September 22, 2009

Our great adventure traveling the territory of Nunavut started yesterday with a morning flight out of Ottawa. We landed around noon in Iqaluit and began preparations with the rest of our crew for our early morning charter to Grise Fiord. Our crew of eight will be traveling to every community in Nunavut to perform condition ratings on the social housing units.

Our morning started off with a cab ride to the airport around 5:30 am. We were in the air within the hour, aboard a King Air 200 owned by Air Nunavut. It is the largest plane that is (with a few modifications) able to land in Grise Fiord -- the most northerly community in Canada.

The reason it is difficult to land in Grise Fiord is due to the short runway that runs between the mountain range and the town. The landing involves flying directly at the mountain with a sharp 90 degree turn at the last moment. Apparently the pilot was saying that there are only 2 runways in the world like this.

Thankfully our flight was uneventful and we enjoyed a short stop in Pond Inlet for fueling the plane. There was lots of cameras flashing as we all took in the beautiful scenery. The co-pilot seemed amused by the crews' sight-seeing bent and offered to fly us over the mountain pass. He made this offer in the airport where a few people were waiting for another flight. One fellow complained that he had never flown over the mountain pass and wanted to know if he could get on our flight -- but of course, all the seats were taken!

Here are a few photos from today's experience:

King Air 200 in Pond Inlet, Nunavut



Our crew at the Pond Inlet airport.



Inside King Air 200.



Pond Inlet, Nunavut
The town is on the top-most point.

Mountain range near Pond Inlet.

Bylot Island - mountain range near Pond Inlet



Mountain range.



Approaching Grise Fiord.



Ocean approach to Grise Fiord.