August 2008

Victoria Flying Club

August 2008

“From Victoria to Brazil in a Turbine Centurion; the story of a Clubmember's journey in his Silver Eagle. See page 8

Inside

for Part One of the adventure.�

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Short Final

Letters to the Editor

Bears Air

In My Travels

To Brazil with N54CC

Red or Green?

Flight Itinerary

Eleanor’s

The

Patrician

S hort F inal

Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club

AUGUST 2008 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 Thursday, August 21, 2008.

Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors

Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Colin Dormuth Eleanor Eastick Ellen Wood Sean Steele Jim Sutherland

General Manager Gerry Mants Chief Flying Instructor Graham Palmer 1852 Canso Road Victoria, BC V8L 5V5

Phone:

(250) 656-4321 (250) 656-2833 (250) 655-0910 info@flyvfc.com www.flyvfc.com

Fax: Email: Web:

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.

dynamic communications solutions for YOUR business

250.383.7777 seasidedesigns@shaw.ca seasidedesigns.net

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SEASIDE designs & photography

WOW! Has this been great weather or what! After a long, long, cold spring and a lousy start to official summer, the clear sunny days are here at last. I hope everyone’s doing lots of flying.

Flyouts The BC Day holiday is Monday 4th August and we need someone to run the flyout if we are to have one. And we need ideas.

I had suggested taking another crack at Pemberton, but that’s now been done.

The Canada Day flyout to McMinnville, after a long and hazy, foggy delay in the morning, eventually split into two groups, with one going to CYPS and the other going to KMMV. It’s a long story – and I wasn’t even there as my partners were unable to attend that day.

July 1st was certainly a beautiful day except for flying, in a sense. CYYJ was surrounded in a heat haze that spread up past Nanaimo and down through Puget Sound and the Hood Canal. Once out of those areas, there was better VFR. Anyway, if anyone’s interested in some sort of a flyout for BC Day, please let me (patricianeditor@shaw.ca) or dispatch know. Maybe we can all get together in mid-morning and decide on a destination.

Steve Fossett Our Canadian team set off in mid-July to begin the ground search for Steve; the largest air search in US history failed to turn up any trace of him. Simon Donato, heading the team plans to scour 200 km. of dense forest, covering as much as 40 km per day.

Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier Bombardier has launched its new CSeries of fuel efficient jets and Boeing and Airbus don’t plan to compete. The C-series is said to be 20% more fuel efficient, but the sweet spot is the lowest seat-mile economy, which, according to the other two big manufacturers lies somewhat above the 110- to 130-seat Bombardier narrow body. The Airbus A319 is the closest competition to the CSeries which will be powered by a Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan engine. The new engine, along with composite wings is said to reduce operating costs by about 15%. What we really need is lower fuel prices.

The Concorde Crash Continental Airlines and five people will stand trial on manslaughter charges in the deadly crash of a Concorde jet in Paris in 2000 that killed 113 people.

French investigators say that a piece of metal that had fallen off a Continental Short Final cont’d p. 4

Letters to the Editor

Pat Office Victoria

?? ?

Hey, where is everybody?

No educated guesses at the July Mystery Plane! I'll take an educated guess that everyone was out flying or on vacation and had no time to write to the editor. Well, that sounds plausible, anyway.

The Patrician is your newsletter and if you have anything you'd like to write about, please do - either Bouquets or Brickbats - I can take it! And always remember, the editorial "we" love to get your photos and stories of flights, long or short - Ed.

?? ?

Here is the explanation of the July Mystery Aircraft

P-40 E Kittyhawk The subject is a Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk. Taken on strength on October 16, 1941 this was the fifth Kittyhawk of eventually 154 machines received by the RCAF. It was originally part of a British order from Curtiss but was diverted to RCAF Number 118 Squadron at Rockcliffe, Ontario. The British serial number AK803 was changed to RCAF serial number 1034 which still appears on the aircraft today.

Curtiss P-40E serial number ‘1034’ eventually found its way to RCAF Station Sea Island, Vancouver in 1943 and then to RCAF Station Patricia Bay, Victoria in 1944. Following an unfortunate landing accident, the damaged P-40E was sent back to Vancouver for repair and camouflage removal. The Aluminum skin was polished but the national markings were retained before the aircraft took part in a War Bond drive in Vancouver.

In 1946,‘1034’ was returned to Victoria and then declared surplus shortly after. The aircraft still resides at Victoria International Airport and is owned by local collector Mr. George Maude who keeps it in pristine condition.

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Short Final cont’d from p 2 plane onto the runway caused a tire to burst on the Concorde jet, sending debris into the jet’s fuel tanks.

The French judicial inquiry also determined the tanks lacked sufficient protection from shock and that Concorde’s makers had been aware of the weakness since 1979.

Continental has long denied responsibility for the crash and rejected the ruling.

(files from the Associated Press)

Photo credit Tim Farrell

Hay River Airport CYHY

Merlyn Carter

With a petition already in existence to rename the town’s airport after slain RCMP Constable Chris Worden, some of the residents have proposed naming CYHY after local legendary bush pilot Merlyn Carter, founder of Carter’s Air Service in 1962. Two months before his untimely death in 2005, both Carter and his wife were recognized by the Northern Air Transport Association for their contribution to aviation in the north.

Frank Stanford’s Comment This entertaining piece was sent in by Marie Woodruff and is amusing enough to quote extensively. (This was taken from the internet – Ed).

Perhaps you have some friends or relatives coming Y-Y-J this summer?

Coming in to what?!? Y-Y-J. You know. Victoria International Airport. Or maybe you didn’t know… will it just be “the airport”. It is the only one in town after all.

In Vancouver, they’ve been pushing jargon down the public’s throat for a number of years now. It’s obviously a concerted campaign by somebody…I’m not sure who…to re-educate the public…to what end, I do not know. I do know that it is contrary to standard newswriting style to refer to something by some mysterious initials in the presumption hat listeners/readers/viewers will understand what you’re talking about. If they don’t, well, they need to learn.

But over time, I suppose most Vancouverites have come to know that “Y-V-R” is Vancouver International Airport. I suppose most of Victoria’s regular business flyers know it as well. Does it make you fell smarter than everybody else? To be up on the industry jargon?

We do not hear Victoria’s airport referred to by its call sign all the time the way Vancouver is…and I for one hope that it stays that way. I have no time for “Y-V-R” or “Y-Y-J” or any other alphabet soup. THIS IS FRANK STANFORD.

Blue Skies to All…………..Eleanor

AUGUST Mystery of the Month No mystery plane this month, but a mystery location.

Now. come on, everyone - write to your editor and tell me where this is.

Send your educated guesses to

PatricianEditor@shaw.ca

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Fly and Build Hours Free

BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek

Be prepared to pay the very real cost of your time, effort & commitment.

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t the local flight school, there is usually no shortage of optimism. Enthusiastic students eagerly absorb the teachings of their instructors and methodically perform the checks and duties in the airplanes on training flights. This is where the freedom of flight begins. This is where careers are launched. Private and professional pilots, all start here.

Right now in the summer of 2008, there seems to be an acute shortage of instructors. If you browse the aviation newsletters and periodicals, you’ll see ads running regularly for schools seeking all classes of instructors.

Some even offer sign-up bonuses. A class 4 rated fellow has choices of where he’d like to work. Any class 1 instructors can pretty much dictate the terms of employment. It would seem that the shortage has been caused by many aviation operators hiring instructors away from the schools, offering the so-called ‘step up the ladder’ in their careers. The person who stays on as a career instructor is rare.

It’s a fact that many instructors hold their ratings for the primary reason of building time.

Once they hit some magic number of hours, they’re gone from the schools, absorbed by the current pilot shortage in commercial aviation.

Make no mistake, there’s a huge commitment in time and money for the person who decides to go the instructor route, regardless of motives. In many ways, the instructor is technically a better pilot than one who scores a bush flying job and then has no further guidance outside experience.

For those pilots at the crossroads, wondering what to do with their new commercial license and 250 or 300 hours in their logbooks, there are alternatives to instructing when it comes to free time-building. When I say free, it doesn’t mean there aren’t some sacrifices.

These are just not the financial sacrifices. They’re time, effort and commitment.

Start with glider towing. First off, a commercial license isn’t a requirement in most schools and clubs. You may need to buy a membership, pay dues and take the mandatory training course with the organization you fly for. The clubs generally rely on members who hold

private pilot ratings to take turns in the tow plane. But they’re quite often happy to embrace the pilots who have no interest in gliding, but just want to build time towing. The commercial glider schools do have some minimum requirements, but with the shortage of help these days, some may be willing to train pilots at their own expense on their tow planes. A good summer of this type of work can result in a couple of hundred hours in your log book.

Parachute centers and schools also quite often come up short in the pilot department. This type of flying may not appeal to everyone. It’s up and down, never takes you more than a few miles from the airport, but it is good time building. Flying a jump plane is not without risk, but once again, most of the training is done by the school or operator, and at their expense. You’ll need to learn the workings of the operators’ procedures and safety precautions. In other words, just as in the glider schools, there is a commitment on the part of pilots to ensure all the rules and regulations are understood and followed.

Taking friends or other passengers along in your rental aircraft can keep costs down.

Depending how much these passengers are willing to pay, you may be able to fly free. The regulations state you cannot legally charge for flights, but if your friends are just along for the ride, they can offer to assist with the costs.

If you can’t find some way to fly for free, another option is owning an aircraft in partnership with other pilots.

The more partners you have, naturally the lower the cost will be. In a well-run group, the costs can be less than half of renting from a school. An advantage to ownership is that you will learn a lot about the problems, responsibilities, maintenance, and hassles of aviation. Consider it the cost of experience. Besides, being an aircraft owner can look good on a resume when you start applying for work. An employer is looking for people who understand what he’s up against in maintaining his aircraft.

The commercial pilot’s first job is sometimes a ramp position. It can be hard work, but the advantages are huge. You’ll be working around airplanes, learning all the while. Be prepared with other skills like carpentry, story cont’d on p 6

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Bears Air cont’d from p 5 mechanics, computers, local knowledge, anything that could be helpful around the company you’ll be working for. Probably the most important thing a young pilot can bring to the operation is his attitude. Combined with good people-skills, he will go far with the company if he is eager, ready and willing to do the job. It won’t be long before the flying starts.

Insurance requirements for small (and large) aviation employers usually dictate the minimum times their pilots require. It’s the job of low-time pilots to somehow build that time in their log books. Pilots with

parents who have deep pockets may have an advantage.

Some, like budding actors, work at other jobs to pay for their flying. Still others get lucky right out of commercial pilot school and find work flying supplies, doing aerial photography, power-line patrol, camp checks, or whatever. Some invest more time and cash for the instructor rating. There are many ways to build time at little or no cost. Just be prepared to endure the very real price of your time, your effort and your commitment. You’ll be flying before you know it.

Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net

Always lots of great gear in

VFC's Pilot Shop books • clothing • accessories • flying gear

FOR SALE Unique Paint Scheme 9/10. Always hangared, New panel and interior 9/10, TTSN 3450, SMOH 1100, Float Kit Cont-0-300. King Radio Nav/Com 170B, KT 76 TSO XPR-mode C (recertified Jul/08), CHT, ELT (with remote switch), manifold pressure gauge, 4 way intercom, new battery Owner must sell after 25 yrs for health reasons.

$45,000 (negotiable) home 250 737 1191 cell 250 715 5824 email enkidu@shaw.ca

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August 8, 9 & 10, 2008

FOR SALE Beautifully restored 1955

Cessna 170B

In My Travels

by Larry Dibnah

The Rutan Quickie Designed by Burt Rutan and Tom Jewett in 1977, Rutan Quickie kits were built and sold by the Quickie Aircraft Corporation in the USA. The Quickie is a revolutionary single seat homebuilt with a tandem wing format making the aircraft appear as a biplane in the front profile. Both wings are active, lift producing airfoils. Kit production of the Quickie has been completed and over 2000 kits have been built. The Quickie example (registration C-GTDV) on display at the British Columbia Aviation Museum was built in 1978 by Victoria Flying Club member Fran Benton and was test flown by Jack Kaiser.

The Quickie is constructed mostly of Styrofoam and fiberglass and weighs in at 250 pounds empty. This light weight airframe combined with a 25 hp engine enabled the Quickie to attain speeds in excess of 100 mph. The forward wing is technically a canard fitted with elevators. Burt Rutan has utilized the canard system in some of his other aircraft designs such as the VariEze and Long-EZE. A canard configuration is said to make an aircraft stall proof although I’m not sure if that claim has ever been substantiated. There is a 2-seat version of the Quickie which is called the Quickie Q2. another view of the Rutan Quickie from Wikipedia

In 1995, Fran graciously donated her Quickie aircraft to the BCAM where it now hangs from the ceiling as if poised for a low pass over the field.

Other specifications for the Rutan Quickie include: Engine Wing span Length Max T/O weight

18 to 25 hp Oman 15 ft, 8 in 17 ft, 4 in 550 lbs

References:

The BC Aviation Museum Wikipedia

Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands.

Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man. Landing is the first!

You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power to taxi.

Never let an airplane take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.

Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go.

Those who hoot with the owls by night should not fly with the eagles by day.

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a z i l with N r B 54CC To n mid February, Bob Gunderson called to ask if I would like to fly to Brazil with him in his Cessna Silver Eagle. A Silver Eagle is a very small aeroplane and has only one engine. Why not? After 20 years away from small aircraft this could prove interesting.

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Bob’s Silver Eagle is a 1979 Cessna P210 which was overhauled completely in 1998 when the original 510lb 310hp Continental piston engine was replaced with the 205lb 450hp Rolls-Royce (formerly Allison) Gas Turbine.

The 300lb weight saving allows for extra fuel tanks in the aft fuselage and wing tips compensating for the increased fuel consumption (25%) and this, combined with the extra 140hp provides for an extra 300 nautical mile range.

Simpler engine, greater reliability. So far so good.

This Silver Eagle is registered as N54CC, blue trim on grey.

It has spent some time in Victoria so you may have seen it, but it spends most of its time travelling with Bob. All the instrumentation and switching is in miniature compared to an airliner and the logic Garmin uses is different - not quite so user-friendly. But it seems to accomplish most of the same functions for a fraction of the cost.

A Garmin 155XL GPS is hooked into an S-TEC autopilot with Altitude Select & Alert. The second GPS on board is a Garmin 496 which seems to work equally well with trains, boats and planes. The information available from this piece of kit is truly amazing. Two KX175 Nav Comms, a KT76C transponder and a KN64 DME complete the avionics. Oh, and there is an ADF somewhere. All this is a little dated by 2008 standards but works perfectly well. New Silver Eagle conversions have the option to include the most up to date avionics packages, such as Chelton, which makes any airliner I’ve ever sat in look really old fashioned.

The only other significant difference with this conversion is the fuel system. The standard wing tanks hold 89usg, a

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1 Part

fuselage tank below the baggage compartment holds 26 and Flint tip tanks add another 32 giving 147 usable usg total. With cruise fuel consumption around 20 gph, planning at 200kts gives an 1100nm range with decent IFR reserves. The only downside is having to sit in a tiny aircraft for 6 hours without being able to walk about and stretch.

Before launching for Brazil, Bob makes arrangements to have the annual inspection completed at PropJet Aviation in Santa Rosa California. Despite all our efforts to find someone to go with me to show me how to fly a small aeroplane again, I end up flying it fom Victoria down to California alone teaching myself how on the way with some e/mail “How To” advice from Bob. A week later Bob has his freshly serviced aircraft back in Calgary and I am packing T-shirts for Brazil. To Maggi, my wife, this trip simply confirms her view that I am not completely sane, but she waves a resigned goodbye just asking that I send the occasional e/mail. She has seen all this many times before.

February 27th Bob leaves from Springbank, Alberta, picks me up at Boundary Bay and we fly on to Victoria. Once the aircraft is made ready for an early departure the following morning we drive into Victoria to eat with the “Sons of Norway”. This is a group of Canadians with Norwegian roots getting together each month to tell jokes, eat codfish and drink aquavit. Bob is a Norwegian ex-president of the group, so knows everyone; there were 24 of us to supper, and it was an entertaining evening.

After dinner we drive to Bob’s condo in Cordova Bay and spend a fruitless hour trying to update the Garmins before going to bed.

February 28th Victoria - Tijuana – Mazatlan 04:30 comes far too quickly but we are on our way by 6:35 having spent some more time trying to update the Garmins (remember these Garmins).

This is North America so even without legal R/NAV capability - outdated Garmins - we can go more or less where we want. Victoria tower, under typically drizzly grey skies, give us some shtick about flying off to the warm Mexican sunshine, but off we happily do go. Seattle clears us direct SEA then FMG (Mustang). It is too early for much traffic in the Seatac area so this slight shortcut reduces our leg distance to 1060nm. FL180 works well.

No weather once we reach central Oregon. With such good visibility it is a treat to see Hood, St Helens and Shasta up close and personal again.

We are getting a 1015kt push, just as forecast. At these pedestrian speeds every little knot helps! Once into California the controllers give us as direct a Mount Shasta routing as they can without penetrating the Edwards Air Force Base airspace. There are all sorts of test pilots flying all sorts of strange aircraft down there who would like nothing better than to pounce on an unsuspecting Cessna just for fun!

Just to the right of track we see LAX which doesn’t change much, just a few miles visibility in the smog below the inversion. Descending into Tijuana the controllers keep asking us if we have the airport in sight so they can clear us for a visual. They should know better; the visibility is worse than LAX and we are landing to the West into the sun. We see the runway at around 1500’. Now I remember why I like an autoland system.

5.8 hours in the air.

Helvio the local agent meets us and we fuel quickly, complete the paperwork promptly and leave an hour and a half later after trying to update the Garmins again. Entry into Mexico is painless; everyone is very eager to help us along.

Refuelling N54CC in Tijuana

Mexican ATC is not too co-operative with direct routings but with Mazatlan being only 867 miles down the street we don’t mind so much. I had forgotten how vast Mexico really is: mile upon mile of deserted beaches.

I was wondering how the warm weather was going to work out; now I know. ISA +20 degrees really degrades our climb and cruise performance. This aircraft has a very high nose attitude at the best of times, 4-5 degrees, and to maintain any sort of forward visibility meant climbing at 120kts or better. I don’t suppose aircraft salesmen are any different from car salesmen with their performance exaggerations and it is taking us 35 minutes and 90 miles to reach 17,000’ at ISA +20. Not a pound over gross of course! Cruise speed is down to 180ktas which at least keeps the math simple.

4:45 in the air.

Very efficient handling again except for their choice of hotel, a 40 minute drive away. A bed and a shower close by the airport were the instructions but I suppose they felt we had to stay at a tourist hotel on the beach.

February 29th Mazatlan – Merida – Kingston, Jamaica Up at 5am today and off to work on empty stomachs (and out-dated Garmins). The leg distance is 1092 nautical so I am going to have to chat with the Mexican controllers to get the direct routings we need. The flight planning folks insist on a route through the Mexico City TMA then around the coast to Merida, increasing the distance to 1200 miles, well beyond our capabilities (but the salesmen could do it, of course!). Once airborne and up at altitude we start to take the initiative with the controllers – or

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perhaps it is my accent - and finally we manage to reduce the total distance to 1035 nautical. We need to be a bit careful, though, as once we commit ourselves to the over water segment across the Mexico Basin to Merida, there will be no changing our minds as there were no en route alternates. Careful fuel planning. There is no climb or cruise performance information with the Silver Eagle conversion so we have been studiously making our own notes with the help of the Shadin Fuel Management System. Bob’s refuelling estimates have been within 5 litres of actual fuel loaded so we are feeling confident we have the fuel flows down pat. We have shaved 57 miles off our own plan and 150 off the Mexican’s original ATC clearance which makes us feel we have accomplished something.

5.8 hours in the air.

My twin 7 year olds, Paige and Théa, have watched the progress of N54CC on a Flight Tracking website and have already remarked on Bob’s not exactly straight line from Calgary to Boundary Bay where there was a barely perceptible left turn over Princeton. They would have been most disappointed with our flying skills had they seen our very wiggly progress across Mexico.

we go, suiting us perfectly because we like to go in a nice straight line – direct! We are experiencing great weather, the odd fluffy cloud where it should be, 10,000 feet below us. There is no traffic here, the airlines are 15,000’ above us and anybody below us should be in a boat.

Our route takes us over Grand Cayman, then south of Cuban airspace, over Montego Bay and down into Kingston. We are now without handlers but are expected as a result of our flight plan; so fuel, customs and immigration are straightforward. The hotel that was booked for us is an hour’s drive away so we change that to something closer. Local fish for dinner, as in Mazatlan, and very good it is too!

Just in case you have been thinking we have been a little rash flying across all this water without our water wings, we did come prepared. We purchased life jackets from the Club prior to leaving Victoria and wear them on all over water legs. They are surprisingly comfortable. The life raft we selected, a Winslow Ultra Light, was not available anywhere in North America, not even for ‘ready money’ so we contented ourselves with the thought that we would never be out of good VHF range and at 17,000’, would have plenty of time to pass a very accurate position should the motor decide to stop. The Caribbean is a good deal warmer than the North Atlantic too. This engine was originally designed around 1958 and 30,000 have been produced with over half still in service; mostly in helicopters (Bell 206) so it has proven itself to be extremely reliable.

Part 2 next month…

Sn

Approaching Grand Cayman on our way to Jamaica.

(Please note we are on track!)

dss i rr d b w i o Sn wb o

Merida for fuel and a sandwich. Again the handlers are ready for us but we leave them wondering how we can possibly get to Jamaica in this little aeroplane. I suppose it is just not done in a single engine aircraft.

Now to Kingston. Perhaps because we are in Mexican airspace for such a short time before flying into Venezuelan then Jamaican airspace nobody seems to care much where

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Sept 20,21 off Beacon Hill Park

GREEN or RED? Chief Pilot Johnnie Martin picked up the phone on the third ring: “Martin here.”

“Johnnie, this is Charlie in Dispatch. I just got a call from airport staffer Eddie Floyd that our Navajo is sitting halfway down the runway with no wheels in sight.”

Martin sighed and inquired: “Any injuries?”

Charlie returned: “Nope, no injuries. The flight was to drop four passengers in Vancouver and dead head back home.

Sydney Smoothhand was in command.”

“Phone the Chief of Maintenance at home and have him meet me at the hangar. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes”. Explaining to his wife that she’d have to go to the church social by herself, he then phoned the President and CEO of the company and gave him a quick rundown on what he knew, saying that he’d be in contact again when he had more information.

Fifteen minutes later he was pulling into the parking lot at the hangar and headed upstairs to Operations, arriving just as the Dispatcher hung up the phone. “I’ve sent a van out with the Chief of Maintenance and some of our maintenance personnel to secure the area and bring Captain Smoothhand back and I’ve got another van standing by to take you out to the runway”, Charlie

by John Swallow Vernon Flying Club

informed him. Grabbing a note-book and a camera from his office, Martin headed downstairs with the van driver trailing behind.

Arriving at the incident site, Martin beheld a sad-looking Piper Navajo sitting on its belly, the three-bladed props showing obvious damage to the tips. He nodded to the Chief of Maintenance who was just finishing his initial assessment of the damage. “Looks like we may have a double prop change and an engine change for starters,” he intoned. “Although the flaps were down and sustained trailing edge damage, I won’t know about the condition of the airframe until I get the aircraft back in the hangar on jacks. I’ve got a crane and a flatbed on the way… We should be back in the hangar in a couple of hours”. Martin nodded his thanks and said: “I’m going to get a few pictures and then go back and notify Transport Canada as required by the regs. After that I’ll talk to Captain Smoothhand and find out what happened”. His first picture was of the cockpit and the gear handle… It was in the down position.

An hour later he was back at the hangar and found Captain Sydney Smoothhand in the pilots lounge nursing a coffee.

Martin thought he looked nervous but chalked that up to adrenalin. “Syd, why don’t you tell me what happened”, he asked. Captain Smoothhand took another sip of coffee and then said: “We left for Vancouver on time this morning and I dropped the passengers at the FBO at about 1000 hours. I put on 50 gallons of gas for the trip home and got airborne about 1230. The trip home was uneventful as the weather was VFR all the way. When I got back here, there was no one in the circuit and the wind was calm, so I cont’d on P.12

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Pick up cards for your family and friends too.

This is a great opportunity for VFC members.

We thank you for your support!

SMILE CARD TOTAL TO DATE

$6481

11

cont’d from P.11

joined five miles back for a straight-in on 05. I put the gear down at three miles and started incremental flaps around 2 miles back. The last ten degrees of flap went down about a half-mile on final. Just short of the runway, I checked that there I had three green lights showing, props were forward, and mixture rich.” He paused and took another sip of the now tepid coffee. “The touchdown was smooth and just past the button of 05; the nose wheel was lowered as the speed dropped. The aircraft seemed to roll out normally for several seconds and then I could feel the aircraft start to settle. I thought about going around, but by then the props had hit the ground and the engines stopped. We slid along the runway for another few hundred feet and then stopped. I turned off the fuel, pulled the mixtures to cutoff, killed the ignition and master switches, and then exited the aircraft. Eddie Floyd was cutting grass by the side of the runway and was there in a minute or two. I had him phone Dispatch to advise of the incident.”

Chief Pilot Martin suggested Sydney put all his thoughts down on paper while they were still fresh in case the Safety Board wanted to investigate further. In the meantime, he indicated that he was going to advise the appropriate federal authorities of the incident. “If you need me, call me on the cell… I’ll be in my office or downstairs.”

A couple of hours later, the Chief of Maintenance called: “We’ve got the aircraft in the hangar on jacks if you want to come down and have a look”. Grabbing his camera again, he headed down to the main floor.

The C of M crawled out from under the Navajo. “We may be in luck on this one, Johnnie. We’ll have to do a run-out

Cr a s h

on the crank, but if the engines were developing idle thrust when the props contacted the runway, we may not have to replace them.” Motioning Martin to follow him, the C of M scrunched under the belly of the Navajo; “As you can see,” he said, “There is damage to the trailing edge of the flaps.

We’ll have to inspect the flaps and flap-tracks for evidence of damage or over-stress, but my intial impression is that with a little sheet metal work, the flaps will be as good as new. Worst case, we replace them. Now, look at the belly, the gear and the gear doors - there’s damage to the centerline of the aircraft, but the damage is limited to the skin and doesn’t appear to have reached the underlying structure. I don’t expect we’ll find any damage there. And check out the gear: there’s no damage to the tires or the wheels and the nose wheel doors are in pristine condition.”

Martin shared Captain Smoothhand’s story of the gear retracting during rollout with the C of M who responded: “Well, we’ve done a couple of retraction tests and it appears that everything is working OK, but we’ll do several more, checking out all linkages and micro switches to see if anything pops up. I’ll get back to you.”

Thanking him, the Chief Pilot went back upstairs and phoned his superior. Relating what he’d been told by Captain Sydney and what he’d seen on the hangar floor, he suggested to his boss that they meet at the hangar in the morning and interview the Navajo captain again. “I have a feeling that there’s more to this than meets the eye”, he informed his superior.

What is it that has raised the Chief Pilot’s suspicions?

I think the mystery is in the bent and curled prop blades. The pilot, Peacock Prescott, claimed the engine had failed and he was able to secure the engine prior to the forced landing. The fact the prop blades were bent implies the propeller was still spinning. He may have bent one blade on the nose over, but it is unlikely he would have bent the entire prop.

Stuart Knittelfelder This is what raised the suspicions of Chief Pilot Martin after Peacock Prescott's Crash Landing: Peacock Prescott dumped his C-185 in a clearing after having “engine failure” winding up on his nose. What raised Chief Pilot Johnnie Martin’s suspicions was the condition of the propeller. With the engine out, after

Landing!

contacting the ground, the prop should have been bent backwards, not forwards.

Martin suspects low flying contributed to the accident. see story July 2008 PAT page 13

12

Archie Wells (Yasuhiro Koide)

Mohamed Motala (Simon Dennis) Charlotte Dawe (Brad Fraser)

First Solo

Chris Pratt (Simon Dennis)

as of July 15•08 Jake Pearce (Brad Fraser)

Danielle Pomeroy (Tristan Nano)

Nikhil Pathare (Tristan Nano)

Ryan Smith (Marcel Poland)

Wouldn’t you rather be flying?

• Tax and financial planning • Rapid refunds (electronic filing) • Personal, corporate and estate tax

A

Owner Evelyn J. Andrews-Greene, CA Sustaining Member of VFC since 1983

386-4466 #202-31 Bastion Square Victoria BC V8W 1J1

ITH A W OM RO

Open 8am 4pm daily

VIEW…AND AIR PLA NE ST OO !

in the Victoria Flying Club

Join us for breakfast or lunch…inside & patio seating 101-1852 Canso Rd

250.655.9395 13

Best Wishes and Oops! t was a real treat to see Major Brehn Eichel in the F-18, particularly since he has now made his last flight with the Forces (20 years service), and is embarking on a new career with West Jet, starting in September.

I

And now for the Oops! - I misspelled Brehn Eichel's name right on the cover of the July Pat and again on page 8!

Last flight in the F-18 coincided with Major Eichel's 37th birthday.

A number of outside tie-down spaces are now available.

Phone A P AV E F E W DISPATCH D AVA I S P A C E S LABL 656-2833 E! for details.

Everyone already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great' landing.

It's one after which you can use the airplane another time.

A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion.

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

PRIVATE PILOT Groundschool Classes held Monday & Wednesday, 1900-2200

Sept

First Solo Dalton Pearce Ryan Smith Chris Pratt Nikhil Pathare Mohamed Motala Archie Wells Charlotte Dawe Danielle Pomeroy

DATE

TOPIC

INSTRUCTOR

06

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

11

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

13

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

PPL Flight Test

18

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

Aditya Sharma Tyler Bishop

20

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

PPL Written Test

25

Human Factors & PDM

Brad Fraser

Dan Slade Rahul Rathee

27

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

Private Pilot License

03

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

08

Navigation

J. Lightheart

10

Navigation

J. Lightheart

15

Navigation

J. Lightheart

17

Radio and Electronic Theory

Mike Chow

22

Review (Tower Tour/Written Seminar)

John MacConnachie

24

Review

Brad Fraser

Marshall Hayward

NOTE: There will be no Groundschool on Stat Holidays.

PART TIME dispatchers and line crew now Aviation experience an asset.

Apply at Reception at VFC with resume.

dss i rr d b w i o Sn wb o Sept 20,21 off

Sn

August

Achievements

Beacon Hill Park

needed.

CPL Written Arvind Kumar Chris Barton

CPL Flight Test Geoff Steeves Manish Jha Ian Malcolm Ted Krasowski

Multi Engine Rating Brad Fraser Denise Ronnenkamp

Welcome New Members!

Rob Evans Hirofumi Kamei David Reid Sonja Futehally Larry McQuay Justin Shah Mitchell Firman John Simrose David Bratzer Devon Pratt Terry Doody Robert Hannam Afshas Aziz A. Derek Clarke Michiel Pienaar Marlene Pienaar Jeremy Smith W. Brady Tucker Kathy & Alan Adelman Emil Edwards Andreas Holenstein Matheu Rothwell Cole Schultz Victoria Gort Paul Ethier

15

DATE

PLACE

EVENT

CONTACT

Aug 6

Penticton, BC

Penticton Air Show – Snowbirds performance

Aug 8, 9, 10

Abbotsford, BC

Abbotsford Air Show

Aug 15, 16, 17

McMinnville, OR.

Antique Airplane Club Fly-In

Aug 16

Oliver, BC

Fly-in breakfast Airport (CAU3) starting at 08:00 hrs

Diana Covert 250-498-3342 (h) 245-498-7649 (cell) covertmothership@mac.com

Aug 22-23

108 Mile, BC

Annual fly-in/dinner dance Saturday night, South Cariboo A/Pbreakfast on Saturday & Sunday mornings

Nick & Gayle Christianson 250-791-1908 CZML

Sept 13

Port Alberni, BC

Alberni Valley Flying Club’s 60th Anniversary Open House & Fly-in

Darren Hansen

Sept 14

Kamloops, BC

Kamloops Flying Club/COPA Flight 82 Fly-in breakfast, everyone welcome 08:00 hrs to 11:00 hrs

Tito Zannella 250-374-3085 tzannella@shaw.ca

Sept 20, 21

Victoria, BC

Victoria Air Show – Snowbirds performance

604-852-8511 info@abbotsfordairshow.com

BECOME A

Sustaining Member of VFC and receive 10% off flying and other purchases at the Club.

To qualify, you must have been a Flying Member in Good Standing for a minimum of two consecutive years.

APPLICATION FORMS ARE AVAILABLE AT DISPATCH. 16

August 8, 9 & 10, 2008