The Return From Toronto

As usual, you file a flight plan to depart Toronto Island Airport, it gets accepted, and then it gets changed when you ask for your clearance.

I had asked for a simple plan that had been approved before - Depart direct DERLO and from DERLO to Port Huron. 

Nope.  Instead I got the PERL4.08 Departure, to ANCOL, to DERLO, To MARGN and then Port Huron.  The controller first mistakenly said White plains airport and I asked that be clarified and she changed it to Port Huron so that was good at least.

MARGN is past Port Huron, but that was the required plan. 

Why Port Huron? Because Customs and Border Patrol is not open at Oakland County airport on the weekends, but Port Huron is Open 24/7 assuming you file the requisite paperwork and make the proper arrival intention call, which I had.

So I did the run up and got in line for departure and was soon off and on my way.

Again, very nice weather but windy with a good gusting crosswind on takeoff and very much during the initial climbout. 

Got put over the Lake Again, climbing to 3,000.  Got turned out farther into the lake and climbed up to 4,000 then 6,000 and finally 8,000 as I was then told to turn direct to ANCOL.

I then flew the route and got handed through the Toronto Control frequencies and then handed over  to Selfridge ANGB before the Border.

Selfridge then changed my plan to have me go direct to Port Huron which was great, and the controller was very much on the ball, and descended me perfectly, in plenty of time to be on track to get to pattern altitude at Port Huron. 

I had already picked up the automated weather, which was reporting a shifting and gusting crosswind that would wander near the heading for Runway, 4 so Runway 4 it was.

Selfridge had me descend to 2,500 and once I had the airport in sight, and then had me switch to the CTAF.  I listened for traffic, made my calls, crossed over the airport and then dropped down into the downwind for Runway 4 and made a darn nice pattern and  excellent landing. My first landing at Port Huron.

I then taxi'd over to the CBP building, cancelled my IFR flight plan with Selfridge,  got out and cleared customs. The officers were very friendly and made it a very easy experience with no issues.

I then went back to the plane, taxi'd back to the runway, did the runup and departed heading for Pontiac. I contacted Selfridge and requested VFR flight following as the weather was nice and clear and they obliged, alerting me to a ton of traffic around Romeo.  I stayed above it at 4,500 feet.

I then got passed to Detroit Approach and requested the RNAV 27L approach as the setting sun was right in my eyes, making the approach almost IFR-light and making it hard to see the airport, much less the runway.

Using the RNAV approach guidance it5 was easy to be on a proper glidepath and I was able to make yet another very nice landing.

Then taxi'd back to the hangar and that was then end of a very nice weekend trip. Using Poet Huron makes a weekend trip to Toronto and back a lot more doable and convenient, which is great.

That's a 1.7 and a .6 flight, and 2 great landings.

The Toronto Weekend Trip

On Friday, I prepped the Archer and then left Pontiac and headed to Toronto.

After all the necessary filings, I got my clearance and took off. 

Flying IFR,  Detroit Approach had me fly north for awhile and climbed me up to 7,000 as filed, and then got me heading east to Toronto.

 Weather was nice and the air was very smooth. Had a 9-knot headwind .

Got passed over to Selfridge ANGB Approach, and crossed the Border right by the Blue Water Bridge as usual.

 Then I got passed off to Toronto Control and after various frequency changes got to Toronto Approach.

The new GPS was fantastic, making changing frequencies and entering the route and route changes en route very easy.

The approach for Toronto Island Airport  was all sorts of busy. 

I was number 5 in sequence and got held over the water for awhile, and was  being assigned a continuously declining altitude to stay under Toronto airport's traffic.

So at 3,000 feet, I was way out over Lake Ontario/Lake America:

After holding for awhile, that felt longer than it was,  I was then in sequence for the Runway 8 RNAV Zulu approach and was told to keep my speed all the way up and stay at 2,500 until the Final Approach Fix due to traffic.

This led to a chop and drop at the FAF, but I got it in and made a very nice landing, shedding speed and altitude as much as I could at the same time. After landing I was then told to keep my speed up on the runway, run it to the end and taxi off, while staying with Tower the while way.

That was fine and I got to the FBO, shut down, notified Canada Customs of my arrival and got my clearance number. I then could get out of the airplane and get things handled.

 On the way into the FBO there was an aircraft with a most suitable tail number:

 

 A little pilot humor there.

After checking in with the FBO and asking for the plane to be fueled up, I headed into town.

Then I met up with family, celebrated a relative's 90th birthday at a very nice party, and headed back yesterday evening with a different return procedure that I had not used before. 

That was 2.2 and 1 very nice landing. 

Back From T.O.

So the visit concluded, I got ready to return homeward.

Weather forecast was good, all electronic border crossing stuff was done, and I went to the Island.

I checked out of the FBO, did the pre-flight and got ready to depart.

I had the more complicated departure procedure with transition and arrival procedure already filed as I figured they would give it to me anyways, so might as well. 

They did.

So I did the run up and took off from Runway 26 and began the departure procedure, turning south over the Lake as I did so climbing to 2,000 feet which isn;t a lot when you're over the Big Lake.

 

However, Toronto Center soon climbed me higher and I was first cleared to 3,000 then 4,000 and finally up to 6,000.

The problem was a cloud layer that decided to be right at my flight level.

 The problem is this batch of clouds had an attitude problem. In that they liked to try and change my aircraft's attitude.

Yep, I was soon in IMC.

 

I would then be in and out of IMC for most of the flight, getting some light precip in the clouds and experiencing everything from mostly light chop to moderate chop, on  to moderate turbulence and one episode of severe turbulence which was not fun as it put the nose up at a very high angle and my airspeed started rapidly dropping into stall territory until it let up.

Trying to cloimb out didn;t help, I climbed up to 8,000 and was free for a bit but then a set of clouds from 10,000-5,000 feet loomed ahead.  so it was in and out of IMC for most of the flight.

On top of that, beverage selection was quite limited.

 Today's lunch was either a protein shake or the protein shake, so I chose the protein shake.  It was extra shaken from the turbulence as well.

Finally by the border the clouds lifted enough so 6,000 was just under the worst of it.

 A nice easy handoff to Selfridge ANGB controllers and across the border I went.

Then I got the ATIS at Pontiac and was handed off to Detroit Approach.

 Detroit Approach then had to give me some delay vectors as everybody had chosen to arrive at Pontiac just as I was coming in qnd he needed to create spacing to handle all the planes coming in.

The controller at Detroit Approach did an impressive job perfectly sequencing all the traffic in for landing with excellent separation and I was soon doing a visual straight in approach to 27L, which I backed up with an RNAV approach for practice as well.

I landed with a great landing, very nice and smooth and where I wanted to land.  I went to Customs, got cleared, and then taxi'd to the north side of the airport and shut down and took care of the plane.

That's 2.6 hours with .5 bouncing around in IMC, and a great landing. 

Saturday Flyday

 It was a beautiful day Friday when I headed to the airport after filing my flight plan and other required electronic paperwork, placed the required and recommended calls, and got ready to go.

I would be flying the Archer for this trip as the Dakota was down for maintenance. 

Soon, I was holding short of Runway 27R awaiting takeoff clearance.

 

I soon took off IFR, flying runway heading and climbing to 3,000, then Detroit Approach directed me to climb to 4,000, then turn due north and climb to 5,000.

Then I was turned on course and instructed to climb to my filed altitude of 7,000.  A fair bit of haze but it was a smooth flight and a beautiful day.

Handed off to Selfridge Air National Guard's friendly controllers, I soon crossed the border by Port Huron, flying by the Blue Water Bridge, which had a fair amount of traffic, and began talking with Toronto Control.

 

 

I then flew by Sarnia's airport.

 Then over the city of London.

Toronto Center, as I got closer to my destination then amended my flight plan by having me go past it to an initial waypoint for the localizer approach for Runway 26, way over the lake rather then direct to Toronto Island Airport.  I was then told to expect the visual approach from there and they started descending me down to 3,000 feet.

They gradually moved me closer to the shoreline, which I appreciated.

Soon I had the airport in sight and was heading for the downwind to Runway 26, maintaining 3,000 feet as instructed until I was passed over to Toronto Island Tower and had to start descending rapidly to pattern altitude.

 

It was a great view.

Then onto the downwind and an even better view of the skyline 

Turned a tight base  and made a great final approach - with speed and altitude just right, I came in for a great smooth landing. I let it roll a bit and was then off on Foxtrot taxiway and went to Stolport FBO.  I then got to play dodgeplane as  planes were coming out of the ramp as I was coming in on the same line on the ramp.

The Airport was hopping with an event where they were doing airplane rides etc, wiht lots of people wandering around, which accounted for why they had routed me a bit far over the lake towards the localizer and then had me come down quick and tightly enter for the landing.   All good.  I then made my Canada Customs arrival call and got my entry number. Then I got the plane all checked in at Stolport and then headed to the city.

That's 2.0 and one fantastic and scenic landing. 

Flying: To CYTZ And Back

On Saturday I flew over to Toronto Island Airport to go visit the folks and celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday.

I did the electronic paperwork, called Canpass, filed my typical route and got my clearance to depart. Approved clearance was ADRIE T781 OLAMO CYTZ

I climbed to 3,000 as instructed and contacted Detroit Approach.

A beautiful day and still some fall color to see.

Detroit Approach climbed me to my filed altitude of 5,000 and then amended my clearance to just fly direct to CYTZ, which was nice.

Had a light tailwind and was cruising along at a nice 146 knot ground speed.

Crossed the border and it started getting a little overcast around Sarnia:

I got permission to climb above the layer to 6,000 and enjoyed the view.

Toronto Center then amended my clearance and had me go direct to OLAMO before heading to the airport.  I then did a practice localizer approach to Runway 26 and had a very good landing.

I had a nice time in Toronto with the folks, and the open house party on Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday went very well.

Then yesterday, it was time to head back.  The weather would, unfortunately, not be quite as nice. Overcast, rainy, and windy it would be.

I had filed what I had done for the return on the last trip, which was accepted. Easy enough.

I got to the airport, paid my parking and fuel bill, did the preflight.

 I contacted Ground, and then was told my clearance had changed and was I ready to copy?

Yep, yet again I got the PERL.4 Departure, DERLO Transition, PICUP, OKLND ONE Arrival.  So next time I go, I'm  just going to file that from the outset to save time as they seem to like it a lot on Mondays.  Knowing it well from the last time made reprogramming the system a lot faster.

I then, just before takeoff, got a further amendment to the departure procedure and was told to climb to 3,000, on heading 210 degrees, so I did that and out over the Lake I went.

It was rather overcast and I had a pretty major headwind of around 30 knots so my ground speed was around 90-100 knots, most of the time so it was kinda slow going.

Toronto Center then got me on course to the next waypoint and I was told to climb to 6,000, and then once I reached that next waypoint ANCOL, I got an amended clearance to fly straight to DERLO which saved a little bit of time.

At DERLO the Overcast became more acute and I started getting some instrument time.

It was rather solid with some light chop and light precipitation.  Air Temperature up there was 15 degrees C due to the warm front that was moving in and causing all the winds and clouds, so no icing risk which was good.

The clouds opened up just a bit as I was crossing the border.

And soon closed up again, with even more rain and bouncing around and I was again in solid IMC conditions.

Then for a brief while I was right in between two layers of clouds which was kinda neat.  The air was smooth and it was all rather beautiful.

But soon it closed up again.

I got the weather at Pontiac with winds of 14 knots at 180 degrees for a very direct crosswind for landing on 27L.  I was passed on to Detroit Approach and clearance amended to fly straight to GUZVY for the 27L RNAV and was then cleared onto the approach.

Up to the Final Approach Fix it was IFR, as I followed the glideslope down and got lower I broke out of the clouds.

Not the best visibility, and I was kinda flying sideways in the wind following the RNAV guidance.  This was a tad disorienting, so I just kept on the needles, and it took a bit to find the airport as the nose was pointed into the wind left of the Airport, even as the plane was moving on a nice straight line right to the runway.

Then I had the runway in sight before the missed approach point, and still had to fly crabbed into the wind on the way towards final.

I then made a most excellent crosswind landing, even as it felt like a lot more than 14 knots.  The excellent landing was likely due to a lack of observers of same.

I then cleared customs, then headed to the hangar and got the plane refueled and put away, and that was the end of the weekend.

November 2 I had 2.0 out, and 1 great landing.

November 4 I had 2.4 back, .9 actual instrument time, an instrument approach and another great crosswind landing.

An excellent trip flying that sure as heck beats driving, and it was good to get some actual IFR time and a real approach in and plan for and deal with more challenging conditions.

Back From CYTZ

On Sunday we had a big family gathering and it was a lot of fun, Good to see quite a few relatives I haven't seen since pre-Covid,

So Monday, I said goodbye to everyone and got things in order to depart back to the USA.

I did the weather brief and while the wind was whipping at CYTZ it was nice and calm at Pontiac.  

I filed the electronic advanced notice, and then called CBP at Pontiac to notify them and have them approve the arrival.

I then filed gthe flight plan basically as a reverse of my journey there along a T-route:  Olamo-T781-Adrie-KPTK (Pontiac Airport). Nice and simple and it was approved.

I then got on the subway and headed to Union Station where I caught the shutle bus to Toronto Island Airport.

I then took the tunnel under the lake to the airport.

Then I went to the FBO, Stolport and paid my fuel and parking bill, and got prepared to depart. Very nice FBO and they were quite helpful.

After the preflight I started up the plane and contacted Ground.

Ground stated my flight plan had been changed.

And it was, a lot.

I then copied the clearance:  PERL.4 Departure, DERLO Transition, PICUP, OKLND ONE  Arrival.

Fun.  Thankfully, I had read the PERL.4 departure already just in case that morning and had an idea what it was.

I had to take some time programming the GPS and reviewing the route and then was ready to go.

I taxi'd to the run up area.  There were vehicles in it, which was kinda weird. Ground confirmed I was where I should be, so I did my run up, made sure all was well, and then taxi'd to Runway 26 and got a takeoff clearance.

I took off in a 15-20 gusting wind from 310, but that was fine.

As I began the PERL.4 Departure procedure, which calls for a left turning climb to 3,000 feet to EMDOS over the lake, they amended it and had me fly 210 for a bit for traffic which took me further over the Lake.

Since I'm single engine I'd rather be in easy gliding distance of land at all times if I must be over water.

They soon had me climb to 4,000, then 5,000, then 6,000, and turned me on course to continue the procedure to the transition and be on my way.  

At 6,000 there were some clouds so I got some actual IMC time.

I was in and out of IMC  but most of the time was in visual conditions. Toronto Island passed me to Toronto Terminal, and then to Toronto Control.  All very friendly folks.

The ride was very smooth, even when I was in IMC, so I even had beverage service on the flight:

Don't worry people, it's flavored water.

Crossing the border was a non-issue.

Got handed off to Selfridge just beforehand, then to Detroit Approach shortly thereafter, and I asked for the RNAV 27L and got told to go direct to LEHRA.

I then did a great approach, but it doesn't count as it was VMC conditions, and a really nice landing, probably my best one in awhile.  Likely because nobody noticed. 

I then went to the CBP inspection area at the south side of the airport by the terminal, and it was a non-issue.  I shut down, gave the officer my passport, answered a few questions, and was sent on my way.

I then got to taxi across Runways 27L and 27R and back to the hangar I went.

Total time from start to shut down was 2.0 exactly.

That was a very fun trip, my first international flight I've now flown,  and traveling by air to Toronto is now my preferred method. A definite time saver, and a lot of fun, even if the landing fee and parking fees add up.

That's 2.0 and 1 great landing.

Flying: To CYTZ In Actual IMC

Did my first international flight today.

Last night I did an outlook brief and then did the US CBP electronic paperwork for the flight.

This morning I got up, did the weather brief, filed my IFR flight plan and then called Canada Border Services to let them know I was coming.

At the airport I did a full preflight and got N914P ready to go. A good run-up and I got my clearance and departed form Runway 27L and off I went.

First I talked to Detroit Approach, who directed to climb to 5,000 feet, and then Great Lakes Approach, and finally Selfridge ANGB on the US side. 

Beautiful day for flying.

I was making good time with a nice tail wind for 162 knots over the ground.

I then crossed the border, unlike other times I've crossed at Port Huron/Sarnia, here there was no lineups, no delays and no issues.

I then got handed off to Toronto Center.

Toronto Center had me report a few waypoints and then got me on radar. I was flying the T781 T-route towards Toronto Island Airport and it made for easy routing and reporting.

Weather started getting more interesting, I started being in and out of IMC conditions at 5,000 feet flying through clouds and haze.

The clouds and haze continued and I got transferred over to Toronto Terminal and was cleared for the RNAV 8 Z   approach into Billy Bishop Airport.

The Airport with haze was going IFR and it made things interesitng. This would be my first actual IFR conditions approach done completely on my own.

The approach was neat, they had me descend to 3,000, and then I was soon down to 1,700, then 1,500, all in a haze where I could not see anything to the front of me but had ground (and lake) contact to the sides of the aircraft. I finally broke out of the haze just above minimums, and did not do the best approach I've ever done. Indeed, I got a bit behind the aircraft, but I got it handled.  No pictures as I was busy, with both finding the runway, and interestingly,  dodging sailboat masts on short final (yes, that is a real issue on this approach). Approaching Toronto Island runway 08 looked like I was landing on an aircraft carrier.

I landed without my usual grace and aplomb, but got it down in one piece, and I can reuse the aircraft, so that's something.

 

I then taxi'd to the FBO, Stolport, and then shut down, called Canada Border Services to report my arrival, and ended up taking to the same officer I had spoken with before I departed.  Super nice guy,  really friendly, and he got me handled and issued me an arrival number and had me on my way no problem.

That's 1.8, .8 actual, and 1 real IFR approach, an ok landing, and my first ever international flight.