February 22, 2012
Our airstrip renovation is moving along, well, and we are still on schedule to land our first wheeled planes into Silsby in May of 2012. We have had a number of breakdowns with our equipment, but were able to get parts into Silsby in a timely manner. Hopefully, we get some help from mother nature and have a dry fall.
Clearing trees is dangerous work as you can see by some of the photos. 60 ft. pines and poplars are snapping, falling and whipping all around you while driving the Cat. It takes an experienced "skinner" and a whole lot a' guts! Windrowing the trees with the excavator is not an easy or safe task, either. With the bucket of the excavator they pull the trees and their root systems out of the ground (towards the machine). Operators need to be on full alert as the trees get caught on each other and become "loaded". If they break loose they snap back at the machine with an unbelievable amount of force. These are long stressful days and I can't thank my crew enough.
We are almost to the point of adding clay and blading the runway to grade, now. By the end of September, I expect us to have 4000 ft. of usable runway to land a plane. We will add the top coating (gravel or similar) and do the finish blading in October. With a bit of luck we will have it done by freeze up, if not we will continue to work on it through the winter months.
Upon completion of the airstrip renovation we will have direct flights from Winnipeg to Silsby Lake Lodge. For more info travelling to Silsby click on the link below...