Grindrod Air Force - Shuswap Spring Float Fly - 2009

In opening this blog entry let me establish one thing - I have been slow posting mainly because I like continuity but I often don't like to sit and carry on from where I left off, so beginning today I will simply blog post what ever is current and part 2's and 3's can fall wherever they may - that being said...

While taking a Photoshop course this past winter one of my fellow students tuned me in to the fact of an Annual Remote Control Float Plane Event which occurs here in the Shuswap region of beautiful British Columbia. The event is hosted by the Grindrod Air Force RC Club and is the longest running float event in BC, 2009 being its 33rd consecutive year. The Airforce also stages a float event in September but for that one we will have to wait a few more months, today being sufficient for the present. Both of these float flys take place at the wonderful Sandy Point Campgrounds, Salmon Arm, BC.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I am enjoying the event. It is my hope to attend a few more days of this 9 day event and post fresh photos from each visit. Happy flying!




A beautiful day for flying open cockpit...


Friendship amongst flyers is tantamount.


This Piper Cub is 1/3 scale, sporting a 12 foot winspan!


The sky was uncharacteristically gray when this flying boat was in the air. I am hoping for some blue beyond when I return so I can post an inspiring photo of it in flight. That beautiful plane to the left encountered a troublesome wave whilst taking off for a flight a little later on...



...and this is what happened as a result!


Repairable at least. The irony is that I had earlier been taken by its symmetry!


Wasn't it pretty? (It will be again)


Yellow Taxi!!!



and landed.

Beyond The Ranch, Part 1

So...
...with my interest in photography rekindled I set out with a point and shoot Canon in hand when I moved deeply into the wilderness where I managed a fly-in camp. The camp was intended for helicopter access fishing excursions but the proximity of mineral exploration and its related activity filled our camp with scientists, surveyors and support personnel instead; which proved to be good for the owner of the camp, who profited greatly while failing to keep his promise of recompensing me according to the increased work load. Life is like that though and when like a fool I returned for the second season I at least brought with me a Nikon D70 D-SLR that I had purchased during the winter off-season.

Today I will post some photographs I made with the Canon A70 point-and-shoot.


Approaching camp in a Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter...

Bronson Creek Camp On Iskut River

Here I am with my Canon A70 at a small lake we fished...

Greetings


Here is a visiting friend with a "Fish On!" while angling a shallow river...

Angling Success

And here is the boss with a worthy catch in the same small river...

Lugging The Lunker (King Salmon)

You never know what you will see when flying around in a chopper...

Swimming Moose

We had some pretty fine scenery while hiking as well...

Twin Glacier