NavCanada, the company the runs Canada's air navigation system, has recently made available electronic versions of the Canada Air Pilot (IFR approaches plates, etc), various VNC navigation charts and other publications.  You'll find the order page here.  There is a fee for online purchase of the publications. The files are downloadable PDFs, that allow you to print your required pages.

For Nunavut, you'll want E-CAP1 for IFR; the map at the left shows the VNC chart numbers; Hi and Lo level enroute charts are also available.

If printed at the correct resolution, the electronic versions are authorized for in-flight navigation. (Up to 4800 optimized dpi colour (up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi colour and 1200 Input dpi).

Seems like just about every network has an aviation-related program these days.  And National Geographic TV Canada has added one to their mix of shows.  Alaska Wing Men takes on a number of flights with pilots flying small, single engine aircraft in the challenging skies of Alaska.  The show is features alot of flying, including some interesting glacier and rough terrain landings.  Check it out here... they have shorter video segments from the show available for on line viewing.

The Air Line Pilots Association says creating GPS approaches for both ends of all northern airports would improve air safety in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.  Devin Lyall told CBC News the Association has identified 28 airports in Nunavut and the NWT that would benefit from the additional GPS approaches. He says airports would also benefit from lengthening and paving, though he acknowledges that comes at a high cost./ Lyall says the ALPA has formed a committee on Remote Operations, which includes pilots from First Air, Canadian North, Calm Air, and Air Alaska.

Photo at left shows Cessna 172 C-GOLJ turning final for 24T CYXP Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Click to enlarge.

Transport Canada has introduced new regulations requiring "private turbine-powered and commercial airplanes with six or more passenger seats to be equipped with an alert system known as the “terrain awareness and warning system” (TAWS).

In a written statement on July 4, 2012, Transport Canada noted the following:

"The new regulations will replace the current regulatory requirement for a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) under section 605.37 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations. In comparison to GPWS, TAWS gives the flight crew much earlier acoustic and visual warnings of a collision, and does so under conditions where GPWS cannot. "

"The regulatory amendments require TAWS to be installed with an enhanced altitude accuracy function. TAWS requires precise altitude information to work properly in all climates. Without the enhanced altitude accuracy function, TAWS may give altitude readings that are incorrect by up to 500 feet because of factors such as air pressure and frigid temperatures."

The Canadian Aviation Regulations are available on line. And here's the updated Advisory Circular 600-003 with more details on the requirements (Oct 2013)

If you're not familiar with TAWS, here's a quick look at the system by Universal Avionics.  And here's a background paper from 2006 from the International Civil Aviation Organization discussing the value of TAWs based systems.

It seems aviation is coming popular in the reality of TV world. The Discovery Channel has recently introduceda new aviation based show.  It is called "Dangerous Flights", and features some challenging ferry flights around the Atlantic and Pacific.  One of the episodes features a flight through from Europe, through Greenland to Goose Bay, Labrador and on to the US.  A range of single and small twin engine aircraft are featured, including Cessna 206, Cirrus SR22 , Beech Bonanza, Dornier 228, King Air C90B, Phenom 100, Piper Cheyenne, Piper Navaho.

People across Nunavut were deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technician involved in a rescue effort near Igloolik, Nunavut on October 27, 2011.  Sergeant Janik Gilbert was one of three SAR Techs who jumped into the icy waters of Hecla Strait in an effort to rescue two Igloolik hunters.  He did not survive.

Gilbert was with the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron based at the Canadian Force Base in Trenton, Ontario.  This group is responsible for aerial search and rescue operations in a large part of arctic Canada.  Having spent time in a Hercules as a volunteer spotter with the Iqaluit Civil Air Search and Rescue Assocation (CASARA)  group over the years, we've had a chance to see first hand the amazing work done by Canadian Forces Search and Rescue crews.  Anyone who travels in the north, by air, sea or land, knows the importance of their brave and selfless service.

CBC News has a story about the tragedy here, including links to earlier stories and the official statement from the Canadian Forces.   The Royal Canadian Air Force website also has an article on the tragedy.

Funeral services were held November 5th at La Chapelle Ste-Jeanne D'Arc at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Quebec.  Here is an article about the funeral.

UPDATE December 21, 2011:

The Canadian Department of National Defence published the Aircraft Occurrence Summary outlining what happened on October 27, 2011.  Read the report here.  A final report is expected in October 2012.  See the CBC News story here.

UPDATE June 16, 2012

Gilbert was posthumously awarded the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. CBC News has a story about the bravery award here.

UPDATE October 6,  2012

The Search and Rescue crew that performed this mission were honoured with a national award for the complex and demanding rescue mission.  See the story here.

It continues to be legal to fly private aircraft in Canada with a 121.5 ELT. And a recent edition of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association newsletter reports that changes to the rules aren't likely in the near future.

However, keep in mind that  COSPAS/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 search and rescue authorities if your plane goes down.  If you're relying only on your 121.5 ELT, the only chance to you have of being detected in an emergency is if another aircraft hears your ELT signal on 121.5.  And in the north of Canada, that isn't something you want to rely on.  The advantage of the 406 ELT is that it can provide data about your flight, and with some units, GPS information about your location.  But the issue about whether or not to convert to 406 is complex.

The Canadian rules on ELTs are expected to change.  But it isn't clear when that will happen, or what the new regulations will entail. Transport Canada sent the proposed new regulations back for "further consultations with stakeholders" in May 2010. And apparently, the new minister sent them back for further review again in 2011. Isn't isn't clear yet whether Transport Canada will mandate the change to the 406 ELT, or look at some of the other options currently available. The Department of National Defence (DND), which runs Canada's Search and Rescue system,  favours the 406 mhz ELT.  But it isn't clear whether the government is prepared to mandate 406 ELTs, knowing the US isn't likely to follow suit, and knowing that there is new technology (Mid Earth Orbit Satellite systems /MEOSAT) on the horizon that may provide better aircraft tracking options.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the use of radio transmission, announced in the summer of 2010 that it proposed to ban the use of 121.5 ELTs in the US starting in August, 2010. However, that didn't happen. Most recently, the White House urged the FCC to make 406 ELTs mandatory in the US by 2022.   The Aircraft Electronics Association wants the FCC to continue to allow existing 121.5 ELTS to be used, but is against continuing the manufacture of 121.5 ELTs. 

In Canada, there has been much debate 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, including tracking devices such as SPOT and Spidertracks.  And wth changing technology, there may soon be other options that could provide a wider range of more effective aircraft tracking and emergency alerting options.

Here's the recent chronology on the 406 issue in Canada:

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 yet been "gazetted" in the Canada Gazette yet, which means the current 121.5 ELT rules remain in effect.

On July 8, 2010, the Director General of Civil Aviation for Transport Canada, Martin Eley, told the Canadian Business Aviation Association convention in Calgary that " an ELT regulatory package is currently being processed and will come into force as soon as possible."

He went on to say that "the current regulation does not mandate a 406 MHz ELT, but it does require that you have a transmitter with similar performance capabilities. We are also giving you time to make this upgrade to your aircraft. This will also provide time for ELT production to increase." He didn't specify what those timeframes would be.

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 tracking systems on the market, like SPOT, Spidertracks, Latitude Web Sentinel, Skytrac and others.  These tracking systems appear to be unacceptable to DND and Transport Canada because they cannot automatically activate a distress signal in a crash.  But of course, the regular tracking would provide a fairly narrow location to start a search, even if a pilot wasn't able to manually send a distress signal using the tracking unit.  And, as COPA has argued,  ELTs, both 406 and 121.5  sometimes fail to survive a crash and transmit an emergency signal.

In March, 2011 COPA reports that there is no new information on this file. The March 2010 article at COPA noted above continues to be the most up to date information.

In December 2011, COPA again reports that there hasn't been any change in the situation. Apparently, the new Transport Minister has referred the draft legislation back to his department for further study.  As COPA notes, changes in coming satellite technology, improvements in currently available tracking devices and the failure of a number of 406 units in crashes all point to different options for emergency notification for general aviation.

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, where the ELT does not interface with an onboard system such as a GPS navigation system.  Currently, the exemption is in place until March 31, 2014, according to Transport Canada

Through any transition period that may be prescribed by the new regulations, pilots flying in the arctic regions of Canada will need to think very carefully before flying with just a 121.5 ELT.  Only using a 121.5 ELT means no method of automatically alerting authorities if you get into trouble, other than hoping another aircraft is listening on 121.5.  We've seen some pilots using satellite flight tracking services, and devices like SPOT, in addition to a 121.5 ELT. And as noted above,  Canadian Search and Rescue authorities are strongly encouraging the use of 406 mhz ELTs.

Here's the list of Canadian certified 406 ELTS

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 saw 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.

The 2011 flight was called the Canadian Wilderness tour, and saw Lovelace and company head to LaRonge, in northern Saskatchewan

For 2012, they visited Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories.  More information is available on their Century of Flight Facebook page, or in this brochure.

2013 will see the Lovelace group head east, to the Maritimes.

You can also check out the Century Flight Club website.

Air Greenland has begun a new connection between Nuuk, Greenland and Iqaluit.   The summer-only service gives Nunavut residents and tourists a chance to make a quick connection between the neighbouring capitals. The flights run Mondays and Fridays, starting June 15, 2012.  The service was successful enough to warrant a second season in the summer of 2013.  Despite being relatively close together, it has been years since there were direct scheduled flights between Canada and Greenland.

Air Greenland is flying the route with a Bombardier DASH 8. Flying time is estimated to be about 1 hour and 45 minutes. That's a lot quicker than a couple of days - flying to southern Canada, on to Copenhagen and up to Nuuk, which is how that trip is done when these direct flights aren't available.  Tickets can be booked with First Air.

Part of the runway at CYVM Qikiqtarjuaq was closed this week (June 5, 2012) following damage from a rapid snow melt and associated flash flooding.  The first 1100 feet of the normally 3800 ft runway 21(T) are affected.   Fuel delivery to aircraft is also not available due to the closure of a taxiway because of the flooding. CBC News reports that the runway damage has limited flights into the community to medevac and other emergency flights.  Work is underway to repair the damage, though there may be further flooding possible as another lake breaks up.

UPDATE:  NOTAM was lifted within a couple of days as repairs to the runway were made

Check for updated NOTAM information for CYVM here.

Sad news for Buffalo Airways, northern aviation and fans of Ice Pilots NWT. Former Buffalo Chief Pilot Arnie Schreder passed away early on Saturday, May 5, 2012 after a battle with small cell lung cancer.  The long-time northern pilot became internationally famous through his part on the History Television reality series.

History Television had put the full last episode of Season 3 of Ice Pilots up on the web in memory of Arnie, but that's since been taken down. You can find their memorial page here.  And there are some full episodes available on line here.

Arnie was 69 years old.  He had more than 37,000 hours flying time, and trained a great many pilots over his years with Buffalo.

A service was held May 10, 2012 in Winfield, BC.  A memorial service was held at the Buffalo in Yellowknife on May 12, 2012.  Fittingly, Arne's ashes were scattered over Back Bay, in a ceremony captured for the Ice Pilots NWT program.

A Buffalo Airways Lockheed Electra had a gear up landing in Yellowknife, NWT on March 5, 2012. The 1959 Lockheed 188A C-FBAQ was on a flight to CYZF,  from Goose Lake, NT when the crew reported the right main gear did not fully retract.  Several unsuccessful attempts were made to manually retract the gear over about an hour.  Following that, an emergency was declared, and the plane landed runway 34 with the left and nose gear extended.  When the right side of the plane dropped, it departed the runway and came to rest in the airport infield.

Transport Canada CADORS reports that a small engine fire was extinguished when the plane came to rest in the snow-covered infield.  Damage was substantial.  The plane was lifted by crane, and the right gear exended and locked when the gear door was pulled away. The incident closed the runway for a number of hours.

Buffalo Airways owner Joe McBryan told Yellowknife media that the flight crew made a "textbook" emergency landing.

You can see the whole story on the popluar History Channel reality show Ice Pilots NWT.

The Nunasiavut Government in northern Labrador has purchased a 51% stake in the regional airline Air Labrador.  The announcement was made at the Northern Lights trade show and conference in Ottawa on February 3, 2012.  Air Labrador serves the coastal communities of Labrador, and some communities on the Lower North Shore of Quebec. Air Labrador operates Twin Otter, Cessna Caravan and Beech 1900D aircraft.

CBC Television has a new dramatic series called Arctic Air. It tells the story of a fictional northern airline, based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.  The series stars Adam Beach, Kevin McNulty, and Pascale Hutton.  The website features on-demand full episodes, and more.   The series also features a major tourism sponsorship by the Northwest Territories.

Five lawsuits have been filed in Nunavut courts following the August 2011 crash of a First Air 737 near Resolute Bay, Nunavut. Families of a number of the crash victims are suing First Air, Nav Canada and the Department of National Defence (DND).  The families of the First Air flight attendants and the pilot and co-pilot, who all died in the crash, have also filed suit. And First Air is suing DND and Nav Canada. The various suits allege DND and Nav Canada were negligent in the operation of air traffic control at CYRB at the time of the crash.   A military exercise, Operation Nanook, was getting underway at the time of the crash

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board released a progress report (Jan 5/12) on their investigation into the crash of First Air Boeing 737-200 C-GNWN at Resolute Bay, Nunavut on August 20, 2011. CBC News story here. On April 5, 2013, the TSB told CBC News that they have a draft final report on the crash prepared, but that it will be some time before the final report is complete and released. The final report was released on March 25, 2014. More detail on the report and links are available here.

The plane crashed on approach to CYFB, the Resolute Bay airport. Fifiteen people were aboard, including a crew of 4.   Twelve died in the crash, including all of the First Air crew members. Three passengers were medevaced to hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut, from which they were sent on for further treatment to Ottawa, with non-life threatening injuries. Members of the Canadian Forces who were in Resolute for Operation Nanook, along with local volunteer firefighters, were involved in the rescue of the survivors.

A number of the those who died in the crash were employees of Aziz Kerhaj, owner of the South Camp Inn in Resolute.  Aziz and his wife also lost a granddaughter in crash.

Crash survivor Michelle Willamson told her story of what happened that day to CBC's The National. Video and transcript here.

Pilots and airlines in Yellowknife, where the flight originated, held a memorial fly-by a few days after the accident. The video is here. You'll see Buffalo Airways DC-3, DC-4, C-46; a Dehavilland Buffalo, Twin Otters, DASH 7 and 8, Beech 18,  Dornier 228, and others.  The fly-by finishes with a Canadian North B737.

The original CBC News story from August 20, 2011 is here.

Some photos, IFR approach plate and other information regarding conditions (METAR CYRB) at the time are available in the Aviation Herald article here.

More information was posted at cbc.ca/north on August 22/11. And again on August 23/11

There is also an extensive pilots discussion thread available at AvCanada, including IFR approach chart information.