I'm Flying a 182 on straight floats with 6hr endurance from Ontario to the BC coast leaving Sept 20th. Looking for tips on which lakes/rivers stop for 100LL or AutoGas from people who have done it this year. Easy places to get in and out with accommodation fuel and docking would be great.
Hi Alex
Selkirk float base in Manitoba is an obvious with fuel and accommodation nearby. Not to much from there unless you angle north. Made the southern trip to Sylvan Lake or Cooking Lake a few times by hauling gas and stopping enroute to refuel. There may be fuel at Shoal Lake MB also as some floatplanes were running out of there. We have a vehicle at Selkirk you can use if we know when you are going through.
Just an FYI, Cooking Lake closed the seaplane base a few years ago. The water level is just too low. When you come in for landing at the airport, if a canoe has crossed the lake recently you can see the bottom stirred up by the paddle.
Thanks for the Selkirk and Cooking lake info. Stopping at Selkirk most likely. I have called many operators in the float supplement plus a few marina's. Found fuel and Accom all the way. I'll post how the trip turned out when I'm back out west.
Made it back from Ontario flying the southern route! None of the legs were to long for the reg 60 gallon tanks in the 182. We never used the 30 extra gallons in the floats. The last three stops were all auto gas from marinas. They were sheltered and easy to get in and out of. Lake Newell Resort in Brooks mentioned the airport would deliver 100LL to the Marina.
We flew from....
South of Hamilton Ont on Lake Erie- Constance Lake by Ottawa Ont- Azilda Ont- Thunder Bay Ont- Selkirk MB- Elbow SK-Newell Lake AB-Wood Lake BC-Nanaimo BC.
Special shout out to these folks for making our life so much easier. Constance Lake Lodge, Sudbury Aviation, Lakehead Aviation, Riverside Aircraft Maint, Elbow Marina on Lake Diefenbaker, Lake Newell Resort and Turtle Bay Marina in Kelowna.
