Royale Air Service flights

[mikep]

Flying into Windigo in late August on an 8:00 am flight with Royale Air Service. Is there anybody have any idea how often the flights are delayed due to weather, or primarily, fog. I've been to the island before, and know about the fog. I've read Royale Air Services delayed flight policy may delay us to the next open flight, instead of the next flight. So, I'm thinking about changing the flight time to, maybe 9 or 10 am, due to the lower probability of fog.

Anybody out there with feadback, or experience with this.

[Rafiki]

I've read Royale Air Services delayed flight policy may delay us to the next open flight, instead of the next flight.

I've read likewise from many of those whom I assume to be very knowledgeable about the matter. In terms of fog and advice regarding the best possible opportunity in the day to fly without any delays, I return the spotlight back to the experts that I assume to be very knowledgeable about such matters

[Ingo]

The one time I flew over last summer I had no issues. I don't know if the probability of fog is higher at 8am vs 9-10am, but whatever the odds, there's always the chance it could backfire on you too. Personally I'd stick with the time that works best for you and go with the flow (i.e. whatever the weather gods bring).

[Rafiki]

I agree with Ingo on the matter. Pick the time that works best for you. 8am seems like it would be the ideal time if you are going during a busy time of year. I don't have a clue as to whether or not the Royale Air Service ever has a full day, but if it does, I'd worry about not making it over to the island the day you are scheduled if your inital time was later in the day. The reason why I am concerned is because the Royale Air only runs departures to the island at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm. So for instance:

An example of an initial rooster for the sea plane on a given day was say as follows:

8am Ron and Kathy

10am You and Your Friend

12am Tom and Jessica

2am Justin and Amy

4am No one scheduled.

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Weather for the day of depature. Horrible fog and choppy waves from 8-12pm. The 8am and 10 am flights are delayed. At 12am Tom and Jessica are the first ones to be flown to the island. 2am comes Justin and Amy are flown to the island. 4am Ron and Kathy whos plane was delayed at 8am are now finally being sent to the island. There are no more slots available for departures. Now, not only do you not go today. But on the following day here is the what the sea plane rooster looks like:

8am Isiah and Joseph

10am Craig and Steve

12am Sara and Gilbert

2am No one scheduled.

4am Eric and Jim
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Well thats great, not only are you not going to the island on the day you originally planned, but now your going at 2pm the next day!!! Oh but get this, now time to throw in some really horrible luck. The weather gets nasty at 1pm and you are delayed yet another day

And this whole time you were all gung-ho about taking the plane to save time...well that idea just went down the drain
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I know the above scenerio probably will not occur, but just in case it did, I would want to make sure that I am first on the list to leave on a given day. You also never know. What if at first there were only two groups of people scheduled on the day you were deparing. This sounds great, because this means there are a lot of openings throughout the day to give you a second opportunity to make it to the island. But what if its just a horrible stormy day all day long. So now you and another group are transfered to the next day, and while neither day was fully loaded with people, now the the next day has been combined with the list of people from today. Things become a jam packed situation and you find yourself living on a hope and prayer for good weather during your time slot so you do not get screwed out of going to the island that day either.

Just a lot of thoughts that floated around if you go during a time in the season that is mildly busy or if you are leaving on a weekend when many others might plan to leave. The important thing to keep in mind is that there is only 5 times slots that you can be taken over to the island. Keep that in mind. This is why I have yet to rely on the Air Service. It can be too sketchy. Hope this helps.

[mikep]

Thanks Rafiki and Ingo for the advice. I think I'll just keep the original reservations and hope for the best. Thinking back on my past visits to the island, there was only one morning out of 16 that was foggy.

Thanks

[Rafiki]

Your welcome Mike.

Thinking back on my past visits to the island, there was only one morning out of 16 that was foggy

Ya...but we always tend to worry about that 1 out of 16 because we want our trip to go perfectly. I'm guilty as charged when it comes to other things related to the planning of my trips. Hope you had a good weekend. Please let us know how your trip goes in the Trip Report section after you return.

[egraetze]

We flew last year mid July. Our plan was to fly to Windigo for a trip the entire length, then take the Ranger III back. The flight was scheduled for 8 AM on a Saturday. It was delayed all morning due to fog at both Windigo and Rock Harbor backing us up, including other later scheduled flights. While we were waiting, the pilot had a tough time reaching anybody on the island, and at one point went up to see what the fog situation was on the lsland. Wound up that Windigo stayed fogged in, so we opted to go to Rock Harbor, then caught the Voyager the next morning from Rock Harbor to Windigo. We lost nearly 2 days of our trip, and had the added expense of the additional boat trip. I will likely never take the flight again as a means of gaining time and stick with the Ranger III or Isle Royale Queen, which are much more predictable (even though back in the 80s, the IRQ was delayed for us on one occasion due to gale force winds, but they have a bigger boat now).
This is a sample size of one, and I don't know if this is typical.