Tag Archives: British Columbia

A Tank in the Middle of the Town?

When you get off the ferry at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island, the first town you come to is Sidney. I didn’t know there was anything there that we were interested in but one of our party, Jim, was keen to see an F-86 Sabre and a Sherman tank that are on display in the town. They are sitting on a pretty average looking street so seem a little incongruous. The Sabre looked like it was in need of some love. The tank, on the other hand, seemed in great condition. Of course, a tank is a bit more resilient to the comings and goings of a town so it probably can handle itself. I did like the Keep Off notice on the front. Probably not original but, it would have been funny if it had been in German. (For the specialists, I know the Canada did not use these tanks in Germany.)

How Long Since This S-61 Flew?

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On the trip the guys made to see the Martin Mars fly, we stopped by Victoria International Airport on Vancouver Island. Round the back of the field, there were two S-61 airframes sitting doing nothing in particular. One was in the markings of British International Helicopters. It has been a very long time since I last heard of that operation. Apparently, the company has gone through various incarnations over the years. It did operate scheduled flights to the Scilly Isles off Cornwall with S-61s so maybe this airframe came from that service. Has it been sitting here ever since?

Your Own Island in Sproat Lake

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As we motored down Sproat Lake looking for good locations from which to photograph the takeoff of Hawaii Mars, we went through a narrow passage between sections of the lake. Just south of the passage was a small island. A closer look told us that there was a single house on this island. The idea of your own private island does sound quite nice. I think I would like the house to have a less obstructed view of the water but, maybe if you live there and see constant boat traffic like ours, the need for privacy makes the trees a better option.

Smaller BC Ferries

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The approach to Swartz Bay ferry terminal on Vancouver Island brought us close to some other ferries in the BC Ferries fleet. Two of the Salish Class vessels were there, one heading out and another heading in alongside us. I only had my phone with me at that point, but I was able to catch both of them at different times and distances. They are a relatively recent build of ferry having been constructed in Poland. I haven’t made any of the shorter trips that would give me a chance to ride one yet.

Tiny Crabs in the Tidepool

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I posted about a beach on Vancouver Island that we had scoped out as a possible spot for later. While looking around, I spent a bit of time checking out some of the tide pools on the shore. As is often the case, they initially look quiet but, if you spend a little time waiting, you start to notice movement. I found a crab scuttling around in one of the pools and grabbed some photos of it. What I didn’t realize was that there was a second one alongside that had obviously been less mobile while I was watching. Lots of barnacles in the water too and a ton of snail-like creatures. Don’t think they were hermit crabs but who knows?

Housing Alongside Sproat Lake

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When you go out on a lake, you figure that there will be some nice properties along the lakeshore. It’s a desirable place to live so you figure some money is going to be spent to live there. The top shot is just a view along the shore where we rented the boat, but the others are some of the places we saw. While most of them seem really good, I was disappointed in one place. The structure of the house looked really nice but the concrete structures between it and the water look really unappealing from out on the boat. Sure, if you are in it, you can’t see that. However, if I am spending that much on a place, I’d want it to look great from outside too!

Picking A Spot on the Shore Near Victoria Airport

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Before we headed to Sproat Lake to find the Mars, we did a brief recce of the area along the shore where they were due to arrive the following day. At this time, we still had a plan to return to the island on the Sunday for the final touchdown of Hawaii Mars. I would later scrap this portion of the trip. However, we hadn’t got to that point yet. There were a few possible locations to try out and Steve had noticed a small park that led down to the beach, so we went to check it out. It was a lovely little spot and there was a tree hanging out from the land over one part of the beach that looked particularly cool. We didn’t end up returning but this could have been a nice spot to watch the proceedings.

Evening Raptor Demo at Last

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The “at last” in this title is not that I haven’t seen an F-22 demo in the evening. I saw one once at Chino and it was very cool. This is more about the fact that the Raptor demos in recent years have not strayed far west very often. They did a demo in Australia but only had one demo west of the Mississippi for one season. However, Canada did attract the team, and Abbotsford provided a chance to see them for me.

The pilot for the demo for the last two years is a guy that was a regular attendee of air shows in the Midwest when I lived there. I know some of his friends, but he was quite young then and I can’t claim to know him. Even so, it is rather cool to see him have made it to his chosen airframe of the F-22 and then to become the demo pilot. Only near the end of his second year did I finally see his routine and it was a good show. I know he has used flares at a number of events, but warm dry weather probably has meant that the fire risk precluded that. Even so, the evening light made for a great show.

Nicely done, Sam. Excellent performance. Hope you have enjoyed it for the last two years.

Spirit of Vancouver Island

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I posted about the Salish Class of ferries that BC Ferries operates previously but, as we were arriving in Swartz Bay, one of the larger ferries in the fleet headed out. Spirit of Vancouver Island runs the main service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay carrying the heavy traffic loads. She pulled out just as we were coming alongside so I got a brief view of her heading away.

Girls Fly 2 Arrivals

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Each year, there is an event held at Abbotsford International Airport to encourage the involvement of young women in the aviation business. You get quite a few military aircraft arriving for the event, and they focus on female crews from the units to bring the planes in. While this is in Canada, the US supports the event well. I headed up to see what the arrivals would include.

Weather was a bit overcast so not ideal given that plenty of the planes coming in will be grey. However, there were hints of sun periodically although it did end up throwing down more rain around the time I was leaving. Aside from the A-10s and a Cyclone, the arrivals I saw were dominated by transport and tanking types. The KC-135s had come quite a long way but the one I was probably happiest to get was the C-5 Galaxy. No TF-39 whine, these days, but still a cool jet to see flying.