable fuel reserve. Even with today's forecast quartering headwinds at altitude, I should be arriving with over 100 gallons of fuel on board.

Departing Narsarsuaq airport on the runway 06 heading.

Turning right toward my northwest course. Seems like the long way around, but hey, I'm just following ATC vectors.

Climbing out on course. The enroute portion at 26,000 feet was uneventful, with clear skies and minimal winds aloft, so I hurried through that part as fast as possible, which is by setting the simulator to give me 16x groundspeed.

And now, it's hours earlier than I left, and the sun is below the horizon. Hmm... That's been happening on my other westbound flights, and I thought the simulator was messing up. I now realize that my 16x groundspeed calculates out to 16 x 300 = 4800 knots, much faster than the 350 knots or so, that the sunrise runs around the Earth at this latitude... which explains how I keep falling behind current time.

So here we are, descending through 15,500 feet ,with a 20 knot direct left crosswind, and inbound to Iqaluit airport. I'm flying the GPS approach to runway 16, which is overlaid on the moving map display, and it takes me to a waypoint named XUDPA northwest of the airport, then turns hard left for the straight-in approach to runway 16.

Executing the hard left turn to align with the approach to Iqaluit runway 16. The dark clouds look really striking, with the horizon beginning to glow from the rising sun.

Lined up on the GPS approach to Iqaluit's runway 16. At this altitude, I can see the sun peeking up already. 

Approaching the airport, with the sun rising in the distance.With the sun slowly rising, and me descending, the sun is staying in about the same position on the horizon.

Beautiful view of the sun and dark clouds overhead, on short final. I'm descending quickly enough, that the rising sun is beginning to disappear behind the high terrain in the distance.

On the ground at Iqaluit! And... the sun is rising again. I'm shutting down everything on the aircraft this time, engine and electrical, before I save the situation, so I will have to go through the entire power on and engine start procedures, when I pick this up for the next leg. All good fun!

Keflavik to Narsarsuaq

Today's flight is from Keflavik to Narsarsuaq airport, in Narsarsuaq, Greenland - the only international airport in southern Greenland, and the closest one to Keflavik. Here's a little more info about Narsarsuaq.

Departing Keflavik in the early morning, with the airport, and a pretty sunrise, visible in the background. The overwater portion of the flight was relatively uneventful, after I caught and fixed a goofy navigational setup in the G1000, that had me diverging rapidly from my planned route to Narsarsuaq. To deal with that, I manually tracked the course that was planned into the Foreflight app on my iPad, until I could figure out what was going on. Nice to have a backup that I trust.

Approaching the East coast of Greenland, still cruising at 26,000 feet. Winds are light and variable at this altitude today, which never happens. Hmm... Aha - time to switch back to real-world weather, after setting it to clear and calm for my earlier ultralight flight around the Faroe Islands.

There is quite a lot of rocky terrain below, as I descend through the limited visibility, tracking the RNAV approach to runway 06.

The G1000 moving map display gives a pretty good idea of the interesting terrain below. It also is showing me the entire flight path of the RNAV approach to runway 06, and the missed approach procedure, in case it's needed. The weather is pretty good, especially considering all the scary weather stories I've read about this area, so I don't anticipate needing to go around, but I'm ready just in case.

Some more of that interesting terrain beneath me, as I fly the approach in "visual" conditions, albeit with fairly limited visibility.

The RNAV 06 approach turns me towards the airport, just before a high ridge. It's a little unnerving, to think that I could be flying this same exact route, on a different day with a lower overcast layer, and not be seeing that ridge ahead.

With Narsarsuaq airport in sight, the moving map display is depicting high terrain all around.

One more high ridge to get past, before crossing "Tunulliarfik Fjord" to the airport just beyond.

On short final approach to Narsarsuaq airport.

Parked on the ramp at Narsarsuaq airport.

Faroe Islands to Keflavik

Today's flight is westward from the Faroe Islands - the second leg of my trip westward across the North Atlantic - and the logical first stop seems to be Keflavik International airport in Keflavik, Greenland. The direct distance is 434 nautical miles, which should be easily achievable in the SF50, assuming decent winds aloft.

Taxiing out for takeoff, gives me a beautiful view of my planned departure path to the northeast, and also a good look at the heavily downward-sloped runway in that direction.

After back-taxiing on the runway and lining up for takeoff, there's yet another beautiful view, looking toward the rising sun, and a good look at the heavy downward-slope off in that direction. The body of water called "Sørvágsvatn" is visible not far beyond the approach end of the runway. Haha. So close. 

The aircraft began rolling sluggishly, after applying takeoff power, almost as it's having to climb a big hill, which of course, it was. When I changed to an external spot plane view, it was even easier to understand the significant impact of the sloped runway.

I got a nice view while climbing out over the fjord called "Sørvágsfjørður" that's just off the departure end of the runway.

Gorgeous view of the rising sun, while climbing out WNW from Vagar Island. 

One last look back, at some parts of the Faroe Islands that I recently had carefully examined from the viewpoint of a low-flying ultralight aircraft.

The enroute portion was uneventful. Now I'm flying vectors from air traffic control, supposedly for the "visual approach" to runway 1 at Keflavik airport, while descending through the clouds.

Still following headings and altitudes provided by ATC, supposedly for the visual approach, while completely on instruments. It's nice to have the ILS approach to runway 1 programming into the G1000 for reference. In the real world, I would've had better situational awareness, by listening to communications between ATC and other pilots on the frequency, and had a sense of whether or not other aircraft were really able to land visually.

Just broke out of the overcast at 2,000 feet, with the lights of the town and the airport runway visible off in the distance to the right, about 10 miles away. You can't tell from the still picture, but the aircraft is getting bounced around by the 28 knot wind, as it passes over the bumpy ground. The final approach and landing should go well, since the wind is conveniently heading right down the runway.

On short final to runway 1 at Keflavik, with a little bit of a right crosswind, and lots of headwind. Airspeed is 89 knots, and groundspeed is 63 knots.

Down safe at Keflavik airport, sitting quietly on the ramp, while I get gas, and setup the G1000 for the next flight to... where?

I've read so many stories about people having trouble with these next flight legs, and the associated troublesome weather in Greenland, that it all deserves a little extra thought, before leaving the ground. The next potential stop I was considering, at Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, was recommended by Tom Horne at AOPA, in an article about transatlantic crossings by general aviation aircraft. I vaguely remember that his assertion was that Kangerlussuaq is closer to Iqaluit. and has better navigation aids and operating hours, and is therefore a better choice for small aircraft with more limited range. But how to get there? Hmm... The flight from Keflavik to Kangerlussuaq, at 718 NM, is not at all short for the SF50 jet.

I'm also considering the idea of heading from Keflavik to Narsarsuaq first. It may add an extra stop, but at 652 NM, Narsarsuaq is a 66 NM shorter flight from Keflavik. Tom doesn't recommend Narsarsuaq for various reasons but it's closer... Hmm... I think I'll head to Narsarsuaq first, so I'll have more reserve fuel when I arrive. One bonus is that I've heard the approach into Narsarsuaq has a spectacular view, although it is a serious challenge in instrument conditions, with the approach following a long fjord surrounded by high hills. The far end of the runway is also facing high mountains all around, which requires a missed approach to begin early enough, to not pass over the airport.

After Narsarsuaq, according to Tom, the shortest leg from Greenland to Canada, is Kangerlussuaq to Iqaluit, so I guess my plan for the next few flights, should be... Keflavik to Narsarsuaq then up to Kangerlussuaq, and hop over to Iqaluit. Once I get to Narsarsuaq, I'll have to see how weather and winds aloft look, and then perhaps a direct flight to Iqaluit may be possible. Right now, winds aloft look pretty good, with strong tailwinds all the way at my planned altitude.