US and Canada in winter - Ice Pilots NWT Yellowknife geek

[Justinf]

Hopped into a cab and headed out to Bufflo Airways, which was at Yellowknife Airport.
I'm not how much detail I should go into about Ice Pilots NWT. I guess if you know the show, you will know. if you don't, then I guess you can Google it, but even so, I was pretty excited.
Stood in the gift shop for a while as we were waiting for a party of 8 to join the 2pm tour. We waited until 2.15pm and it looked they were a no show so it was just me and the lovely Stella. Stella was quite young (young for me) German woman, around her mid-20s, and said she came here to do just what I was doing and the crew gave her a job. She stayed.
Into the hangar and the maintenance crew were working on this beast.



Check out the size of the engines on this baby.





Stella then took me over to Chuck, who has been at Buffalo for 34 years. He was on every season of the six-series show. It was good to actually talk to him. He was quite funny and had a dry sense of humour.



The tour continued.
This aircraft was a charter aircraft. Capable of flying at a moment's notice.







Such a big aircraft.









This one is their pride and joy.

 

[Justinf]

and sometimes Buffalo Joe just gets in this one at the drop of a hat and just goes flying.



All too soon the short tour was over. Only about 15 minutes, but quarter of an hour of bliss for me.
We adjourned to the gift shop and I browsed for a while...when something, or someone...appeared in the corner of my eye down the hallway.

 

[Boca68]

...when something, or someone...appeared in the corner of my eye down the hallway.

Oohh! Cue the drumroll......

 

[Rallo]

Big fan of the show , I wasn't aware that Buffalo did hangar tours will have to add it to the bucket list.

 

[Justinf]

All of a sudden a man appeared at the gift shop door. It was Buffalo Joe.
My heart skipped a beat. In the show he is portrayed as grumpy old man, but he came up to me and asked where I was from.
"Australia" I said.
"Come out here with me," he said.
He then took me on another tour of the hangar and told it from his perspective. I was in wonderland. Not only is the man a genius pilot, his knowledge was incredible.
"You have Tiger Moths down there," he says, half question, half statement.
"Yes we do," I said nervously.
"They are magnificent," he says.
After a fascinating 10 minutes or so, Joe allowed me a photograph. What a thrill.



Back in the gift shop feeling quite pleased with myself, I was browsing some T-shirts and caps when who walked past the doorway on his way somewhere else? It was Mikey McBryan, Buffalo Joe's son and probably the favourite and main character in the series.
Stella immediately rang him on his mobile and asked him to come back. He did and we met each other.
Ripping fella. After finding out I was from Australia and seeing my Richmond cap, Mikey says "Oh yeah, I follow the Perth Eagles". You got it half right mate at least. Most wouldn't even know where to start. I found him exactly like he is in the show. Pretty relaxed casual guy, only too happy to pose for a pic.



This was becoming well worth the trip out here.
after spending some money in the gift shop, it was back into a cab and back to the room.
I seriously considered cancelling the aurora tour, but I thought "You're here, you've paid it, you never know what might happen."
I'd had a good day so far. A very good day.

 

[Justinf]

Unfortunately the aurora tour was a flop.
Sean drove 130km out of town in search of clear weather but to no avail.
I felt sorry for the 7 other guests from Hong Kong who had only arrived that day and were on a tight schedule. At least I had seen the lights two nights earlier and a year ago in Fairbanks.
It was disappointing but that’s Mother Nature. At least I gave it a crack.
In bed by 3am with a 1.50pm flight down to Calgary so I bunkered down to get some sleep.

 

[NoName]

Unfortunately the aurora tour was a flop.
Sean drove 130km out of town in search of clear weather but to no avail.
I felt sorry for the 7 other guests from Hong Kong who had only arrived that day and were on a tight schedule. At least I had seen the lights two nights earlier and a year ago in Fairbanks.
It was disappointing but that’s Mother Nature. At least I gave it a crack.
In bed by 3am with a 1.50pm flight down to Calgary so I bunkered down to get some sleep.

What happens on these tours when there is no aurora to be found? Do you get any type of refund or is it simply a risk you have to take prior to booking?

 

[Justinf]

What happens on these tours when there is no aurora to be found? Do you get any type of refund or is it simply a risk you have to take prior to booking?

Too bad, so sad.
It's in the terms and conditions. No refund. Not cheap either at CAD$120 plus tax.
I can understand though. They have a business to run.
Just a risk you have to take and sometimes Mother Nature decides she wants to mess with you.

 

[timster]

Cool reason for a trip, and great report ! Maybe we should have a thread on TV-show-inspired travel.

It's funny who gets to become celebrities, like the McBryans. At least they do something important, unlike others.

I don't suppose you ran into any of the Ice Road Truckers (similarly important) on the Alaska trip ?

TBH I was in Las Vegas for work last year but skipped the tours of the 'reality' shows that city has spawned ... Pawn Stars/Counting Cars/American Restoration. The tours didn't have great reports. And I'm not that obsessed, although I do watch those shows whenever they are on.

 

[Justinf]

Cool reason for a trip, and great report ! Maybe we should have a thread on TV-show-inspired travel.

It's funny who gets to become celebrities, like the McBryans. At least they do something important, unlike others.

I don't suppose you ran into any of the Ice Road Truckers (similarly important) on the Alaska trip ?

TBH I was in Las Vegas for work last year but skipped the tours of the 'reality' shows that city has spawned ... Pawn Stars/Counting Cars/American Restoration. The tours didn't have great reports. And I'm not that obsessed, although I do watch those shows whenever they are on.

They were selling IRT merch at the Buffalo Airways store. I watch the show occasionally.
Appartantely Pawn Stars is basically a merchandise shop these days and none of the crew are there at all. They made too much money to still be working.

 

[Justinf]

With a 1.50pm flight and an 11am check out, I manged to get some decent sleep.
This poor guy was shovelling snow, so I thought I'd try and cheer him up. (joke)



I thought I'd head out to the airport early anyway and left at 11am pretty much on the dot. I asked the hotel receptionist to call me a cab and she rolled her eyes, and said "Do it yourself".
Ummm, Ok. then.
I had to Google the number and call, which is what I probably should have done anyway, but up this far north, people were really having trouble with my accent (I'm far from ocker) and a phone conversation would only make it worse. I'd never experienced that level of rudeness from a hotel receptionist before.
And to prove my point, it took a good three or times of saying 'airport' until the cab driver realised what I was saying.
I waited outside and it had started to snow.





Thankfully it's not far to the airport. When I arrived, the Air Canada desk was unstaffed.





Eventually an check in agent came along and I was able to check in without any problems.
Once you go past security, it is literally a waiting room. And I mean literally. all the amenities were before security.
I'd soon realised that heading out this early was a huge mistake. Yellowknife is the most basic airport I have been in. The was a Quinzo's (which is like Subway) and an overpriced coffee place. It was also (shock horror!) a dry airport. No booze.

 

[Justinf]

Did manage to see this Buffalo Airways bird take off in the snow, though.

 

[RB]

Your Yellowknife write-up has had me thinking back to our stop at Whitehorse. Liked our time there and then the flights to Dawson City, Old Crow & Fairbanks. A bloke at a pub at Fairbanks claimed to be from Deadliest Catch-he was a champion nuisance at the bar that night.
Looking forward to the rest of your report

 

[Justinf]

Was weird.
I looked at the line to get through security and it was the length of the Great Wall of China. I have never been to the Great Wall of China but it looked long enough to compare it to.
I kept going back to the far end of the 'airport' (I use this term loosely) and laying down on the wonderfully manufactured couches that allow you to lay flat. it was fine because I could actually ly flat out and get some brief shuteye.
I kept going back to check the line and it was manic.
Finally, after enough time, I decided it was time to join the pack and once I took my place in line, it dawned on me that this line was for check in, not security.
Maybe checking in early had its advantages after all?
I still can't work out why that check in line was so busy. According the TV monitors and my subsequent research since coming back home, I can find only one flight that was taking off at roughly the same time that would cause such a logjam - an Air North flight to Whitehorse on a 737. I still cant work it out.
After finding out that security was a breeze with only an elderly couple in front of me, it was fine. The gentleman apologised to me for holding me up as is wife was not very mobile and was having trouble getting her belongings into the cases. No worries. All good.
Once inside the 'box', it was a short wait until boarding.
The arriving aircraft had, well, arrived, and it was only a matter of minutes until it was time for boarding.





Boarding commenced and I was hopeful they had de-icing facilities at Yellowknife.



I was looking forward to checking out Calgary. I had heard good things about it.

 

[Justinf]

I took my position in seat 2B and once the doors were closed I noticed this nearly-full flight had nobody in the in the two seats behind me.
I was eyeing them off quite severely and asked the FA if I could move there once the seat belt signs went off. He said I could, but he also said something that I still to this day can't work out if it was real or not.
On the flight up to Yellowknife from Edmonton, I had my Bose QC35 headphones, the wireless bluetooth kind. It was on a Dash 8. Nothing maor about that, hey?
On this flight, on the exact same aircraft (well, not exactly the same the aircraft, but exactly the same type), a Dash 8, we were told that bluetooth headphones were not allowed and that they had to be of the plug-in variety.
I had never come across this before. Unfortunately I have an iPhone 8 plus, which meant that the plug-in cable was useless. Fortunately I also have pair of Bose QC20 earbuds and an adaptor that allows you to use it on the new Apple devices.
I asked the FA why I could use the wireless headphones on the way up on a Dash 8, but not today. Not in a smart cough way, but because I was genuinely interested. This only made things more confusing as he had no idea.
Anyway, take off was reasonably smooth and what would follow would become two hours of some of the best scenery I have ever had the priviledge of seeing. One of the advantages of flying on a turbo prop is that you fly at a lower altitude and the 'show' that would be presented to me over the next two hours and five minutes was beyond magnificent.

Just before take off. Yes, this gentleman was genuinely praying.

 

[Justinf]

I will let the pics do the talking here. The scenery below was astounding. I did take the chance to have three beers (yes, three, I am very precise) while watching the scenery that was unfolding.

 

[Justinf]

 

[Justinf]

It was two hours and five minutes from wheels up to wheels down to Calgary.
The view of Calgary from my new-found window seat was incredible.
Minus the snow, Calgary looked a lot like Melbourne from my point of view, anyway.
Little did I know that the scenery leaving Calgary would be even more spectacular with a perfect view of the Rockies.
I still can't quite get over the fact that there are frozen lakes and rivers. I could never tire of looking at that.















I was now quite excited to get to know Calgary in the very short space of time that I would be there for.

 

[Justinf]

Hopped into a cab and in Calgary, I was staying at the Regency Suites Hotel.





The hotel was in a good location and was perfectly fine for a short two-night stay.









By now it was very late afternoon, bordering on early evening. The Pig & Duke pub was literally two blocks away from the hotel so that seemed like a logical choice for a pint and a bite. Can recommend it highly. Staff were, beer selection, good and a decent pub-style menu on offer.

I know it's strange to say, but Calgary immediately gave me good vibes. It was -8 degrees but it didn't feel cold after being in -20 for most of the time.
I know how much you all love my ugly selfies (not!), so why not? We're all friends here aren't we?

 

[VPS]

Loving your photos and TR as usual - well done and keep going!!