450 YouTube Flying Videos by Jan
Nademlejnsky
450. Flying over Ross Moore Lake Wildfire Area,
Sep 8, 2023
The flying
conditions were very good and even smoke form wildfires was not too bad. I
decided to check the status of Ross Moore Lake
wildfire with its edge just 15 km south of Kamloops city. The 113 km2 (44 mi2) fire was
still classified as out of control, but I did not see any evidence of it. It looked from the air as the fire well in control.
I saw just 3 small areas with still smoldering patches. I called the location
of the first patch (SW of the fire area center) and I was told that helicopter
is flying there every day to check the progress. There should not be any reason
to get it again out of control. The fire was very close to a major recreation
and residential area
of Lac Le Jeune NW of the fire start. I have good aerial view of Kamloops from early
morning lit by fresh sun. I finished my enjoyable flight be several low passes
over the river sandbars, just south of airport. The edges formations were spectacular. Those sandbars are very dynamic, continually
changing by flowing and water level dropping river.
Pictures
449. Kamloops Area Covered with Wildfire Smoke,
Sep 2, 2023
It was not
an ideal day to go flying because we had some serious, out of control fires
near by. Also wind direction helped to blow the smoke from the other places
too. I have to turn around in mid
flight, because to visibility was getting critical. I still have very good
video from South Thompson River valley and
from Knutsford area too. I wanted to see the effect of those fires, but it was
impossible from the allowed altitude to see anything. I flew over downtown to
check the rivers water situation and the headed north to Lac Du Bois (lake),
which I visited a day earlier. It is beautiful area and I wanted to see it from
the above too. After flying over Mara Hill and NW Ridge I crossed the river for
low level passes of the ever changing river sandbars. This is always is a
highlight of my flying day.
Pictures
448. Low Water Level of Thompson Rivers.
Kamloops Aug 19, 2023
I flew
above both North and South
Thompson Rivers
to check how low the water level is. North Thompson is receiving extra water
from the rains upstream, which is good news. It is very well seen in Kamloops downtown in the
river confluence. The outflow from N Thompson River
is in totally different, grayish silt color. I labeled it in the video as “New
water”. It is not “fresh water” because it is really badly looking. Water level
up MW spilled into dry land and islands flushing all that accumulated stuff
back into the river which we are just receiving here in Kamloops. We are in level 5 drought category
with serious water usage restrictions.
Pictures
447.
Kamloops
in the Middle of Wildfires. July 23, 2023
It was my
interesting, early morning flight.. Flew south by the monster, out of control,
wildfire by Ross Moore Lake.
There is high elevation view of the ever expanding fire, affecting many
evacuated residents. I was surprised to see the fire up to the up wind edge
regardless of very strong wind in the previous day. I expected to see large
burned out area on the up wind, western side, but not. I guess, it is the
unpredictable nature. One half of Kamloops was in serious
smoke cover while the other half, west side was reasonably clear. I also
noticed another, to me just starting fire further north. It looked like some
large camp fire. I reported its location to Kamloops Flight Services. Later
that day I noticed this as already registered Frisken Creek fire. The video
shows the interesting view of Kamloops
city partially shrouded in thick smoke screen…. Overall, it was good 127 km
long flight.
Pictures
446. Scenic Flight to Chase, Mt
Martin, Monte, Campbell and Scuitto Lakes. July 18, 2023
Beautiful
and very scenic flight through the Chase-Falkland
Rd valley. The nature colors are changing very
quickly in these unusually hot and dry conditions. There are still some regions
which are very healthily green. I was surprised with unusually, 23 min long
wait for my position to land. I felt
like in an Oshkosh.
Pictures
445. Scenic Flight to Little Shuswap Lake. High
Level Views of the River Valley. July 12, 2023
I was originally
flying to Salmon Arm airport, but heavy smoke from surrounding forest fires
made me to turn back earlier. Regardless, I have very good video of the South Thompson River valley from the higher elevation
then usually. This brought larger areas into my cameras views. It also shows
our vital river quickly losing the water level due to hot and dry weather. It
might be interesting year in Kamloops.
Also visited fire fighting air base to check the water bombers and take some
pictures.
Pictures
444. Scenic Loop to Highland Valley Copper Mine,
Spences Bridge Area, Ashcroft, Savona… July 4, 2023
It was a perfect and scenic flight through very interesting country
sites in various styles. Very nice aerial view of super big, Highland Valley
Copper Mine, open pit operation. I continued then into Nicola River
Valley to check the hwy 8
which was practically destroyed by serious 2022 river flood. There is a 800 ft
long and straight piece to highway which was cut out from the rest of the
highway by the river. This could be potentially used as a landing strip. The
location looks a bit intimidating, but it could be perfect for the mountain
type of pilots. I turned north upstream of Thompson River
to Ashcroft. I skipped the nearby Cache Creek airport, because the turbulence
started already knocking on my back and I wanted to be back ASAP. The Nicola
and Thompson River valleys are spectacular,
but again intimidating for low level style of flying. I crossed Walhachin, Savona, Tobiano and finally Kamloops. I was really moving on my last leg
over the Kamloops
Lake with whitecaps, with
30 km/h (19 mph) tail wind. The tail wind almost instantly changed to headwind
just by the Kamloops
airport. It really woke me up from my peaceful flight. It was rough few
seconds.
Pictures
443. Flying to Bonaparte Lake &
Bonaparte Provincial Park via McLure. June 30, 2023
It was 177
km (110 mi) long flight of pure fun. I tried several times to fly to Bonaparte Lake area, but the bad turbulence always
changed my plans.
I was
really surprised with number of lakes and lash green and beautiful areas. I also
saw ravaged areas from 2021 forest fire, but the nature is slowly recovering
from that disaster. I captured the Kamloops
downtown in the early morning sun and quickly loosing water level in our
rivers. We could already see river sandbars which are normally still under
several feet of water.
Pictures
442. Flying to Deadman Falls over Tobiano,
Savona, Deadman River and Straight Line Back. June 26, 2023
I visited
the Deadman Falls in 2021 by
motorcycle. I also flew very nearby previously, but at that time I didn’t know
about the waterfalls there. I decided to check it out. It was very good, 153 km
long and very enjoyable flight. The scenery and the nature are spectacular. I
followed the Deadman
River deep valley there
and I flew straight line over totally unknown terrain on the way back. Check it
out; you will like it.
Pictures
441. Flight through Nicola Valley to Merritt,
Logan Lake and Tunkwa Lake, Kamloops June 17, 2023
This was the
day to fly. Absolutely the best conditions to do video. The fluffy clouds
created beautiful spotty patterns on the ground. Everything around was in full
green and healthy looking shape. I flew to small city Merritt airport through
one of the most scenic region Nicola
Valley. It is filled with
many lakes in deep valleys, meadows and rolling hills all in multi shades of
spring green color. After short pit stop I continued above highway 97C to small
village Logan Lake, which almost burned down in
serious forest fire in 2022. I flew over Tunkwa
Provincial Park
and Duffy Lake
back to Kamloops.
It was 180 km (112 mi) of pure pleasure filled with natural beauty. I was back
on the ground at 8:15 am.
Pictures
440. Local Flight to Test Gimbal
Head GoPro Camera, Kamloops June 6, 2023
I replaced
my Insta360 X2 camera with GoPro Hero 7B mounted in 3 axes stabilizer Removu S1.
The 360 deg camera is very good, but editing and lining the wanted views is
very tedious and time consuming. I was looking for better results, but I was
disappointed. I was hoping that motorized Gimbal head with 3 gyroscopes would
be proper solution. It is not as shown in the video. I will be going back to
Insta360 X2 as front view camera. You could still enjoy aerial views of Kamloops when all is
green. It looks so good.
Pictures
439. Extreme Turbulence, Scenic Flight from
Vernon to Kamloops. Part 2 of 2, May 31, 2023
The return
leg from Vernon to Kamloops was very interesting to say it
mildly. I was mega challenge of extreme conditions in my experience so far:
Terrible turbulence and landing into strong gusty wind, which was not
forecasted.
I chose
more scenic road through the Falkland
Valley. This area is
known for strong and sudden bursts of wind. There is even sign on highway
warning drivers from strong winds. It gave me full work out and tested my
skills, and will to live. It was 20 minutes of swearing and wishing not to be
there. It topped up the landing into totally unpredicted gusty wind of 28-44
km/h (17-27 mph) wind. The original forecast was 6-8 km/h (4-5 mph).
Pictures
438. Direct and Peaceful
Flight to Vernon, Part 1 of 2. May 31, 2023
I was
considering this flight to neighboring airport in Vernon for several years now. It was
definitely out of my comfort zone, not because of distance or terrain, but the
unpredictable flying conditions. The terrain between Kamloops
and Vernon is
combination of mountains, large lakes, many complexly laid valleys and large
open spaces. This creates ripe conditions for multidirectional and gusty winds
and of course turbulence too. The terrain is spectacular, which was the main
attraction for me.
I was up in
the air at 6:15 am to avoid heat changes from cold(er)
morning to hot noon, which brings turbulence. I chose straight line flight over
the mountains to Vernon and more scenic route
through the Falkland
Valley on the way back.
The sun position was also the factor to get better light condition for my video
cameras. Well, the return leg was very interesting to say it mildly. I was mega
challenge of extreme conditions in my experience so far: Terrible turbulence
and landing into strong gusty wind, which was not forecasted.
Pictures
437. Flight to Barriere,
Whitecroft, Barnhartvale, 180 km of Beauty. May 16, 2023
This was
another beautiful flight through less traveled areas. I followed the North Thompson River up to McLure ferry and then over the
mountains to Barriere. The next leg led me to Whitecroft, small village near Sun Peaks.
I followed the narrow valley filled with all kind of green colors. The nature is fully transformed now from the
dark winter colors to bright greens. The third leg of my 180 km long flight was
to Buse Lake area in Barnhartvale area. The Buse Lake
is completing its summer transformation into purple/red color.
I tried many times for several years
to fly close to the Rock Needle of Buse Hill, but the weather conditions had
always different plans. It looked promising this time, but my main, full view
camera battery died. I flew close, but still encounter unpleasant turbulence
there. I completed my journey above the south side of the South
Thompson River and recording views of Barnhartvale, Juniper Ridge
and Kamloops Sahali area. Other areas to
see are Brocklehurst,
Batchelor Heights,
Westsyde, Ida Lane
hill, North Thompson River valley residential
areas.
Pictures
436. Flight to Sun Peaks, Chase
and High Water Level of South Thompson River. May 19, 2023
Beautiful
flight to quickly changing Sun Peaks from winter ski paradise to green mountain
playground. I continued to small village Chase, which is start of South Thompson River. I flew over the river which is spilling
over in some areas; annual cycle from very low at over high water levels.
It is
interesting to compare the river valley character between those two extremes.
See my video # 432 from Apr 14, 2023
for comparison.
Pictures
435. Return Flight from Cache Creek to Kamloops,
May 11 2023
This is the
second part (video #434) of my trip
to Cache Creek to see the flooding situation there. The flight is threading
through very interesting geographical nature with beauty in every direction.
Pictures
434. Flight to Cache
Creek to Check the River Flooding Situation. Kamloops, May 11 2023
It was an
interesting flight in the Thompson and Bonaparte river valleys to see the
flooding river conditions. Small town of Cache Creek was already affected by
damaging flood and expecting additional flood by Bonaparte River.
I flew over Ashcroft and Cache Creek from south to north. I landed at local and
to me intimidating and challenging airport with unpredictable weather and
thermal conditions. I had to land to change battery of my video camera. Whole
area changed already from dry brown and brownish color to increasingly green
colors from nature fast spring awakening.
Pictures
433. Following Tranquille Canyon
to Fire Devastated Red & Sparks Lakes Areas, Deadman Valley, Walhachin,
Tobiano… Apr 27, 2028
I was
considering this flight for several years now, but the terrain looks and is
very intimidating. The gold containing Tranquille Creek is running in very
deep, steep and narrow canyon. Definitively any mechanical or even
environmental failure would be total disaster in that hostile environment. I
started early in the morning to limit my exposure to expected turbulence, but
it was still not relaxing flight. The strong headwind created mechanical
turbulence behind and around the hills. This combined with warm and cold sides
of the canyon created very good turbulence. Well, I made it through! It is very
nice in the Red Lake
area, which follows the Sparks
Lake. The Sparks Lake
became “famous” in June 2021 when someone set forest on fire. It was hell on
earth: 52 buildings, over 90,000 ha of forest gone, and millions spent on
aerial and ground fire fighting. It was terrible summer even for us living 40
km away from it.
The sky was
very clear and visibility perfect so you could see the Costal Mountain Ridge
still covered in snow. Covered also Deadman
Valley, Walhachin area, Savona, Pat Lake, Tobiano, Cherry Creek, South
Thompson River sand bars, Tranquille Farm.
Pictures
432.
Complete South Thompson River, Low Water Level Aerial Survey, Kamloops, Apr 14, 2023
Here is my
aerial survey of all South Thompson River from Chase to Kamloops delta. I wanted to capture the 2023
lowest water level in that river.
It was very
nice and interesting flight. I received warning form the Kamloops Flight
Services about ash from Russian (Kamchatka)
volcano 4,800 km away. Eventually I had an experience with that strange
phenomena. I saw two big snow falling areas in my path which could be dangerous
with very strong winds. That cold air is usually sucked into my sun heated
warmer air where I was. I experienced it already once and I don’t care for any
repetition. I noticed when editing my videos that the snow area was actually
very local ash fall. I noticed it on my camera and my windshield was very
dusty. The sky was very diverse and interesting. Unpleasant flight against
early morning rising sun with poor visibility turned out to be fun flight from
Chase to Kamloops.
https://youtu.be/Y4S70MYuQKM
Pictures
431. Kamloops from the Air in
Heavy Turbulence, Apr 11, 2023
I wanted to
document extremely low water level in whole South Thompson
River. I did the second half of it in my video 429 from March 20, 2023.
I did not make
it too far this time, because of very strong and unpleasant turbulence. I was getting air sick and I did not want to
push my luck. I had to give up. I hope I could make it soon. I brought very
interesting video from around the Kamloops
city.
Pictures
430.
Flight to Lac Le Jeune and Detail Survey
of Kamloops Sandbars, Kamloops Mar 29, 2023
I flew over
scenic road to Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park, campground and residential area.
While Kamloops
valley is practically snow free and in spring like weather, the area south is
still in full winter mode. I turned SE to Knutsford area, over Paterson Creek
canyon to Kamloops
downtown. I then followed South Thompson River to its delta to Kamloops Lake. I made over 50 km above those
spectacular sand bars. The river water level is in its seasonal lowest point so
the sand beaches and the sandbars areas are enormous. They will disappear under
water in June to August with not unusual flood in lower city elevations. I
documented special twist to crop circles. By the SW of river delta. If you have
chance to watch this video on TV then you will not regret it. You will not see
it again as it is, because they are always changing and slowly disappearing
with the spring runoff.
Pictures
429. Checking Low Water Level of North and South
Thompson Rivers, Kamloops Mar 20,
2023
Kamloops probably reached to lowest river
level this season. It is really low. Spring and spring temperatures are here
which started snow melting from the mountain and high elevation regions. I
wanted to capture this event which is only possible to se from the air and
preferably from low elevation. I flew east 43 km (27 mi), past the Monte Creek
above of the South Thompson River. I also used
a clip insert from June 24, 2012 when rivers water level was just peaking out
for comparison. After that, I turner NW towards McLure by North
Thompson River. I changed my direction due to turbulence. I flew
instead over Pinantan and Paul Lakes and over the Lyons
Lake to the “end of civilization” of North Thompson River. I followed the rivers to airport
which was 72 km (45 mi) away.
Pictures
.
428. Flying to Buse Lake in no
Fun Turbulence. Mar 16, 2023
I have been
trying 11 years to do close up of Buse Hill rock face needle, but the flying
conditions had been too dangerous to do it. The turbulence was too much for my
fun even far away from the hill. I toured above several Kamloops
subdivisions, like Valleyview, Dallas,
NE river shore cliffs, Sun
Rivers, Batchelor Hills, North Ridge… I am also showing detail views of
spectacular nature creation, sand bars of South Thompson
River delta. It is my favorite area to fly, because it is always
different. This is the only way to see it and also to see what is under water
too.
Pictures
427. Flying
to Harper Ranch, Campbell Creek Rd to Knutsford, Ajax, Afton, Cherry Creek,
Kamloops, Mar 9, 2023
I ventured
a bit behind the hills in area which might not be very well known. All this is
presented with easy listening music. You could see: Brock, North Shore,
Sun Rivers,
North Ridge with Mt Peter & Paul, Harper Ranch Dallas, Barnhartvale,
Campbell Creek, Shumway Lake valley, Knutsford, Ajax
mine, Jacko Lake,
Afton mine, Cherry Creek area, South Thompson River
sand bars.
Pictures
426. Flying to
Harper Ski Hill in very Good Turbulence. Kamloops Mar 3, 2023
Beautiful,
but turbulent flight to Kamloops
area 2nd largest ski hill.
Pictures
425. Flying over the City. Short,
Intro Video. Kamloops Feb 11, 2023
Pictures
424. Flying over East of City,
Valleyview, Dallas, Barnhartvale and then Sun Rivers, North Shore and Brock.
Kamloops Feb 11, 2023
This is the second part of my detailed city fly over.
Pictures
423. Flying
in Survey Pattern over South Side of City, Kamloops Feb 15, 2023
It decided to do detail fly over the south side of Kamloops city in a survey
type of track pattern. This covers the largest and the hilliest part of Kamloops. It shows our
diverse and very complex terrain which must really challenge for the city
planners and maintainers. The video is result of 93 km over that city section.
Pictures
422. Flying to Beautiful Area of
Walhachin. Kamloops, Feb 9, 2023
It was beautiful winter day to have some good fun in the air.
Sunny sky and temperature above freezing added to that special mood. The
Walhachin area has very interestingly carved winding river banks, looking like
being made by a machine. The flight to that place goes through many natural
wonders looking spectacular from the ground and the air. Places to see from 113
km long flight: North Shore, Domtar, river junction, Aberdeen, Dufferin, Afton
mine, Cherry Creek area, Tobiano, hoodoos, Balancing Rock, Savona, Thompson
River rec areas, Walhachin, South Thompson River
delta sand bars…
Pictures
421. Flying with the Clouds.
Kamloops, Jan 15, 2023
This video
has background music
Another
interesting flying conditions: Heavy, multi-layer clouds, blue sky, bright
sunshine, dark ground areas. I covered North Ridge, Batchelor area, North Thompson River, Westsyde, Mt Mara, Tranquille Creek
valley, Lac du Bois Area. The Tranquille-Criss Creek, normally deep and steep
valley was under clouds. This created very interesting visual effect. See also
nice Sundog (Halo) effect in the clouds
I had
interesting moment before my landing when looking for entry hole in the clouds.
I had to ask the control tower to check it for me, which they did. It was
difficult to see anything except very bright white fluffs reflecting the sun
directly into my face. Another moment happened while I was taking pictures
above Batchelor subdivision where I was hit with sudden and strong updraft,
which almost ripped the control bar from my hand. It was fun and interesting
flight.
Pictures
420. Flying with the Clouds. Kamloops,
Jan 15, 2023
This video has no background music.
Another
interesting flying conditions: Heavy, multi-layer clouds, blue sky, bright
sunshine, dark ground areas. I covered North Ridge, Batchelor area, North Thompson River, Westsyde, Mt Mara, Tranquille Creek
valley, Lac du Bois Area. The Tranquille-Criss Creek, normally deep and steep
valley was under clouds. This created very interesting visual effect. See also
nice Sundog (Halo) effect in the clouds
I had
interesting moment before my landing when looking for entry hole in the clouds.
I had to ask the control tower to check it for me, which they did. It was
difficult to see anything except very bright white fluffs reflecting the sun
directly into my face. Another moment happened while I was taking pictures
above Batchelor subdivision where I was hit with sudden and strong updraft,
which almost ripped the control bar from my hand. It was fun and interesting
flight.
Pictures
Flying Videos
in 2022