Eruption - 8. Erupt Ch 8

It was about five weeks into my new university semester when I arrived home, and my Mum was smiling broadly, as I walked into the house. “What is it Mum, why the big grin?” I asked, “You will see my dear boy, just go for a drive to the park next to the yacht club and you will see,” my Mum replied, so I did as she suggested, and I took a three-kilometre drive down to the park, on the east side of the Main Street Bridge, and as I looked out towards the harbour, sitting on its banks was a DHC-6 Twin Otter Seaplane.

Sitting on the pontoon of the plane was Dad, who was smiling as I approached. “Wow Dad this is so awesome, and you came down specially to see me look at it for the first time?” I said to my Dad, “Well sort of son, the plane was in Goose Bay, near where I am working, so I came down with the former owner, who flew it down here for me,” Dad replied.

“Wow this is awesome, thanks heaps Dad,” I responded as I took a careful look at the plane. “It took us just under two hours to get here and it was a very comfortable trip the whole way,” Dad said to me, as I saw a taxi approaching and stop nearby, where a man stepped out and walked towards us. “Mike, this is my son Carson, who is the new owner and pilot of this bird,” my Dad said to the man.

“Howdy, have you flown seaplanes before?” the man named Mike asked me, “No just Cessna 402 and Tecnam P2012, and without passengers, with wheel landing,” I replied. “Ok, well let me give you a few lessons while I am still here, I don’t catch a commercial flight back to Goose Bay until tomorrow,” Mike said to me.

Mike firstly ran me through all of the systems and information about the plane, and this is when I learnt that it is the newer 400 series, including that it has only 8 VIP club passenger seats with fold-up tables and 3 standard seats instead of having just 18 standard seats, and it has a small galley and a small bathroom, which I was a little surprised about, and a good-sized cargo area too.

Once all of that was completed, for the next three hours, I did several take off’s and landings in the bay, to get used to the different levels of water conditions and wind directions, as well as general flying to get used to all of the controls and instrumentation in the flight cabin.

Once Mike was happy that I was sufficiently trained to handle this new plane, we landed and beached the plane on the banks, and out of the cargo hold, Mike pulled out some rope, two steel pegs and a small heavy hammer, to secure the plane so it doesn’t drift away.

After locking up the plane, we said farewell to Mike and with Dad driving, we headed back home. “You were both gone a very long time, I was starting to get worried,” Mum said as we walked into the house. “No need to panic dear, the previous owner just gave Carson a rundown of the plane, before taking it on a few flights to practice taking off and landing on water,” Dad explained.

“It is an awesome plane, Mum, I will have to take you all out on a flight one day soon,” I said, “No thanks, I would prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground,” Mum replied.

“I have already spoken to the Canadian Civil Aviation Authority, and you have been granted permission to take off from Shediac Bay and land on the St John River near the airport each day, and I have arranged for your seaplane to be moored at the jetty on the north bank of the river, on the opposite side of the airport,” Dad announced to me, “That is great, thanks for that Dad,” I replied happily.

With two years of additional studies ahead of me, I knuckled down and concentrated on my studies, and I only had time to see my good friend Emanuel once a month at best. The first year was the hardest as I was doing the additional studies for a Bachelor in Adult Education, once I had completed that degree, I only had one year remaining of my Masters studies.

I was clocking up plenty of air time on my log book, which was great, as it gave me more experience and confidence with flying the Twin Otter. During the summer holidays, Emmanuel and I decided to go and explore some of the volcano sites in the Yukon Territory, for three weeks.

I had selected two particular sites that I wanted to visit, that been Fort Selkirk Volcano, located at the junction of the Yukon and Pelly Rivers, which is 1,239 metres above sea level, plus the Alligator Lake Volcano, which is 2,214 metres high, and one other possible site, yet to be decided.

In both situations, there is plenty of water in the river and lake to be able to safely land there, and for the first week of the holidays, Emmanuel and I concentrated on getting all the supplies that we needed, but keeping the weight down to a minimum, so as not to be too heavy for the plane.

I had arranged with the First Nation groups for guides to assist with the hiking trip up the two volcanic mountains, and my parents assisted with financing the whole trip. As we sat down for our last dinner before the trip the next day, the house phone rang, and Dad went to answer it. “Yes, he is here, may I ask what this is about?” we heard Dad say, as Emmanuel and I concentrated on eating our delicious roast dinner, that Mum had cooked especially for this occasion.

“My wife and I are sponsoring this trip and we have full confidence in my son’s piloting skills… oh… well I will have to ask him about that, just a moment and I will get him for you,” I heard Dad say, and I wiped my mouth with the napkin before asking Mum for permission to leave the table, before standing

“It appears that news has got out about your trip, and the University wants to be involved,” Dad said to me, as he sat down and I walked to the kitchen to where the telephone was located. “So, what did the University want?” Emmanuel asked as I returned to my seat, still a little stunned at the proposal suggested.

“They… the University will fully fund the trip including bringing research equipment, and a research team of seven, if we allow them to come along for the trip,” I explained. “What was your answer to them son?” Mum asked me. “Well, I told them that I would think about it and that I would give them a response when I land at Fredericton tomorrow,” I replied.

“That would mean that they would have control over what research is done during the trip I imagine?” Dad asked me, and I nodded my head yes. “What are your thoughts on that?” Mum asked me. “Well, I like that the financial burden would be a lot less for your guys, but then again, I would not be able to decide what to do and where to go,” I replied.

“I say stuff them, if they want to tag along, you should have control over what we do,” Emmanuel said, “I think I agree with you there my friend,” I responded after a bit more thought on the proposal. “Good, then it is settled, I suggest that you call them back and maybe make a counter-offer to them, that they pay half of the costs, and that you will be the expedition leader and decide where you will be going, and I suggest a smaller number of people too,” Dad announced.

“I was going to do that anyway, with Emmanuel and I, and just five more people will be plenty,” I replied. “Have you worked out a flight plan yet?” Dad asked me, “Yes, and I submitted via email just before dinner. Including the stop-over at the university, we will have six stops over two days, with an overnight stop in Edmonton, and we should arrive at our first destination of Fort Selkirk Volcano in the mid-afternoon of the second day,” I announced to my parents.

“I expect to receive a phone call once you have landed in Edmonton tomorrow afternoon, and at least an email from you each night after that,” Mum said to me sternly. “Yes Mum,” I said with a bit of a groan. “How long is the hike from the river, up to the side of the volcano?” Emmanuel asked me.

“Approximately twelve kilometres, with a bit over 400 metres in height from the river to the small lake where we will be based,” I replied. “That doesn’t sound too hard,” Emmanuel commented, “It may sound like not much, but remember the higher we climb the less oxygen there is, so you will get out of breath fairly easily,” I replied.

Once I had finished my dinner, Emmanuel and I headed to Dad’s study, where I made the call back to the Dean of Environmental Science at the University, where I stated the counter-offer with me in charge of the expedition, especially since it is my aircraft that we would be using to get to the volcano sites.

Reluctantly the Dean agreed to allow me to be the expedition leader, and that the university would pay for half of the costs, and provide research equipment, and I agreed to allow a total of five team members, not counting me. “Mate, I would like you to be my steward on the flights if that is alright with you, I will give you a rundown of everything before we take off tomorrow.

I have already ordered supplies for the flight; that are in addition to our trek provisions, and they will arrive before we leave,” I said to Emmanuel after the call to the University. “Yes, of course, I will do that for you, I am glad to have an actual job to do on this trip,” Emmanuel replied happily.

Early the following morning, Mum gave us a full-cooked breakfast, and Dad drove us down to the harbour, where I did all of my usual external and internal checks, while Emmanuel looked around the inside of the plane. “When the others have joined us, I will get you to sit up here next to me, and once we are at cruising height, you can start to get the snacks and drinks prepared.

According to the Dean, it will be Dr Judith Archer and four final-year environmental science students who will be joining us. As I mentioned last night, we will have several refuel stops along the way, with an overnight stop at Edmonton, to allow me to be rested,” I informed my friend, as I began to show him around the galley space near the rear of the plane.

Once all of the meals, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks had been loaded onboard, we set off for our first stop at Fredericton, and Emmanuel sat in the co-pilot seat to keep me company for the first part of the trip. Once we had arrived, I taxied the plane to the Delta Hotel jetty, located on the south side of the St John River, located just west of the Westmoreland Bridge.

Emmanuel opened the main door and passed out the two mooring ropes, which two men used to secure the plane to the jetty, and once I had shut down the engines, I joined him at the door, where I was a little surprised to see Mr Flint, the Dean of Environmental Science, and my only real university friend – Hunter Wallis, who is studying Meteorology as well as Geophysics.

“Dean Flint, I was not expecting to see you here today,” I said to the senior university staff member. “Yes, well plans changed. As of now, you now have two staff and six final year students attending, Mr Newton,” the Dean said to me.

“Not so fast sir, I need to know some information, before I can allow anyone onboard my aircraft, that includes the total weight of all of the research equipment, and the weight of the passengers and their luggage,” I said as I held up my hand to stop the Dean from stepping forward.

“Well get on with it, so we can get moving,” the Dean snapped at me. “Sir, I will take as long as it takes, this is my aircraft, and I am the pilot, so you will just have to wait until I am satisfied that we are not overloaded,” I responded, after taking a step closer to the Dean to make my point that I was in charge.

Starting with the students, I recorded their weights, before asking about the weight of all of the luggage and research equipment, before I asked about the weight of Dr Archer and Dean Flint. After I had calculated the total weights, I continued to scribble on the pad, pretending that I was still adding up the sums.

“Well, can we get on the goddamn plane now?” the Dean said to me in an annoyed tone, “I am sorry sir, but two people will have to stay behind, as the plane will be too heavy. Or I will allow only one staff and all six students and 70% of the equipment, that we can carry, that is my best offer,” I announced.

“No, I will not accept that, I am going, and so is everyone else in this group, if anyone should miss outgoing, it is him,” the Dean boomed at me and pointed at Emmanuel. “Sure, but to do that, 50% of the research equipment will have to remain behind. I only have a light aircraft sir, and as such I can only take a limited load to have a safe flight, and Emmanuel is coming along, as he is my steward,” I responded.

After a good twenty minutes of debating and arguing, Dean Flint saw that I was not going to change my mind under any circumstances, even after threatening to mark down my grades at University, and I still would not budge. He finally announced that he would not be attending the trip as he had planned, and after sorting the equipment, some of it too remained behind.

Once we were in the air, Emmanuel headed to the back to start serving some snacks, before returning to his seat in the cockpit. “I heard whispers from some of the students, saying they are glad that Dean Flint did not come along for this trip,” Emmanuel said to me smiling, and I chuckled at this comment. “I am glad to mate,” I said smiling.

The two-day trip to our first base camp was long and tiring. We met with our tour guide and camp team, who were already waiting for us, on the banks of the Pelly River, and once everything was unloaded from the plane, I locked it up, made sure the mooring ropes were secure, and we set off up the access track to our base camp, located eleven kilometres away.

We would have an overnight camp about halfway up, as it was too late in the day to make the whole distance, which was fine with me, as I would be heading to bed early once dinner was over.