Flying the Line

"Cree 927 you are clear for Takeoff runway 28. Call departures airborne when established heading" As I read back our clearance to the tower I start to advance the power levers. The captain calls out "Spoilers down, Autofeather armed, through 80%" as he then tweaks the levers to the 96% takeoff power. As we start to roll on runway 28 at Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport, its evident that we have a full load this morning as it takes a little while to start accelerating down the runway. "70 knots, Takeoff power set" I respond with a "cross-check" verifying that my airspeed indicator is showing the same thing and that the torque gauges are set appropriately. "V1. . . Rotate", we reach our rotation speed, I pull back firmly on the control column and the aircraft easily unsticks itself from the runway and continues to accelerate. What a feeling!  Through 400feet, I call for flaps zero, the bleed air on and climb  power as I start my turn to a heading of 320 for traffic sequencing in the Montreal Terminal area.

The captain switches over to the departures frequency and speaks to the controller who tells us to climb to our flight planned altitude of 19,000ft (or flight level 190 as its called above 18,000 ft) and to proceed direct to TAMKO, one of the way points on the airway to Chibougamau, QC; our first destination this morning. He today punches in TAMKO into our Flight Management System (FMS) and puts 19,000 in the altitude selector and I start the right turn. Since we are now flying in the right direction towards our destination, I accelerate to the enroute climb speed, while calling for the 'After takeoff checks' as we pass through 1500 feet above the ground. We confirm the landing gear and flaps are up, the climb power is set and he turns off different pumps and systems which we mainly use for takeoff and landing, confirms that the after takeoff checks are completed, then gets into the paperwork. Me, enjoying every second of the flight, I decide to hand fly up to 10,000 feet before I engage the autopilot to really get a feel of this bird. All the Dash 8's are the same, but every aircraft has its little quirks to it. I like to hand fly it to have it nicely trimmed out, it also allows me to feel how each aircraft handles, and makes it easier when disengaging the autopilot on approach so I already know how it flies. 

We break out of the overcast layer which is covering most of Southern Quebec and into the nice sunshine. Time to put the shades on, I engage the autopilot, we complete the 10,000ft checklist and dive into my flight bag for my shades. I ask the Captain what he thinks we will get for breakfast today, at the same time, we get a 'ding-dong' from the back, asking if we would like something to eat. The captain answers the flight attendants the call, then unlocks the door her come  into the flight deck. 'Phew!'  breakfast isn't too bad this morning! Some days are pretty good, others, well, don't seem so appealing: I was just happy it wasn't the breakfast which looked like a cross between a pancake, french toast, a sponge and a piece of apple pie. . . Nobody has been able to tell me what exactly it is yet, so I haven't been too keen on testing it so far. I also decide its time for a morning coffee, the captain decides to pass on the java: He's convinced the coffee on the airplanes leaving Montreal comes straight off the early morning Jazz flights from Moncton. I'll admit that it tastes different out of Montreal than all our other stations, but it's still palatable. I guess thats what 15 years of drinking the same coffee will do to you!

Levelling off at our cruise altitude, we set the cruise power and complete the cruise checks while letting the aircraft ride the southerly tailwinds. I'm doing the flying northbound this morning, meaning the Captain will be dealing with the paperwork and radios this morning. Southbound we will switch, so we share the flying equally. After our stop in Chibougamau, we have have another 5 stops up and along the James Bay coast. We call this one the 'milk run' as there are 6 stops up to Chisasibi, QC then another 6 back down to Montreal; its one of the longer flights with a duty day of about 13 hours, with almost 8 of it being flight time.

We ask the Montreal Center (the controller) who is working the northerly airspace for the latest METAR (or hourly weather report from the airport. He gives us the latest sequence  240/12 G 25 VV008 5/8SM SN -3/-5 3014: In other words, the winds are from 240 degrees at 12knots, gusting to 25, A vertical visibility of 800ft (similar to a cloud ceiling) 5/8 of a statute mile visibility horizontally in moderate snow, a temperature of -3, dew point of - 5 and the altimeter setting 3014. Oh boy, this will be some fun! We will plan to use runway 23, so luckily the winds are straight down the pipe, however the visibility on the approach is right at the very minimums! Air Creebec has an Ops Spec (an operations specification - or a permit), granted by Transport Canada to allow us to used a reduced visibility on approaches than what most pilots are able to do. The minimums for the approach are 1 1/4 miles, but this permit allows us half the required visibility - equaling 5/8ths! With some very rough calculations, if the weather is actually at this visibility, and we are flying at our approach speed of 120 knots, or 2 nautical miles a minute, so at 5/8ths of a mile, we should be seeing the runway approximately 15 seconds before touch down! No room for error.Weather along the James Bay region can get pretty serious in the fall, when the bay has not yet frozen over and is retaining some heat, while the land gets cold. Significant amounts of moisture is picked up over the bay and carried over the colder land, causing low cloud, fog and icing (when the temperatures are hovering around and below the freezing point). Once the bay freezes over, the moisture source is cut drastically, leaving cold, dry air - and sunny blue skies! With the spring thaw, a similar situation occurs like in the fall, however its cold moist air from the bay, flowing over the warmer land, causing fog and low cloud once again.  Weather in the Chibougamau region is often caused by its elevation. The airport sits 1207 feet above sea level in central Quebec (as you can see from the map). As the moist air moves westward, it has no other choice but to rise as the terrain rises, forcing it to cool, where it eventually becomes fully saturated, causing clouds, rain and in the cooler months, snow - which is what is causing the weather today.  

I brief the Captain at the top of descent about the RNAV approach (a GPS approach flying waypoint to waypoint) which we will be conducting onto runway 23, and the event of a missed approach, what our intentions will be. Since we left Montreal at our gross takeoff weight, we were only able to fit the minimum amount of fuel on board:  (destination fuel, to conduct the approach/ missed approach,  proceed to our alternate airport and have 45 minutes reserve fuel to spare [which we can't use unless it's an emergency]) If we don't get visual contact at our minimum descent altitude, we will have to execute a missed approach and proceed to our alternate airport right away.

Crossing 10,000ft I call for the approach checks - the approach lights, hydraulic & fuel pumps come on, along with the seatbelt sign:  'bing!' Allowing the flight attendant to get the cabin ready for landing. Shortly after, we break through the top of the cloud layer and get right into the juice! "Time to earn todays pay" - 'click, click' with an orange light flashing, the autopilot's now disengaged and I'm hand flying. I call "Gear down, Flaps 15, landing checks" and we configure for landing, slowing to our final approach speed as we cross through 1000' above ground.  "Two hundred to minimums. . . one hundred to minimums. . . runway lights twelve o'clock" "Landing. I'm outside, you're inside" I state as I transition to runway coming into sight through the snow. "50ft, plus five. . . over the threshold you're right on REF… 10 feet, on REF"  'ERX… ERX' we touch down and the ground spoilers come up to assist with aerodynamic breaking. "Nice one" the captain says "50 knots, control locks on  and after landing checks:  lets not touch the breaks, this runway is like a skating rink." I complete the after landing flow as we taxi in. "Cree 927, check you're down at 16:31." One sector down, eleven more to go! Next stop.. Namisco

Along the East coast taking off of Eastmain Airport - Water sure looks cold!