Patricianmarch08 3

Victoria Flying Club

March 2008

The VFC 2007 Wings grads gather in front of the stone fireplace at the Officers' Mess, CFB Esquimalt, February 2, 2008.

Inside

See story and more photos inside.

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3

5

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16

Short Final

Letters to the Editor

Bears Air

In My Travels

Information to Pilots

Wings Banquet

First Solos

Eleanor’s

The

Patrician

S hort F inal

Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club

MARCH 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, March20, 2008.

The end of February, as far as I’m concerned means that winter is gone and spring is here. It wasn’t all that bad a month with lots of clear, cold bright days and I have the photos to prove it.

Two Glorious Flights February 3rd was a Sunday and two C-172s, each carrying three people left VFC to fly high and direct to Tofino to collect KMY which had been snowed in there a few days previously. The day was perfect, a few high clouds to give perspective, gentle breezes and bright sunshine. It was actually hot at CYAZ, although there was snow on the ground. I was there!

Enough said! Just look at the photos!

Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors

Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Colin Dormuth Jim Sutherland Don Goodeve Eleanor Eastick Dennis Arnsdorf

General Manager Gerry Mants Chief Flying Instructor 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.

This next flight took place on Sunday, February 24th when Don Devenney, Ted Krasowski and Ellen Wood whose photos are herewith displayed, headed for Port Hardy. The flying was amazing and the scenery breathtaking (“Words fail me,” said Don, most uncharacteristically). I was not there, but took vicarious enjoyment in the flight through many photographs. It was hard to chose just a few!

We can help YOUR business GROW and FLOURISH. Call today.

250.383.7777 seasidedesigns@shaw.ca seasidedesigns.net

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SEASIDE designs & photography

Short Final cont’d p. 4

Letters to the Editor Hi Eleanor,

Letter #2

The Mystery plane of the month is a Custer Channelwing….

Liam That was the only letter on the February mystery plane, thanks to Liam Aloni, the youngest member of VFC -ed Below is an interesting and gratifying communication in the form of two emails from San Luis Obispo, California regarding the Mystery Plane of August, 2006 –ed

I am sure you have members who lived through the thirties and watched aviation change daily. I had the good fortune to live in Santa Monica where we were immersed in the latest happenings at Douglas Aircraft as well as the small plant at Mines Field (now LAX) where Mr. Northrop was generating excitement. Between the fall of 1932 and the Summer of 1933 this small lad was treated to the vision of a great silver bird with a red fire chief’s hat on the side and the “enormous” gleaming Douglas DC-1. All of this just after Jimmy Doolittle had flown the GB in the 1932 Thompson Trophy Race in Cleveland. Small wonder boys were captivated by aviation and model building.

The Sky Chief has always been the benchmark of my aviation passion - partly because of the unique features, but mostly because it was so different than anything else either aloft or on the ground. It was the ultimate evolution of the Northrop “Alpha” technology which dominated the construction of aircraft through World War II.

Letter #1 While searching for data regarding the Northrop Gamma, I found the site for the Patrician - specifically the September 2006 issue in which the “Sky Chief ” was identified as the August “Mystery of the Month.”

The description in the September 2006 Patrician by Adrian was excellent with the possible exception of the following reference to the ailerons on 2A. “...the Gamma 2A was fitted with a set of full-span flaps and “park bench” ailerons which were mounted above the wing trailing edge. However, more conventional ailerons were later installed and flaps of reduced length and area were adopted.”

I have a photograph (above) of “Kinjockety III” (as the “Sky Chief ” was renamed after its sale by Texaco) which shows the flap extended to the wing tip. The park-bench ailerons were early on changed on the “Polar Star” but I suspect the 2A retained hers to the end over Kansas.

Richard Sanders Allen has written two books that MUST be on the shelf of every aviation enthusiast. I believe they are both out of print but I found a number of copies with a Google search by title.

Revolution in the Sky, The Lockheeds of Aviations Golden Age Richard Sanders Allen, Orion Books, New York, 1988 A definitive history of the origin of Lockheed Aircraft with John K. Northrop’s “Vega” and its derivatives.

The Northrop Story, 1929 - 1939 Richard Sanders Allen, Orion Books, New York, 1990 The full story of John K. Northrop’s all metal wonders, the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Beautifully illustrated, thorough, readable, accurate account of Northrop Aircraft in the ‘30s continues the saga from “Revolution in the Sky”.

I am attaching clips of the picture that I have of Kinjockety III with the name on the cowl (above) for identification and the starboard outer wing showing the full wing flaps which would seem to indicate that the ailerons must still be on top.

I am certain that we could all live comfortably without nitpicking details such as this, but perhaps someone is interested.

You have a marvelous organization and newsletter. I shall have to maintain contact.

Thanks,

Don Krehbiel San Luis Obispo, California USA

Thanks for your efforts with the newsletter, it is wondrous.

Sincerely,

Don Krehbiel San Luis Obispo, California

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Short Final cont’d from p 2

Longer Days Pacific daylight saving time begins on March 9th this year. Wow, that’s early! It’s already light until after 6 PM, so the “spring ahead” of the clocks Scenic view Port Hardy to Tofino will give us nice long days and only seven hours behind Zulu Time. I still think it would be a great time to have a mini flyout to K0S9, Jeffco, to see the Port Townsend Aero Museum.

Think about it.

Fossett’s widow, Peggy is said to have accepted the inevitable conclusion that Steve did not survive and has now asked a judge to “begin the process of distributing her husband’s assets according to his will”….Despite rumours that Fossett had planned his own disappearance, there is no evidence to support them. A sad and strange end for a guy who had done just about everything and was an accomplished pilot….

A Bellanca Super Decathlon, the type Steve Fossett was flying when he disappeared.

Low, Over and OUT! According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, a Cathay Pacific senior 777 pilot picked up a new 777-300ER at KPAE last month and did a celebratory “low and over” at 28’ AGL with 50 airline officials on board. The plane reportedly swooped past the field with gear up and the stunt made it onto YouTube. The FAA is investigating.

The skilled but hapless pilot is out of a job even though the manoeuvre was approved by air traffic control and the passengers on board whistled and cheered. Seems the Aviation Authority in Hong Kong had not approved. Tsk! Tsk! Some people have no sense of humour.

Can it Really Be? Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has been declared officially dead more than five months after his mysterious disappearance in the Nevada desert.

Despite a huge search operation mounted following Fossett’s evidently ill-fated 3 September flight from Barron Hilton’s Flying M Ranch, roughly 70 miles southeast of Reno, neither he nor the remains of his Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon have been found.

St. Patrick’s Day “Saints presarve us”, said Mrs. Jarvis and sure it’s time for a bit of fun: An Irish pilot got lost in a fog so he called the control tower for landing instructions.

‘Can you give me your height and position’ radioed back the tower.

‘About 5 foot 7 and sitting up the front’ said the Irishman. **************************************************** An announcement came over the loudspeakers at Tullamarine airport.

‘Next plane for Athens with be at seven o’clock’.

‘Next plane for London with be at eight o’clock’.

‘Next plane for Dublin with be when the big hand is pointing straight up and the little hand is pointing at the nine’. **************************************************** An Irishman arrived at J.F.K. Airport and wandered about the terminal with tears streaming down his cheeks. An airline employee asked him if he was homesick.‘No’, replied the Irishman.‘It’s worse, I have I’ve lost all me luggage.’‘That’s terrible, how did that happen?’‘The cork fell out of me bottle.’

MARCH Mystery of the Month

Send your educated guesses to

PatricianEditor@shaw.ca 4

This month’s mystery aircraft was designed and built in the late 1940’s by one of the oldest names in aviation.

There are still a few of these aircraft flying throughout North America. With a ‘rag & tube’ fuselage and an all wood wing, this aircraft is still a solid performer with great cross country cruise speeds making it a much prized classic.

An Airborne Engagement

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f you ever think there are no new ideas to be thought of, better think again. Actually, there will never be a shortage as long as there are people. Just when you think you’ve seen everything .......... well, you haven’t! Take marriage proposals.

The guy gets down on one knee to pop the question, or blurts it out over dessert after a nice dinner, or gets much more creative and hires an aerial banner towed behind a plane to fly over his sweetie’s house.

There’s always somebody coming up with a new way to do it.

Several years ago, I bore witness to an interesting and entertaining proposal in my airplane. A company out here on the west coast had given certificates for sightseeing trips to it’s employees as Christmas presents. One of the secretaries in their office called up one day to ask whether she could bring her boyfriend along. No problem, as our group of partners had two four-place airplanes in the hangar.

“Romeo” showed up a bit early, took me aside and informed me he’d like to propose to this secretary somewhere over the mountains. They’d only been dating for a few months, so it was to be a big surprise.

He had brought along the engagement ring just in case she said yes. I figured if she said no, she could always toss it out the window and leave no doubts as to her feelings.

“Romeo” was a gentleman about everything. He confidently explained to his bride-to-be why certain things had to be done prior to “lift-off”. Like why I was running my hand over the prop .... “to check for ice” (hey, it was February). Why I was draining fuel into a cup under the wing “to check for ice”, why I was inspecting the “wings” (actually the ailerons) “to be sure they went up and down to shake the ice off”. He confidently assured the little lady that I was a safe pilot. Since I’d met him only ten minutes earlier, I’m not sure where the basis for that conclusion came from. At any rate, I had to think it was all in an effort to ensure she was comfortable.

“Juliet” got to ride in the front seat, while “Romeo” crammed himself into the back. Another act of chivalry I thought. He was out to impress this gal. We departed

BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek

just before sunset, and were soon level at 7,000 feet over the mountains on the north side of Vancouver. It was a beautiful evening, perfect for what was about to happen. Maybe it’s just me, maybe “Romeo” was cursed too, but it’s not very often that things go exactly as planned. Fortunately nothing’s ever turned into a disaster, but I’ve learned to always have a ‘plan-B’ whenever I start at something. Particularly with any flight of any duration to any destination. On this evening, I’d need that plan.

Just about the time the big event was to occur, I noticed the alternator had quit producing. The volt meter still read a healthy 12 volts, so it wasn’t a problem just yet.

The circuit breaker wasn’t popped, no smoke smell, everything else seemed normal. So I killed the unnecessary drains, including the intercom. When the two passengers found they couldn’t speak and hear through the headsets, I smiled, nodded everything was OK, they proceeded to yell their comments at each other. I couldn’t tell what they were saying exactly over the engine noise, but figured he’d Tourism British Columbia popped the question when she screamed, “Yes it is scary”.

I thought I heard “Romeo” say, yelling at the back of her head, “Not scary.... MARRY”. To which “Juliet” responded, “VERY SCARY” at the top of her lungs. They both looked over at me with quizzical looks on their faces as if I could tell them what they’d just said. I smiled and nodded. He was a bit frustrated at this point. After all, the romance had surely gone from the moment, which had turned into a screaming match.

She was still interested more in the mountains and the sunset. Finally, from the back seat, “Romeo” thrust the ring in front of “Juliet”, and bellowed his proposal once again. This time there was no doubt in her mind. She flung the seatbelt off, struggled to her knees, turned around on the seat and kissed him.

They didn’t get their full hour in the air as I was already headed back to base, but who’s counting at a time like that. We landed while there was still power enough for the lights and radio. Then the happy couple was off to celebrate at a local restaurant. Nothing else matters when you’re young and in love, except probably a story cont’d on p 6

5

Bears Air cont’d from p 5 forgotten wallet. “Romeo’s” was sitting on the back seat when I put the plane away, just one small detail that he wouldn’t care about until it came time to pay for the dinner and drinks. I’m thinking that night may have turned into a scenario like this: Boy invites girl for dinner, then discovers his wallet is missing, the girl grudgingly pays the bill but never trusts him or sees him again. Don’t know if that happened or not.

When this couple has children, they’ll be truthful when they tell them about a screaming match that turned into an engagement. Other guys have taken the plunge, literally, proposing while skydiving, some underwater scuba diving. The list of wild ideas goes on and on.

Marriage is something you do once in your life, if you’re lucky. You might as well pull out the stops and create a real memory out of it.

Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net

Here is the explanation of the February Mystery Aircraft

Custer Channelwing guess this was as tough as it is weird. There’s loads of information on the internet about this amazing plane but “Custer was dumped into the dustbin of aviation history for obvious reasons. So obvious in fact, that no one stopped to notice that, for the most part, he was right.”

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The saga of the Custer Channelwing is probably the most interesting of all V/STOL aircraft. It is without doubt, the oldest ongoing saga in aviation. This is the story of a single minded man on a single minded mission to change the path of aviation. Years of research, tests by every conceivable variety of agency, and stunning flying examples, didn’t add up to commercial production of the Channelwing. It isn’t that the Custer wouldn’t perform, it was rather, that maybe it performed unbelievably well, with the accent on unbelievable.

Willard Custer made many claims for the channelwing, including the discovery of new lift principles, which he called “aerophysics”. Most engineers, cynics and parents, know you can’t get something, for nothing. So when Custer claimed 8.2 pounds of static lift per horsepower, with a simple fixed wing aircraft, critics scoffed and tended to look the other way.

But, Custer was persistent to say the least. In time, he was back, claiming 13.8 pounds lift per horsepower, vertical capabilities, fighter-like speed, simple construction, and heavy load capacity, beyond anything built to date. He also hinted that the university academia and manufacturers didn’t know what they were talking about when they criticized the channelwing, and needed to be re-trained to understand his new theories of lift. It was obvious by this time that he was a crackpot inventor, untrained in the aeronautical world and tiresome to listen to.

Custer was dumped into the dustbin of aviation history for obvious reasons. So obvious in fact, that no one stopped to notice that, for the most part, he was right.

Design a simple (not even any flaps) five passenger plane with 450 HP, capable of slow flying at 20 mph, 160 mph cruise, 200’’ takeoff and landing, with extreme load carrying ability. If you can do it, you know more than any aeronautical department, or aircraft manufacturer. The Custer CCW-5 did exceed all those parameters, and did it many years ago.

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In My Travels

by Larry Dibnah

The Eastman E-2 Sea Rover Historically, the Eastman E-2 Sea Rover represents a time when flying boats and early floatplanes were the only way to access some of Canada’s more remote communities. Several flying boat types were in use throughout Canada during the 1920’s including some built by the more familiar Curtis and Vickers aircraft companies. The Sea Rover was a lesser known flying boat but made an important contribution to the development of British Columbia’s northern regions. An Eastman E-2 Sea Rover flying boat, unique to Canada and British Columbia, has been restored to its original condition by members of the British Columbia Aviation Museum and is now on permanent static display there. Of the eighteen Sea Rovers built by the Eastman Company this is the only remaining example in the world today.

Designed and built by Tom Towle and Jim Eastman of Detroit, Michigan, the E-2 Sea Rover first flew in 1927 from the surface of the Detroit River.

Only eighteen Sea Rovers were ever built. A true flying boat (no wheels), the Sea Rover’s hull construction consisted of an aluminum skin on a wooden framework. The wings and tail empennage were built of wood and metal with a doped linen covering. The upper (longest) wing had a span of 36 feet while the fuselage (hull) length was 26 feet. The Sea Rover was powered by a 160 hp Curtis Challenger R-600 radial engine which was rather unique among radial engines of the time in that it had two rows of three cylinders each. The engine was mounted on the top wing, above the fuselage to keep the propeller clear of the water. Accommodation included on open cockpit for the pilot and one slightly larger open cockpit in the forward section that could seat up to 2 passengers.

Five of the eighteen production aircraft were flown all the way to British Columbia without any problems. Jim Easton made a deal with the Columbia Development Company to supply three Sea Rovers for use in support of Columbia’s mining operations. Two additional Sea Rovers were sold to Jack McConachie in Atlin, BC. One of the five aircraft, CF-ASW, was later re-sold to Dr. Walter Sproule in a purchase arrangement with his instructor to provide flying lessons in exchange for the use of the aircraft by the instructor for other commercial endeavors. At one point CF-ASW was towed through Active Pass and across the Strait of Georgia by a motor launch after an engine failure in the Gulf Islands.

Over the years the five BC based aircraft either crashed or were destroyed. The remains of CF-ASW were discovered in a Duncan farmer’s barn in 1988. These were acquired by the BC Aviation Museum along with parts of Jim Eastman’s Sea Rover CF-ASY which were found in Ft. St. John, BC. The Museum undertook a four and a half year project to restore one good airframe from the parts. The upper and lower wings and the tail empennage had to be fabricated from scratch using archival drawings and photos and a few old parts for reference.

Since the hull of CF-ASY was used in the restoration, its registration markings were retained for the completed aircraft.

Photo and References: Drawing:

courtesy of the British Columbia Aviation Museum Society. courtesy of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society.

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Vintage Boeing 40C restored at Spokane, Washington

After 8 years and 18,000 hours of toil the Boeing 40C rolled out last week end as a finished airplane. We now have to wait a few weeks for the snow to melt to fly this baby. We received our Standard Airworthiness certificate from the FAA last week and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests to start when the snow melts bit. This is the snowiest winter in Spokane since1968!! Great timing??

Factoids for the Boeing 40 project 1) Project required my wife Wendy to prepare 416 hangar meals with an average of 9 place settings.

This required 7400 paper plates, 104 gallons of tomato sauce and 1000 bread rolls; 2) 221 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric. 12 gallons of polyurethane paint for the sheet metal; 3) The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them; 4) The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty and has a gross weight of 6075 lbs.

It’s 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 1/2 feet. Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP (same as our super cub). It should cruise at 115 mph at 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks; 5) We used 350 2� brushes and 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy and 181 rolls of paper towels; 6) There were a total of 62 volunteers who worked on the project to some degree and 21 volunteers who did a significant amount of work and 9 that worked continually over many years.

Available soon will be a short video clip of the 1st engine start and then pictures of the aircraft in the air.

Thank you all for the interest in this dream and I will enjoy flying the airplane and sharing it will all of you.

Look for the Boeing 40 to come to an airport near you!!!! We will take the airplane to Oshkosh, Blakesburg, Broadhead and then to New York and then to San Francisco on the original transcontinental airmail route this summer.

A grateful and humble Addison Pemberton family and friends Spokane, Washington.

Visit www.pembertonandsons.com

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Information Available to Pilots for Avoiding Thunderstorms Joel Morley Operational Safety and Human Factors Specialist NAV CANADA

Background Thunderstorms present significant hazards to aviation including windshear, severe turbulence, heavy precipitation and hail. A number of accidents have resulted from aircraft encroaching on areas of convective weather.

For example, on 28 July 1997, a Cessna 210 broke up in flight over the province of Quebec after entering an area of convective weather.1 In the United States, the number of accidents involving general aviation aircraft encountering thunderstorms during IFR flight prompted the NTSB to issue a Safety Alert on thunderstorm encounters which stated: “IFR pilots need to actively maintain awareness of severe weather along their route of flight.”2 Large transport aircraft are not immune to the effects of convective weather; on 2 August 2005, an Air France A340 overran the runway when landing in close proximity to a thunderstorm at Toronto.3 Areas of thunderstorms need to be avoided and severe weather avoidance is the pilot’s responsibility. Detection of precipitation returns and electrical activity are the two primary means of identifying areas of convective weather and most modern aircraft are equipped with on board equipment to detect one or both of these.

However, pilots may not be aware of the types of information available to flight service specialists and controllers with respect to the location of convective weather. The purpose of this article is to provide information to pilots on the types of information available from Air Traffic Services to assist in avoiding convective weather and the limitations of this information.

Flight Planning Information with respect to convective weather is available for flight planning purposes from a Flight Information Centre (FIC) either by telephone or enroute via 126.7. Flight Service Specialists providing a weather briefing service have access to all weather products relating to convective weather including GFA, TAF, METAR, SIGMETS and weather radar showing precipitation returns along with an overlay of electrical activity provided from the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN). Using this service, a pilot will be advised of areas of convective weather in order to assist in avoiding these areas.

Enroute, Terminal and Airport Environments The primary information available to air traffic controllers providing control service or flight service specialists providing airport advisory service is an overlay of electrical activity on their radar displays provided from the CLDN. The CLDN consists of a network of 83 ground stations which detect lightning strikes. It is operated by the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) and in conjunction with the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) in the US provides cloud to ground lightning strike data for the majority of populous regions in North America.

Thunderstorm story cont’d on p 10

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cont’d from p 9 Through an agreement with MSC, NAV CANADA receives lightning data from the CLDN which is overlaid directly on radar displays in Area Control Centres (ACC), airport traffic control towers and many flight service stations where data is available. Typically, lightning data is received by NAV CANADA within 60 seconds of a lightning event.

The presence of lightning indicates a mature thunderstorm and all of the associated hazards. Information from the CLDN which is available to air traffic services personnel may be passed, workload permitting, to aircraft for the purposes of informing the aircraft of areas to be avoided.

Tips for Avoiding Convective Weather: Use all the information at your disposal. Get a complete weather briefing and seek updates enroute. While every effort will be made to provide information with respect to specific hazards related to a flight, do not assume that air traffic services will provide this information without being asked.

Keep in mind that the detection of significant precipitation or electrical activity indicates the presence of a storm.

The specific hazards associated with thunderstorms such as turbulence and windshear are not easily detected.

Therefore, it is best to avoid all areas of convective activity.

Take timely decisions for avoiding areas of convective activity. The more notice ATS has of a required deviation, the more effectively they may accommodate your request.

Provide pilot reports when convective weather and its associated hazards are encountered.

1

TSB Report #A97Q0158 http://www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/air/1997/a97q0158/a97q0158.asp US NTSB Safety Alert #SA-11, October 2006 www.ntsb.gov/alerts/sa_011.pdf 3 TSB Report #A05H0002 http://www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/air/2005/a05h0002/a05h0002.asp 2

NOTICE OF THE

Annual General Meeting OF THE

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

Phone DISPATCH 656-2833 for details.

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A P AV E F E W D AVA I S P A C E S LABL E!

Please be advised that the Victoria Flying Club Annual General Meeting will be held

Thursday March 6th 2008 in the Member’s Lounge.

Wine and Cheese at 6:00 Meeting at 7:00 The Victoria Flying Club #101-1852 Canso Road Sidney BC V8L 5V5 656-2833

To all of you Club members who knew Andrea and Bjorn Olsen, this letter from Andrea is the follow-up to last month's promise of a photo of the new addition to the family. How happy we are for them. I think Erik looks like Dad Bjorn and Baby Elise resembles her lovely Mom. Congratulations and best wishes from VFC! Hello everyone!

On the 10th of February 2008 Bjorn and I were lucky enough to welcome a healthy little girl into our family. She arrived only 13 minutes after we arrived at the hospital!

Elise Mackenzie Olsen was born in the Tromso University Hospital at 0115 and weighed 3.7kg and was 50 cm long. She is a very calm baby who has let her parents sleep quite a bit since she was born.

Erik, at two and a half, is enjoying his new status as 'big brother' and relishing in all of the presents he is getting from people!

We hope that you are all doing well and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Andrea, Bjorn and Erik Olsen.

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.

To date, we have been able to create three 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!

SMILE CARD TOTAL TO DATE

$6080

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Wings Banquet The annual Wings Banquet held on February 24, 2008 was the usual pleasant affair and a pretty congenial crowd filled the Wardroom at CFB Esquimalt. After a few drinks to get a jump start on the proceedings, a great meal was served and the festivities began.

The Bursary winners were: Betty Wadsworth Award — Nancy Durocher Claude Butler Award — Jeremy Walz The Mike Cooper-Slipper Award — Simon Dennis And the three Thrifty’s Bursary’s went to Melanie Rosling, Howard Peng and Jessica Moir.

The Top Pilot was Graham Arts, and Top Flight Test was Robert Watson In all, the graduates included: Recreational Pilot Permit (RPP) – 2 Private Pilot (PPL) - 39 Commercial Pilot (CPL) – 14 Instructor Rating - 7

That’s an impressive grad class!

The guest speaker was Doug Perkins, an RCAF WW II pilot of the P 47 Thunderbolt; operationally P-47s entered service in 1942 with the US forces. The aircraft was heavily used in Europe as both a fighter and fighter-bomber. On ground attack missions the P-47s speed and firepower (2,500 lbs of ordnance plus 8 heavy machine guns) proved a devastating weapon in the hands of skilled pilots. This aircraft and the RAF Typhoon caused havoc to ground forces across western Europe.

Doug still flies his own Thorpe, that spiffy little taildragger in the VFC hangar.

It was a wonderful evening as always and congratulations to all the grads!

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

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VIEW…AND AIR PLA ITH A W NE M ST O O O R

Open 8am 4pm daily

O!

in the Victoria Flying Club

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

LICENSED

250.655.9395

Wings Banquet cont’d from P.12

Graham Arts

Yasuhiro Koide

Mike Chow

Nancy Durocher

Robert Watson

Tristan Nano

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P R I VAT E P I L O T G r o u n d s c h o o l Classes held Monday and Wednesday, 1900-2200

March

April

First Solo Tyler Bishop Nigel Smallwood Graham Wright Louis D. Lapointe

DATE

TOPIC

INSTRUCTOR

03

Meteorology

B. Thompson

05

Meteorology

B. Thompson

PPL Flight Test

10

Meteorology

B. Thompson

Marshall Hayward

12

Meteorology

B. Thompson

17

Meteorology

B. Thompson

Amit Nagar Sahil Bhatia

19

Human Factors

Brad Fraser

Private Pilot License

26

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

Kristen Ursel

31

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

02

Navigation

Emily Harvey

07

Navigation

Emily Harvey

09

Navigation

Emily Harvey

14

Radio and Electronic Theory

Mike Chow

16

Review (Tower Tour/Written Seminar)

John MacConnachie

21

Review

Brad Fraser

23

Theory of Flight & Licensing Requirements

Ian Watt

28

Aerodynamics Ian Watt

30

Airframes and Engines

Mike Chow

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

Apply at Reception at VFC with resume.

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

Achievements

needed.

CPL Flight Test

Welcome New Members!

Jamie Sargent Chris Rodgers David Beley Samuel Boudreault Tim Maler Graham Wright Mark Walcott David Beley Rahul Rathee Aditya Sharma Siddharth Srivastava Fred Anderka Peter Crowe Thomas Redhead Nicholas Rambold Julian Archer James White Dan Coy

The next COPA Board meeting will be in Victoria in April. Coincident with this meeting, a Meet the COPA Board session is planned at VFC on 5 April. ELTs and cross-border issues will be highlighted.

All the following information is from Gordon Boyce of COPA - Ed IATA and our federal government are very strong on the planned elimination of the 121.5 mhz ELT that is currently installed on all our aircraft. The plan is to no longer have the SARSAT satellites monitor this frequency. The “new ELT” is to operate on 406 mhz and this is the freq. that the satellites will monitor. As you may know, the military uses 406 now. The current estimated cost is about $4000 per a/c. The following is cut and pasted from http://copanational.org/non-members/index.htm.

Transport Canada effectively mandates 406 ELTs

by Kevin Psutka In the January edition of COPA Flight I explained the impending change in the regulation of Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) in Canada and COPA’s 10-year effort to seek low-cost alternatives. See ELT Options (français) article.

I reported agreement had been reached at a recent meeting between industry and Transport Canada on the wording for the revised regulation. I cautioned everyone that I do not usually report on the details of a regulatory change until the rule is in place because anything can happen as the issue works its way through the hallowed halls of government.

However, because of the short time horizon until owners will be required to invest in replacement technology (February 2009), I felt it was important to inform and educate everyone so that they can plan and purchase. I thought that we had achieved most of what we were seeking.

Well, CARC (a senior management committee of Transport Canada) has made significant changes to the wording so that low-cost alternatives to ELTs have all but been ruled out for our sector of aviation.

Also a big issue that the fact that the State of Maine is or is planning to tax any aircraft landing in the state, the tax being based on the value of the a/c. This would be done each time a Canadian pilot visits the state. I don’t know if this tax applies to US based a/c.

Hey – a legitimate complaint – Read on - Ed Pilots sue Maine over tax bills for bringing their planes into the state.

Pilots hit with hefty tax bills from the state of Maine are now suing over the issue. At least two pilots have sued, one of whom was assessed more than $25,000 in ‘use taxes’ after regularly flying his plane to a vacation home in the state, the Associated Press reported. Maine can collect the taxes, even if the plane isn’t bought there, if the plane spends more than three weeks inside the state in its first year of ownership. But Massachusetts pilot Steve Kahn, who said he bought his plane in 2002 and has been flying regularly up to Maine since then, didn’t get his first tax bill from Maine until last year. Other pilots have been hit by the use tax as well and are facing bills from $16,000 to $176,000 each. The lawsuits claim the state is interpreting its own tax laws incorrectly and that the assessments are unconstitutional. <http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5522927.html> Another issue is problems with flight plan transmission between Canada and the US, documentation required by the US Inland Security, lack of ADCUS notification, flight plan non-opening from the US side.

If you want to know what’s it’s all about, be there or be square!

April 5, Victoria, BC: Meet the COPA Board of Directors and COPA President Kevin Psutka at the Victoria Flying Club at 7 pm. Kevin will provide an update on issues and opportunities for our sector of aviation. This is a great opportunity to meet the COPA leadership and provide your feedback directly to them. Bring a non-member to hear about what COPA does for everyone’s freedom to fly.

Contact Kenneth Armstrong at aviator-horizon@telus.net.

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Flight Itinerary

March 08

DATE

PLACE

EVENT

CONTACT

April 5

Victoria, BC

Meet the President and Board of Directors Victoria Flying Club of the Canadian Owners & Pilots AssociationClub

Gerry Mants Manager, Victoria Flying 250-656-2833

May 30

Vernon, BC

Spring ‘Rust Remover’ Workshop Regional Airport Vernon Flying Club 08:30 to 16:00 hrs

Bill Wilkie COPA Flight 65 and the 250-260-1675 billwilkie@shaw.ca

July 19

Nimpo Lake, BC

BC Floatplane AGM COPA Flight 72 And Nimpo Lake Social, and Pancake Breakfast. Guests welcome.

Nimpo Lake Resort 250-742-3239 logan@xplornet.com

July 25

Concrete, Wa

Annual Old-Fashioned Fly-in at 3W5, Concrete Municipal Airport.

360-853-7114

Louis D. Lapointe (Emily Harvey)

First Solo

Graham Wright (Ian Watt)

as of Feb 15•08

Tyler Bishop (Mike Chow)

16

Nigel Smallwood (Marcel Poland)