Patricianaug06 3

Victoria Flying Club

August 2006

The north face of Mount Olympus gets a new meaning in this photo taken from TQQ during a recent flight over Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Inside

Pilot Colin Williamson, photo Kim Schlieper.

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5

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Short Final

Letters to the Editor

Another Mountain Flying Experience

Flight Itinerary

In My Travels

Keep the Dirty Side Up

Looking Back

Eleanor’s

The

Patrician

S hort F inal

Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club

AUGUST 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, August 23, 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.

creative

communications solutions for YOUR business

SEASIDE designs & photography 250.383.7777

seasidedesigns@shaw.ca seasidedesigns.net

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Webster Trophy August 23 - 26 So far, this is the best summer I can remember in quite a few years with one hot day following another, clear blue skies and great flying weather. Let us hope this splendid summer continues as we welcome the Webster Memorial Trophy Competition to VFC. The Club once again has a finalist in the competition, Etienne White. Etienne came to VFC from Prince George to complete his Commercial License in October of 2005 and joined the line crew in December 2005. Last year’s Webster winner was VFC’s Yorgo Roumanis, following in the footsteps of Graham Palmer, first runner-up, 1995, and Tracy Biddle, the 1993 winner.

The competition is an annual event intended to declare the “top amateur pilot in Canada”, and is recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale as a national sporting event. In addition to the events taking place at the Club, the Awards Banquet will be held at the Royal Roads University Mews Lounge on the grounds of Hatley Park. The awards banquet is open to all aviation enthusiasts.

Tickets ($65) are limited and can be ordered before August 11 from the Webster trophy competition website. Cocktails at 6:30 dinner to follow.

Sky Pilot The Presiding Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church of the USA is not only a woman, but also a pilot! Bishop Katherine Schori, who comes from a family of pilots, says in a July issue of Time magazine that she flies to relax; “It takes one’s full attention, and that’s restful in an odd kind of way. It takes your mind away from other concerns, not unlike meditation.” Amen to that!

Farewell Don Rogers, the last surviving test pilot of the magnificent Avro Arrow, died in Toronto in July. The Arrow was revolutionary and extremely advanced for its time but was scrapped by the federal government in 1959, citing money as the reason. Rogers, as chief test pilot oversaw four others in the day-to-day testing of the Arrow. One of these was the late Mike Cooper-Slipper, DFC, Honorary Life Member of VFC whose family created a bursary in his name last year. Mike tested the Iroquois engine in a specially-modified Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber on loan to the RCAF and Avro from the USAF. He was the only pilot to test the Iroquois engine in flight. Mike died in 2004, fellow test pilot Peter Cope died in 2005, leaving only Rogers as the last of the five.

And farewell, too, to a great Canadian fighter ace of the Second World War, Wing Commander Carl ‘Moose’ Fumerton who died in July, aged 93. He was born and educated in Quebec and on leaving school in 1931 worked as a lumberjack and gold prospector, learnt to fly and became a bush pilot. War broke out in September 1939 and in November he joined the RCAF where he was nicknamed ‘Moose’ for his imposing bulk. A rugged, self-reliant individual of great courage, Fumerton was also admired for his leadership and in 1944 he was given Short Final cont’d p.4

Letters to the Editor Hi Eleanor, As always, outstanding job on the Patrician Eleanor. Although my time may not always permit my reading it on the 1st of the month (especially this summer!) I do always read it and am repeatedly impressed.

Cheers Chris A good one as always Eleanor! Love the front page!

Larry’s brief history of the Sea Fury brought back fond memories. Our 19th CAG took possession of our first squadron of brand new Sea Furys while we were stationed in Ireland in 1947 [ Vi and I got married too] and brought them to Canada in 1948 aboard our new aircraft carrier “Magnificent” that we also had just taken possession of at Belfast just prior to sailing home!

Vi took her “first flight” a few months later to come to Canada on a “Super Connie” on one of the first trans Atlantic commercial flights after WW2 and was the only female aboard.

She was presented with a certificate by the captain and crew! “memorable magic moments”!

Cheers!

Al

And now, two guesses at the July Mystery

of the Month: This looks like a zero-fighter.

Cheers Brian Spahn Hi Eleanor I would guess that it is a WWII Japanese Zero.

Cheers Colin Williamson

Hi Eleanor I’ve been a member of the VFC for well over 10 years and have enjoyed reading the Patrician every month. Thanks for all your enthusiasm and hard work! I thought it was about time I contributed something and recently had an interesting flying adventure that might be of interest. Having started my aerobatic experience in JTM I have always wanted to fly a Pitts and/or Extra. Recently that goal became a reality when I got the chance to fly both in CA. I would be pleased to share my experience with a story on this if you think there would be some interest. Let me know!

Sincerely Tom Vandall Thank you Tom. We will be looking forward to sharing your experience in the Pitts and Extra when all the summertime activity slows down a bit and you have the time to write about it. - Ed

It is a Harvard with a little Hollywood makeup applied so that it loosely resembles a Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen (Zero) Fighter of the 12th Naval Air Group. There are only three original Zeros in flying condition in the world today with about half a dozen other non-flying examples in Museums. (The plane pictured was in the Olympia, Washington Aviation Museum.)

About 12 of the replica Zeros were produced, among other Japanese types, for the 1970 film, TORA, TORA, TORA and then used in subsequent WW2 films such as MIDWAY and WINDS OF WAR Larry Dibnah

Well, you’re both right; that’s what the aircraft is supposed to look like. Read on for the definitive word from Larry Dibnah............

July Mystery of the Month What is this somewhat unusual aircraft? It's in a museum, but you probably saw it in a movie!

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Short Final cont’d from p 2 command of 406 “Lynx” Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force. He ended the war with 14 combat victories, two DFCs and the Air Force Cross.

Great News from Norwegians in Canada Andrea Olsen sends this news and a photo of Erik, who celebrated his first birthday on June 24th: “We are in Grande Prairie, AB. Bjorn got a job with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission here! We still aren’t one hundred percent sure about this move, so all of our stuff is in Norway and we are staying with my best friend for now. We have until the end of August to make a decision - that is when our return airplane tickets expire. Anyway, cross your fingers for us.

The picture of Erik was taken on the 5th of June, his first day in Fort Frances, ON; it was also his first time crawling on the grass! It was too cold in Tromso for

him to get down and crawl around on the ground.

When we got to the Fort he was crawling and furniture cruising and taking three or four steps between us; now he is walking around 95% of the time and only crawls up the stairs! Time sure flies by with him.”

Well, that’s it for August – lots of happenings aeronautically speaking, both around the province and right here at VFC. Let’s all welcome the Webster Trophy finalists to our Club and cheer on Etienne White! Blue Skies everyone!

August

Mystery of the Month Here is a painting of a beautiful but somewhat obscure aircraft from the 1930s. It was advanced for its day with many aerodynamic innovations.

Send your educated guess(es) to PatricianEditor@shaw.ca.

Wouldn’t you rather be flying?

CANADIAN AVIONICS & INSTRUMENTS Calgary Int’l Airport (403) 250-5665

Victoria Airport (250) 655-0665

BOB CAMERON President

9548 Canora Road Sidney, BC V8L 3R1

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Tel: (250) 655-0665 Fax: (250) 655-0664 E: cav#2@islandnet.com

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

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

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

Another Mountain Flying Experience

by Chris Mathison

The July Patrician contained a mountain flying article by Barry Meek, a very experienced pilot. This month we present the other side of the coin as Chris and Sharan take VFC’s mountain course with instructor Jason Ware .- Editor

W

e ran in to (well, not literally, thank goodness) Steve Mais and his two students at our first stop (their last, since they went the ‘wrong way around’ the route) in Squamish.

Steve let out a resounding “Nice job boys!” over the radio just after Sharan performed a touch and go pretty much right in front of them as they held short on the apron.

It was cool to see Whistler from a different angle, it doesn’t seem nearly as big as it does on the ground!

And Pemberton has to be one of the prettiest pieces of scenery that I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing unveiled in front of me from behind a mountainside.

Between Pemberton and Lillooet was the first time that I’ve felt nauseous since my 3rd ever flight lesson a few years ago. Being in the back seat really is quite a different perspective, and although I always strive to remain attentive to my passengers I think I will monitor those in the back even more closely in future.

The caretaker at Lillooet was extremely chatty. He was at the ‘terminal building’ via his bicycle almost instantaneously when we arrived. He told us a few harrowing stories from his own flying experience then eventually left us to finish our picnic-style dinner and regain our ‘ground-legs’ (Sharan and I that is, Jason at

least appeared to be perfectly fine).

Climbing out of Lillooet was a blast...literally. Jason told me to angle off our departure towards the mountainside adjacent to the runway. Once within a

few hundred feet, as I’ve so often read about, the wind funnelling out of the opposing valley mouth hitting our mountainside combined with the convection currents of the blazing afternoon sun turned our little plane in to an elevator (it’s such a perfect description I can’t help but steal and re-use it). It was bizarre to see the VSI floating between 1500 and 1700 feet per minute while the mountainside just dropped away.

Navigation between Lillooet and Hope was actually quite easy (in my opinion) thanks the unmistakable aid of the Fraser River. Ever the epitome of knowledgeable mentor though, Jason employed our imaginations in several different situations and scenarios to impart the valuable and potentially life saving lessons of flying in mountainous and unfamiliar terrain. Of course, there were some tips and techniques which didn’t require imagination despite the beautiful weather and unmistakable nav. aid, and Jason (as always) made sure we gained exposure to them as well.

I have been wanting to try landing at Hope for quite some time now and it was not the smooth soft feeling that I was expecting from a grass field. I guess that I really should have expected the bumps given that you’re going over 100km/h on wheels that small, but the pictures that I’d seen previously always looked so idyllic! I think I’m going to have to make a full stop landing there some time and check out that ‘perfect’ field a little more closely!

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DATE

PLACE

EVENT

CONTACT

August 5

Victoria, BC

BC Aviation Museum Open House

August 5 & 6

Victoria, BC

Snowbirds over Oak Bay

Jackie Frampton email: jackie_frampton@shaw.ca www.snowbirds.dnd.ca

August 11-13

Abbotsford, BC

Abbotsford International Airshow

Tel: (604) 852-8511 www.abbotsfordairshow.com

August 12

Victoria, BC

BC Aviation Museum Hangar Dance BC Aviation Museum Gift Shop the big band sound of the ‘40s Norseman Road, Victoria Airport

Tel: (250) 655-3300 Tickets $20, advance sales only

Aug. 19 & 20

Pitt Meadows, BC

Regional Airport Day Aero Club Fly-in, camping, and Hangar Dance

Aero Club of BC Telephone: Peter (604) 465-8817 email: aeroclub@telus.net

Aug. 19 & 20

Victoria, BC

Victoria’s Largest Little Airshow Michell R/C Field Lochside Dr. off Island View Rd.

Jack Price Tel: (250) 744-1516 email: jackprice@shaw.ca

August 23–26 Victoria, BC

Annual Webster Trophy Competition Victoria Flying Club

Graham Palmer (250) 656-2833

Sept 9

Victoria, BC

Victoria Flying Club 60th Anniversary Victoria Flying Club (250) 656-2833 Hangar Dance with live band music

Sept. 22-24

Oliver, BC

Seventh Annual Yak ‘Discovery’ Fly-in at CAU3 Oliver Airport

FOR SALE Peltor Aviation Headset.

Used only twice before having to give up flying. Asking only $75.

Please contact Michael Denton (former VFC member)

(250) 652-0404 6

Paul Dumoret (250) 535-0395 email: 3bar@telus.net

Here's how at least one airline pilot remembers transponder codes: 7500: high five - Hijack 7600: six, sick radio - Com Failure 7700: seven, on the way to heaven Emergency

In My Travels

by Larry Dibnah

Ercoupe/Alon A-2 Aircoupe If you ask any vintage aircraft buff what is the most distinguishing feature on an Ercoupe, they will undoubtedly tell you it’s the tail section which features twin vertical stabilizers and rudders. A unique little low-wing, two-seat, all-metal aircraft with tricycle landing gear, the Ercoupe underwent several changes over its lifetime.

The Ercoupe was originally designed in the late 1930’s and dubbed the Model 415. Production began in 1937 but was interrupted when WW2 broke out. Production resumed in 1945 with models 415E, F and G appearing between 1947 and 1949. As with most other light aircraft types of the time, the Ercoupe was intended to serve the much anticipated post war aviation market. The Ercoupe’s claim to fame was the stall-proof and spin-proof feature incorporated into its design. The aircraft also had no rudder pedals. Control was achieved through an interconnection between the ailerons, rudders and nose wheel making the Ercoupe as easy to fly and taxi as steering a car. Limited travel rudders and elevators helped to make the Ercoupe virtually stall and spin proof. This controllability on the ground and in the air offered the freedom of flight to those returning WW2 veterans who had lost the use of their leg(s).

Production of the original Ercoupe design ended in 1951. However, in 1955 Fournair Aircraft resurrected the Ercoupe and called it the F-1 Aircoupe. Air Products took over production between 1960 and 1962 and then finally, the baton was passed to Alon Aircraft in 1964. Alon re-designated the aircraft as the AirCoupe A-2 which is the version most commonly seen today. Only a few changes appeared in the A-2 which offered some improvement over the older Ercoupe. These changes included the addition of rudder pedals for a return to the conventional control system, and my favourite, the introduction of a blown sliding bubble canopy to facilitate cockpit egress. The new canopy traveled back far enough to offer increased comfort while taxiing on hot days.

In 1968, Mooney Aircraft purchased the AirCoupe rights and changed the twin tail configuration to a single tail and named the aircraft Mooney Cadet which, in my opinion, changed the charismatic appeal of the original aircraft. The A-2 Cadet only stayed in production until 1970, when Mooney sold out to Aerostar.

Partially because of their fine handling characteristics, low operating costs and partially because of their good looks, Ercoupes and Alons are very popular with vintage aircraft enthusiasts today. Several examples can be seen at airfields around this region. Victoria Flying Club member Al Whalley owns and flies a beautiful 1966 Alon A-2 seen here returning to YYJ in the setting sun. Nice looking aircraft, Al!

References: 1971 World Aircraft Annual, Plane & Pilot Magazine; 1980 Aircraft Directory, Plane & Pilot Magazine; Al Whalley.

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British Columbia Aviation Museum presents:

16th Annual

e s u o H n Ope

2006 0 pm , 5 t s u g u A , y 5:0 Saturda 9:00 am to

k k k k

k k k k k

pancake breakfast - 9:00 am sight seeing flights ($) hourly draw for free flights fly-in and visiting aircraft hangar and aircraft displays

food and refreshments Gift Shop Restoration Hangar tours. lots to see and do

Norseman Road at the Victoria Airport admission by donation.

Air Museum Restoration Centre

For more information, visit our web site at: www.bcam.net - or call: (250) 655 3300

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PRIVATE PILOT Groundschool Classes held Monday and Wednesday, 1900-2200 DATE Aug

Sept

Oct

Achievements First Solo BJ Caron Tyson Ristau

TOPIC

INSTRUCTOR

02

Radio and Electronic Theory

Jason Stewart

09

Review (Tower Tour if available)

Marcel Poland

14

Review (Tower Seminar/Written Seminar) Marcel Poland

16

Theory of Flight & Licensing Req

Jason Ware

21

Aerodynamics

Jason Ware

23

Airframes & Engines

Steve Mais

28

Systems & Flight Instruments

Steve Mais

30

CARS

Jason Ware

06

CARS

Jason Ware

11

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

13

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

18

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

20

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

25

Meteorology

Bryon Thompson

CPL Flight Test

27

Human Factors

Jason Stewart

Brandy Provan

02

Flight Operations

James Zacks

04

Flight Operations

James Zacks

11

Navigation

Jason Stewart

16

Navigation

Jason Stewart

18

Navigation

Jason Stewart

23

Radio and Electronic Theory

Jason Stewart

25

Review (Tower Seminar/Written Seminar) Marcel Poland

30

Review (Tower Seminar)

Marcel Poland

at the

Pilot Shop Great Summertime Reading adventure - fiction - biography

Come in and br o wse the selection!

PPL Written Exam Ted Krasowski

PPL Flight Test Tom Navrital William Stephenson Evan Peel Rod payne

Private Pilot License Ted Krasowski Tom Navratil William Stephenson

CPL Written Exam Jeff Sargent Etienne White

Instructor Renewal Jessica Hamstra

Welcome New Members!

Tyrel Riegert Bruce Boland Barry Van Schaik Tyson Ristau Antonio Segurd Chris Barton Lisanne Kellond Tim Martin Rick Murphy Kenneth Smith Andrew Medgyesi Brendan O’Hare Chris Saunderson Matthew Miller Louis Lapointe Lisa Van Der Pol Gordon Barry Marco Fernandes

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The B.C. Avia tion Museum is staging their

16th Annual Open House 2006 August 5th, from 9:00 to 5:00pm.

We are celebrating

“A Century of B.C. Aviation History” dating back to 1909.

The day will begin with a Pancake Breakfast starting at 9:00 am. Aircraft, large and small, aviation displays, a classic car line-up and more will be featured along with “kids’ stuff”, hamburgers and hotdogs, pop and ice-cream.

Admission is by donation. The museum is located at 1910 Norseman Rd. in Sidney, on the East side of the Victoria Airport. Visit www.bcam.net or call 655-3300 for more information or details.

Do you have an aircraft or an aviation related display that you would like to bring out to the museum on Open House day for public display? Contact a Board of Directors member to participate. (All Board Members are listed on the museum web site.)

And don’t forget VFC will be there selling sight-seeing flights, disco flights and selected books and Ts from the Pilot Shop. - Ed

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Michelle Philp on her graduation from NCTI, Cornwall, Ontario in the FSS course.

Michelle also won the Director‘s Award for Top Student! A VFC grad, with PPL and CPL from the Club before continuing to ME/IFR, Michelle will be heading to Fort St. John (CYXJ) for her first posting as a flight service specialist.

Congratulations are also extended to Jim Pye, another VFC grad (PPL, CPL) who recently finished the VFR Tower course at NCTI and is at his first posting.

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Photo Competition 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.

Good quality JPEGs would be the best.

Please send submissions to joscelyn.barnard@flyvfc.com

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

Smile Card total to date $1938

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)

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TICKETS are now available for

HANGAR DANCE from Dispatch. $25.

Don't forget to pick up your tickets and some for your friends too.

Call today

Tickets 250.656.2833

250.656.2833

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In Memoriam Three years have passed since Jeff's untimely death on the beautiful Isle of Wight. He is remembered and missed by his fellow pilots at VFC.

2006 North West EAA Fly-in Arlington, WA There were lots of nice Homebuilt and Classic Vintage aircraft at the Northwest EAA Fly-in at Arlington, Washington this year although the number of visitors seemed to be down a bit since I was last there in 2004. A possible reason for this is that I attended on Sunday this time. Several aircraft were departing after the air show segment of the event had finished as I pulled into my motel late Saturday afternoon.

A TravelAir Biplane from the '30s.

Nevertheless, the weather was great and my camera was on overtime as I walked among the displays of interesting aircraft. Here are but a few of the photos which I would like to share with you. If you’ve never been to Arlington, which is about 1 1/2 to 2 hours drive south from the border crossing at Blaine or 40 minutes by air direct from Victoria, I highly recommend it.

Cheers!

Larry

A 2002 Murphy Moose on amphib floats

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y K eep the D i r t S i d e U p II – Up and Down and Around…

Welcome back. Last month I did a brief introduction, explained a bit about my motivations for learning aerobatics and even got to the first lesson. Well we’re past all the introductory stuff so now it’s time to get into the aerobatics.

Grab your parachute and let’s go….

‘Course I had to pick the fall to start an aerobatics course…we all know how good the fall flying weather is, right? Anyway, after a morning of marginal weather the cloud cover broke and the lesson was on. Today we would be doing wingovers and chandelles. Alex gave me a pre-flight briefing with the JTM model, describing the movements, key control inputs, etc.

I had done both movements in my “previous life” so I was somewhat familiar. Then we were headed out to the airplane…

If you haven’t had a close look at JTM, it’s somewhat different from a C-152 or C-172, tail dragger configuration aside. The instructor sits behind the student and you have a five point harness. It takes a bit more wriggling to get in, get buckled up, etc but once you’re in, being positioned on the centreline of the airplane is nice.

We got started, transpondered, cleared and finally we’re headed out towards 09. Ground handling in JTM is also somewhat different. Like in a Cessna you use the brakes to help steer; in JTM however they’re a separate pedal and that takes a bit of getting used to.

I followed Alex through on the take-off and it’s opposite to what I was used to. Once Tower says go and you apply full power you push the stick forward to lift the tail. Visions of pushing too far and striking the prop on the runway go through my head but that doesn’t happen of course (that’s why Alex is in the back…) and then we’re on our way to the practice area.

After some warm-up exercises we’re ready to do some wingovers. A wingover is a 180 degree turn in heading with a 90 degree of bank, which means that as the movement progresses you’re looking at the ground through your side window. Not nearly as scary as it sounds – it’s actually a nice maneuver. You don’t experience much in the way of “G” forces or anything like that.

I started to pick up on these fairly quickly and found I really liked doing them.

Chandelles (a climbing steep turn) were next. Like the wingover, they’re not an aggressive aerobatic maneuver with lots of “G” forces. I had some trouble with these – eventually

Don Devenney

we figured out that I need to be sure I’ve neutralised the controls.

Chandelles complete it was time to head back to the barn. But first, Alex gave a preview of the next lesson – aileron rolls – and, because I’d done these before, I asked if could try a couple. I need lots more work here but managed to get the basics in - the airplane rolled and recovered on sort of its original heading.

What goes up must come down so it was time to start thinking about landings. We got back to the circuit, did the usual checks, etc and then it was time to land. Now you can land a tail dragger either by doing a “three point” landing, touching down main & tail wheels at once, or by doing a “wheel landing” where you touch down on the main gear and gradually lower the tail. Alex was starting me on three point landings and it seemed – to me, at this point anyway – not much different than landing a C-152. So I came at it that way with Alex coaching me continually and somehow I managed to place JTM on the runway in a semireasonable fashion. Beginner’s luck, I think.

Okay, so here we are, two weeks later thanks to our wonderful fall weather. Today the weatherman (weatherperson??) paid us back for last week’s bad weather - it was clear, sunny, cool but not cold, no winds - absolutely PERFECT! Today’s goal (besides a review) was aileron rolls and loops, maybe a 1/2 Cuban Eight thrown in as well. I need to spend more time reviewing the theory before briefing.....aerobatics isn’t just about tossing some poor unsuspecting airplane across the sky – you need to understand the energy management behind what you’re doing. (Especially since your instructor is likely to ask you about it during your briefing).

Anyway….

Did my first take-off and managed to get the plane in the air it was a bit shaky but we got up. Once up we turned towards Discovery Islands where we would be working between 3500 & 5000 ft. It was absolutely gorgeous up there – perfect aerobatic weather.

A few Dutch Rolls for warm-up, a review of Wingovers and Chandelles and then we were on to rolls. Rolls are a blast! You put the stick over and you’re rotating, eventually you’re upside down looking at a tugboat or something below and then you’re right side up again thinking “WOW!! I just rolled this thing!!” First couple of rolls went fairly well & then I got a bit sloppy, so Alex cleaned up my technique. Now it’s time for loops... story cont’d p.15

14

story cont’d from p.14

Just reaching inverted during a roll These are definitely easier to do than rolls. You really have to pull back - I was a bit surprised at first how much I needed to pull back. (eat your Wheaties kids!) It’s actually a fairly gentle movement - I didn’t get any of that “G” force effect...okay, well maybe some, but not what I’d expected.

After I’d done a couple of loops Alex had me add a roll in after the loop - the first time I did a roll in each direction I was having so much fun! Oh, and I found I need to be aware of where my right thumb is. Seems I was coming off a loop, working through a roll and calling out my steps...it sorta helps me with the learning process (I was back to my drill instructor days – “Aileron rolls by numbers, SQUAD - ONE!”). Anyway, during the roll I had my thumb on the radio microphone button so Victoria Terminal heard me calling my progress.“ JTM, Victoria Terminal - I take it you’re doing rolls?” (Laughter in background) Guess it’s not the first time - they were very understanding.....

See the world… from our point of VIEW!!

Increase your confidence • Aerobatic Course* • Adventure Rides • Emergency Manoeuvres Training

Pulling up for a loop All too soon it was time to head home, but not before Alex demonstrated a 1/2 Cuban Eight. A 1/2 Cuban Eight is 5/8ths of a loop with a roll to “right side up”. And that’s the topic for next month so until then – as Alex would say – Keep the Dirty Side Up! Don Devenney ddevenney@shaw.ca

Discovery Ride

$

99 95

Intro

*Basic course - 10 hrs dual 5 hrs solo Courses customized to help you reach new horizons.

Photo Competition The most dynamic and fun aviation photo submission will win a discovery flight gift certificate for a friend.

Good quality JPEGs would be the best.

Please send submissions to

joscelyn.barnard@flyvfc.com

VFC

Aerobatics

for the cover of the new Learn to Fly booklet.

Call Dispatch at the club for further information

656-2833

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LOOKING BACK Al Whalley Looks Back.

The date was March 28th 1963!

A C 172 on floats owned by Bill Sylvester of Victoria Flying Service was rolled over inverted by wind and rough water while taxiing; no one injured! The pilot was one of Bill’s instructors by the name of Skelton.

There were 3 people in the aircraft. Bob Harrison, VFC’s long time engineer and a close friend had the story along with the newspaper clipping and picture of Bob who recovered the aircraft after it was towed while still inverted to dockside at lower marine base! He used a crane to lift it out of the water.

Bob was Victoria Flying Services engineer at the time and that’s when Bob and I met for the first time in 1962, just after I arrived on the squadron (VU 33).

The photo shows Bob standing on the floats with the aircraft inverted and the “Wildwood”...our VU 33 squadron’s boat that rescued the crew of the aircraft ....approaching with one of our squadron guys standing at the bow!

Bob and some of his cronies still meet on Fridays at the Dakota Café - Editor for lunch and some old time hangar flying.

A

VIEW ITH A W OM RO

…AND AI

RPLA NE ST

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Open 8am 4pm daily

in the Victoria Flying Club

Join us for breakfast or lunch…inside & patio seating 101-1852 Canso Rd 16

LICENSED

250.655.9395

905 Fort St (at Quadra) Tel: 250.385.9786 Toll free: 1.800.661.3332 E: repro@islandblue.com FTP: ftp.islandblue.com Web: www.islandblue.com

This year the Fleet 80 Can ucks are celebrating their 60th Anniv er sar y . These aircraft were the “Work Horse” of The Club in the 50‘s & 60‘s. Let‘s have a REUNION and meet our Fleet 80 Canuck pilots and friends. Trophies will be awarded for the oldest aircraft, the oldest pilot, the greatest distance flown for this event and many more.