The YAK is getting closer to flying.  It’s hard to find the time to work on our own toys, but we’re hoping to get it flying before winter sets in.

Dan has done a great job with the paint. 

We received the results of the 12 month audit of our management system to the ISO 9001:2008 + AS9100B standard.  Out of a possible 1000 points, we received 1000 points. Score 100%.  We’re pretty proud.

The overview said ” Sealand Aviation is a well managed and led company with very knowledgeable, experienced, and professional personnel.  The President and Quality Assurance Manager have extensive experience with the company and in industry.  All personnel were helpful and cooperative…. Good communication within the team is evident.”  There was more, all good…..

Congratulations to everyone on the Sealand team, and  hats off to Ivan Whitticase, our QA Manager!

Marci Hotsenpiller, Communications, City of Campbell River, invited some media folks up to look at the construction of the runway extension, and to check out the airport.

There’s a lot going on at the airport, but the TV crews decided to focus on the construction, Helifor and Sealand Aviation.  Bill was the spokesman for Sealand, and normally his cell phone won’t work in the hangar, but this time, just as they were ready to film…. 

If you want to see the final result, and see more of our airport, check out the A-Channel News  cT00az8DYgI

Central Mountain Air brought a Beech 1900 in for a visit.

We’re fast tracking C-GJZE, the DHC-2 Beaver that we showed being fished from Rivers Inlet in May. Its back from Air Cab’s painter and is ready for assembly. 

The Regional Air Cadets sent us an L19 that did one of those tail-dragger manoeuvres on landing.  And there’s the DC-3 with a DHC-2 Mk lll alongside.

Bob went across the taxiway to visit the neighbours yesterday and came back with some great pictures of the Air Tractors at the BC Forest Service Tanker Base.  These Air Tractors are AT-802’s. They are used as water bombers, carry 800 US Gallons of water, and have a useful load of 9500 lbs. If you look at the rear tire you can see it’s stained pink with fire retardent. 

By the way, the smaller Air Tractor 400, which carries 400 US Gallons or 4500 lbs, can be fitted with the TRACE engine. We haven’t seen one in Campbell River yet, but the picture on the right is one that was fitted with a TRACE engine at Yorkton Aircraft Service.  Check out their video (and sound) at: watch?v=d3Xgoc7ZOuA

I couldn’t resist the hokey title.  These Sealand Tip Tanks are being manufactured at the Campbell River Airport Hangar. 

We have Sealand Aviation Tip Tanks on Beavers operating in Australia, Fiji, Alaska, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, northern Vancouver Island and many places in between.

The tiptanks are bolt on replacements for the originals.  They decrease stall speed and increase performance, and are really popular with the operators who carry lots of freight.  We like to combine them with the Boundary Layer Research Vortex Generators.

Early in the morning it looks like a traffic jam:

Later in the morning Tom does a compressor wash and services the floats on a luxurious Caravan:

It always seems like, when you most want things to be perfect, they aren’t.  Take the tide for instance.  Bob the owner and Karen the pilot, arrived in Bob’s C172 XP to pick up his Beaver on the ebb of one of the lowest tides of the year.  While Bob and Karen reviewed the paperwork, the water disappeared at a record rate.  Everyone looked at the lack of water, looked at where the ramp ended, looked at the Beaver, and decided it just wasn’t worth it to launch it and risk scratching up those beautiful floats.

Nevermind, it gave Bob time to buy crabpots, and the avionics guys time to mess with the brand new GPS that Karen brought with her.

Eventually, after the tide came in, the aircraft, Bob and Karen flew off.  We’ll get more pictures when they come back.

John and Dan are planning on getting some time in the DC-3.

And on the DC-3

This DC-3 belongs to a museum in Seattle. We ferried it in yesterday for an inspection, and to fix a few snags.  It has a classic 1956 executive interior, once resplendent with polished woodwork and reclining single seat sofas. It’s faded now, and the upholstery in the cockpit is a little battered, but everything works. When we asked what it was like to fly it, the pilot said “It’s beautiful. It flies like a DC-3!”