I was most fortunate to be selected to

accompany a SAR crew of the RCAF

424 Squadron aboard a C-130 Hercules to

the arctic this summer. After spending a

night in the Yukon Lodge at CFB Trenton, I

along with a CASARA volunteer from

London and a SERABEC volunteer from

Montreal, flew with the SAR crew to

Kuujuaq on Ungava Bay on the morning of

June 3rd. Prior to landing The SARTechs

parachuted into the Kosoak River in a

SAREX to rescue a “stranded" boat with

“injured" crew on board. Witnessing the

entire procedure from the back of the open

-doored Herc was a clear lesson in exten-

sive safety protocol on such a routine ma-

noeuvre.

The next day we flew directly to Resolute

Bay, Nunavut on Cornwallis Island, cross-

ing the Ungava Straight and witnessing the

build-up and eventual freeze over of arctic

sea ice. (Just off Cornwallis was where the

ill-fated Franklin Expedition met it’s fate in

1846) The eight-foot high snowdrifts at

Resolute were certainly a reminder of just

how far north we were as was the 24 hour

direct sunlight.

NOASARA in the Arctic Submitted by George Holborn

Dates to

Remember October 24: CVT

training

October 24: Radio

Operator's course

November 07: Safety

Meeting and Meet &

Greet social

November 11: SAREX

November 14:

Monthly Meeting

November 21: CVT

training

Inside this

issue:

Arctic Adventure 1

STAREX 2017 1

Long Weekend 4

Norseman Festival 5

Training 6

FALL 2017

NOASARA NEWS

STAREX 2017 Submitted by Bryan Davis

S TAREX is a biennial

event organized by the

London CASARA unit. This

year saw many organizations

participating including most

CASARA Ontario units, the

RCAF, the Navy, the Cana-

dian Coast Guard Auxiliary,

London OSARVA Ground

Search Unit, OPP Emergency

Response Team and Marine

Team, ARES Ham Radio

Club, and Salvation Army

Disaster Relief Services.

This year's STAREX was my

first along with Chris. With

us were veteran STAREX'ers

Dan and Eric. We would nor-

mally also send a complete

air team in addition to the

ESS team but were unable

to do so this year.

After arriving and settling in

to our excellent accommo-

dations at the Fanshaw

College residence we were

treated to a pig roast dinner

by the STAREX organizers.

Northwestern Ontario

Air Search and Rescue

Association

411 John Paterson Dr.

Thunder Bay, ON

P7E 6M8

www.noasara.com

noasara@tbaytel.net

continued next page

continued next page

Page 2 NOASARA NEWS

The following day we took off and headed northeast for

Ellesmere Island, the most northern landmass in

Canada.

The SARTechs wanted to scout Mount Barbeau on

Ellesmere to help in planning a potential future rescue

of hikers in the newly created Quttinirpaaq National

Park. Once close to our destination, the pilot took us

down to 1000 ft AGL. At this lower altitude we were, of

course, able to install the SAR-doors which allowed for

extensive photography from all those riding in the rear

of the aircraft. After circling for two hours around

Mount Barbeau and other locations within the park we

then headed for Iqaluit, Nunavut. Upon arriving over

Iqaluit, the SARTechs again jumped but this time car-

ried out their dry-land protocol and indeed landed

within the city limits of Iqaluit. The following day in-

cluded giving the volunteers on board practise at call-

arounds once we got back over the forested areas of

northern Quebec.

During the trip back to Trenton and subsequent flight

home, I’m sure that the grin on my face was blatantly

obvious to anyone as a result of this opportunity to see

a part of the world that I otherwise would never have

experienced. My sincere thanks go out to Captain Dan

Clarke and the crew of the 424 SAR Hercules as well

as Terry Nord of CASARA Ontario for an unforgettable,

amazing trip.

Starex cont’d

The food was tasty and filling throughout the weekend but this first night was especially good.

The next day we arrived at the hangar and were given our tasking. Our ground team was to go to a given set of

coordinates and establish communication with an aircraft team. We were followed out by a team from the local

HAM radio operators club which was providing a secondary link back to the hangar via their radio network. We

could give the HAM team communications to relay to the command center and vice-versa.

After some trouble establishing communications with the air team and a subsequent air team shuffle, we began

working with the air team to locate a PLB in the area. This worked well and helped to prove our interoperability

with other CASARA units and civilian groups such as the HAM operators.

Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate a radio signal from the PLB. This is believed to be caused by a

weak battery or the PLB placement. We looked as long as possible but were eventually ordered back to the han-

gar to participate in the next exercise.

In this second exercise a simulated float plane crash scene with victims was set up for some of the air teams,

London SAR, and the military. Chris and myself were chosen to be crash victims. continued next page

Melt channel from glacier flowing into Greely Fjord, Ellesmere

Island, Nunavut

Page 3

After a relaxing stint on the beach we were spotted by

the air teams who called in London SAR to triage the

situation and provide rescue. I'm happy to report that

Chris, myself, and the other 2 casualties were rescued

successfully. Thanks to the quick action of CASRA and

London SAR the 4 victims suffered nothing more than a

minor sunburn (I'll point out here that everyone should

remember to wear a hat while on training exercises).

Next the scene was reset and the military was called in.

The crew on the Hercules with several CASRA spotters

on-board quickly spotted the crash scene and the survi-

vors on the beach. After several passes to determine

wind direction the SAR-Techs parachuted to a nearby

field and walked to the scene. After a triage session they

quickly determined the most seriously injured survivors

and called in a rescue extraction.

All survivors were extracted to the nearby airfield where

they ate dinner and enjoyed live music. This concluded

the first day.

The next day was the day of the SAR Games. Our group

was teamed up with some members of London SAR

and then instructed to move to the first of 4 sta-

tions where we encountered 2 individuals who had

been involved in a recent tornado and triaged the

situation, built a stretcher out of materials we had

on us to extract a team member with a broken leg,

built a temporary shelter to protect a casualty from

the elements, and tested our knowledge of knots

with a test of 8 common knots.

Our team did very well particularly at the knot tying

station thanks to Dan and Eric. We didn't take first

place this year so the next team to go to STAREX

will need to study up to regain our bragging rights.

After the SAR Games we headed back to the hangar

to be debriefed and say our farewells. This event

was an excellent

experience and I

highly recommend

that all members

try to attend one.

The training is in-

valuable and the

relationships built

with like minded

people reaffirm the

knowledge that

we're part of some-

thing bigger and

something that

does great work.

P.S. I recommend

checking out the

Jet Aircraft

Museum in

London, ON the

next time any

members are

there. It's not large

by any means but

is very interesting

and has a friendly and knowledgeable staff who are

passionate about jet aircraft. It's a 15 minute walk

from the airport terminal or a 2 minute car ride.

NOASARA and London SAR members treat mock casualties in the SAR Games

Page 4 NOASARA NEWS

Long Weekend Support Submitted by Laurie Walters

I f you ever have the chance to go to Trenton for the

Long Weekend Support, I strongly encourage you to

take this opportunity!!

I went, along with Stephen Hunsberger and Eric Cline

on the September long weekend, and it was very inter-

esting! While Steve and Eric were flying on the Hercu-

les on Friday (doing contour flying in the mountains in

southern Quebec), I had a short course in the Night

Vision Training, with very expensive equipment! It was

totally amazing what could be seen with the goggles –

terrain that popped out, shadows from the moon, and

lights that you simply could not see with the naked eye!

Furthermore, ALL red lights, even those you could not

see with the naked eye

BLOSSOMED with the goggles on. Side note to all –

put a red light in your gear!!

I also got a tour of the training site where they train the

crews for the Hercules. They have the whole cockpit

(life size) mounted 30’ down into

the concrete floor, simulating the

visual, the motion and the sound

of an actual flight.

I spent a lot of time, close to ten

hours total, on the Hercules that

weekend. On Saturday, we flew

around Trenton, did a sector

search and spotter training and we

did receive a call out to help an

overturned sailboat in St.

Catharines. It was amazing to

watch the SARTechs gear up for

the search. The Coast Guard

reached the sailboat first, so we

got a call to stand down. The

SARTechs did a couple of training

jumps as well. Prior to their first

jump, I was tethered and allowed

to throw out the ribbons for the

SARTTechs to check the winds. I

was sitting right at the back of the

Hercules, about one foot away

from the open door at the back of

the plane! How cool is that?! What a magnificent

view!!

On Sunday, the weather in Trenton was not good, so

we flew to Sudbury for training. We did an expand-

ing square with spotter training. We must have

been told 3-4 times by different crew members on

the Herc that we were 3 of the best spotters they

had ever had! That was nice to hear!! (I think they

appreciated having trained spotters on board!). The

SARTechs also did a couple of training jumps right

near the Sudbury airport.

About 5 minutes before being released from duty on

Sunday night, a call came in for the Hercules to go

to Iqualuit. We debated going as it was late and we

were unsure whether we would make it back in time

for our flights home on Monday. Another call came

in shortly thereafter, and JRCC Halifax was tasked

with the flight, so we were stood down again.

On the Monday, before flying

home, we got a tour of JRCC.

It was interesting to see how

things work there, how they

receive calls and notifica-

tions for searches and how

they interact with different

agencies.

All in all, it was a great week-

end, and a great experience.

The people are awesome,

and very well trained. It was

a great learning experience,

and extremely interesting! I

highly recommend it – if you

have the chance to go ….

GO!!

Eric Cline suits up before working on the soon to be

open ramp of a Hercules

Page 5

T his year NOASARA was represented at the 25th

Annual Norseman Festival in Red Lake. Arriving

on Friday afternoon, I connected with retired Greens

Airways chief-pilot Joe Sinkowski and his wife Beth

who I’d known since the sixties. They had both been

involved with the festival since its inception so were

very helpful in providing contacts with the present-

day festival organizers. The festival is the largest

community event throughout the year so the entire

town was buzzing with excitement in anticipation of

the events scheduled around Howey Bay. These

included flights in a Norseman (my first), Otter and

Caravan, practices and shows by the Canadian Har-

vard Aerobatic Team, and the annual bush plane fly-

past. In addition, there were fun and games in Cen-

tennial Park and wonderful meals including a pan-

cake breakfast, a Ukrainian dinner, and the annual

Great Red Lake BBQ Ribs Challenge.

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, I set up a joint

display booth of NOASARA and NOAHC

(Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre)

NOASARA at the Norseman Festival Submitted by George Holborn

NOASARA display at the Norseman Festival

materials in Centennial Park for the purpose of increas-

ing awareness of both organizations in the Red Lake

community in general and the local aviation community

in particular. The weather on Saturday turned out to be

challenging with high winds and rain, necessitating an

early closure. However, Sunday proved to be ideal and I

talked with numerous passers-by about what NOASARA

does and our training regimes as well as handing out a

number of CASARA brochures. The festival chair-

person, Sophie Castonguay stopped by the booth on

Sunday to express the organizing committee’s appre-

ciation of our presence at their festival with a sincere

hope that we continue this effort in the future. The time

spent manning the booth allowed for participation in

most of the other events planned throughout the week-

end. I would encourage other NOASARA members to

consider taking in the festival in future years and enjoy-

ing the rich aviation heritage that is such an important

part of this community's legacy.

411 John Paterson Dr

Thunder Bay, ON

P7E 6M8

noasara@tbaytel.net

Northwestern

Ontario Air Search

and Rescue

Association

NOASARA NEWS

www.noasara.com

Submissions are welcome

from all members. Please

send text and images, if

available, to:

noasara@tbaytel.net

Upcoming Training & Events

Look for us on

Page 6

October 14 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for

currency.

October 24 19:00 Aviation Radio Operator’s course

October 24 19:00 CVT Training — encouraged for all spotters,

especially new or those who haven’t flown in a

October 30 17:15 BINGO session

November 07 19:00 Safety meeting followed by members meet

and greet

November 11 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for

currency.

November 14 19:30 Monthly meeting — open to all members

November 21 19:00 CVT training — encouraged for all spotters,

especially new or those who haven’t flown in a

November 28 19:00 Basic Navigation for non-pilots

December 05 19:00 Pilot refresher forum

December 09 09:00 SAREX — Air and ground crews as required for

currency.

December 12 19:30 Monthly meeting — open to all members

Watch our calendar of events for changes or additions. The calendar can be found

under the Member’s Area of our web page.

You can also create a link so that events on the NOASARA calendar are automati-

cally added to your calendar (for Google, Apple and Microsoft calendars). Look to

the bottom of the on-line calendar for “Options”, then choose “iCalendar Sub-

scription” and follow the instructions.