I have always dreamed of flying an Canadian Ultralight (AKA Light Sport) across the prairies from my home in Calgary to the place I grew up in Northwestern Ontario. Sioux Lookout Ontario is the base for many great flyIn adventures. During the 30s and 40s it was home to the worlds largest water base airport. The float planes are still very active in the area to transport passengers and cargo to remote locations north. The airport is the second busiest in Northwestern Ontario, second to Thunder Bay.
I thought of doing a slow leisurely trip in my Lil Buzzard seemed right but when I purchased a KitFox project 5 years ago I thought this might be the way to go. Well after a 3 year rebuild and flying C-INJV for 8 months the time was right to make my 1000 mile trip to my hometown.
Here my Model IV affectionatly known as SuperFox is ready to go.
Attachment 13862
The First Stop for the night was outside Regina Sk I flew the trip with my flying buddy and his Savage Cub.
You Can see a lot of smoke in the air from fires in BC and it stayed with us til past Winnipeg.
Attachment 13863
The owner of the Field we stopped at has just purchased a Maule. Nice Plane.
Attachment 13864
Some of the River valleys near Virden Mb
Attachment 13865
Fuel Stop at Steinbach Mb My Wing man fueling first
Attachment 13866
Got to stop and visit with a fellow teamKitfoxer and take a peak at his plane.
Attachment 13867
Final stop for my Wing man was Kenora On. I spent the night there before heading to Sioux.
Attachment 13868
Our host for the night has a Carbon Cub and winters in the Phoenix area. We have flown above the Arizona dessert many times. Paul has his Cub on floats now and I would get a chance to see the performance of the Carbon Cub on floats the next day.
Attachment 13869
The view from his dock was amazing.
Attachment 13870
But the view from his plane was even better. We went for an early morning flight before I headed to my final destination.
Attachment 13871
Safely on the ground at the Sioux Lookout Airport. I did it. 1000 air miles, about 11.8 hrs airtime.
Attachment 13872
On our way back we left Regina and headed to Lucky Lake Sk but rain in the way made us divert to Craik SK. We put down on a small grass strip and watched as a storm front passed overhead and the wind picked up. We had a few sprinkles on the windshields but over all we were happy we did not fly through the front. Once it passed the wind seemed manageable and the clouds were not dripping so a short hop to Davidson SK was next. It only took a few minutes to make the 15 mile hop north and I hoped that we might be able to resume our way west once there. The weather that I could see expected clearing after Outlook SK. At Davidson the skies seemed lighter to the west so we decided to try the route to Outlook about 60 miles away. The ceilings were low but staying 500ft AGL we stayed below the clouds and could continue to see the ground. As long as we had 3 to 4 miles visability we kept going forward. I remember looking out the wing for my wing man and noticing he had disappeared behind some clouds. We persevered and made it to the grass strip at Outlook.
Attachment 13873
The final fuel stop on the way home was Kindersly SK. By now the previous 8hr day getting up at 3:45 Alberta time and flying to Regina was taking it's toll, Picking our way through the storm also got my brain rattled. I forgot my Credit Card in the card swipe machine in the fuel depot. They called but I don't answer many calls in the cockpit. They said they would send it in the mail.
Attachment 13874
This was for me a trip I had dreamed of. The Kitfox performed very well and took me safely over some fairly hostel terrain in the Canadian Shield. The miles over the prairies were easy but as I looked down over Northwestern Ontario, the bush, trees, and lakes with few landing options, any little motor noises caught my attention.
I flew with the Savage Cub on my wing to Kenora and his climb has always been much better with his 100hp than my 80hp. I was not super happy with my KitFox performance and wondered why many give the Savage Cub and Rans S7 bad performance reviews compared to the KitFox.
The week before I left on my trip, I checked a few things on my KitFox and with the aid of a manifold pressure gauge I decided to further check the opening of my carbs. Manifold readings were low. I had converted the plane from a 582 to a 912 and had to change the throttle linkage. I did not realize at the time that maybe I had cut my throttle opening to less than full open. I pulled the carb off with the throttle at full open and found only about a 40% opening of the butterfly. I reworked the linkage before the trip and Wow. It was like I installed a turbo.
My RPM jumped to 5600 from 5200 on flat pitch with my IVO IFA and you know what that will do for take off performance. My airspeed also went to an easy 115-120 from 95-100mph on level flight. I had KitFox Jim do a fly beside and confirm that my airspeed indicator is reading high but I am still able to cruise an easy 105mph. Now I see why people are so excited about the performance of the KitFox. It is a great little plane easily capable of these little trips. By the way I kept the throttle back for most of the flight to stay with the Savage Cub at about 90-95 True Airspeed. Any faster and the Cub would start to run temps into the yellow.
Great Trip!!!!!!!
