Victoria Flying Club
October 2006
This brand new Boeing 737-600 lands at YYJ on a rainy September day. See Short Final on page 2 for details.
Inside
Photo by Robert Clark.
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Short Final
Letters to the Editor
Summer Flying on the Prairies
In My Travels
Back in the Air
Dirty Side Up
Flying with VFC Friends
Eleanor’s
The
Patrician
S hort F inal
Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club
OCTOBER 2006 Editor:
Eleanor Eastick PatricianEditor@shaw.ca Advertising inquiries: Bob Mace (250) 361-6996 or bmace@shaw.ca Publisher: Seaside Designs seasidedesigns@shaw.ca (250) 383-7777 Published monthly. Unsolicited articles welcome. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 25, 2006.
Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors
Sean Steele Bob Mace Lloyd Toope Colin Dormuth Dennis Arnsdorf Jeremy Prpich Doug Marin Don Goodeve
General Manager Chief Flying Instructor
Gerry Mants Graham Palmer
1852 Canso Road Victoria, BC V8L 5V5
Phone: Fax: Email: Web:
(250) 656-4321 (250) 656-2833 (250) 655-0910 info@flyvfc.com www.flyvfc.com
Opinions expressed are those of the authors alone. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any format without the written authorization from the publisher or author.
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The spiders in my bathtub are now the size of Buicks, a sure sign that colder weather is setting in. These last few dull rainy days bespeak the end of summer – but maybe not yet! There’s always the hope of an Indian Summer and although we are now officially in autumn and the days are growing too short too fast, October may still hold some perfect flying weather. I remember lots of clear skies around Thanksgiving and a great flyout to Hoquiam several years ago – 8500’ over the Olympics heading southwest for some of that famous American hospitality at Lana’s Café at KHQM. Maybe this can happen again....
Hello Again What a thrill I had on September 20th seeing my ‘old’ instructor, Cameron Law, fly into CYYJ in a brand new, and I mean brand new Boeing 737-600 – says Larry Dibnah, “still wet behind the ailerons!” It was a state-of-the-art next generation aircraft with leather seats and live seatback television yet to be installed. The $45 million aircraft had only 28 hours “on the Hobbes” and had just made its 22nd landing when it arrived at CYYJ that’s it on the cover. Pretty spiffy! It is without the upturned winglets of other 737s and is the first of its generation to eliminate the small overhead windows in the cockpit. Cameron and his wife Tracy, also an airline pilot were both VFC instructors in the early 90s.
Another World I met them both when I joined the Club around that time I had once been in a light aircraft many years previously and certainly the thrill and the exhilaration of that short flight made an impression on me as a nine-year-old but never once had I considered learning to fly myself – that is until I took a Disco Flight with Cameron! One look at his photo and you can see why! On that bright August day a new world opened up to me. The strange language of aviation, the radio communications, the excitement of being able to move in three dimensions, the noise, the warm, oily smell of the cockpit - all combined to create the sublime thrill of flight. Never again could I envision Victoria from ground level; never again could I consider distance in miles, now it was nautical miles and time that mattered. The vocabulary of aviation which at first was so confusing became a piece of cake; the sky, the winds, the clouds, the barometric pressure all took on a new significance. Road maps began to look odd as aviation charts took their place. I became more at ease in the air with time as Cam said I would. He passed on to me his own joy of flying and, as the hours built up, I thought “What the heck!” and went on to get a Commercial Licence. Short Final cont’d p.4
Letters to the Editor Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their answers to the ‘September Mystery Plane’ question. For extra interest, I’ve added a short history on the Lockheed 12A Junior. Larry Dibnah “This is a Lockheed Electra, and the pilot you refer to is Amelia Earhart”. Dr. Walt Salmaniw, Victoria
“It’s a Lockheed Electra and the aviator was Amelia Mary Earhart”. Steve Beaulieu “The Mystery of the Month is a Lockheed Electra L-12”. Alex Mienke
A Short History on the Lockheed 12A Electra Junior: Yes, indeed this beautiful aircraft is a Lockheed 12A Electra Junior photographed at Oshkosh this year by VFC member Doug Marin. After building such famous aircraft as the Vega, Orion and Sirius, Alan Lockheed and his Lockheed Aircraft Company merged with the Detroit Aircraft Company in 1929. Not long after that, however, both businesses failed in the great economic collapse of that same year. In 1932 a group of businessmen bought the company and restored it to become the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The first challenge for the new company was to develop an aircraft that would compete with the Douglas DC-2 and with Boeing’s planned twin-engine Model 247D airliner. Lockheed came up with the Model 10 Electra which was the first of the company’s aircraft to sport their trademark twin-tail configuration. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engines of 450 hp each, the Model 10 had a cruising speed of 160 mph. Since its price tag was $30,000 less than Douglas’ DC-2, the Lockheed Model 10 sold very well. In fact, Canada’s first passenger plane was a Lockheed Model 10A five of which were purchased by Trans Canada Airlines in 1937. In 1936, Lockheed wanted to scale down the Electra to serve as a corporate aircraft so it shortened the wingspan and fuselage of the Model 10 slightly to create the Model 12A Electra Junior. Although it retained the Junior Wasp engines, the Model 12A was almost 20 mph faster in the cruise. In 1939 some Model 12A’s were exported to the UK and the Netherlands as L-12‘s. Englishman Sidney Cotton used an L-12 for spying on military installations while visiting Germany on the eve of WW2 in Europe. Please also note that it was an Electra Model 10E, not a 12A, in which aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing during their round-the-world attempt in 1937. Larry Dibnah
September Mystery of the Month What is this famous aeroplane, flown by a famous aviator who was not as good a flyer as many believe.
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Short Final cont’d from p 2 Through aviation I have met a great bunch of people and flown in a variety of aircraft and had the most fun in my life. Learning to fly was the best thing I ever did.* Hey! If I can do it, anyone can! Thanks Cameron and Tracy; thanks VFC! *That and having a dog!
He a d s e t s f o r S a l e b y O w n e r
for sale
One Lightspeed Thirty 3G ANR Model. Best available active noise canceling (ANC) headset they build. Cost $749 (COPA Ad) plus $50 tax in June ‘06. Asking $600. Also, two other non-ANC sets. $150/both. Buy 2 or more and get my King KX99 Portable free! I will pay for shipping! Owner is retiring. Call Barry at 250 247-8023 (Gabriola Island). E-mail: bcflyer@propilots.net
October Mystery of the Month This visiting aircraft was photographed recently while parked outside the Victoria Flying Club. It is of Eastern European design and has its origins in the 1960’s sport aerobatics field.
Send your educated guess(es) to PatricianEditor@shaw.ca.
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Summer Flying on the Prairies I
n the summer of 2006, the Alberta economy was booming. Evidence of big money was everywhere. Fuelled by the oil industry, the spin-offs spawned support companies, transportation, communications, big box retail stores in many little towns, and jobs for everyone. There must be more big diesel powered pickup trucks per capita than anywhere else in the country. And most are parked at Tim Hortons. I took a job flying for a company enjoying the success of the boom. For five months I flew into and out of many small-town airports. Flying on the prairies bears very little similarity to coast and mountain flying, and it’s surprisingly similar in other ways. VFR navigation is one of the big differences because landmarks such as mountains and lakes don’t exist. When flying low and in the more remote areas, VOR and ADF signals are not reliable. GPS is ideal, given the terrain is so flat and a straight line rarely runs through a hill or mountain. Due to the nature of my work however, GPS wasn’t practical. It was all done with local county maps and a compass. This type of basic, primitive navigation is quite easy in fact, because every road runs north-south or east-west. Radio transmissions travel awfully long distances on the prairies. Too long sometimes. 123.2 is used as the ATF at most airports, and the frequency gets quite congested even though each airport has very little traffic. You just hear so many. Most of the users seem to be student pilots. I don’t know what instructors are teaching these days, but they could sure lay off the phrase, “Any conflicting traffic please advise”. Many pilots, not just students are using it, the most often heard, overused, and totally useless transmission on the radio today! There’s nothing in the Aeronautical Information Manual about the use of the phrase. I wonder where it came from. Having flown over 500 hours in the summer, I heard way more than I wanted to on the radio. While many pilots motor on with drivel that means nothing and isn’t important to anyone, others neglect vital information in their radio calls on ATFs. They rarely broadcast their departure intentions prior to take-off. If I’m inbound to an airport and someone is about to depart, I want to be sure I’m not in the way he’s planning to fly. That’s a vital piece of information stated simply something like, “A.B.C. is rolling 28, planning the left turnout, departing south”.
BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek
The way pilots use 126.7 seems to be changing. Many are using it as an air-to-air frequency, while others make general broadcasts of their position, intentions, type, registration and so on, quite often followed by, “Any conflicting ... blah, blah, blah ...” again. There is no calling up the nearest FSS to direct that information to where it may be useful in case of the aircraft going missing. That’s what 126.7 was initially intended for. An enroute frequency to obtain updated weather and other pertinent information, give position reports and open and close flight plans, all with the nearest FSS or RCO. There’s a certain comfort while flying low across the prairies that I never have in the mountains or on the coast of B.C. It’s all about places to land if a problem develops. I’ve had one engine failure many years ago which fortunately happened over an airport. With the flat, uninhabited prairie stretching to the horizon in all directions, it’s not a big deal to be motoring along at only 500 feet AGL. Also, there are roads every couple of miles. Long, straight roads. In most of British Columbia, I want five thousand feet between the airplane and the trees and rocks. Having lived on the coast of British Columbia for many years, on an island actually, it was surprising to me to see up Prairie scenery is sometings interesting and awesome. close and first hand the magnitude of the death of family farms on the prairies. The vast patchwork quilt landscape is dotted with these tiny farmyards, each surrounded by trees. They stand out like little islands. Many of them are referred to as “dead farms”. Some appear quite liveable, their occupants having left fairly recently. Others are falling down, dilapidated, windblown, obviously abandoned for decades. I recall a deep sadness as I flew over them, wondering what became of the families that made a home there, and why they left. Story cont’d p.6
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Bears Air cont’d from p 5 Folks in the stores and coffee shops of nearby little towns would talk about the small farms not being economically viable, about the drying up of the prairies, about the Hutterites buying up the land, and about government policies. Whatever the reasons, I’ve witnessed the sad results of this shifting lifestyle. There must be many stories. If I wore a big cowboy hat, I’d be taking it off to the prairie folks, out of respect for their resilience. Ranchers, farmers, oil patch workers, small business owners, truck drivers, spray plane pilots ... these people are tough. Free-thinkers, entrepreneurs, moralistic, they probably contribute more than they receive from the rest of the country. Up until the Conservatives came into power in
Ottawa, Albertans rarely heard from or saw a Prime Minister in their midst. The far-right thinking majority advocates reforms based on citizens’ initiatives. Many would prefer to opt out of federal policies like tax collection, pensions and policing. On a personal, close to home basis, they make the best of their lot in life. At one time I lived in Alberta; in fact I was born and educated there but threw in the towel many decades ago and left. Over time, I suppose I’ve forgotten about the hot, dry winds, the blowing dust of summer, and the awful cold and difficult conditions of winter. Small town Alberta. It was good to get see it. Next summer, maybe I’ll look for a job in Quebec. Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net
Webster Trophy Award Night photos by Michelle Steward
Francis 2006 Winner apt. C AC & zi uz Yann Graham Palmer speaki Doug Bastow ng to 2006 finalists
2006 Winner Francis Yannuzzi & Runner-up Etienne White with Sennheiser Headsets
Webster 2006 Fin Regional Award alists with their CSAA plaques
SKYBOLT HALF SHARE FOR SALE $15,000. 250 hp Lycoming 540, built in 1994, approx. 300 hrs TT, based in CYYJ, always hangared, great aerobatic aircraft, priced far below market value, 2-place, canopy, intercom, a beautiful bird guaranteed to put a smile on your face!
photo Gillian Reece
Call Cary Rodin at 403-441-9110 (home) or 403-216-0969 (work) or email at akromaniac@hotmail.com or crodin@rodinlawfirm.com
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In My Travels by Larry Dibnah
Stinson 108 Voyager There were many excellent aircraft designed and built during civil aviation’s golden years 1946 to1960 - but the classic Stinson Voyager 108 was one of the most attractive yet practical aircraft of them all. Although Eddie Stinson’s Stinson Aircraft Company produced several fine aircraft types for civilian, corporate and military use from 1926 through to the 1940’s, the Voyager is usually the first Stinson aircraft that comes to mind. The Voyager Model 108 was designed as a four-place, go anywhere family airplane. Stinson used the familiar high wing, tail dragger format for the Voyager but designed it as a rugged, four-place aircraft from the outset. These features appealed to the family pilot and to small companies who used the aircraft for business travel. Construction of the Voyager 108 consisted of steel tube framing with fabric covering on the fuselage and wings. Wood trim was used as an integral part of the interior finish including the instrument panel which gave the Voyager the feel of a quality automobile inside. Power for the Voyager was supplied by a four-cylinder Franklin engine. Buyers had a choice of engine sizes from 150 hp to 165 hp depending on budget and other preferences. Several ski and float equipped Voyagers were utilized by bush plane operators throughout Northern Canada during the 1950’s.
A Stinson 108-3 visits the Victoria Flying Club in 1998.
Photo by Larry Dibnah
The Voyager has an empty weight of 1300 lbs and its gross weight is 2400 lbs. Fuel capacity is 50 US gallons. The aircraft’s top speed is 143 mph but will cruise at 121 mph. Stall speed is 65 mph. Service ceiling is 16,500 feet. The Voyager’s takeoff run at sea level is 1400 feet and, fully loaded, will climb at 850 fpm. Her landing roll is 1500 feet. When Piper Aircraft purchased the design in 1948, they built a version of the Voyager 108 as a light freighter aircraft with no rear seats. This variation became known as the Piper Stinson Station Wagon. The final version of the Voyager – the 108-3 - was produced by Piper later that year and featured a larger fuel tank and increased vertical tail area. In 1950, all production of the 108 was discontinued. The 108’s handling characteristics were very good and even today, the aircraft is comparable to a Cessna 172. Many Voyagers are still flying throughout North America. They are a classic and much sought-after aircraft and, depending on condition, may fetch upwards of $35,000 Canadian. References: Plane and Pilot Magazine - January 2000 issue and 1980 Aircraft Directory COPA Flight newsletter – September 2006 issue.
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In Memoriam – Dr. Peter L. Smith The Victoria Flying Club notes with great sadness, the death of Dr. Peter Smith on August 29, 2006. Peter, along with Elwood White co-authored Wings Across the Water, the story of Victoria’s flying heritage from 1871 to 1971. The book includes hundreds of photos taken by Mr. White, quite a number of them around VFC. The authors gave VFC permission to use any photos from their book, and Peter himself assembled a set of 26 photos of particular interest to the Club, most of which have been posted on the wall in the lobby. Dr. Smith was a kind and helpful person, giving generously of his time and knowledge to the Club. He was a native Victorian and longtime faculty member at UVIC. We share the grief of his friends and family at his untimely and unexpected death.
Did you know that VFC requires all pilots renting aircraft for destinations East of Hope to have completed a course of Mountain Flying Training?
The next
Mountain Groundschool is taking place
Sunday October 1st 13:00-17:00 Cost is $50 per person Enrol with Dispatch 8
PRIVATE PILOT Groundschool Classes held Monday and Wednesday, 1900-2200 DATE Nov
Dec
Jan
01 06 08 13 15 20 22 27 29 04 06 11 13 18 20 03 08 10 15 17
TOPIC
INSTRUCTOR
Theory of Flight & Licensing Requirements Aerodynamics Airframes and Engines Systems & Flight Instruments CARS CARS Meteorology Meteorology Meteorology Meteorology Meteorology Human Factors Flight Operations Flight Operations Navigation Navigation Navigation Radio and Electronic Theory Review (Tower Tour/Written Seminar) Review (Tower Seminar)
Jason Ware Jason Ware Steve Mais Steve Mais Jason Ware Jason Ware Bryon Thompson Bryon Thompson Bryon Thompson Bryon Thompson Bryon Thompson Jason Stewart James Zacks James Zacks Jason Stewart Jason Stewart Jason Stewart Jason Stewart Marcel Poland Marcel Poland
COMMERCIAL GROUNDSCHOOL Oct13 – Oct 22 2006 Oct 13, 2006
1700-2100
CARS/Licensing Requirements
Steve Mais
Oct 14, 2006
0800-1700
Meteorology
Bryon Thompson
Oct 15, 2006
0800-1200
Flight Operations
James Zacks
Oct 15, 2006
1300-1700
Airframes Engines and Flight Instruments
Steve Mais
Oct 20, 2006
1700-2100
Radio and Electronic Theory
Jason Stewart
Oct 21, 2006
0800-1700
Navigation
Jason Stewart
Oct 22, 2006
0800-1200
CRM/PDM
Jason Stewart
Oct 22, 2006
1300-1700
Aerodynamics and Theory of Flight
Etienne White
at the
Pilot Shop Be sure to check out the Fall selection of books, clothing and other gift items.
Achievements First Solo Anne Cameron Allen Lynch Barry Van Scheik George Andrew
PPL Written Exam Tyson Ristau Tomo Kaji
PPL Flight Test Tyson Ristau Tomo Kaji Will Logan
PPL Tyson Ristau Jeremy Walz Devin Miller Cambria Hanson
Commercial Flight Test Etienne White
Commercial License Brandy Provan Etienne White Jeff Sargent Brandy Provan Etienne White
Welcome New Members! Pierre Grignon Glenn Brown Geoff Orr Tyler Egginton Clayton Akerman Scott Stephens Brad Daneliuk Tyler Robinson Wayde Parker Wyatt McNulty Marc Dallen Trevor George Ashley Burbidge Chris Barton Robert Sternoff Kevin Hagen Stan Larson Masanobu Kikukawa Crystal Bemister Dave Nickerson Petra McDougall
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Back in the air but keep me from s t r a i g h t and l e v e l !
by Alex Mienke
I first saw the advert in the local newspaper some three weeks before the event. It wasn’t difficult to miss as the Guernsey Press had devoted a full double page spread to it. A rare occurrence, yet as I was to discover, it had the desired effect. No less than 30 people applied (and turned up for the two day event), for the opportunity to fly a Scottish Aviation Bulldog (previously the RAF’s primary trainer) or the weapon of choice for many aerobatic pilots – namely one Extra 300. So you can guess which one I chose! The company running these aircraft is called Ultimate High and is staffed by either current or ex-military fast jet pilots (one or two serving with the Red Arrows – the Snowbirds equivalent). So my group for the day were assured of a thorough briefing. Mark or ‘Greeners’ (as his call-sign on his shoes reads) took us through all the safety briefings, what happens Scottish Aviation Bulldog if……and a multitude of other information before we were summarily dismissed to wait for our slot time. Two victims later and I was strapping myself into the Extra. “Anything you want to try Alex?! called Greeners over the mic as we taxied for Hold Charlie on runway 09. “How about a lomcevak?” I replied. Unfortunately due to the gyroscopic nature of a lomcevak (pronounced lomshuh-vak), it would have added extra cost to the flight as it is hard on the prop. So I opted for something a little less intense – a Rouade. This is still a gyroscopic manoeuvre, but it’s only 2.5G! Only -2.5G he says as if that’s normal. More about that later. After what seemed like a catapult launch off of R09, those well known words “You have control Alex” greeted me with glee. That, however, was short lived as, although we had all been briefed on the Extra’s sensitivity, it was quite humbling – yet exciting to experience an aircraft with very little stick force. You move the stick and it responds instantly. You pull too hard – instant accelerated stall. But it didn’t take long to find my groove. Thanks to flying JTM, I could see the benefits of learning finesse. OK, so my manoeuvres weren’t great, but then the last time I flew was in January, and this aircraft is a rocket ship in comparison to good old JTM. Loops, rolls, Cubans
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This is the Extra 300 flown by Alex.
story cont’d p.11
story & pics cont’d from p.10 Back in the Air …
and reverse Cubans were good though. My first Hammerhead was a little flat at the top. I sorted it out on the second one and then moved onto some challenging slow rolls. Remember that top-rudder Alex. And then it was time for Greeners to demonstrate that Rouade. The Rouade is very much a tumbling manoeuvre and with -2.5G to contend with it’s not for the faint-hearted. Pitch up to 45 degrees, neutralise, roll left to knife-edge, neutralise and then bury everything to the right – right rudder and forward right stick. And hold on! Greeners told me to put my left hand on my head before doing this manoeuvre though he didn’t tell me why. Of course he should have taken his own advice, because -2.5G tends to do funny things to headsets. After recovery from the Rouade, I was laughing away and chatting to Greeners yet there was no response. Check headset connections. Both solid. Still no response. Hmm. Comms failure? Nope. It turns out that Greeners had lost his headset in the back of the planeand being PIC he suddenly had a slight panic about the fact that we were flying NORDO (temporarily) in Class A airspace. Yep, Guernsey is Class A, though we were given SVFR clearance. Quick headset swap and it was time to RTB (return to base). But not before a run and break at 200mph 200 ft above Guernsey’s runway. It was loud. It was fast. And the G loading on the pull up felt great! I’m happy to report that not once did I feel ill or anywhere near grey-out. Greeners told me I did pretty well for my first flight in an Extra. I think it’s down to plenty of quality time and training spent in JTM.
Online Aviation Safety Videos from Transport Canada To fly or not to fly? It always depends largely on the weather. Head over to http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/SystemSafety/wtf/menu.htm and check out the ‘Weather to Fly’ series of video clips. These will aid your decision whether to fly or not based on observed conditions during the day. Safety is #1 in aviation, so you always want to make sure you’re getting up when it’s safe to do so. All videos are in Windows Media Player format, and cover topics such as judging ceilings, knowing wind speeds, PIREP’s, winter flying, and more. These video clips are definitely worth a look. Have fun and stay safe!
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The Victoria Flying Club’s Hangar Dance was a complete success! What a great way to top off the Club’s 60 th Anniversary activities. All 500 tickets were sold and from what I could see, everyone had a fabulous time. When the Timebenders band started up there wasn’t an occupied chair in the house. Their music and costumes took us all on a journey back through time! Also, security went smoothly and the bar and food services worked very well. Two old ‘Hangar Queens’ provided a perfect backdrop for the evening’s activities. Our many thanks to George and Nancy Maude for the loan of their Curtis P-40E Kittyhawk and to the BC Aviation Museum for the loan of their Noorduyn Norseman. Both aircraft have served in varied roles in British Columbia. The members and board of the Club are glad that everybody had such a great time. Thank you for joining us. We would also like to thank all those who had a part in making this evening the highlight of the year for us.
Here’s to another 60 years of aviation adventure!
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y K eep the D i r t S i d e U p IV– A Diversion to Essentials It had to happen. The weather, I mean. For some reason there’s a dearth of high ceilings / sunny days in January and that means that we can’t always be doing the fun stuff…IFR aerobatics being somewhat frowned upon. HOWEVER, it’s a great time to get out and practice some of those essential things like take-offs and ah, er…landings. So this month we get diverted to those essential skills…don’t worry though, there is a happy ending! My first flight with Graham started out fine. I hadn’t flown aerobatics in a month so Graham just wanted to review what I could do and then carry on from there. However the rainladen stratus that was hanging around had other ideas…it’s kinda hard to do a loop and check to see if your wings are level at the top if you don’t have a horizon to check them against. So we headed off to the circuit where I managed to get in a couple of somewhat acceptable landings. Just enough to give me hope…. Next week, same story. Weather. This time it was the wind. Graham suggested it would be a great time to hit the circuit – clean up my “three point” landings, try some “wheel” landings and get some cross-wind practice at the same time. “…then we’ll try some double touch-and-go’s…” says Graham. “Double WHAT??”This was a new one on me but I love a challenge, so …. runway 13 was the active, winds were 140@10 gusting to 16 and off we went!
Don Devenney
out of 10! Pretty strange weather though and in the end we headed over to the Esquimalt Lagoon area. Nice place to do this stuff.... Warmed up with a couple of wing-overs, a loop & a roll. No problems there. Next, on to 1/2 Cubans. First couple weren’t all that great - lots going on as you pass through the topside of the loop & I got a bit disoriented. The bright side was that I knew exactly where I was having problems, was able to tell Graham and that made it much easier to work through. In the end, Graham said he was happy with my 1/2 Cubans and we headed for home where it became evident that I could use a little more landing practice… Next week comes along and for maintenance reasons JTM is restricted to “normal” flying and, since aerobatics isn’t “normal” flying, it was off to the circuit instead. We went 3 times around doing “double touch-and-go”, aiming for “3 point” landings instead of “wheel” landings. First goround was okay…actually one was good, second a bit sloppy and the third was “journeyman” - acceptable, safe but not great. These of course are my assessments... Anyway, after the second one Graham told me to ask for a full stop - it seems my moment had arrived - he was going to send me solo!!
ALMOST took off using the brakes for rudder pedals again....caught myself & we were up. Circuits were interesting - traffic was fairly busy on a number of runways, winds were drifting me around somewhat...and then there was the “double touch-and-go”. The “3 point” landings, often considered the epitome of tail wheel flying, went okay. Need to watch the flare point a little and to remember to pull the stick fully back. We then tried a couple of “double touch-and-gos”, where you land and roll, take off & climb to about 50ft AGL and then do a second touch-and-go. All in a 5000 ft runway so it’s kinda busy. These went okay - parts were usually quite good but some parts would be weak; I need some more practice. Next we went on to “wheel landings” where you come in a little faster and basically fly the airplane onto the runway, touching the two main wheels first. I seemed to do much better with wheel landings, even when we tried doubles of these. Graham seemed happy with my progress and suggested that if I can do the same on our flight next week I will be cleared to take the plane solo for circuits and basic practice. Next week Ma Nature relented a bit and I finally got to fly upside down again. First, the take-off was the most controlled I’ve done yet - 8.5
Don leaves on his first solo in JTM
Graham gave me a final briefing - once around & then back, advised Tower what was happening (so they could keep their finger on the crash button, I guess) and then he hopped out & I was on my own. I asked Graham to take a photo of me going solo - here it is. It was a perfect day for flying - high overcast, calm air and next to no traffic in the circuit. I sat at the club for what seemed like an eternity - took me nearly 5 minutes to break in & get taxi clearance. Anyway, I followed a parade of 152s and 172s out to Runway 09, skipped the run-up as I hadn’t shut down - “Victoria Tower, Golf Juliet Tango Mike ready for takeoff zero nine, once around the circuit to a full stop” - and got cleared right into position. story cont’d p.14
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cont’d from p.13 Keep the Dirty Side Up “Golf Juliet Tango Mike, Victoria Tower. Cleared take-off runway zero nine”. Here we go.... Man, does she climb without the extra weight in the back!! I was almost at circuit altitude before I’d reached the end of the runway. After that, things were pretty routine. Called downwind and was number one. Now the Citabria, while a nice airplane to fly, is a bit tedious to taxi so on base I called for a long landing. Approach was good, maybe a little fast and a little high but I kept coming and was almost ready to set it down when I remembered I’d asked for a long landing. Perfect it will cover my excess speed and altitude. So I flared a bit & held it, flying down the runway until I could see the taxiway. Pulled power, flared it ...”bek, bek, bek, you must pull bek” (that’s for my Dad).... and then the wheels were on the ground! Onto Sierra taxiway, called Ground for clearance “Victoria Tower,
Golf Juliet Tango Mike on Sierra, taxi to the Club”;“Golf Juliet Tango Mike, Victoria Ground. Cleared to the club Congratulations!”. And with that my solo in JTM was over. Once at the club Tina was kind enough to take a couple of photos of me with JTM. In the end, while I would have liked to have spent this time doing the fun stuff, it was through doing these circuits with Graham’s calm, patient, detailed coaching that I really became comfortable and confident with flying JTM. Thanks Graham! Next month – the weather improves and we’re back to the “fun” stuff. ‘Til then, Keep the Dirty Side Up! Don Devenney ddevenney@shaw.ca
VFC Smile Cards The Victoria Flying Club is very excited to partner with Thrifty Foods in their successful
Smile Card Program. Pick up your Smile Card today and 5% of all your Thriftys grocery purchases will go towards creating scholarships and awards for VFC members.
Just Imagine! If 100 members spend $100 per month at Thriftys, VFC could award $6000 per year in new bursaries. Pick up cards for your family and friends too. This is a great opportunity for VFC members. We thank you for your support!
L indair Ser vices Ltd Specializing in Cessna, Piper, Beaver float and wheel equipped aircraft. A high quality Service Department that is ready to complete any inspection or repair requirement you may have. 5180 Airport Road South, Richmomd, BC Tel: 1-800-663-5829 Fax: 1-800-667-5643
www.lindairservices.com 14
Smile Card total to date $2183
R O YA L PA C I F I C MAINTENANCE LTD.
CALL
Mitchell Holme Cessna Parts, Sales, Service and Aircraft Maintenance General Aviation Services Victoria International Airport 9552 Canora Rd T: 250 656-7322 E: service@royalpacificmaintenance.com Toll free Parts line: 1-877-2CESSNA (1-877-223-7762)
Flying With VFC Friends By Doug Marin Maybe you feel like me. You’ve flown to Chilliwack so many times they’ve run out of any selections you haven’t tried before on the famous pie menu. The Boundary Bay traffic pattern entry is so familiar, the radios change frequencies all by themselves. Nanaimo Radio answers you by name; Idiot. Perhaps I exaggerate a little, however, the message is clear: At least once a year, make it a point to get way out of town and fly to some places you haven’t been to before or at least very often. It will positively make flying a whole new and wonderful experience for you. Dan Waldie, Stu Knittelfelder and myself (all about 300+ hour pilots now) met each other at the VFC and have been flying together in club aircraft on extended cross-country trips for the past few years. We’ve been to San Francisco, California, Juneau, Alaska, and several distant BC locations plus on all kinds of shorter flights together. Yes, we are also “Hundred Dollar Hamburger Guys”. If you check out the Photo Gallery on the VFC website, you’ll find a story about our trip to Alaska called “The Thousand Dollar Hamburger Run”. That 5day trip cost us $1000 each and was worth every dime as all expenses were included. Aircraft, hotel, food, the works. This year, we split the difference, and went on a 3day flying trip that cost only $555 each, all expenses in. What an exceptional Labour Day Long Weekend trip it turned out to be! We flew almost 11 hours over the weekend. Victoria to: Nelson, & Kaslo, BC, then on to Oroville, Washington for a very friendly USA Customs arrival. An overnight stop at the Grand Coulee Dam presented us with a wonderful tour of a huge American Electrical and Agricultural Power and Water Facility. The evening “Laser Light Show” offered directly on the dam was a lot of fun. We chanced on the use of free on field “airport car” to take us into town, almost 15 miles away. After that, we crossed over some more pretty formidable territory. The GPS in MEK is a wonderful tool in these instances, as there were not a lot of distinguishing Aerial view of the Grand Coulee Dam. Courtesy of the Grand landmarks below to navigate by until we arrived at Coulee website. The Gorge (Dalles) airport in Oregon. Again, we got outstanding service after filling up the tanks at the Dalles FBO who provided another “free airport car” to take us into town to fill up on some great burgers and shakes. You just ‘gotta’ love the way they look after you in the USA! We bypassed Portland International Airspace by a few miles and flew up the bumpy Gorge River and Hood Canal while watching literally hundreds of Windsurfers go crazy on the river below us. Another couple of stops at Sanderson and Port Townsend, WA then finally landing in Victoria completed all the trade off flying time all three pilots wanted on this trip. We all came out within 1/10 of an hour of each other in flying time. Again, an unplanned, but hoped for final outcome! I don’t know how we do it, but it always seems to work out. Moral of this story? You too can meet some of the 500 wonderful people who are members of The Victoria Flying Club to FLY with. All you have to do is show up at the club and talk with folks. Soon enough, you’ll be having the time of your life sharing the wonderful thing we do. Seeing the world from another perspective, no one other than pilots like us can describe. The key to making it all happen is as simple as an ordinary invitation to fly together. Have fun, and make your invitation to fly with someone you don’t know
yet soon! 15
Photo Competition
See the world… from our point of VIEW!!
for the cover of the new Learn to Fly booklet. The most dynamic and fun aviation photo submission will win a discovery flight gift certificate for a friend.
Increase your confidence • Aerobatic Course* • Adventure Rides • Emergency Manoeuvres Training
Good quality JPEGs would be the best. Please send submissions to
info@flyvfc.com
Discovery Ride
$
Wouldn’t you rather be flying?
Intro
*Basic course - 10 hrs dual 5 hrs solo Courses customized to help you reach new horizons.
Owner Evelyn J. Andrews-Greene, CA Sustaining Member of VFC since 1983
386-4466 #202-31 Bastion Square Victoria BC V8W 1J1
VIEW ITH A W OM RO
…AND AI
Open 8am 4pm daily
RPLA NE ST
OO !
in the Victoria Flying Club
Join us for breakfast or lunch…inside & patio seating 101-1852 Canso Rd 16
LICENSED
250.655.9395
VFC
Aerobatics
• Tax and financial planning • Rapid refunds (electronic filing) • Personal, corporate and estate tax
A
99 95
Call Dispatch at the club for further information
656-2833