Patriciansept07 3

Victoria Flying Club

September 2007

Inside

Renee Kraft snapped this photo of the Brenda Mine site while en route to Vernon with pilot Chris Peschke.

The BC Day flyout to CYVK was a qualified success. Find out why story and photos on page 6.

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15

Short Final

Letters to the Editor

Bears Air

Vernon Flyout

In My Travels

First Solos

A Flight to Oregon

2500 Mile Voyage

Flight Itinerary

Eleanor’s

The

Patrician

S hort F inal

Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club

SEPTEMBER 2007 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, September 20, 2007.

Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors

Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Jeremy Prpich Colin Dormuth 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.

250.383.7777

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NAV Canada advises that 1-800-INFOFSS will be decommissioned on August 31, 2007. In the future please call 1-866-992-7433, 1-866-WXBRIEF or 1-866-4663836, 1-866 GO METEO for service in French. That little note from the Club was a surprise to me. I thought INFOFSS was long gone!

More on the Pilot Shortage I read in the National Post that 17,000 extra pilots will be needed annually over the next 20 years just to accommodate the new aircraft that companies have ordered! “’The pilot shortage is going to be incredible,’ says Dan Mahoney, a former US Airways pilot and aviation safety consultant. ‘Everyone is flying, they’ve got hundreds of aircraft on order and they need pilots....’” North American pilots are being lured away by China, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East which are booming and can offer better-paying jobs. Looks like now is the best time to learn to fly.......

Flyouts VFC brought back the popular club activity after a two-year hiatus. Only three flyouts were scheduled for the 2007 season, and the success was mixed. The Victoria Day Flyout to Gillies Bay for a picnic ended up going to Tofino, because of weather. Nothing wrong with that, but it shows how fickle Mother Nature can be. The Canada Day flight to Boeing Field and a baseball game was undoubtedly the most successful of the three. Hurray! BC Day was a splendid day in Victoria, but the proposed flyout to Vernon didn’t quite come off as expected, owing, once again to weather. Three or four planes made the flight VFROTT and another three or four returned to YYJ and later headed to Qualicum. Still, not bad. Any day flying is good and all in all, this year’s flyouts met with much better weather than that of past years.

So, now it’s time to consider the possibility of a few Club flyouts in 2008 – everyone who participated had such a good time that I feel we should try it again. Where would you like to go?

Makes Scents

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What a strange summer it has been! Hot days, cold days, cloud, rain – lots of it – and wind. Now we can all hope for an Indian summer; a nice hot, clear September. I love flying in good autumn weather with those deep blue cloudless skies and crisp air. Keep your fingers crossed! I hope to see lots VFC members at the Indian Summer Party on Sunday, September 2 at the Club.

I recently read that a liquor store in Halifax is using scents to bring in the dollars – the smell of new-mown grass to sell beer, the aroma of French bread to sell wine....

SEASIDE designs & photography

I love that airplane smell of the Club’s Cessnas. Mmmm! Too bad we can’t bottle it! It’s an indefinable something that makes me want to head into the (not too) Wild Blue Yonder as soon as I get in the cockpit....

Blue Skies and a Happy Indian Summer Everyone!

Eleanor

Letters to the Editor Hi Eleanor This is the full fleet of Boeing. It goes 777, 767, 757, 747,737,727,717 and 707.

It is missing the new 787 dreamliner because it was rolled out on July 8th, 2007.

Liam Hey Eleanor, Aircraft left to right: Boeing 777, Boeing 767, Boeing 757, Boeing 747, Boeing 737, Boeing 727, Boeing 717, Boeing 707 The missing aircraft: Boeing 787 Reason: There likely wasn’t a model at the time this photo was taken.

The photo was taken at Boeing Field (KBFI) in Seattle. It took me a while to figure out which airport it was (after looking at photos of KPAE and locations of major airshows, it hit me).

P.S. The aircraft in the top left, is that the 747LCF (Dreamlifter)? The photo quality is not good enough for me to be able to tell if it is the LCF or just a regular 747. Thanks!

Matthew G. I thought the Concorde in the background would be a dead giveaway that it was the Museum of Flight at KBFI, but the quality of the photo was poor. I sent Matthew the original file and he had this to say:

P.S. After looking very closely at the aircraft, you can see the B767 is in Delta’s newest livery. I attached a better photo of the Lifter to this email.

Thanks very much!

Matthew Goodwin

Hi Eleanor I finally got to read through the (August) Pat. Interesting story on Alcock & Brown! I read the book on their flight some years ago. That’s a good idea having some printed copies! I didn’t see any..but will pick one up if there are any left... Hope all is well. Cheers! Al A big thank you to Rob Shemilt and Island Blue for printing 50 copies of the Patrician each month. It’s great to see the Pat on the web, but the hands-on, hard copy version is proving to be very popular. I love it! You’ll find them on the Dispatch desk at the Club.

Thank you very much for sending me this photo. Another interesting note, if you follow the angle of the PORT wing of the B777 you’ll see the Boeing 747LCF otherwise known as the Dreamlifter. If you aren’t aware... the Dreamlifter will be used to carry Dreamliner parts from the various factories in Kansas, Japan and Italy to the factory in Everett, Washington (where the final assembly line is located).

SEPTEMBER Mystery of the Month This aircraft is, in my estimation, one of the most beautiful aircraft ever created. Like many other aircraft of its type and era, it was designed as a civilian airliner but was pressed into service with the military as well. The aircraft served with distinction in both roles. Very few examples are still flyable today.

Larry Dibnah

Send your educated guesses to

patricianeditor@shaw.ca

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Here is the explanation of the August Mystery Plane.

I'll bet everyone loved this photo, although I heard from only two of you. Here is the entire Boeing 700 series lined up in front of the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. Check out this website for more photos and information about this momentous event! Many thanks to Al Whalley for - Ed

finding the story.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/322898_dreamliner08.html Amid all the 787 roll-out hoopla, perhaps the coolest event went unnoticed. On Saturday night, Boeing had all of the 787 airline representatives at an event at the Museum of Flight. At 7:07 PM, an Omega Air Refueling Services 707 landed in front of the crowd (after taking off from Paine Field in Everrett).

At 7:17, an AirTran 717 landed. This continued until 8:17 when an Air France 777-300ER landed. In the end, the 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777 were lined up nose-to-tail on the taxiway. It is the first time Boeing has had every 7-series airplane in the same place (not counting the 787, which couldn't make the flight, of course).

Wouldn’t you rather be flying?

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Pilot Numbers and Leaving Flying to the Birds

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f you check the latest Transport Canada numbers, you’ll be humbled by the reality of our situation as pilots in this country. In our own little world, and I do mean little, we’re sometimes caught up in the misguided belief that we carry a lot of weight, political clout and meaningful presence in the community. But the reality is pilots, roughly 61,500 of us, make up less than one quarter of one percent of the Canadian population. Zero point one eight percent (0.18%) actually, and that includes all commercial, private, recreational, ultralight, balloon, glider and gyrocopter pilots. Commercial pilots number .06%, the remaining hold private licenses. It should come as no surprise that we find ourselves regulated to death, overcharged for fuel, parking, landing, hangars, insurance, medicals, licenses, certifications, navigation and facility fees. Politicians and bureaucrats can afford to ignore our complaints and suggestions. When one citizen out of four hundred requests something from his government, there’s not a chance in hell that he will be taken seriously.

We fight back with letters to aviation publications and by talking it up at flying club meetings. But non-pilots and government people don’t read or talk about flying, so are rarely aware of our complaints. We join forces through COPA and similar organizations to increase our lobby. Through associations, we do enjoy some inroads and progress, however, the bottom line is our membership base does not carry a really big stick.

The narcissists among us would point to the respect that pilots enjoy from the general public. They compare aerobatic pilots with professional hockey or football players, and boast airshow crowds numbering in the tens of thousands each year would indicate support for aviation. The truth is, spectators watch, then go away.

They have no idea of the rules and costs in aviation.

They don’t want to know, simply because it’s way too complicated. Like income tax laws. At the same time, there is an element out there, the left wing individuals and groups, who not only don’t support aviation, but they’re intent on getting more out of the rich airplane owners. To them, hockey players and pilots are a source the government is ignoring at tax time.

New regulations are constantly piled on all the existing hoops we jump through. The same regulatory climate could never apply to motor vehicles. There are far too

BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek

many motorists in the country to risk that kind of enforcement. It boils down to a question of numbers, and which groups can be most easily controlled.

Some pilots turn to radio controlled model flying. They live vicariously through the hand-held transmitter commanding their planes through aerobatic displays, the likes of which cannot be achieved in the real aircraft. And even if these fellows have never even left the solid ground themselves, their particular flying skills are every bit as sharp, if not sharper than most who must be inside their planes to fly.

So far, there’s not much governing of RC models, other than where they can and can’t be flown. Common sense and some local noise rules at the municipal level are about all there is. Obviously, it’s a different kind of flying and is not for everyone. But it’s flying, and still relatively easy and open to anyone.

If flying is still your passion, and for some reason a Cessna or an RC model won’t fit the bill, how about this. A remote controlled pigeon. There’s a robot engineering technology research centre at a university in China that is experimenting with micro electrodes placed in the brains of pigeons. These implants stimulate areas of the brain, depending on signals sent from a computer, and cause the bird to fly left, right, up or down at the whim of the “pilot”. Similar experiments have been underway since 2005 on mice, and it’s all been quite successful. The success is presumably measured by the degree of control the researcher is able to exert over the subject animal.

The reports don’t detail the susceptibility of the pigeon to crash if the person at the controls fails to enter the correct inputs.

The technology is very advanced, but work continues on improvements so it can be put into practical use. The Chinese scientists didn’t specify what that practical use might be. Should it ever become prominent in North America, you can be sure every animal rights group would be on top of it, along with Transport Canada and the FAA. Nav Canada would likely find a way to charge a fee too. There’s nothing particularly endearing about pigeons in my mind, but still, I somehow doubt we’ll see anything like controlling them with a remote anytime in the near future. Don’t believe this research is about controlling flight. There are bigger goals involved here.

More on that later.

Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net 5

VFC Vernon Flyout 6 August 2007

by Chris Peschke

The sixth of August promised to be a spectacular day weather-wise and that certainly turned out to be so. The mob of VFC planes started leaving Victoria shortly after 0900 and we climbed out into the beautiful clear blue skies. I was joined by Renee, a PPL student, and Renata, a swim fanatic and all around adventuress, for the journey. Due to flow control, initially it looked like we were going to be kept pretty low by ATC but by skirting along the Canada-US border, ATC soon had GSN climbing to 9500 feet for a straight over the mountains run. Alas, our little group was soon reduced to one aircraft as a low overcast across the Strait of Georgia extending across the lower mainland soon had airplanes turning back. Pressing on VFR Over the Top going NDB to NDB (well, the GPS was a handy backup), it was clear skies by Chilliwack and we were ogling Mount Baker at 9500 feet in no time at all. The mountains were absolutely spectacular and there was hardly any of the flood threatening snowpack left atop the mountains. Over Hope and direct to the Princeton VOR we were soon descending over the lovely Okanagan Lake towards Vernon while dodging a few rapidly building Towering Cumulus clouds.

Never having been into Vernon before, the approach to runway 23 was interesting since the ground climbs quite rapidly and made for an intriguing illusion. Figuring that I should press on as far as I felt comfortable before turning base, I was still a little high on the approach and had to use full flaps and we floated a fair way down the runway before touching down. Fortunately, the Vernon Flying Club was hidden from view by the hangars, but I suspect our new friends knew what was going on anyway.

We were warmly welcomed and treated like visiting dignitaries and GSN was soon proudly parked on the grass right in front of the clubhouse. A quick call to VFC confirmed my fears that it was going to be a small crowd and that a lot of folks were going to Qualicum instead. An RV-6, flown by Peter Liem from Victoria soon joined me with two more folks who went VFR OTT. The Vernon gang treated us to a grand BBQ and a tour of the interesting aircraft in the hangars including some new RV-6s. It was a hot, dry day and downright pleasant to sit in the sun and watch airplanes come and go. The fuel pumps at Vernon are very modern and it is just like filling up your car for the ease of it and most conveniently, it takes debit cards.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, MEK made an appearance with two more VFC members who had to take a pause at Abbotsford for the low cloud to clear and they finally joined us. It took no time for some fresh burgers to be made so the famished late arrivals didn’t go hungry.

The temperature was up to 27C when we were departed and that combined with an airfield elevation of 1140 ft gave us a density altitude of about 3000 feet. Being 100 lbs shy of gross made for a long take-off run and a 300 ft per minute climb which gave us plenty of opportunity to watch the watersports on the lake as we left. We climbed out along the Western edge of the lake and were soon cruising along at 8500 feet. We spotted a huge open pit mine that is the cover photo this month, and it was an amazing sight. Soon we were past Princeton and over the mountains again. The Hope slide doesn’t look as big from on high, but it’s still pretty impressive. Staying along the Canada-US border, Vancouver Centre let us stay high almost to the shoreline and was really helpful reporting a number of other GA aircraft that weren’t talking to them, but I sure found it comforting to have the extra eyes from Centre on my side. All too soon we were descending over the Gulf Islands to a decidedly gusty crosswind landing on 09.

The Vernon Flyout was great fun and it’s only too bad that everyone couldn’t get there. The Vernon Flying Club members were great hosts and we shouldn’t wait too long before inviting the other VFC to Victoria for some reciprocal hosting. Fly safe and see you at the next flyout.

Thank to Chris for the report and to Renee for all the photos! After a snack and discussion in the Dakota Café, those of us who did not wish to fly over the top, decided on a trip to Qualicum – not as exciting as CYVK, but still fun - ed

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In My Travels N ORTH A MERICAN H ARVARD

by Larry Dibnah

Known affectionately as the ‘Yellow Peril’ in air forces throughout the western world, the North American Harvard was designed as a tough, hard to fly, transitional trainer but soon earned the respect and love of every student and instructor who flew it.

In the mid 1930’s, the North American Aviation Company (NAA) of Los Angeles, California had made its debut on the military aircraft manufacturing scene with a couple of trainer and observation aircraft designs. One of the trainer designs, the BT-9 Yale was a low wing, fabric covered monoplane with fixed undercarriage and powered by a Wright radial engine. The prototype Yale first flew in 1935. Soon after, North American made some improvements to the Yale including a more powerful Wright Whirlwind 420 hp engine. The improved aircraft designated the BT14, was accepted right away by the US military as a basic trainer.

Between 1940 and 1946 the RCAF ordered a total of 119 BT-14 trainers to be called the Yale-1. However, because of US neutrality in 1940, the Yale was built under licence in Canada by the Noorduyn Aircraft Company which also produced the famous Norseman bush plane-come-military transport.

A Mark 4 Harvard under restoration at the BC Aviation Museum

The Harvard Mk 2 was based on the same North American airframe concept as was the Yale except the Harvard was a much improved aircraft featuring an all metal airframe, retractable landing gear and the new Pratt & Whitney R-1340 AN-1 Wasp radial engine of 600 hp.

Initially, both the Yale and Harvard were in production and served simultaneously in American and Commonwealth air forces but the as the Harvard reached full production, it soon replaced the Yale. In Canada, the Harvard Mk 2B was manufactured under licence by the Noorduyn Aircraft Company which eventually built 2800 Harvards for the RAF and RCAF. During the 1950’s the Canadian Car and Foundry built 550 Mk 4 Harvards for the Canadian and American military. The Mark 4 had an improved canopy and greater fuel capacity.

Eventually, more Harvards were built in Canada than any other aircraft. In the USA the Harvard trainer was also referred to as the T-6 Texan in the Army Air Corps (later the US Air Force) and as the SNJ in Naval service.

A Harvard Mk 4 at Patricia Bay (YYJ) Airport during the mid 1950's.

For Canada and her Commonwealth allies, the Harvard couldn’t have appeared at a better time. Up until the outbreak of WW2 the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) relied on Fleet Finches and DH Tiger Moths as the backbone of their Commonwealth Air Training Plan at the outset of World War 2. These were fine as primary, or ab initio trainers but student pilots found the introduction to heavier, operational aircraft very difficult to say the least. The sturdiness and unforgiving nature of the Harvard allowed pilot trainees to learn the techniques required to handle more sophisticated combat aircraft such as Hurricanes and Spitfires. Also, students who went on to train in heavier multi-engine aircraft came to appreciate the experience they’d first gained with the Harvard. The North American Harvard could also be fitted with armaments to train aircrews in the skills of bombing and aerial gunnery. According to the RCAF website, approximately 11,000 A beautifully restored Harvard at Victoria Airport Canadians and 8,000 Allied airmen received pilot training in Harvards during around 1987.

WW2.

Since the beginning of aviation, student pilots were deemed to be a hazard to other aircraft and to themselves. Subsequently, most Harvards (along with other trainers) used in the US and Commonwealth air forces were partially or completely painted bright, training yellow so that they could easily be seen in the air and on the ground – hence the name ‘Yellow Peril’.

story cont’d on p 12

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In My Travels cont’d from p 7 The RCAF owned 2258 Harvards from 1939 up until they were retired from service in 1965. Early in the jet age in Canada, student pilots in the RCAF still received their basic instruction in DHC Chipmunks and NA Harvards before transitioning to Lockheed T-33’s and later Canadair Tutor jets. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) also operated a handful of Harvards on both the East and West coasts as trainers and communications aircraft during the 1950’s.

Today, a number of Harvards and T-6 Texans can be found on the US and Canadian Civil Aircraft Registers despite several Airworthiness Directives and needed upgrades. The Warbird restoration movement can be thanked for their survival. Many fine flying examples of the popular Harvard can be seen (and heard) at air shows all across North America. Members of the BC Aviation Museum here in Victoria are currently re-building a Mark 4 Harvard from the parts of at least three hulks. They are looking for an engine, propeller and undercarriage before the aircraft can be completed.

References:

Photos:

Elwood White & Peter Smith. Wings Across the Water, Victoria’s Flying Heritage 1871 – 1971: Harbour Publishing Larry Milberry. Sixty Years, The RCAF and CAF Air Command 1924 – 1984: CANAV Books The World Wide Web: RCAF.com Larry Dibnah

Club Flyouts 2008 Where would YOU like to go??

Let us know.

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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1910 Norseman Road Sidney, BC Canada,V8L 5V5 Tel (250) 655-3300 Fax (250) 655-1611 email: bcam@bcam.net

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA AVIATION MUSEUM is dedicated to preserving aircraft and aviation artifacts.

We collect, restore and display aircraft and artifacts related to the history of aviation in Canada, with emphasis on British Columbia.

The Museum is open daily!

Summer Hours May 1 - Sept. 30 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Winter Hours Oct. 1 - April 30 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

Amit Nagar (Mina Katayama) dry

Amit Nagar & Mina wet!

First Solos as of Aug 25

Christopher Staples (Mina Katayama)

Erin Waller (Emily Harvey)

Sahil Bahtia (Andrew Simpson)

Taylor Williams (Andrew Simpson)

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Hi Eleanor

A Fl i ght to Oregon

Thought you might like to see these pictures. If you do find room in the Pat for this, please make sure you mention that this was Jeff Lightheart’s 300 nm cross country. He did all the planning and deserves great credit for that.

We were in TQQ - left on Saturday July 28 in the afternoon. Jeff flew on Saturday - to Port Angeles and then on to Tillamook, Oregon and then on down to Medford. Medford Air Services was great - let us use their car and park the aircraft overnight and didn’t charge us for it. Just charged us for the gas we bought.

McMinnville, the Blackbird with Spruce Goose wing overhead

I flew back on Sunday - from Medford to McMinnville (to see the Spruce Goose) and then on to Chelalis before heading back to YYJ. Trip down the Oregon coast on Saturday was spectacular.

Coming back Sunday was bumpy and rainy and, while a good experience, not terribly fun.

Overall - a very fun trip - used VOR and DME and got really used to those. Constantly referred to our charts and were never in doubt of where we were.

If anyone wanted to do an overnight flyout to someplace different I would definitely recommend Medford as it is a really pretty place and Air Services there treated us very well.

The Columbia River

Thanks for this interesting report and for all the photos. It was hard to choose just a few. I love flying over Oregon with its lovely green valleys and mountains. ... ed

Final for Tillamook

A Fl i ght to Oregon Flying away from the Pacific

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by Ted Krasowski

The 2500 mile voyage in my RV9A by Peter Liem

Part Two

THE RETURN FLIGHT

In May I received an invitation to attend a seminar related to my job in Albuquerque, NM. A grin formed on my lips, since this was the excuse I needed to test my newly built Van’s Aircraft RV9A on a long journey.

There were thundershowers threatening to the east when we finally were on our way to Vegas. ABQ departure did not want to talk to us since they were too busy and we were on our own. The air was lumpy and as we climbed out slowly to 14500, it became apparent that this is going to be a bumpy ride. Virga activities were everywhere. The definition of virga is: wispy precipitation: vertical trails of rain, snow, or ice from the underside of a cloud that evaporate before reaching the ground. Flying through virga is to be avoided, because of the severe turbulence associated with it. We heard airlines detouring their flight paths....

Me - small plane - certainly needed to stay away from that, so we detoured around these clouds, which some of which were 40 miles in length.

On our flight planning it was decided that we would try to land at the North Las Vegas (VGT) Airport instead of Mc Carran Int (LAS) or Henderson Exec (HND). LAS is too busy, surely they don’t like smaller GA planes to land there and HND is a bit too far from the strip and so VGT was chosen to be our destination.

Flight following handed us over to Vegas approach. When we advised Vegas approach that we were not familiar with the area, they helped us with vectors. We were assigned headings and altitude and were given the tour of the town. Our trusty autopilot was sure very handy at times like this, because it held you on your assigned altitude and heading. This allowed us plenty of time to look around and navigate at the same time. Vegas at dusk was impressive and we landed safely at the North Las Vegas Airport. A “follow me” car met the plane and we were guided to the GA parking place on the field. Here we deplaned and got a ride from the FBO to the Fiesta Hotel just across the airport.

It turned out that the busses in Vegas are running 24 hrs. The connection between North Vegas and the “Strip” was very good. The busses would run every 30 minutes, but they are unreliable. Sometimes 2 busses would come within 10 minutes and sometimes you wait for an hour for transit. Day passes are the cheapest and cost $2.50 for 24 hrs. Not by the day, but by the hour. Since we validated the tickets at 11 am, we were able to use them to go to the airport the next day, because we departed at 6 am. Our visit to Las Vegas was too short but memorable. We will be back.

Going out of VGT was not hard. They give you a vector and you are handed over to departure and then to center. We climbed in the calm morning air to 16500 ft, because of terrain. There were 2 MOA’s that we had to go in between, but otherwise there were no more tasks to perform other than avoiding the granite rock. Marysville is 350 nm away and because of the 20 knot headwind the estimated time enroute is 3 hrs. My co-pilot slept throughout this leg and did not see some of the spectacular scenery unfolding below us.

We landed in Marysville and went to hunt for oxygen. The manager of the Red Carpet Aviation told us that the facility that filled the O2 cylinders was closed this day because of Fathers’ Day and so was the café next door. He offered us a courtesy car to go to town to get brunch, which we gladly accepted. My wife was sure impressed that we could borrow a car, just by buying gas for our plane. Aviation people are nice people.

Eugene Oregon was our next destination 310 nm away. ETE with the headwind was 2hrs and 26 minutes. Since we did not have oxygen we flight planned for 10500. The RV9 sure climbed to altitude in a very short time. Now 2.5 hrs doesn’t seem very long anymore and soon we were cleared to land on runway 34 and asked the ground controller for taxi clearance to Flightcraft. There we requested fuel and O2 refill.

Canada Customs was notified that we were coming and a flight plan was filed.

cont’d on P.12

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The 2500 mile voyage… cont’d

On departure ATC asked if it was a typo that we filed for “one four thousand five hundred”? I guess most of the GA planes don’t have the luxury to climb and fly that high. I remember that it was a painful affair to climb to 10,000 ft with my Piper Warrior or the C-172. It took 45 minutes or so to get to that altitude, let alone higher. With the RV9 it is about 15 minutes to 12,500ft.

As at the start of our journey 4 days ago, we climbed and flew over the tops of a stratus layer. The flight was smooth and Victoria, BC was clear. Two hours and ten minutes later we touched down on runway 09 and we were home again.

Our 2500-mile adventure came to a close and will live on in our memory.

Total Distance 2479.4 NM in 4 days.

Air Canada/TCA Vickers Viscount under resoration at BCAM.

Avro Mark II Anson belonging to the BCAM

B.C. Av i a t i o n Museum's RCAF T-33 Shooting Star after restoration and roll out at BCAM

Grumman F7F Tigercat

August 4th was a bright, hot day for the well-attended BC Aviation Museum Open House. VFC's planes were kept busy with sightseeing flights for more than 75 people. With vintage cars as well as planes on show and RC aircraft flying displays in the hangar, there was much to enjoy. Here are a few photos of the many interesting aircraft at the BCAM that sunny day. All photos are by Ken Hanson.

North American SNJ or Harvard

Bowers Model 1A Flybaby Homebuilt

17th Annual Open House Sat, Aug. 4 2007 Modified DC-3/C-47 Dakota

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deHavilland Turbo Beaver from Viking Air

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 Sept

Oct

Nov

DATE

TOPIC

INSTRUCTOR

05

Theory of Flight & Licensing Requirements

E. Harvey/I. Watt

10

Aerodynamics

E. Harvey/I. Watt

12

Airframes and Engines

S. Mais/M. Chow

17

Systems & Flight Instruments

S. Mais/M. Chow

19

CARS

S. Mais/Koide

24

CARS

S. Mais/Koide

26

Meteorology

B. Thompson

01

Meteorology

B. Thompson

03

Meteorology

B. Thompson

10

Meteorology

B. Thompson

15

Meteorology

B. Thompson

17

Human Factors

Brad Fraser

22

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

24

Flight Operations

Brad Fraser

29

Navigation

Emily Harvey

31

Navigation

Emily Harvey

05

Navigation

Emily Harvey

07

Radio and Electronic Theory

Mike Chow

14

Review (Tower Tour/Written Seminar)

John MacConnachie

19

Review

Brad Fraser

Achievements First Solo Sahil Bhatia Chris Staples Taylor Williams Erin Waller Digvijay Lamba PPL Flight Test Karan Nain Nancy Durocher Allen Lynch Glen Golonka Nick Oakley Dawn Nicklin PPL Written Test Will Logan Erik Deutscher Karan Nain CPL Flight Test Jeff Lightheart Graeme Ferguson CPL Written Test Simon Dennis Private Pilot Licence Achitay Gautam Class IV Instructor Mike Chow Multi IFR Mina Katayama

Next Mountain Groundschool , September 8, 2007.

Call Dispatch to register.

Eleanor - here's a picture of an unusual visitor to the airport during the August 4th BCAM Open House.

It's a Canadian North B737-200 which departed during the afternoon. I'm not sure what they were doing here in Victoria, but the unusual paint scheme caught my eye, and I had no idea until I blew up the picture on my computer who it was. Canadian North has a fleet of 6 Boeing 737-200 combi aircraft....ie dual passenger and cargo, so ideal for the north. The closest scheduled flight goes to Calgary. Perhaps they were here on a charter flight? Perhaps maintenance?

Anyway, I liked the photo, even with the ripples from the very warm day. They departed 09‌‌Walt 13

ved a few pa spaces lable! i a v a e r a A number of outside tie-down spaces are now available.

Phone Dispatch at 656-2833 for details.

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!

L indair Ser vices Ltd

SMILE CARD TOTAL TO DATE

$5015

IslandBlue R E P R O G R A P H I C S A N D A R T S U P P LY C E N T R E

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.

• QUALITY • DEPENDABILITY • SERVICE •

5180 Airport Road South, Richmomd, BC Tel: 1-800-663-5829 Fax: 1-800-667-5643

Tel: 250.385.9786 Toll free: 1.800.661.3332 E: repro@islandblue.com FTP: ftp.islandblue.com Web: www.islandblue.com

PRINT WHAT YOU NEED WHEN YOU NEED IT! 905 Fort St (at Quadra)

www.lindairservices.com 14

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 07 DATE

PLACE

EVENT

CONTACT

September 9

Kamloops, BC

COPA Flight 82/Kamloops Flying Club

Blake Farren @ 250-314-9876

Fly-in and breakfast

or e-mail: cj4me@shaw.ca

Annual 99’s Poker Run

Joan Lynum

September 16 Surrey, BC

by e-mail: lynumj@telus.net October 17-20 Victoria, BC

SARSCENE 2007 Conference

1-800-727-9414

National Search and Rescue Secretariat &

www.nss.gc.ca

BC Provincial Emergency Program

Attention all pilots!

The Ninety-Nines Poker Run is for EVERYBODY - not just women pilots! On Sunday, September 16, start from any of the 8 airports listed, visit 5 airports, finishing at the Aero Club at Pitt Meadows at 1500 for fun, food and prizes.

Collect one card per hand at each airport. For further information, contact Joan at 604 536.0265.

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Those of you who have had the opportunity to look at Dan Dempsey's book “A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE - Canada's Airshow Heritage” published in 2002 will know what a fine product he authored. The book, representing seven years of research, chronicled the develpment of Canadian military air demonstration teams over a period of eighty years.

Dan has recently updated that volume to salute eighty-eight years of airshow history and the fortieth anniversary of the Golden Centennaires and is offering it for sale. Unlike it's predecessor, the second edition will only be available on-line or through direct contact. If you're interested, contact/fax Dan at 250.658.4390, afteams@gmail.com, or www.CanadasAirshowHeritage.com

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

Phone DISPATCH 656-2833 for details.

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

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

Open 8am 4pm daily

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

16

in the Victoria Flying Club

LICENSED

250.655.9395