CALM AIR, WINDY SKIES ... continues

Announcing RANKIN INLET AIRPORT in 3 official languages

It was 1045. I had arrived to a large crowd in the waiting area of Rankin Inlet Airport. In front of the CALM AIR counter, ahead of me were three customers...with hockey gear, heading back home, I think to Repulse Bay but maybe Whale Cove. They had been knocked out in the Bronze medal game at the weekend Atom tournament. I asked if they had a good tournament and both boys agreed.

I was next. The counter rep. greeted me, smiled and said we were delayed but offered nothing further except to say the plane was on its way. This time check in was much faster and smoother than Toronto's experience. In my hands, I had my flight info from the travel desk, got my boarding pass....which said the flight was at 11:30 (not gonna happen). No seat assignment but now it was time for the weigh in. Now down to two bags, (well I did have two helicopters to bring home), the first came in at 34. The second at 47...no overweight charges this time. Only the extra bag charge of $50 from Air Canada for the second bag. This was good.

Rankin Inlet airport terminal

Then she asked about my carry on. I said I have one plus my 'personal' bag, which carried my camera and a flash. She said we needed to weigh the carry on so they would know cargo weight. I struggled to make it appear light but the scales revealed 24...she said "that's over the allowable carry on weight".

After the big blizzard there was a single lane swath into the airport

Would I have excess baggage charges? What would I do with all this camera gear? She just said "I'll make an exception but they may have to stow it in the rear of the plane if it doesn't fit under the seat. That was it! I quietly breathed a sigh of relief. My luggage was checked, my hand luggage approved and tagged, now we needed the plane. The sun shone brightly and as is was almost midday, I left my carry ons amid the crowd and headed back out the front door of the terminal.

Two weeks ago, after the blizzard, I had visited the airport after hearing about the huge drifts that had formed at the terminal entrance gate. They were huge 12-14 feet in height with a single lane path cut through providing access to the airport. In those two weeks all evidence of the big storm was gone. I knew it had not melted but that the front end loaders had been busy moving and clearing. I moved another 500 yards down the road to the entrance at the road.

Welcome to RANKIN INLET at the airport exit....tradition of Old & New

There sits a "Welcome to Rankin Inlet" sign. It features a home town hero of sorts. Actually he's been a hometown favourite since he played in Halifax, in the Junior Hockey Tournament at Christmas in January 2003. Currently, on the roster of the New Jersey Devils, he returns to Rankin for at least one trip a year and spends some time returning to "the land" to re-establish his roots and spend some time with his dad, Barney.

My ATR just parking after arriving from Churchill

Barney signed my flag again this time. The second week in Rankin Inlet, I was invited over but never made it. Last trip I spent some time at the Tootoo house. While Rose played bingo on the radio, Barney had showed me the boy's trophy room. Hanging from the ceiling were two large canadian flags signed by everyone in Rankin Inlet and sent to Jordan for the 2003 Halifax tournament showing the support of the hamlet. From this, I thought what a great idea.

So, last trip seven years ago, I had everyone at the health centre sign a large Nunavut flag. When I arrived this time, they didn't really remember me initially, since I had been there but a month and people rotate in and out all the time. Their memories became sharper once they saw the flag and they looked for their names on that Nunavut flag. This trip I had no problem getting them to sign a larger Ontario flag, which many had never seen.

Welcome aboard...the next 7 steps to home

I got some shots of the welcome sign, then returned to the airport to find people starting to move. Had I missed the announcement? Yes, but not my flight as of yet! The yellow school bus arrived and the passengers filed out Gate 2 into the bus to be driven across the windy tarmac to the waiting ATR in the distance.. Ten minutes later, that plane was gone and another was loading...still not mine. It was well after 1220 and no plane had arrived yet from Churchill...That was soon to change but not before the next ATR was loaded and on its way to Whale Cove, again after everyone had lined up and exited Gate 2.

A landing at 1230 meant we still had a three hour trip ahead to Winnipeg, after the dual prop was gassed, loaded and ready to go. The clock was ticking, would I make my flight to Pearson? Would Air Canada be friend or foe? The overhead was garbled but enough sound to hear "loading"...and "Winnipeg"... I was ready and standing near Gate 2...It was our time!

Starboard engine on the ATR

In a few short minutes, the boarding passes were double checked with the passenger list by that same counter rep. and we made our way through the gusting winds, across the bare tarmac with a bit of swirling snow...and moved the 50 yards to the rear staircase where I climbed the final 7 steps into the fuselage.

The grey leather seats, were chilly, as was the entire aircraft. Odd, I thought since had only been n the ground for thirty minutes or so but the back hatch had been open and the cold air had been blowing inside. Once we were loaded and the hatch secure, the inside started to warm, as the engines sprung to life....It was 1315 and we were moving down the runway, soon aloft and viewing Rankin Inlet from the air as we circled and redirected south to Winnipeg.

The view from the sky enhanced to show the formations in the Snow and Ice on the Land

 My only problem, I was on the wrong side. Those on port had the great view, I was on starboard and saw the sky! Once we flattened out, I saw some great ice and snow formations on Hudson Bay as we winged south. An overhead announcement...beverage service would be followed by lunch! I decided on a Coor's Light...my sixth beer in seven weeks... My lunch arrived...arctic lasagna with fruit salad...fresh watermelon and a date square to finish. I decided to make it 7 for 7 instead. At 5 bucks each...cash sale, the best value at 24,000 feet in all of Nunavut! 

Farewell to Rankin Inlet YRT

During the flight, the attendant, explained the reason for the tardiness...on the way from Winnipeg to Churchill and then to Rankin Inlet, the aircraft had been buffeted by headwinds approaching 240 knots. No wonder they were late. Hearing that I was surprized that they had made it at all. The good news...as we neared Winnipeg...those same headwinds, for us, were tailwinds and we had made up almost a half hour.

Cargo stowed at the back of the ATR

During the last hour of the flight, there were three on board that notified the flight attendant of connecting flights, mine was the latest at 1655. The others were at 1600 or thereabouts. It might be tight for us, but we were determined and had Calm Air on our side! As the flight attendant cleared the cabin of the remnants of lunch, she told us three that she would make an announcement as we arrived at the terminal asking cooperation from those aboard to remain seated while 3 on board left to make connections.

As I have now become accustomed to, cooperation with authority remains a tradition of the north...as many on board had been through the same situation at one time or another, and true to form, remained seated while us three dashed off. No one moved as we made our way out the rear cabin door, down the steps and then were advised by ground crew to the closest entrance to the terminal.

Transitioning to more ice...less snow

I had been previously advised by our Calm Air attendant, to head to the baggage hall, go and check in at the Air Canada kiosk, get my baggage tags and boarding pass, then return to the luggage hall to grab my bags as they arrived on the carousel. The events couldn't have been "swiss timed" more accurately. Returning to the hall, my two bags were just coming onto the stainless steel belt. I grabbed them, placed them on a cart and proceeded to find the elevator to the departures level.

Back to trees and visible vegetation

At the Air Canada check in area, I was directed to the next available wicket, which took only a few moments to finalize. My new luggage tags were applied as the old ones had been immediately removed in the baggage hall. I put the newly checked bags on the belt and hoped we would all arrive in Toronto together. A quick, uneventful trip through security this time, allowed some time for a quick Tim's decaf...my first in seven weeks...It had been high test til then, but I was back south and time to return to my old routines. With thirty minutes to spare, I was checked, secured, and sitting and sipping at my new gate, anticipating a two hour trip to YYZ. Did the other guys make their Westjet connection...we can only hope!