When we were at the turnaround point on our mountain bike ride the plane made it's first pass overhead, with the most difficult part of the ride still ahead, I sped up the pace so we could, hopefully, get back before they went to lunch.
There were three others with me who were males and in their 20's, but with a lot of hills in the last half of the ride, I had to slow the pace and wait for them to catch up. The plane made a few more passes, I suspected to analyze the situation and be sure the big plane would fit the runway.
The ranch's runway is 1-kilometer long, .62 miles, and plenty wide enough for 10 passenger charter planes, but this plane was huge. The twin engine, prop-jet Buffalo, the type of plane, is made in Canada and designed to land and take off in tight places, but they had never landed at EVR before and made a few more passes. I sped the pace back up when we got to the flat sections, in hopes of being back when they landed since they were still circling and I wanted to take some video.
We broke out of the woods as the plane was making its' final turns and approach. By the time we got up the last hill below the runway, they had already touched down and were taxiing toward the EVR hangars. The wingtips hung over both sides of the runway by about 10' and the plane looked out of proportion compared to the Cessna and the DeHavilland Beaver sitting along side the tarmac. If I remember correctly, my bike was still rolling when I stepped off at the rear of the plane.
They had every imaginable piece of rescue equipment on board, from snowshoes to life rafts, from locating radio beacons that could be dropped to someone in the water to parachutes for the jump crew, in case they needed to jump into a remote area. The crew was very congenial and it was apparent they enjoyed what they were doing and took their job seriously.
They related a few of their experiences and said that when they're in the polar-regions, and have to make a rescue, it's vitally important they stay extra cautious. The polar bears will stalk them and consider humans just another opportunity for a meal, and an easy one at that when compared to their other choices. Polar bears are generally larger than grizzlies and from what I've read, if the two meet, the grizzly backs down or loses the fight.
It was an impressive sight to watch the plane reverse its props, back up the runway until the tires were on the edge and then turn around, taxi to the other end where it turned around again in order to take off into the wind and downhill. The pilot did a work of art with a large plane in a tight space. The plane was airborne quicker than the small planes that I'd seen there. I was impressed with the whole operation, the crew, their expertise and the plane. What a great experience. I would have liked to get some video, but I was glad we got back in time to take the tour and grateful to Norm Dove, the owner at EVR, for setting it up for guests to experience and enjoy.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos and neither did anyone else that I've been able to contact. I yahoo searched under Canadian Air Force Buffalo and then selected CC-115 from their website. They have some great pictures. The url was www.airforce.gc.ca/site/equip/cc115.
If you like perusing first class websites of world class resorts, look up EVR at www.evranch.com
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