Flying shotgun

One of the lines of discussion last evening during dinner was our eminent departure. Since 16 guests were arriving and 16 departing, either two airplanes or two trips were going to be necessary. Come to find out Blue Water Aviation does, indeed, have a turbo Otter and, of course, my first thought was about how terrific it would be to get to fly in it if the two plane scenario played out.

But. There's always a but, isn't there? Although, of the three departing groups, there was no one trying to make the 1:30PM plane in Winnipeg, there was a party of six that had a 14-hour drive ahead of them after arriving in Bissett, so they wanted to fly out first. And, that meant, since the Otters seat a maximum of nine, that Tal and I would fly with them. And, of course, as breakfast was finishing up this morning, the old Otter arrived on the scene first.

But. Yes, another but, a wonderful one. The pilot allowed me to ride shotgun. (Admittedly, I was pushy; I asked to ride up front, knowing full well that the rule of thumb is to have the biggest man in that seat.) With the camera over my shoulder, I strapped myself in.


Then, as we began our short taxi to the open water, the pilot wondered if I'd like to photograph the falls. Well, yes. YES! It was very nice of him, as it does take several extra minutes to circle back and make the long, slow turn. Since the weather had turned warm, the windows in the cockpit doors were open, so the resulting photos of the falls and Shining Falls Lodge turned out pretty well. (Double click on either photo for a larger view.)


What a ride.