The Iqaluit airport received their new shipment of 100LL avgas on July 14, 2010. 

Current price is  $449.31 CDN per 205 litre/45 CDN gallons/54 US gallons drum (July 14/10).  You have to buy the whole drum. Price includes $131.25 drum disposal fee.  More information, if required, can be obtained by calling the fuel supplier, Uqsuq Corporation (+1 867 979-2855 or +1 867 979-1620. Fax +1 867 979-1628).

Check Iqaluit airport general info here.

If you're reading this, it is probably because you're flying a plane that uses 100LL avgas.  There's a great discussion and collection of articles on the future of 100LL Avgas at Avweb.   In the United States, there is a new coalition getting together to try to tackle the issue of what's going to replace 100LL. You'll find them here.

This is their second attempt.  They started out with the HeliVenture group of helicopters in the summer of 2007 that made the trip to Oshkosh in celebration of the 100th anniversary of helicopter flight in France. Unfortunately, Paul and company had to give up in Iceland due to a technical program.  This year, they plan to finish this ambitious flight.

We'll be following their progress on our Trip Reports and Visits page.

Television shows about general aviation, or aviation in general, are few and far between. There's a new one coming to a television near you this fall. It is called The Aviators, and involves Wings Over Canada creator and driving force John Lovelace.  You'll find The Aviators on the web, on Public Television in the United States and on Global TV in Canada.  The website features previews of some of the first season of shows, story lists and photos.

If you're flying north of 50 degrees in Canada, or anywhere for that matter, this is a reminder that COPAS/SARSAT no longer monitors 121.5.  So if you don't have a ELT operating on 406 mHz, you don't have a means of automatically notifying the authorities if your plane goes down.

The Canadian rules on ELTs are likely to change soon.  While use of a 121.5 ELT is still allowed under the law, when the rules change, your plane will likely have to have a 406 ELT.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the use of radio transmission, has recently announced that it will ban the use of 121.5 ELTs starting in August, 2010.   

There has been much debate over the last couple of years about whether the 406 ELT is the best answer for emergency alerting for private aircraft.  The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association has been very active on this file, trying get Transport Canada to look at a wider range of emergency alerting alternatives.

In May, 2010, the COPA reports that Transport Canada will mandate the use of a 406 ELT on most aircraft flying in Canada, including private aircraft. The regulation has not been "gazetted" in the Canada Gazette yet, which means the current 121.5 ELT rules remain in effect.  However, expect the new rules to come out relatively soon.

COPA says it appears that "alternate means of emergency location approved by Transport Canada" in the new regs isn't likely to include some of the new, inexpensive tracking systems on the market.

The COPA website has an excellent article explaining the situation. There is also a  COPA article from February 2009 that outlines some of the issues behind the requirement for 406 ELTs.

If you're not a member,  consider joining COPA for important information on this and many other general aviation issues.

There was also some controversy around the original planned requirement that the new 406 ELTs would have to be installed by an avionics shop. There continues to be an exemption in effect that allows the work to be done by a licenced AME on private aircraft installations.

Here's the list of Canadian certified 406 ELTS

This spring has brought big changes for our little Polar Pilots group.  For a variety of reasons, we've sold our Cessna 172 C-GOLJ and hangar at the Iqaluit, Nunavut airport.  While that means we won't be flying locally for the forseeable future, we remain actively interested in general aviation in Nunavut.  And while we're no longer able to provide tie-down space for visiting small planes, we will continue to endeavour to answer questions and provide information for pilots travelling to our unique region.

We'll also continue to actively maintain the Polar Pilots web site.

Over the last 17 years we've met a wide range of pilots from all over the world. And we hope to hear from you, if you're planning a trip up this way.

We've added a section on the site to display some of the photos we've taken and collected of different aircraft here at CYFB in Iqaluit, Nunavut.  We've collected quite a few in the last few years, and will be adding them as we have time over the next few weeks. 

This photo was taken after midnight in the summer, near Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut by Paul Nopper. Paul's got more great photos on his website.

Click on Planespotting on the main menu to access the photo gallery. If you have pictures you'd like to add, contact us!

In the summer of 2009, John Lovelace of "Wings Over Canada" fame, undertook a major flight project to celebrate the Century of Flight.  The Cross Canada Century Flight saw 100 small planes to make the long coast to coast trip.

The success of the Cross Canada Century Flight has led to the creation of the Century Flight Club.  They're planning annual general aviation flight events.  In 2010, the Midnight Sun Challenge will see 100 small planes travel to Whitehorse, the capital city of Canada's Yukon territory.  Yukon is a great place to visit, with the colourful history of the Gold Rush, strong aboriginal cultures, and miles and miles and miles of beautiful scenery.

For more information, visit the Century Flight Club website.

Ice Pilots NWT is a "reality TV" show on Canada's History Television channel.  It tells the story of Buffalo Airways, an airline based in the Northwest Territories. Buffalo is renowned for its fleet of classic rotary engine planes, and for their ability to deliver the goods to many small communities in northern Canada.

The show has the usual reality TV trappings, but features a fair bit of flight time in many of Buffalo's ancient aircraft.  The show has great website, including video of full episodes of the show on-line.

Check out our Trip Reports and Visits pages for some new additions.  We have links to a trip report from Washington State, USA to Europe by Gary and Alice Nelson; the blog from another Cessna 182 trip from Vancouver, BC to Europe, and a link to blog of an ultralight pilot who took is Challenger from Montreal to the Arctic Coast community of Kugluktuk.

Have you made an arctic trip in a small plane?  Send us your story!

Gerd and Dorothy Wengler have joined a very elite group. That, of course, is the group of pilots who have landed their private aircraft at Canadian Forces Station Alert, the most northerly airport in North America.

Alert is a restricted military site, so just getting permission to go there takes a lot of work.  And then there's the flight to the top of Ellesmere Island, some 4000 kilometers north of their home near Toronto, Ontario . There is only one small civilian community on Ellesmere - Grise Fiord, about 700 kilometers south of Alert. And there's a weather and science station about halfway up at Eureka. Making that trip is not something for the faint of heart.

Gerd and Dorothy made the Alert trip in mid-August 2009, from their home in southern Ontario.  And from this article on the Canadian Forces website, it sounds like it was quite an adventure.  They made the trip to mark the Centennial of Powered Flight in Canada.

This wasn't their first trip to Canada's Eastern Arctic in their Turbo Skylane.  They visited Iqaluit in the summer of 2005 on the way to Europe. They were back in 2007 for a sightseeing trip to Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq and Greenland.

We're looking forward to a trip report from Gerd on the Alert trip.  You can read his trip report on the 2005 Europe trip here.