Banff and Canadian Rockies

Lou · Post by **Lou** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 3:53 am

We have been travelling between Edmonton, Alberta and Spokane, Washington where one of our daughters goes to school. When there is no ceiling, you fly direct at 12,400' to stay below Canadian Class B over the Continental Divide. It's a beautiful flight every inch of the way but here are some of the best moments. Hope you enjoy.

: Lake Minnewanka

: Banff Springs

: Great Divide and Mt Assiniboine in distance

: Mt Assiniboine (11,700')

: Lake Columbia

Lake Columbia is the starting point of the Columbia River.

Robfarthing · Post by **Robfarthing** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:50 am

Great pics! I am familiar with that gorgeous terrain as I am based at CYBW.
I have flown over these peaks in my Cessna 182S up to FL150 - I never worried about Canadian class B, even when VFR; I'd just call Edmonton Centre and get a VFR clearance!
I am wondering how you found the da40 at 12,400' and above - in terms of DA performance, climb rate, cruise speed, etc... My 182S had no trouble maintaining over 500ft/min climb at that altitude, even with full fuel - what would I expect in a da40?
I have sold the 182S and always had an interest in the da40, but unsure of the utility over higher terrain.
Cheers!
Rob
Btw: I owned a da20 C1 prior to buying the Cessna, and still miss what a blast it was to fly, but it definitely ran out of climb performance around Canadian Class B levels

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:21 am

I think the DA40 a decent performer in the mid teens, at least for a non-turbo airplane, and I find that climbing up there is definitely worth it if there are stronger tailwinds at altitude. See stats from a recent flight from Montreal to New York at 16 000 ft: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CFLE ... N/tracklog

As you can see, we were doing 160 kts GS while burning about 6.5gph. It's an older DA40 (2002) so I would expect even better performance from a recent model.

I once did a 480nm flight (CYXU-CSM3) at 17 000 ft. (DA 18 100 ft.) while burning just 21 gallons. Puts my car's fuel economy to shame.

Lou · Post by **Lou** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:26 pm

This is my first aircraft so I have nothing to compare it to but we had no difficulty at all climbing to that altitude. My recollection is that I set FLC to 90 knots and just let her find the rate, which I seem to recall was around 500fpm. This is not an optimum climb speed so I am sure there was more to be had. In cruise, we had no problem truing at 143-145 at WOT and 75 degree ROP, prop 2450.

I am happy to hear that the DA40 is comfortable in the mid teens. My O2 system arrived last week so next time we'll go higher. Also, I will soon be finishing up my instrument rating and the mea's in Alberta and BC are all higher.

We are really excited about the travel possibilities with this aircraft. We're staying in Invermere in July and planning a trip to Oliver (Burrowing Owl) in August.

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:50 pm

Lou wrote:When there is no ceiling, you fly direct at 12,400' to stay below Canadian Class B over the Continental Divide.

Lou wrote:My O2 system arrived last week so next time we'll go higher.

You flew at 12400 without O2 on a Canadian license?

Star57 · Post by **Star57** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 1:48 am

No he didn't, he had his old oxygen system, he just bought a new one with all the gadgets and bigger tank.
You would be gealous if you saw it! Way to go Lou!

The only negative is that Lou is from Edmonton, eventually he will find Highway 2 South and move to Calgary, and everyone will be happy! Only somewhat! As both of us have crappy hockey Teams!

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 1:50 am

Robfarthing · Post by **Robfarthing** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:40 am

Thanks for the info everyone - looks like there are a few 40's in my area which supports it being a decent performer as there nothing but big rocks to the west of us...

Let me know if any of you would like some company out of a local CYBW or CAA8 flight - I'll bring the O2 buy the 100ll (but from the sounds of it I won't need to buy much of the later compared to my Cessna...)

Cheers

Lou · Post by **Lou** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 3:20 am

Charles: 30 minutes over 10k' is allowed!

Lou · Post by **Lou** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 7:42 pm

In July we flew to Invermere from CZVL, and we took another trip to Victoria (CYYJ). Now we have full oxygen so its's not a quick hop over the high bits - we climb and go. It was 13,500' all the way back from CYYJ. This is why I love flying in Canada - it's just plane beautiful. Enjoy.