There's a lot of action happening in a large city at any given instance, so every flight over Winnipeg, whether day or night, is exciting. I have collected hundreds of pictures over Winnipeg, so this blog entry is going to be a tribute to the skies over Manitoba's capital.
Portage & Main, the city's most recognized intersection
To fly in the airspace over Winnipeg, we are required to schedule the flight at least one hour in advance, call the Winnipeg Tower over the radio upon entering city limits, and have a transponder equipped on the aircraft (a radar device that tells the air traffic controller how high we are flying.)
Cross-country flights in Manitoba's winter are more challenging to navigate visually, as some landscape features are masked by the white snow. We use receivers on the aircraft to identify the direction of radio beacons, as to triangulate on maps approximately where we are. It wouldn't be hard to find your way over the city though, as there's familiar structures to be seen everywhere.
My favorite time to fly in the city limits is during the final 10 minutes of sunset. On the aviation weather website, Nav Canada, they provide a calculator to determine when the sun begins its descent behind the horizon, and when it is finally concluded. This makes flight planning much easier to arrange, and provides the ideal lighting for some great shots of the skyline.
Most of our flights over downtown are done at 2000' above sea level, but in this shot we were asked by Winnipeg Tower to climb up to 2500' because the City of Winnipeg Police helicopter was doing their rounds about the city at 2000'. That way, there is no risk of a conflict. 
Portage & Main, as seen from the North
Portage & Main, as seen from the South
Generally I prefer transiting into Winnipeg's downtown southbound over the Red River because we can follow it all the way from Selkirk if we so choose to do a Selkirk / Interlake tour prior to our urban ventures. The official transit zone between the Winnipeg International airport and the St. Andrews airport is a corridor along highway #8, McPhillips. Just like vehicles on the highway, air traffic heading into the city is to stay on the west side of McPhillips, and aircraft leaving the city, to the east ( ↓ Hwy #8 ↑ )
Manitoba's Legislative Building
May 2013
Portage & Main on the left side of the photo, this was shot over the Red River (bottom of the pic) while looking out the right window to a sunset in the west. Notice the green light on the wing tip in the top left corner of the picture. All airplanes will have a green light on the right, and a red light on the left. It helps with collision avoidance, so that you immediately know which direction your traffic is flying.
Until next time, Winnipeg.
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