The time is 11:21 mountain time. I am on a Canadian North Flight to Iqaluit. After finishing the on flight breakfast and refreshments I’ve pulled out my laptop to settle into a 3.5 hour flight through Rankin Inlet to Iqaluit. I grabbed my iPod and set it to shuffle the songs. The song that happened to come to the playlist is “I will follow Him by Andre Kempen. I am reminded again of Gods faithfulness and provision. Since our marriage began Jocelyn and I have been working towards a job in aviation.
On February 10th this opportunity began at Summit Air. After two weeks of solid study to write the IATRA I dove into an ocean of new experiences. I spent the last two weeks learning basics for our aircraft such as nose wheel turning restrictions for towing on the apron, temperatures for tenting the engines and wings, fuelling, receiving, weighing, categorizing and loading cargo. In general, taking the precautions that allow the equipment to operate at the lower temperatures. A typical day is 0800 to 1800 unless a plane is going early or coming back late in which case hours flex. Outside of the ramp I make bank runs for company contract deposits, trips to part stores, get Nitrogen, O2 bottles filled, pick up people for crew changes and pretty much everything else you can dream of. There is always lots of opportunity to help the Maintenance Engineers in the shop which allows me to learn a lot about the aircraft systems. I’ve also pulled apart the company VW Jetta to get new seals for the gear box as it was U/S. For paper work I’ve been busy learning the Company Ops Manual, Standard Operating Procedures, Survival Training, Airlaw, TDG for Air Operators, Dornier Ground School, Aircraft Flight Manual, CAT training and the list goes on. I’ve been up on a Skyvan and hope to have an opportunity to do a proficiency check on the Dornier in Iqaluit. All that being said, it’s been a busy but very rewarding two weeks. There is a good atmosphere at the company and business is good. The town of Yellowknife is probably about as close as one could come to what would be my dream in flying. A capital that surrounds it’s airport with plenty of amazing views over Great Slave Lake and the wilderness right next door.
As I head now to Iqaluit I hear the town is in slightly rougher shape, but I look forward to the opportunity. I packed up my entire life in four bags(one for carry on. I was only supposed to be able to check two bags but by Gods grace the lady who checked me in was the one who I had spent time talking to last time I was up to find out more about the town. So onto the planes my bags went). I’ve also sent ahead 26kg of food.
In Iqaluit I will be responsible for all the duties listed above and more, as I coordinate flights that are coming and going with there cargo and passengers and communicate that with the base back in Yellowknife. Living on the mountainous rocky Canadian Shield of Baffin Island I’m told will be something no Social Studies text book can truly describe. Seeing the pictures from the crew I look forward for opportunities to go see some of the most amazing Northern places in the world.
I am so very thankful for my wife back home and miss her. As well as my family and friends who have helped to pack up our home and all their support.
Until next time,
Joshua
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