Pilot decisions made part two

Now that I’ve figured out that I have enough fuel to get to Edenvale, I need to figure out the routing. It is not the hardest place in the world to get to but there are a few curveballs to deal with.

For a start, I’ve got to negotiate my way out of the Island’s airspace and exit to the north. This requires a small detour through Buttonville’s zone. I’m not too concerned by this; I’m becoming more and more comfortable with dealing with various ATC services. It’s taken me a long time but I’ve gradually come to see them as the human beings they actually are. The intimidation factor is gone.

My plan is to use my IPad and GPS unit for primary navigation, but I’m a little wary. I’ve had issues with the two of them not liking to talk to each other. I know the Bad Elf is functioning just fine, I’d used it for geocaching the week before but Foreflight doesn’t seem to like it, sometimes refusing to track my position. As a backup I carry paper charts with the route marked on it.

As a further “backup” and to be honest a general way of making my life easier, this is a pleasure flight after all, not a Nav exercise, I pick a route which pretty much feature crawls the entire way. I follow the DVP road to Buttonville , once clear of their zone I pick up the 400 highway and follow that to Barrie. From Barrie I anticipate being able to see the airport.

The use of Barrie as a waypoint is a good choice for many reasons, even though it takes me slightly out of my way. It’s a very noticeable town on the edge of the lake, a good visual landmark. It also helps with the next issue I have; negotiating my way through a narrow corridor.

Following the 400 means I have to thread the needle between the controlled airspace of CFB Borden on one side and the Cookstown Parachute drop zone. I should be Ok though if I hug the highway but keep on the west. I’m good. Carrying this all the way to Barrie before I turn to Edenvale means that I won’t inadvertently cut the corner and infringe on Borden.

My final decision is to get flight following.  Sometimes flight following can be a bit of a pain in that they may try to “control” you a little more than you’d like but on this route, they are an extra pair of eyes keeping me out of the danger zone.

Now I have figured out what I’m going to do, now the most nerve wracking part. I’ve got to run it past Bob. Although I’m not expecting an instructional flight here, I just need a qualified pilot in the front seat but we have agreed to meet a few minutes before hand to go through my plan and make sure we are both on the same page.

Post three will follow.