Wayne J. Lutz - Up the Airway: Coastal British Columbia Stories

Wayne J. Lutz

Copyright 2010 Wayne J. Lutz

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About the Author

Wayne Lutz was previously Chairman of theDepartment of Aeronautics at Mount San Antonio College inCalifornia, leading the schools Flying Team to championships seventimes as Top Community College Flying Team in the United States. Healso served as a California Air National Guard C-130 aircraftmaintenance officer.

The author is a flight instructor with 7000hours of flight experience. In the past three decades, he has spentsummers in Canada, exploring remote regions with his Piper Arrow,flying north from Los Angeles and camping next to his airplane. In2000, he discovered the beauty of Powell River, BritishColumbia.

The author now resides in a floating cabin onCanadas Powell Lake during all seasons. His writing genres includeregional Canadian publications and science fiction.

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Other books by Wayne J. Lutz

Science Fiction

Inbound to Earth

Echo of a Distant Planet

Coastal British Columbia Stories

Up the Main

Up the Winter Trail

Up the Lake

Up the Strait

Farther Up the Lake

Farther Up the Main

Farther Up the Strait

Cabin Number 5

http://www.PowellRiverBooks.com

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The stories are true, and the characters arereal.

Some details are adjusted to protect theguilty.

All of the mistakes rest solidly with theauthor.

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Up theAirway

Contents

1 Bella Bella

2 George on the Raincoast

3 Alpha Route to Victoria

4 Unexpected Destinations

5 Pacific Coastal

6 Up Victor 27

7 Down the Strait

8 More Unexpected Destinations

9 CYPW and the South Coast

10 Canadian Shield

11 Alert Bay

12 San Juan Islands

13 North to Alaska

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Preface

From theCockpit

W rite what youknow.

For decades I avoided giving in to this sage advicefound in every introductory how-to book about writing. Instead, Iturned my attention to science fiction and my series of books,Coastal British Columbia Stories.

Earlier in my writing career, I listened to theperceptive suggestions of experts, and tried writing aboutaviation, since its certainly what I know best. But it didntwork. Ive been ignoring the advice of such experts ever since. Sotoo have I come to ignore those who offer publishing proverbs. Theresults havent always worked out well, but it has kept me fiercelyindependent as an author.

When I turned to writing about aviation I immediatelybecame bored. My boredom wasnt the result of the topic, for flyingis my passion. But capturing a passion in words may be the mostdifficult task of all. Flying is just too beautiful, defyingdescription.

Yet, even when not writing about aviation, I foundbits of it sneaking into my chapters. In my science fictionwriting, the protagonist flew a small airplane and the aliens facedC-130s (in a very indirect way). In my previous writing, my PiperArrow serves as the backdrop in the scenes of several chapters.Aviation keeps side-slipping back into my writing. Maybe theres abigger place for flying in my stories. And here it is an entirebook on the subject.

When I finally selected aviation as a subject forCoastal BC Stories, I faced an immediate problem. This first bookabout flying needs to fit into a series of stories that are readmostly by Canadians living on the west coast of British Columbia.Very few of these potential readers are pilots. Of course, I couldabandon my regular readers in favor of pilots. But I wont!

Thus, the challenge how to write about aviation inthe context of coastal British Columbia, without losing my readersbecause of the details. Any book that hopes to capture the wondersof flight must remain true to the lingo, the equipment used, andthe skills required by pilots. Aviation is highly specialized. Willmy non-pilot readers be captured by the thrill of flying, justbecause I am? Answer: only if I approach the task carefully, with aflight instructors attitude of taking things from the beginning,while letting the reader experience a few things by aerialimmersion.

In this book about flying and coastal BritishColumbia, the airplane becomes a tool for finding the people andplaces that make this region extraordinary. But the high-techequipment, aeronautical terminology, and the complexity of aviationitself havent been toned down just because the audience includesthose who are not aviators. In fact, thats the real challenge todraw the reader into the cockpit without the need for a backgroundin aeronautics. Keeping it real, without glossing over thedetails.

The success or failure of my efforts will bedetermined by whether an audience of non-pilots wants to experiencethe thrills of flight. I think they do. In coastal BC, there areboaters, fishermen, loggers, and other self-reliant individuals whole rural communities of independent people who are used to thechallenges posed by remoteness. The airplane helps deal with suchchallenges, and they all know it. I believe these readers willenjoy flying as my copilot, occasionally taking over the controlsthemselves. I look forward to introducing them to the instruments,switches, and flight controls that will take us aloft to uniquedestinations.

Theres another oft-repeated saying in self-helpbooks for authors: Show, dont tell. Its a technique that willapply well to stories like these. So, take control of the aircraft.Rest your left hand on the yoke and your right hand on thethrottle. Move your feet up over the rudder pedals. As we fly, keepan eye on the horizon, closely monitor altitude and airspeed, andcast a glance at the engine gauges. Let me show you how to fly.

And to those pilots who read this book, I say welcomeaboard. Youre an important part of this aircrew, although in anentirely different way. Together well share the thrill of cruisingover glaciated peaks and past mountains that drop into the sea.Well align our aircraft on the runways narrow swath through thetrees in a remote location and slide down the glide slope. Ourpassengers are going to love the ride.

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Chapter 1

BellaBella

T he maze of waterways stretches below,flowing onward into the mountains on both sides. By now I know alot about this region. Ive studied it on the map for years, butfrom aloft it looks different. How did mariners ever navigatethrough this jumble of islands and inlets without GPS? Without mycockpit navigational equipment, Id be lost, even from an aerialperch that provides such an optimum view of the surroundinglandmarks.

The patchy clouds below the Piper Arrow deter myefforts to maintain spatial orientation. Is that Bute Inlet? Astratocumulus layer covers Stuart Island and Ramsay Arm, and mightyBute blends into the background of nearby fjords. Impressive inletsare rendered into river-like extensions.

Margy flies from the pilots left seat, while I sitcontentedly to her right. She controls the airplane, while I dowhat I enjoy the most navigation and communication. We share therewarding tasks of flight, enhanced by decades of flyingtogether.

Over the years, weve developed areas of expertise,though either of us is capable of handling this airplane solo.Margy usually flies during takeoffs, providing me plenty of time tomonitor the engine instruments during this critical phase. It alsogives me an opportunity to attend to the navigation radios.