First week down.... and I'm Still Alive!

Well, its actually pretty hard to comprehend that my first week working at Northwestern is over, and that today is my 7th day being here already: It sure doesn't feel that way. Its Saturday today, which is one of my two days off this week and its a perfect fall day (which I thought they didn't have up here) 16 degrees and sunny - So this afternoon I will be out adventuring, checking out the trail and the river and the 'other half of town'.

This week was a great experience, constantly learning about how this airline and many other airline operations function. The majority of the week was spent finishing up necessary introductory company exams, like Dangerous Goods training and the different functions of a 'Rampie' and the daily and weekly checks which we must complete.

I can now tell you what all of these mean in detail!

Dangerous goods training is a big part of our operations here at Northwestern, as we deal with a lot of Cargo from Edmonton to the North. The Dangerous Goods Training allows us to fully understand what is being shipped in the boxes, how it must be packaged and labeled and how it can be shipped. Depending on what type of product it is, there are different specifications on the ways it can be shipped, We have to know if it can be placed on a scheduled passenger flight as Cargo, or if it has to be on a full cargo load only. For example if there is bio hazardous materials coming from a laboratory, it would have to be shipped on a Freight flight, for the odd chance that the packaging is broken and the materials are released in the aircraft, infecting the passengers.

In the Yukon and the Territories, there is a lot more leeway for residents to send whatever they want, as we fly to many remote locations where aircrafts are the only mode of transportation. My second day, I loaded the Otter on floats to its Maximum takeoff Weight full of jerry cans full of Mogas, propane tanks and non-perishable food, along with the pilot and one passenger. If you were trying to to send those same goods on Air Canada or WestJet from Toronto to Halifax, that would never fly!! It could be a bomb waiting to explode with the amount of fuel loaded. However, this one gentleman was going up to his fishing lodge until Christmas, and needed supplies to get him through and this is the only means possible.


The ramp staff were also trained on how to use some heavy machinery (not the kind that flies) but the fork lifts, (used moving fuel barrels and loading aircraft the float planes, which sit about 7 or 8 feet off the ground!) and our Jeeps, allowed me to drive on the air-side, and tow the Jetstreams to and from the Terminal and in and out of the Hangers.

Although the act of towing, is quite easy. It becomes a little more difficult when the tow bar has two pivot points instead of a regular camper or car trailer with just one. A 12 foot Iron Pipe Is attached to the nose gear of the aircraft, which pivots the aircraft's nose-wheel and on a ring on the front of the car, which allows the car to pivot as well.

Towing takes a lot more care and precision when towing, parking them in between the fleet of aircraft, sitting side-by-side and especially when bringing it inside and outside of the hanger as they it was built specifically to hold three Jetstreams, with only a few feet spare on each side! Any slight deviations and it could be thousands of dollars worth of damage! I haven't made enough yet to be able to fix one yet!

Speaking of the hanger... one of the weekly duties are to keep it in some type of orderly fashion, sweeping it regularly and mopping it! (I must admit, it was quite hard for me to keep my camera on me to take pictures this week; however, there will be many more photos to come very shortly!) When I was told that was one of the jobs, I didn't think much of it...... two days later, I had it all finished! It took myself and the Ramp Lead, Alex, two hours to sweep the entire thing, and then about a full day, mopping it with and without help from the other rampies. It wasn't so easy as it hadn't been done regularly, so it had to be scrubbed pretty vigorously with frequent mop bucket changes to get all the oil and grime off the floors. One of the other rampies was complaining about how it was such a crappy task, but personally I didn't mind it, as it meant I had some time from out of the cold doing something I could do at my own pace! I think I have a weekly chore cut out for me now!

Wednesday happened to be a bit of a special day, apart from there being only two scheduled flights to the Diamond mines for crew changes in northern (redundant?) Northwest Territories, we also had a special visitor, which was a Canadian North 737 that came in for an out of the ordinary fuel stop, enroute to Edmonton.

737 on the rollout after landing on RWY 29 at CYSM

Wednesday also brought about a winter operations course for all ground staff on the different procedures for de-icing aircraft, which I'm told will start very soon (yes, its getting cold!!!). The purpose of deicing the aircrafts right before flight is to ensure the wings and critical surfaces are clean, and free of snow and ice, which can alter the shape of the wing, and significantly increasing the weight, reducing lift and altering the design characteristics of the aircraft.

Ice Buildup on the leading edge of the wing

I will get into more detail about this, once the winter operations are fully in effect. For now, here are some pictures of me in the process of learning how to control the 'Kangaroo' and de-ice our Jetstreams.

That silver tank holds the Orange De-Ice fluid, kept at 165 F

On Friday, as I was finishing up my duties for the day. I got a call on the radio asking for some assistance to unload the Single Otter on floats as it had just come back from a Northern lake with several people and their cargo on board. As I was unloading all these strange cardboard boxes, I couldn't figure out what would rock in a box the way it was, however be so heavy at the same time. After getting a chance to peer through the opening of one of the boxes not properly shut, I was taken back to see animal fur! We unloaded a few thousand pounds of small game, like Beavers, Whitetail Dear, Caribou, fish and Black Bears! (I REALLY wish I had my camera this week to take a picture)

As I waited by our baggage cart while the passengers unloaded their boxes into their cars, one guy jokingly asked if I needed some black bear (bears, beets, battle star galactica). I overheard them talking about going to Kaesers, the local grocery store to cash some checks! If I go to the grocery store today and find a special on fresh Black Bear or Beaver, I will know exactly where it came from!

Anyways, I received my Northwestern 'jumpsuit', which is funny enough, made me feel a lot more like part of the team, but ALSO has many pockets for the many things I may need to hold on me. Allowing me to keep my camera on me a lot more for some up-close and behind the scenes footage! Off to do some exploring!