Patricianoct08 f

Victoria Flying Club

October 2008

The Snow Birds in the Concorde formation over Clover Point, September 21, 2008.

More photos inside.

Inside

(Colin Williamson photo)

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Short Final

Letters to the Editor

Bears Air

In My Travels

To Brazil with N54CC

Seabee, Pilot 80th Birthday

Pemberton Snow Birds Flyout in Victoria

Eleanor’s

The

Patrician

S hort F inal

Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club

OCTOBER 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, October 23, 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

Here I am, back in good old Canada after a delightful European trip.

Most of September has seen fabulous weather. Wow! Lots of sunshine and clear skies – perfect for flying! I left the September Pat in the very capable hands of Larry Dibnah; his computer was, alas, somewhat less cooperative and chose that critical time to crash. The pesky things must lie in wait for an opportunity to cause the greatest trouble.

Open House We had good attendance at the VFC’s Career Day Open House and Mother Nature put on another sunny warm day to help things along. It was a pleasure to see some of the Club’s former instructors back again, doing their part to promote flying as a career. VIPs, that is, Visiting Important Pilots included Jason Ware, who is now flying a Caravan out of YVR, Jason Stewart and Ben Reid, both presently flying corporate jets and Angus Forsyth who works for the Manitoba Government Air Services flying a CL-215 water bomber. There was certainly a great deal of interest shown in the UVIC business administration diploma with the Aviation Option; this program jump-starts you right into an aviation career.

The two youngest attendees were ages 12 and 13, both boys champing at the bit to start flying.

Rocket Man Now the English Channel has been crossed by a Swiss airline pilot wearing jetpowered wings. Yves Rossy jumped from a plane at 2500 meters (8200’), fired up his four jet engines and crossed from Calais to Dover in 12 minutes. Louis Bleriot was the first to make the flight, 99 years earlier, covering the distance in 36 minutes. Of course, Bleriot was in a plane, Rossy was the plane. Both brave pilots making new records!

Wonder what record this dog is planning to make?

Thanksgiving Flyout Anyone?

How about another holiday flyout? If this good weather keeps up, maybe we can squeeze in one more. It’s happened in the past on Thanksgiving Monday; we’ve had a cold clear day perfect for flying. We actually flew to Hoquiam (KHQM) one year, and to Chilliwack another Thanksgiving. CYCW is the only nearby airport with an open eatery on stat holidays, so that could be a destination, or we could take a picnic and go to Gillies Bay. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and see if we can get in a final flyout on Monday, October 13.

Labour Day Flyout I wasn’t around for that one, but I understand there were quite a few participants and loads of photos taken. It was a fairly good day, not perfect, but good enough to get to Campbell River, Port Hardy and a stop at Powell River on the return flight. I hope by next month, someone will have sent some flyout pics to the Pat.

Blue Skies and Happy Thanksgiving…….Eleanor

Letters to the Editor Hello:

Below are the details of an upcoming event that is likely to be of great interest to some of your pilots.

Please join us on Sunday October 26th at 7 pm to learn about the work of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). MAF is a Christian organization whose mission is to fly light aircraft in developing countries so that people in isolated areas can receive the help they need.

Remi and Tjandra Van Wermeskerken and their family currently serve in the inhospitable terrain of Papua New Guinea. They will be visiting in Sidney, and by way of a slideshow, sharing some of their life and work in that part of the world.

Coffee fellowship to follow.

Sunday October 26th at 7 pm Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church 9296 East Saanich Road North Saanich 250-656-2241 From: Brian and Heather Gartshore [mailto:briangartshore@shaw.ca]

Hi Eleanor, How was your summer? This is an easy one. It’s a De Havilland Beaver.

Blue Skies, Liam Hi Folks That sure is an easy one. It is a DeHavilland Canada Beaver. And the photo shows it in its “natural setting” floating on a lake with mountains and trees in the background.

This is one of my favourite airplanes. I remember a few years back my wife and I watching one take-off near Gold River. The Beaver chugged out from the dock with that absolutely gorgeous low syncopated rumble they make and turned into the wind. The pilot applied the power and in next to no time the Beaver was in the air. What a great machine...and proudly Canadian!

Cheers Colin

Hi Eleanor, The mystery mammal for September is the Castor Canadensis (DHC-2 Beaver). The mystery photo has a modified rear passenger window (the original was a small circular window that gave limited visibility.

This is the aircraft that introduced me to the wonders of flying.

My great-uncle, Phil Garratt, was responsible for the development of the “flying pick-up truck” by de Havilland. CFPCG (s/n 1000) was my morning wakeup alarm when I was at the family cottage in Muskoka (north of Toronto). PCG was on amphibs and Phil commuted from the lake to de Havilland every weekday (the Pratt & Whitney started up at 6:30 am!). I remember flying all the way from the cottage to the de Havilland plant at Downsview in Toronto at what seemed like circuit altitude....Phil felt that if you couldn’t see details on the ground you were flying too high and missed the sights!

C-FPCG is still in active service, operated by Seair in Vancouver.

Dave Featherstonhaugh In reply to my suggestion of putting the DHC Beaver on our 5-cent coins as the definitive Canadian icon, Dave enlightens me: By the way, the beaver is already on a coin: the 1999 $20 commemorative aviation series. And uncle Phil is on the back of the coin!

Not withstanding that, I’d vote for the DHC Beaver on the nickel.

Then at least it would be worth something to us aviation fans....

Hi Eleanor, The Sept. flyout was a success. Doug Marin, Dan Waldie, myself and the other aircraft had a spectacular flight ending up at Port Hardy and home via the mainland side. We all realized why they call BC the best place on earth to live, scenery-wise anyway J Cheers, Rob And there I was in Germany and missed the flyout! – Hello Eleanor.

I read in the newsletter that you are in Germany. If you look skywards thinking you see a grey Centurion N54CC you are right, you do.

We flew here via all those cool Northern spots and are busily flying all over Europe; probably until the middle of next year.

Well, you sure get around. We’re still reading about the flight to Brazil in N54CC. And here’s another adventurous pilot back from an overseas flight in a single-engine Bonanza– ed

Letters to the Editor cont’d on p 4

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Letters to the Editor cont’d from p 3 Hi, Made it back from Europe this past Monday. No mishaps, good weather, and tailwinds over the ocean. Here is a picture taken after I landed at one of my favourite one-way mountain airstrips (5400’ elevation), right across the valley from Mont Blanc.

Perhaps you'd like to include this photo, too, in your upcoming newsletter? It was taken on approach for landing at Kulusuk, a

lonely gravel airport on an island by the east coast of Greenland. As you can see, we had wonderful weather, and because our next destination on the west coast of Greenland was likely to see fog, we decided to overnight in Kulusuk. We found it a magically beautiful place.

Cheers, Raymond

Here is the explanation of the September Mystery Plane

That was an easy one!

It is indeed the iconic Canadian DHC-2 Beaver.

Thanks to all who wrote.

OCTOBER Mystery of the Month In honour of Hallowe'en, we present an "aeroplane costume".

1.) What is it supposed to be? and 2.) where can it be found?

Send your educated guesses to

PatricianEditor@shaw.ca

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Flying in the North… a Journal Entry

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rom 8,500 feet the view to the south validated the weather briefing of one hour ago. The towering cumulus cloud and thunderstorms formed along a line from Prince George running north-east, leaving the promise of a relatively uneventful flight to the south-west.

My destination leaving Chetwynd was Vanderhoof and the route would easily skirt the systems.

MacKenzie slid by off my right wingtip, and I made a mental note that I’d possibly be sent back there in a few days. Another thirty miles clicked off on the GPS before the first signs of trouble came up under me. A shallow layer of cloud was forming directly ahead, but appeared harmless enough. I flew on over top of it into a darkening sky, and soon more towering cumulus cloud boiled up from the gloom, turning the entire sky into thick soup.

I attempted to get down under it all, but even at about 500 feet above ground, I could see darkness toward my destination, now less than 30 miles to the southwest. Time for a 180 degree turn, and get the heck out of there.

This wasn’t forecast to be over this far west. MacKenzie, here I come!

The company I’m working for has a facility in MacKenzie, consisting of an old terminal building with pilots’ quarters upstairs. It’s not been used since the previous air service abandoned it a few years back. Still in pretty decent repair, it appears the staff simply got up and walked out one day, leaving everything behind. The desks, computers, fax machines, weigh scale, passenger waiting room, baggage tags …. Everything in place to come to work for the next day. But, they never came back. It’s a totally eerie place. The magazines in the waiting room are all at least three years old, and the calendars on the wall are dated May, 2006. The Twilight Zone comes to mind.

BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek

There’s not much else going on at this airport. A small charter company runs up Williston Lake in a Grand Caravan transporting groceries and passengers in and out of Fort Ware and a couple of other villages and reserves up there. They also serve the dwindling number of mining camps.

With all the logging abandoned, I wonder if this airline will be viable much longer.

So, here I sit, in solitude with my computer. Yes, there is still electricity and running water in this building, but no internet. There’s an old Chevy Van parked outside, with some keys hanging on the wall. I found a battery charger and managed to start it for a run into the town for some food.

There are canned beans, soups and old boxes of cereal in the kitchen upstairs, but who knows how old that stuff is.

It’s quite an experience.

The feeling of isolation and loneliness is made worse by the steady downpour and thick, black cloud overhead for the past two days. There’s a radio here, but CBC and the local “best rock, 101.9, the RIVER” just don’t do much for me. And of course, there’s no TV. The Forestry crews we fly around are not working until Monday. And we still don’t know where they want to fly from. So I might be working from right here, or from Prince George or from back in Smithers again. It’s all uncertain, but I’m OK with that. In fact, everything is OK. It’s all good.

It’s not even 21:00 hrs. yet, and I can’t believe that even way up north here, around 56 degrees latitude, the days are so short already. Summer is almost over. In fact one would think it was a severe autumn day today with this wind and cold.

I have worn shorts/t-shirts exactly three days this entire summer.

Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net

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Of Snowbirds, Red Arrows and Thunderbirds I got the photos, but Larry Dibnah had the information…-Ed The BAE Hawk that the Red Arrows fly is slightly different from Canada’s CT-114 Tutors. The BAE Hawk, first flown in 1974, is powered by a Rolls Royce turbofan engine which can deliver 5,340 lbs thrust thus giving the aircraft a top speed of 630 mph. The Tutor, first flown in 1960, is powered by a General Electric J85 turbojet engine which can deliver 2,633 lbs of thrust to give the aircraft a top speed of 498 mph.

Both aircraft are primarily used as trainers by their respective air forces. The Hawk can also be configured with heavier armaments than the Tutor can although the Tutor is rarely used in the combat training role.

Red arrows ...The Red Arrows in the Concorde formation, as flown on the cover by the Snowbirds

The US Air Force ‘Thunderbirds’ demonstration team is currently flying the General Dynamics F-16 fighter. The F-16 is a high performance air superiority aircraft and therein differs from the Tutor and the Hawk. The aircraft is powered by a Pratt & Whitney, two-shaft, afterburning turbo fan engine which can produce up to 24,000 lbs of thrust. The F16’s top speed can reach Mach 1.95. Interestingly, the F-16 can be used as an advanced trainer in the combat role.

Thunderbirds: The US Aerobatic on the ground at this year's Abbotsford Airshow (Tristan Nano photo)

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Lucky me!

I happened to be in London on the very day that the Olympic flag was handed over to the Brits for the 2012 Summer Games.

The Mall was crowded with revelers, food vendors and souvenir stands, but the big event was the flypast of the Red Arrows up the Mall with the right break over Buckingham Palace. Then they were gone.

-ed.

In My Travels

by Larry Dibnah

The Lockheed T-33/CT-133 Silver Star The Silver Star is more often referred to as the T-33 or T-Bird. Officially designated as CT-133, the Silver Star has a long and distinguished history with the Canadian Forces. The world’s first purposebuilt jet trainer, the T-33 evolved from the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star which was America’s first successful jet fighter and which briefly flew operationally during the Second World War. Initially known as the P-80C, the trainer variant flew better than its single seat cousins. Powered by an Allison J33-35 single-shaft, turbojet engine with a thrust rating of 5,200 lbs, the improvements to the trainer meant it climbed faster, cruised better and overall was slightly faster than the fighter version.

In May 1949, the designation for the aircraft was officially switched to T-33. The Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF’s) first introduction to the aircraft followed two years later, when the first of twenty Lockheed built T-33As were delivered on loan. The aircraft were known to the RCAF was the Silver Star Mk 1. This first batch was followed by a second loan of ten more aircraft. On 13 September 1951, Canadair signed a license agreement with Lockheed to build T-33 aircraft for the RCAF. The Canadair built version known internally as the CL-30 (and as the T-33ANX

by Lockheed and the USAF) was to be powered by an uprated Nene 10 engine licensed by Rolls Royce and supplied by Orenda Ltd of Canada. Once in production, the aircraft were designated T-33 Silver Star Mk 3 by the RCAF. Variations included versions for armament training (AT), photo-reconnaissance (PR) and pilot training (PT). Initially, the RCAF ordered 576 aircraft. Eventually, a total of 656 aircraft would be delivered to the RCAF between 1952 and 1959. The “T-Bird” has served in a wide variety of RCAF, Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Forces units while performing many useful roles before its retirement in 2002.

The British Columbia Aviation Museum in Victoria has completed the restoration of a Lockheed/Canadair T-33 Mark 3 which is now on display in its main hangar.

The following specifications pertain to the BCAM’s T-33: Power Plant: one Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turbojet rated at 5,100 lbs thrust Span: 37 ft, 7.5 ins.

Length: 37 ft, 8.6 ins.

MTO Weight: 16,800 lbs (Pilot Trainer), 18,400 lbs (Armament Trainer) Max Speed 505 knots IAS/Mach 0.8 Fuel Cap 677 Imperial Gallons (internal), 192 Imperial Gallons (tip tanks) References and photos: British Columbia Aviation Museum,‘Defense Canada’ website and RCAF.com

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March 4th

a z i l with N r B 54CC To

Manaus – Cuiaba

Now, brimming with possibly the most expensive kerosene on the planet, off we go to Cuiaba. The rain forest seems endless. It seems inconceivable that man could make a dent in this vastness. About half way to Cuiaba no more Jungle. A few trees have been left alongside the rivers but otherwise it has all been cleared to plant Soya. So much for the endless Amazon jungle.

Everywhere we stop in Brazil people come to look at the aircraft. There are lots of working aircraft in Brazil, lots of Cessna 210’s as well, but not with the turbine. Here we meet Elton, a local pilot who kindly drives us into town where he introduces us to the local cuisine.

March 5th Finally we arrive in Sao Paulo. One of the reasons for opting to file and fly IFR is to avoid the local VFR procedures we would not be familiar with, but now even the IFR approach controllers are asking us to do all sorts of things and follow routes we have never heard about, so we arrive at Sao Paulo Marte with a little less than our normal professional aplomb. It seems there is no IFR arrival into Marte - that we knew - but trying to spot the airport buried amongst the high rise buildings would have been well nigh impossible without the GPS. As we will be flying in and out of Marte we feel that we should familiarize ourselves with local procedures so I leave Bob sitting quietly sorting out his e/mails and wander about the airport trying sort out their arrivals and departures. There are published corridors all around the city clearly unknown to Jeppesen. The local flying club isn’t a great deal of help and the map shop is selling 1:1,000,000 sectionals that look 30 years old. The military feel that 1:500,000 reveals too much detail (must be a secret!) for us lowly civil pilots so the map store doesn’t stock them. So I am now on the scrounge: I bum a 20year-old sectional from a local instructor, borrow a VFR corridor chart from a wall on a sort of permanent basis, and forget about the LE charts that here are to be had by subscription only. Sao Paulo Marte is home to the Police helicopter force, two or three other helicopter outfits, a

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small flying school and some Private and Corporate aircraft. It is the helicopters that keep the place busy; there are dozens of sexy French machines zipping from Rio to Sao Paulo and from rooftop to rooftop with their cargo of glitterati. Remember the Garmins? We have finally updated the GPS data bases and will rely on the two of them as our primary navigation source; this is what all the local pilots do anyway.

So, now we have flown thousands of miles to get the aircraft down here to Brazil, it is time to see what is in store for us. The purpose of bringing the aircraft all this way is to demonstrate how much more effectively people can be moved to destinations within 250 miles of Sao Paulo when using an aircraft as opposed to ground transport. Bob’s colleagues, Gillian and Stephan, meet us here but seem somewhat skeptical about the aircraft’s capabilities. We put Bob’s theory to the test with plans to visit several towns during the coming week. Getting off the ground looks to be reasonably straightforward but the bureaucracy takes forever. After a couple of days of being late everywhere, we begin to develop a routine. Landing, navigation & parking fees must all be paid before anything else can happen. This takes 40 minutes, minimum.

Weather is the easiest step, the same as the rest of the world with the exception of colour satellite photos of severe weather. These cannot be printed so I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the computer screen in

Looking forlorn in Cuiaba

order to take the pictures with me. The operators are all military who seem to think a camera is an offensive weapon but once I explain what I am up to they are perfectly cooperative, even giving up their computer terminals for me as this is easier than trying to communicate. Next is flight plan filing; I thought I had mastered the flight plan form decades ago but here in Brazil a comma won’t do, it’s a colon; this goes here, not there; the slashes are backward, not forward…... as if it matters anyway, when the operator simply types the information into the form on his screen!

Everyday Amazonian weather…

In the days that follow clear blue skies give way to isolated cumulus and towering cumulus, which in turn gives way to layered strato cumulus with the cumulonimbus embedded. Still hot and sticky, though. At last we are getting away from large airports and even start to find dirt ones! Piracicaba, Araraquara, Aracatuba, Penapolis all have a paved runway but no control, just sometimes an airport traffic frequency. What they all have in common though, is a man to collect money. Even for an hour’s wait on the ground the fee is $50. We have, out of necessity, taken off with no flight plan at all and find it easy to pick up a clearance, either VFR or IFR, from a Centre controller, so that’s the end of a lot of interminable paperwork as far as I am concerned. I think once we learn the system it will work very well; there is clearly a way to avoid the bureaucracy that all the helicopter pilots are familiar with. Perhaps we can duck some of these fees if we have a Brazilian registered aircraft; we’ll see.

To use the aircraft effectively for us means landing at the closest airport to the towns we want to visit. This usually

means IFR/VFR or VFR instead of IFR using the GPS which is simple enough until the weather clouds over and rain showers reduce the ceilings and visibilities to below IFR minima. Now I take a step back 20 years, and start scud running about the place trying to pick a way around these cells, or under them if the visibility is not too bad, keeping a sharp eye out for power lines, towers and the like put there, it seems, just to scare low flying aeroplanes.

We land in Jaboticabal, a clay strip about 3000 feet long where I leave Bob, Gillian and Stephan. Just as well, as it is certainly a little too short and too soft for a successful take-off with everyone aboard at gross weight and 34 degrees Celsius. Then Bob rings and asks me to have a look at the strip at Valpariso, it being much closer to the plant they we are visiting. Should be long enough as it is home to a King Air. I don’t think I was able to get above 400’ for this flight at all, but Bob’s co-ordinates are exact and there it is: 3000 feet of 6 inch tall wet grass with 8 foot of sugar cane at either end making it even shorter. Your man in his King Air could certainly get in but would have to get out on the back of a truck. The Ag Wagon firmly tethered at one end tells a story.

The next few days prove frustrating as low ceilings and poor visibility limit the possibilities of getting in and out of Sao Paulo Marte. But go we do, mixing it with the helicopters in the VFR corridors. Now we are getting used to them we find these corridors work really well, but hills and obstructions are often much higher than the altitudes we are using in order to maintain some sort of decent forward visibility. We land at Americana being unable to get into Piracicaba; a local pilot tells us we aren’t allowed to continue as planned but we feel we are getting a bit of a handle on this now so just ignore him and climb into the system, talk to Campinas Approach who give us exactly what we ask for. Couldn’t be easier.

I wish we had some more work to do down here so we could further show off the capabilities of this aircraft. Up until now we have been limited by our own unfamiliarity with the system. There is no way we could have prepared better than we did before coming down but now I think we have the expertise to make the most of the aircraft.

There are airports everywhere; many are Private I am sure, but none of them would challenge the performance capabilities of this kind of aircraft.

To Brazil cont’d on p 16

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a Seabee, a Pilot and an 80th Birthday I’m sure many readers will remember seeing Seabee CF-EJE on the ramp at CYYJ. It belonged to the late Dr. Arthur Nash, long-time member and director of VFC. In 1959, Dr. Nash sold EJE to Grant Stephens, who received the magnificent and edible model of the beloved aircraft on his 80th birthday.

Grant continues: My brother Victor and I were looking for an airplane to buy and share in November 1969. I had some knowledge of Seabees and when we were told that Dr. Nash was considering selling his we were ready. We were based at the Courtenay airpark and flew it a lot in those years. I subsequently bought my brothers share when he moved to Victoria. Altogether I had 13 years of great fun. It was still in good flying condition when I sold it to an airman at CFB Comox and I have since lost track of it.

The association with this airplane has left its mark on me. Due to its distinctiveness, all my friends and family connect that airplane to me. This is why they decided a Seabee cake was a good 80th birthday cake. Barbara Helme who lives near us in the Nahatlatch River valley 18km from Boston Bar made the cake. I understand it took about 3 hours to do the decorating. Barb has done other cakes I have seen in the past but this one “TAKES THE CAKE”. I could not have a better birthday present.

When we bought the Seabee from Dr. Nash he was about my age now and I sure know how hard it was for him to part with it. He kept it in great condition as I did. Strangely enough it was not a high maintenance airplane as it had been built to take rough water and had simple construction.

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Because of its unique design there are many people who have strange ideas about it, mostly wrong. It is a big docile airplane with no bad habits and does just what it was designed to do.

I had the great pleasure of spending the day with Percival Spenser at his home in California. He was the designer of the Seabee and was a very interesting and friendly man. At the time I met him he was the oldest licensed pilot in the USA, and had celebrated his 80th birthday some time before by test flying a new design. He was holding a valid license into his 90’s and lived to be near 100 I believe. He looked up my Seabee in his logbook and told me he was the test pilot for that one which was serial number 72.

Seabees were built by Republic Aviation in the factory that produced the Thunderbolt fighter during the war so they had some idea of what they were doing.

It is interesting to remember an aircraft design that Spencer created called the Trigull 320. The prototype and many parts were built in a hangar in Victoria.

This was a fine airplane but fell to political hassling and was never to be put into production. What a shame.

Please give Barbara Helme the credit she deserves for the cake.

With pleasure - ed

Better late than never - here is the tale of the BC Day flyout to Pemberton. It was also the day our Prime Minister visited VFC to meet the Snowbirds who had made a pass over the city to celebrate BC's 150th birthday.-ed

Your bank card – don’t leave Chilliwack without it!

A

fter a couple of false starts this year (apologies to those who did the flight on Canada Day), the BC Day flyout successfully got to Pemberton. The weather was absolutely perfect (finally!) and we could see every inch of the awe-inspiring scenery associated with a trip anywhere east of YVR. Making the trip were Tim Martin in his own 172 (UPA), George Andrew, Ted Krasowski and myself in PFW (all three flying in this area for the first time), and Eleanor with flying partner Tom Cook and his daughter Rob in MEK. Other potential ‘flyouters’ had either gone to CYPS in July, wanted to “save up” for Abbotsford the next weekend, or were enjoying the BC150 celebrations throughout the province, including the Snowbirds’ abbreviated show over Victoria’s Inner Harbour. Later, the team met Prime Minister Stephen Harper at YYJ – and invaded the Dakota Café, but that’s another story. (See photos page ???) ) UPA led the way, PFW was next and MEK was just a few minutes behind. All of us flew via Bowen Island-WhistlerSquamish, past Mt. Garibaldi and the Castle Rock peak that sticks up like a tooth. Both George’s and my cameras were quite busy while Ted flew the first leg. Approaching from the west, we came around the corner to YPS and the view of the valley, right up against the mountains, was impressive. The town had been cleaned up pretty well after that big music festival the week before.

passed us at 5500’ (we were at 4500); he also acted as a radio relay when we tried to contact Kamloops FIC to revise our ETA at Chilliwack – he had to ask a third plane to pass it along, but FIC got our message. Thanks to both pilots for your help.

The mandatory pies (and one salad) were enjoyed in YCW. “What in the world is a Flapper?” It has Graham cracker crust, custard centre and meringue topping and is pretty good.

When you’re paying your bill, it’s very easy to get distracted: flight planning, maybe a picture beneath the “I Fly For Pie” sign, and the recommended stop at “The Loo” (after all, it’s an hour to Victoria).

Ensure you have your bank card with you…somebody left it behind and didn’t discover the oversight until Tuesday (it was mailed back).

It was an enjoyable, very smooth flight for the seven explorers, with lots of mountains, lakes, and rivers with those surprising colours.

New item for your pre-departure checklist: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR BANK CARD.

The seven flyers were greeted by members of the Pemberton Flying Club and also visited the Soaring Club, enjoying the shade of their grapevine covered pergola. (Ramp temperature was 118°F according to the OAT on MEK.) Chris and her husband drove us to the nearby golf club restaurant in an air-conditioned (thankfully) Toyota Corolla. After lunch and a picture or two, Eleanor, Tom and Rob departed for Victoria via the VFR route to Howe Sound and the other two planes headed to Chilliwack.

George flew the homeward legs and over Lillooet River and Lake, we speculated on why its water is so green.

The answer: “It’s suspended particles or flocculation from the glacier that feeds the lake.” About halfway along, Tim

rton Flye b m out Pe 11

Environment Canada and the Victoria Airport Authority have declared VFC’s two underground fuel tanks a potential bio-hazard and have ordered their removal before June 25, 2012.

This will incur significant cost to the Club; in excess of $125 K for the removal of two 12,000 litre old tanks and the installation of a new above-ground tank. These funds must be raised from the membership and will mean an increase in rates and other charges.

$

We would appreciate hearing from the membership with any ideas about fund-raising.

Hi, Does it not seem slightly redundant to call fuel tanks at an airport a potential environmental risk? And I thought it was going to cost the club a lot of money just to upgrade the transponders by February 2009…..

Sadly I cannot think of any fundraising ideas off the top of my head but I pledge my support to club if they have to increase rates due to this.

Mike Ketler Thanks Mike! That’s the spirit! -ed

”Here's to you, Rob & the great staff at Island Blue.

thanks

Thanks for printing 50 copies of the Patrician every month and for supplying us with 100 copies of the September issue, all free of charge.

Cheers!“

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!

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SMILE CARD TOTAL TO DATE

$6701

$

Anayas Rai (Trevor Mann) Damon McLellan (Simon Dennis)

Alex Derksan (Yasuhiro Koide)

Rob Evans (Ian Watt)

Paul Whyte (Simon Dennis)

First Solo

Derek Kelland-Vally (Mike Chow)

as of September 15•08

Dirk Pritchard (Simon Dennis) Mitch Firman (Ian Watt)

Yuya Kakumoto (Yasuhiro Koide)

Jordan Ofiesh (Simon Dennis)

Emil Edwards (Ian Watt) John Verbeeten (Trevor Mann)

Congratulations to Riley Bennett who made his first solo in September.

Riley is just 14 years old and we will have his photo and a story in the November Pat.

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BC Day, 2008 will be especially remembered by the staff and members who happened to be at the club in the early afternoon.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a surprise visit when he arrived at VFC to meet the Snow Birds aerobatic team. The team had put on a brief show over the Inner Harbour and will be back for a full performance later in September to celebrate BC's 150th birthday.

Mr. Harper, the consummate politician, talks to Colby and Jade.

Colby and Jade watch theSnow Birds from MEK's parking spot. (MEK was in Pemberton on the flyout.)

Jason Stewart was on hand with his camera at the right time to get these photos.

The Blown Tire Last month’s little story had the Hirondelle Airlines jet land just after a rainstorm and blow a tire. Pilot Stan Neilson was adamant that he’d had a greaser and had not used brakes. However, after receiving a picture of the “unblown” tire, Chief Johnnie could see evidence of “reverted” rubber; a condition that usually follows an encounter with dynamic hydroplaning, during which time the pilot may have the brakes locked in an attempt to slow the aircraft. Pilot Stan may not have realized it, but he must have had the brakes on to produce the results shown.

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

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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

Many thanks to Many thanks to Colin Williamson who sent a number of fine Snowbird photos, and to Archie Wells who also sent photos taken from the ramp at VFC when the team put on a surprise mini-show on Saturday, Sept. 20, right over CYYJ. We've been very lucky this year with the BC Day appearance of the Snowbirds and even better, their several appearances in the skies over Victoria in the days before and after the main airshow over Clover Point on Sunday, September 21st. Snowbird Commander, Major Robert Mitchell, a graduate of Esquimalt High, led his team in a show over the school on Thursday the 18th. On Monday after the main show, the Snowbirds once again roared over the city in a tight formation as they departed.

snowbirds in victoria

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To Brazil cont’d from p 9 contract negotiations and the client would like to make the most of the MOU signing with a show of publicity in Ribeirao Preto 300km away. If we managed to depart Sao Paulo Marte we might not be able to return owing to the low cloud so this agreement will have to be finalized at arm’s length. Depending on what Gillian has in store, Bob and I

Welcome New Members!

Zale Bonnett Kevin Melling John Faux Terry Salman Rudy Schwabe James Abbott Cory Hall Hannah Nawroth Kim Sterling Terry Siklenka Kevin Smith Michael Lozupone Cherry Lozupone Amanda Bonney Andrew Horsburgh Jatinder Parmar Mike Anderson Ben Hess

might be able to start our trip homeward by looking for a hole in the Andean wall, leaving Gillian to do the business here in Brazil. On the other hand, Gillian may have something else for Bob to do tomorrow; no mercy. As it happens we are able to leave tomorrow. Thank you Gillian.

Part 4 of this amazing and amusing story next month!

Achievements

Richard Fisher Jr. Wolfgang Zilker Tomohisa Sudo Ross Thompson Russell Faminoff Ashley Greenly Joshua Braithwaite David A. Trujillo Charles Encell Doug Peers Rob Hodgson Christopher Supeene Amanda Olsen Christine Jansen Isis Hall Jordan Byng James Anson Franck Oddoux

First Solo

PPL Written Test

Alex Derksan Jordan Ofiesh Mitchell Firman Derek Kelland-Vally Paul Whyte Damon McLellan Dirk Pritchard Rob Evans Emil Edwards Riley Bennett Yuya Kakumoto Anayas Rai

Alexander Tay Gord Hahn Hernan Pizarro James Whiten Chris Rodgers Rebecca Bissett Aditya Sharma Tyler Bishop Nikhil Pathare

PPL Flight Test

James White Rebecca Bissett

Cat IV Instructor Flight Test

CPL Flight Test

Tim Parfitt

Leon Le Chasseur Ryan Smith Raj Negi Chris Rodgers Jessica Dearman Nikhil Pathare Nolan Labach Danielle Pomeroy

Private Pilot License

Instrument Written Karim Gharios

IFR Written Chris Matheison

RPP Written Test Elmar Hegenauer

IFR Renewal Graham Palmer

Arvind Kumar Alexis Pryor Oops, these 3 names were misspelled.

Nolan Labach Mohamed Motala Terrance Jalman

Wouldn’t you rather be flying?

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

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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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W…AND AI H A VIE RPL T I AN W M ES O O TO R

Open 8am 4pm daily

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in the Victoria Flying Club

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

250.655.9395