Belloypilot wrote:

Fraser Farmer wrote:This is very true. I think Nelson airport though is directly adjacent to the lake and supports float ops. Unlikely to have fuel right on the water but you'll be able to fuel somehow. Still a long go from there over the Rockies but there's likely a couple marinas on the lakes a bit further East. A guy could always throw a couple cans of gas in the floats and set down somewhere and top up.

Good point. It’s been a while since I was in Nelson but they have a sea plane base on the river basically right in town. CAD8. 260 NM direct from Nanaimo so maybe that’s even the first stop. From there Lake Newell at Brooks would be about another 250 NM following VFR routes through the Crowsnest Pass. I’d think tankering another 10 gallons of fuel would be a good idea for minimizing the pucker factor. Also want to push through Crowsnest early in the day. There’s a reason one of Canada’s first wind farms are on the east side of that pass.

Somebody better make this trip. At this rate we’ll have it flight planned, accommodation arranged, and a food menu worked out by Friday

Yeah exactly, now I want to go

All the friendly Canadians here remind me I've got to plan a trip up there sooner rather than later.
If a US route is your choice I can help with fuel on the Pend Oreille river south of Ione. I'd probably call and see about crossing at Point Roberts or Osoyoos/Oroville. Out west could likely coordinate fuel at Lake Chelan and/or Electric City. In my neck of the woods if I'm not here Tanglefoot or Cavanaugh on Priest is a good option. From there I'd probably look to Flathead Lake - these folks can probably help: https://www.backcountryflyingexperience.com/
After that I'd hand you over to MTV.
Hardest part of that trip if I were flying would be fighting the urge to splash everywhere.
Good luck
Will

DreadPirateWill wrote:Hardest part of that trip if I were flying would be fighting the urge to splash everywhere.

This is the truth. I used to fly ultralights with a guy in Oregon who had PuddleJumper amphibs. He actually just splash anyway...farmer ponds, etc.

Zzz wrote:

Fraser Farmer wrote: Fly from Nanaimo to my place. Get lunch and I'll top up your tanks.

Now this is the BCP of old! Thanks for the offer, Matt. Nothing is certain yet but I’d love to meet up.

Right on. I'll put some beer in the fridge.

Zzz wrote:

Zane - what airport is P13S (in Alaska)? Was this route for 100LL? I frequently fly from ANC headed east, but there is no 100LL for straight floats, to my knowledge, anywhere directly east until Northway. A potential fuel stop out that way would be good info to have.

pipeliner wrote:

Zzz wrote:

Zane - what airport is P13S (in Alaska)? Was this route for 100LL? I frequently fly from ANC headed east, but there is no 100LL for straight floats, to my knowledge, anywhere directly east until Northway. A potential fuel stop out that way would be good info to have.

Ross, it’s from this thread:

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/stra ... o-mn-21012

I'm new here and a new pilot and have enjoyed a lot of reading on this site.

I'm also interested in potential Fuel and accommodation stops, except I'm headed West to East from Vancouver Island sometime this summer.

Aircraft is a 180hp Super 22 Bushmaster, 50 gallon tanks (and whatever additional fuel I can put in the floats or backseat).

I'd like to stick to Canada if possible as aircraft is experimental.

By the sounds of it, I will have to run Mogas based on all my reading thus far.

Zzz wrote:

Zane - what airport is P13S (in Alaska)? Was this route for 100LL? I frequently fly from ANC headed east, but there is no 100LL for straight floats, to my knowledge, anywhere directly east until Northway. A potential fuel stop out that way would be good info to have.[/quote]

Ross, it’s from this thread:

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/stra ... o-mn-21012[/quote]

Thanks, Zane. 13S is Lake Louise. They have a marina with boat gas, but no 100LL, to the best of my knowledge. For a brief time, I think one of the lodges was owned by a pilot and he was selling 100LL.

jayemtl wrote:I'm new here and a new pilot and have enjoyed a lot of reading on this site.

I'm also interested in potential Fuel and accommodation stops, except I'm headed West to East from Vancouver Island sometime this summer.

Aircraft is a 180hp Super 22 Bushmaster, 50 gallon tanks (and whatever additional fuel I can put in the floats or backseat).

I'd like to stick to Canada if possible as aircraft is experimental.

By the sounds of it, I will have to run Mogas based on all my reading thus far.

A Canadian guy did essentially this trip, same direction in a 180 a couple of years ago. He wrote it all up and it was publish in the COPA magazine April 2021 if you can source a copy.

Thanks for the tip on COPA. I'ver reached out to them to see if they can dig up the back issue. Will post details here if I can get it.

jayemtl wrote:Thanks for the tip on COPA. I'ver reached out to them to see if they can dig up the back issue. Will post details here if I can get it.

I don't know all these "legalizes" but you might need the original author's permission to post it elsewhere.

No worries - I wouldn't post the entire article. I will post some ideas on potential stops.

It sounds like smoke from fires is going to be an issue again this year. Big fires near Ft Nelson, and smoke reaching as far south as Montana, at the moment.

MTV

All retracted

Mapleflt wrote:

jayemtl wrote:No worries - I wouldn't post the entire article. I will post some ideas on potential stops.

Actually I'd say just the opposite, secure the original author's permission and publish the full article in it's entirety. Anything less runs the risk of losing details in the translation and an marginalizes the efforts made by the author in publishing his "learned" knowledge.

With that said if permission isn't achievable and its acceptable to do so any "intel" is better than nothing at all.

Hey copyright cops, let's go easy on the people who are willing to contribute here.

If we start cracking down on stuff you read in a magazine once or heard from a guy at the airport, old men will no longer have any source of information.

So here is one suggested route with mileages I'm looking at from Comox BC to Kenora, ON. Note: Mileages are approximate after I 'loosely' mapped things out on google maps.

I stopped at Kenora ON, as basically once you're to Manitoba and water is plentiful, things seem open up and you can choose accordingly. My final destination is Orillia, ON, and lots of options from MB that are easy to look up moving eastward after that.


Comox, BC - Nanimo/Quennel Lake, BC: 107km or 67 miles
Quennel Lake, BC - SunnyBrae, BC: 450km or 282 miles
SunnyBrae, BC - Lake Newell, AB: 615km or 385 miles (I have some concerns on this leg personally for endurance)
Lake Newell, AB - Elbow, SK: 200km or 125 miles
Elbow, SK - Shoal Lake, MB: 430km or 268 miles
Shoal Lake, MB - Kenora, ON: 475km or 295 miles


Another route I read about goes as follows:

Oliver; Midway; Grand Forks; Castlgar;
Nelson; Creston; Cranbrook; Fort Mcleod.

Hopefully someone will find this useful as I have had a very hard time coming up with options of where to stop over the last few weeks.

The above assumes a mix of MOGAS and 100LL and important to note not all stops will have 100LL

P.S. I found wikipedia had some decent info of both land and waterdromes by province, whereas the CFS nor the waterdrome CFS version makes it 'easy' to determine what official aerodromes are part of each province.

As many things I am discovering as a new pilot, most knowledge comes from experience of others and I am appreciative of that.

Yes the CFS has unfortunately become a useless document for the most part.

The only thing on Quesnel Lake that I know of is a grass strip for a fishing lodge. You’d have to arrange fuel ahead, and you’re choosing a very sparsely settled route.

Sunnybrae may have marine fuel on Shuswap Lake but not much else. I’d say just go to Kamloops and eliminate one stop.

Belloypilot wrote:The only thing on Quesnel Lake that I know of is a grass strip for a fishing lodge. You’d have to arrange fuel ahead, and you’re choosing a very sparsely settled route.

Sunnybrae may have marine fuel on Shuswap Lake but not much else. I’d say just go to Kamloops and eliminate one stop.

He's talking about Quennel Lake which is a little freshwater seaplane base outside of Nanaimo. Randy Hannah charters Beech 18s out of there.
Quesnel Lake is considerably North of what's being asked for but you can definitely get Mogas at either Plato Island Resort or Elysia Resort there.

Fraser Farmer wrote:

Belloypilot wrote:The only thing on Quesnel Lake that I know of is a grass strip for a fishing lodge. You’d have to arrange fuel ahead, and you’re choosing a very sparsely settled route.

Sunnybrae may have marine fuel on Shuswap Lake but not much else. I’d say just go to Kamloops and eliminate one stop.

He's talking about Quennel Lake which is a little freshwater seaplane base outside of Nanaimo. Randy Hannah charters Beech 18s out of there.
Quesnel Lake is considerably North of what's being asked for but you can definitely get Mogas at either Plato Island Resort or Elysia Resort there.

Ah, got it. Thanks for the calibration!