In early June of 1997, a group of 8 American and 2 French airplanes flew to the remote Canadian High Arctic weather station of Eureka, Northwest Territories on an International Air Rally Organization trip. How exciting to fly north into the bright midnight sun across vast unsettled ice-covered land and sea with a well-maintained turbo-normalized engine purring smoothly up front. Our GPS supplied directions based on true north while the magnetic compass did 360's upon imperceptible perturbations. Fellow aviators provided comforting position reports on the radio, making us believe that there really would be help if anything went wrong.
It started when my husband sent the URL for a web page entitled "Fly to the Top of the World" that guaranteed 100LL avgas availability where there is normally none. By evening we were signed up for the adventure of a lifetime! IFR proficiency was required - fog is a major factor as open leads in the sea ice generate lots of moisture slightly warmer than the ambient air. We signed up for a Bonanza Society pilot proficiency course to polish our skills and ability to handle emergencies.
Excitement built as we swapped out our old King nav/comms for new KX 155s, practiced using our Northstar M3 GPS and Garmin 195, and studied this little known area of the world. We arranged to visit our Eskimo friends now living in Yellowknife. We contacted other group members to learn of their plans - one airplane owner planned to install a large ferry tank and fly to the true North Pole, 600 nautical miles north of Eureka! The web forum was a great way to meet other participants and discuss things like what to take, dealing with firearms, and how to refuel from drums.
The route was long. After meeting in Winnipeg for a briefing and supplies including a survival kit from the organization, the plan was to fly from Winnipeg to Resolute the first day. The most direct route through Churchill is 1600 nautical miles, with legs ranging from 339 to 541 nautical miles. For IFR, the alternate airport is either the next or the previous airport! There are no others! How glad we were to have the extra 40 gallons in our Osborne tip-tanks. Nav Canada, a private corporation that contracts with the Canadian government, gave us an excellent weather and flight briefing. They told us that Churchill and other Hudson Bay communities were below IFR minima and recommended going via Lynn Lake and Yellowknife.
The flight across the Canadian Shield, the lake-strewn rocky treeless expanse left behind by the glaciers of the ice age, was magnificent to see under bright sunny skies. Fog problems further north at Cambridge Bay, however, gave us a welcome stop for the night in Yellowknife. Taking a look 459 nautical miles away was not an option, so we joined our Inuit friends for dinner and a tour of the city.
In the morning, with Cambridge still below IFR minima, we enjoyed visiting the local art galleries with our friends, including fellow Bonanza pilot David Lau. At noon, David phoned the flight service station operator at Cambridge told us there was a 700 foot ceiling, enough for the VOR approach. Conditions were improving. The Nav Canada briefing in Yellowknife was incredible. HP workstations combined with infrared satellite pictures and temperature data enable a skilled operator to give us a complete picture of the weather where there were no reporting stations. This technology has not yet reached the US.
The flight North, IFR at FL90 (the altimeter was set to 29.92) heading 016 degrees true, soon put us into uncontrolled airspace. Talk about isolation! There is no control and no radio contact other than a required call entering the ADIZ and the use of mandatory frequencies in landing at airports. At the airport at Cambridge Bay, which is in uncontrolled airspace there are no clearances for approaches or departure. You just file a flight plan and go! The flight plans are taken very seriously; they are the vehicle for starting rescue at the time specified on the form, usually one hour overdue.
The flight from Cambridge Bay to Resolute was the most magnificent of my life. At midnight, as we came to the Parry Channel, the low stratus below vanished. We donned our sun-glasses as we flew north into the sun and viewed the highway of sea ice below. I could imagine dog sleds carrying Eskimo families across this smooth-looking ice to better hunting. Resolute was beautiful with dazzling white snow on the ramp and 5-foot snow drifts from the blizzard a few days earlier. There was no need this time to do an ILS into this well-maintained gravel runway. We watched in amazement as David Lau taxied his jet Bonanza to the fuel pump as we hand-pumped fuel from a fresh looking Esso barrel.
The flight to Eureka was incredible. Ice caps the high mountains and fiords; no people live in this beautiful frozen land. At Eureka we joined the French participants for a Champagne celebration of our arrival to the Garden of the Arctic. We wandered about the area looking for musk oxen, ptarmigan, arctic hare and caterpillars(!), the regulars at Eureka. Luc allowed me to use the weather station computer to post a message to the web forum that we had indeed arrived.
At 8pm the Golden Eagle left for the true North Pole. At midnight they circled the pole and started back. Which way? South. Which South? Everywhere is South! Even the GPS was confused; longitude was changing too fast; it did not know how to get anywhere! They chose a direction and the GPS settled down, but a 70 knot headwind meant that they had insufficient fuel to reach Eureka. The only other field, the military post at Alert, was slightly closer. Fortunately, the wind died down and they reached Eureka. When they came to Ellesmere Island, they felt reassured that they could crash on land rather than polar ice!
Our return flight was magnificent as we crossed the icecap on Axel Heiberg Island en route to the magnetic North Pole, after setting the day's position for the pole in the GPS. A festive party in Resolute completed the organized portion of the trip. The stories of the French pilots crossing the Atlantic to Iqaluit, Baffin Island, were amazing. With an emergency suit and lots of money for fuel stops, it sounded so doable! Robert, the organizer, promised a rally to Paris in 1999. He also decided to repeat Checkpoint Eureka in 1998! See http://www.cam/org/~eureka.