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Ottawa, Canada - Mo's River Flyin Feb 28, 2015

Lycosaurus

Lycosaurus

Well Known Member
Just a heads-up that the Mo's Ottawa River fly-in is happening soon. Landing on an iced up river is lots of fun. As usual, Mo cooks up a good and hot chili to take away the cold shivers.

February 28, Ottawa River, ON: Mo’s 26th Fly-In 2015. COPA Flight 169 will start at 10:00 a.m. Located on the Quebec side, 1 mile west of the Ottawa VOR. Co-ordinates 45 26’57” N, 75 55’48, runway 3500 x l00’, 34-16. Ground frequency 122.75MHz and air 123.20MHz. Ski landing recommended. Weather permitting, a runway will be ploughed, landing is at your own risk. Maurice Prud-Homme at 819-682-5273.

Mo's Fly-in details are in the following pdf:
http://www.copanational.org/files/MosFlyIn2015.pdf


Here are some photo and video links from previous years:
Video
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=518207&postcount=1
Photo
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=303973&postcount=4

Vlad, are you coming?
 
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Thanks for reminding Alfio

I plan to be there if weather holds. Never landed on a river :)





 
I've had enough of this cold this winter. If I head anywhere, it'll be south! ;) I would like to land on a frozen body of water though, so maybe next year.
It won't be long and Sun~n~Fun here I come.
 
Weather forecast is looking good...

The past weeks have been bitterly cold, which is ideal for making sure there is a thick ice layer available on the river. Forecast seems to show a warming trend... so looking good so far.

We have some maintenance to finish on the plane, hopefully finished before the weekend.

Is Vlad the only brave soul eager to come visit?

img1074mediumho7.jpg
 
Dammit! I was going to go this year, but I'm stuck shuttling back and forth between Abu Dhabi and the UK for the next few weeks.

On the bright side, it is WAAAAYYYY warmer here in Abu Dhabi than back home in Ottawa (+25C vs -25C) :D
 
Alfio, Vlad - what time are you planning to be there? I'd like to meet the Mad Russian invader before he gets a chance to make good his escape across the border!

Latest weather forecast from Environment Canada:
Saturday
Mainly sunny. Wind up to 15kmh. High minus 6. Wind chill minus 28.

Bring all the warm clothes you've got, and wear 'em. It gets chilly out on the ice!
 
Unfortunately am in the middle of some maintenance and given the cold weather we've had lately, will not be able to complete it in time for the event. We will instead drive over to Luskville and maybe get to park on the river (Mo has plowed parking spots on the ice, however you need an AWD vehicle). Vlad told me he has plans of arriving around 10am.
 
Bummer - sorry to hear OFM will be down for maintenance. If it turns out to be just you rather than you and Shirley, I'll have one seat available, but you have to promise not to fog up the windshield! :)
 
I bugged out of work a few minutes early, got airborne and headed for Mo's place on the Ottawa river. After two passes over the runway I can report it looks to be in fantastic condition!

Looking forward to seeing everybody there tomorrow.
 
Great day on the ice!

The morning was brisk at -14C, but we were promised a high of -5C and got it. Very nice, and no wind really. Probably the best weather one could hope for, for an ice meet.

Mo served his great Chili (free for pilots) along with cookies, chips, Tim Hortons coffees and donut holes. Even Homer, errr, I mean Vlad was satisfied.

Shirley and I managed to replace an intake manifold gasket yesterday evening, and we were good to go this morning. Took off 9:30 and and toured around to warm up the oil. Meet Vlad on-frequency and we head to the fly-in.

Glad we made it Mo's by plane.

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The Russian managed to infiltrate Canadian border again

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Vlad doing morning gymnastics

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Well plowed and sanded runway. Great effort and thanks go to Mo. A few bumps, but nothing a nosewheel RV can't handle.

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3,500 runway

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Pete's new Hummel Bird in the orange paint. His first "cross country" :)

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A wood fire in a barrel. Nice, but not really needed today.

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We Canadians still love Tim Hortons (no Burger King in sight)

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Chili anyone?

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Quick hop to Canada for lunch

It was a nice ride. OAT was all right. People in TX seen worse. Preheat in several sessions. Ignite the burner, remove a cover and warm yourself in the car. During the warming make two calls to border patrol on both sides of the fence. Clear to go...





Somehow it always colder over Fort Drum. Sublimation territory.






A road to Ottawa.







Before Alfio arrived I explored the vicinities. Saw him coming and joined in sequence.







Welcome to Canada. The friendliest folks on Earth!







They put a great effort to this fly in. Their branded chilli was excellent.








Famous and the only RV8 in the world on skis.








Flight line.






I didn't stay long the patrolmen were waiting for me on the other side of the fence. Briefly saw Big Brother Ken. He brought his beautiful RV8. After him a wave of arrivals unleashed... I was waiting 10 minutes for departure.







Took off arrived at AOE 5 minutes late the guards were friendly and happy. They even agreed to check my "Bear Clock" with their "sniffing machine". All good no gamma. Then two more hours in empty skies on the way back. Air thick and stable. I trimmed her nicely and went to reading. Then listened to some music. Nothing else to do in the cockpit.






Anybody can land on frozen lake. But not many can boast they landed on frozen RIVER eh! Now I can. Looking forward to next year thank you Canadians for a great fly in!
 
Definitely a good time had by all. And I finally got to meet Vlad! Fantastic day - nothing better than bright sunshine, crisp air, and the company of lots of flying friends!
 
Fantastic pics, love seeing what you guys get up to in winter, very special as we don't get anything like this down here is Australia.
 
Hey Vlad - hope you can make it again this year. Was great seeing you there last year!

This info was posted in our EAA Chapter 245 newsletter.
======================================
February 27, Ottawa River, ON: Mo’s 27th Fly-In 2016.
COPA Flight 169 will start at 10:00 a.m. Located on the Quebec side, 1 mile west of the Ottawa VOR. Coordinates 45 26’57” N, 75 55’48, runway 3500 x l00’, 34-16. Ground frequency 122.75MHz and air 123.20MHz. Ski landing recommended. Weather permitting a runway will be ploughed and landing is at your own risk.
For more information, please contact Maurice Prud-Homme at 819-682-5273.
======================================

We have had a very mild December, with no snow until the last week (bummer, it was a VERY green Christmas). Ice was virtually non-existent but we've since had some cold weather, interspersed with warm weather and rain. My last flight over Mo's last week had me hoping for more cold weather as the ice definitely was not substantial. We've got several more weeks before the fly-in so let's keep our fingers crossed for cool weather.

As with last year, I hope to do a fly-over just prior to the event and provide a PIREP here.
 
6 more weeks to go ....

Vlad,

Been somewhat cold last few days, but it will take quite a bit more to freeze up the river. Luckily we have some time on our side. As Mark mentioned, Mo's fly-in is February 27th. I have posted that information on the VAF calendar.

Looking forward to seeing you there again. Maybe you can bring an RV gaggle with you if weather cooperates.
 
Mark, Alfio, I am planning to be there please keep me informed. Probably solo again our RVators here are mostly summer warriors. Except Noah, Rich, CJ and AO :D


 
This just in from our EAA Chapter 245 President:

"I’ve just spoken with Mo and he says the runway has been ploughed and everything is “GO” for tomorrow. Have a great day."

Woohooo - let's go land on the river ice!
 
Weather and runway conditions update

I posted an update in another thread....

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=1057227&postcount=60

Here is a runway conditions update I received from Andre:
Tomorrow: 27th Mo's flyin on the Ottawa River.

In the morning: - 12 degrees, sun and clouds, less then 1 cm of snow. Afternoon: + 1 degree, cloudy, less then 1 cm of snow.

Runway 16-34, 4000 ft X 100 ft. 16 to 18 inches of ice. A few years ago Mo had 100 airplanes on 14 inches.

Mo is waiting for you.​

Check out the weather forecast at Nav Canada Metars (plug-in CYOW):


https://flightplanning.navcanada.ca/...p&TypeDoc=html


Here is the forecast for Ottawa retrieved this morning Feb. 26:
TAF CYOW 261438Z 2615/2712 30015G25KT P6SM FEW030 BECMG 2616/2618 30016KT BECMG 2623/2701 27008KT FM270200 22008KT P6SM SKC RMK NXT FCST BY 261800Z


CYOW - OTTAWA/MACDONALD-CARTIER INTL/ON - VALIDITY [UTC]

27 FEB - 0200 to 27 FEB - 1200
220 @ 8 KNOTS
6+
NIL
CLEAR SKY
REMARKS
THE NEXT FORECAST WILL BE ISSUED BY 1800 UTC ON DAY 26

Aviation weather forecast seems to indicate sky clear, yet civilian weather forecasts indicate some light snow. Either way, forecasts look very promising for tomorrow's event.
__________________
 
Thanks for update Mark and Alfio see you tomorrow. Anybody else from the US? File away and let's go north! Free chili made by a Parliament chef! :D
 
Well, what a day it has been! Vlad has once again made a "dash and grab" raid across the border. He made off with a belly full of chili, cake, and coffee. His last radio transmission had him pointed south-bound again.

We had only 2 RV's in attendance (or at least that's all I saw). Patrick Gilligan was there in his RV8 on skis, and, of course, Chief Flash Mobber himself, Vlad, made it in his RV9A.

I would agree with Vlad's assessment that the combination of ice conditions and wicked crosswind made this year's event inadvisable for A-model airplanes. I'm sure Alfio (Lycosaurus) will chime in here at some point. We missed him and Shirley out on the ice.

See you again next year!
 
Canadian_JOY said:
I would agree with Vlad's assessment that the combination of ice conditions and wicked crosswind made this year's event inadvisable for A-model airplanes. I'm sure Alfio (Lycosaurus) will chime in here at some point. We missed him and Shirley out on the ice.
Click to expand...

Well, after pre-heating and prepping the plane, we could barely open the hangar doors against the wind. The other doors just swung open like a bat out of h.e.l.l. (four section doors, two doors hinged to each other one folding out 180 degrees). Winds were fierce, and some damage probably occurred to one door/hinge. The other set of doors did not hold in place and was slipping from its ground locked position. We closed it all up and had to use a sledge hammer to "re-align" the ground posts for the door pins to fit. I'll have to look at this again at some more opportune time.

Really disappointed we could not make it. Next year ....

From monitoring Vlad's track, he is almost home again. Looking forward to some photos.
 
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Canadian_JOY said:
Well, what a day it has been! Vlad has once again made a "dash and grab" raid across the border. He made off with a belly full of chili, cake, and coffee. His last radio transmission had him pointed south-bound again.

We had only 2 RV's in attendance (or at least that's all I saw). Patrick Gilligan was there in his RV8 on skis, and, of course, Chief Flash Mobber himself, Vlad, made it in his RV9A.

I would agree with Vlad's assessment that the combination of ice conditions and wicked crosswind made this year's event inadvisable for A-model airplanes. I'm sure Alfio (Lycosaurus) will chime in here at some point. We missed him and Shirley out on the ice.

See you again next year!
Click to expand...



That was quite a ride ! Surely not for RVs this time unless you are on skis. There was a very stiff cross wind I landed and barely managed to stop at the end of the runway. Then wind threw me out and I have to taxi back on bare river making doughnuts. Broke all three wheel pants. That was a heck of a show! The airboss was on the radio all the time and was ready to dispatch an ice crew to steer me on my request. Mark thanks for watching. I will do a full report when I am done with my recovery beer... :D



Customs almost called me names when they learnt where I went.
 
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