The Patrician
The Patrician
“To promote
(Victoria Flying Club Incorporation Bylaws, 1946)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT Don Devenney
VICE PRESIDENT Colin Williamson
SECRETARY Glen Rippon
TREASURER Reg Smith
DIRECTORS Angie Johnson
Mike Vossen
Joseph Martin
Laurie Ingalls
GENERAL MANAGER
Mike Schlievert
NEWS Around the Club
FROM THE EDITOR:
Welcome to 2025! It's safe to say that it's been a weird one so far. However, the skies have been good for some aviation adventures, so at least we have that going for us.
This is an important month for the VFC, as March is our yearly Wings Banquet, where we honour graduates from the previous year in a gala event. If you haven't gotten your tickets, contact Dispatch or check your email, because you won't want to miss this one.
I also wanted to quickly reach out to aspiring writers, pilots, or any combination of the two: we need your articles! A huge thank you as always to David Gagliardi for another rewarding Professional Pilot article, as well as Darren and Ted for providing for this issue. If you want to be as amazing as them, email us or tag us in the comments and I'll reach out to you ASAP!
See you in April!
—Kelly, Editor of the Patrician
GET FEATURED
Hey you: people in the VFC want to know more about you! We know that you have a story to tell, so reach out to us and we'll feature you in a similar was to Darren's profile in this issue. It's easy, fun, and helps the club get to know each other a bit better.
COFFEE & DONUTS AT SOCIAL SATURDAY IS A HUGE SUCCESS
If you haven't made it out to our Social Saturday/Saturday Coffee and Donuts events, you're missing out. These happen usually on the first Saturday of every month and host interesting talks, a great chance to meet other members, and of course coffee and those incredible Sidney Bakery doughnuts!
Be sure to make it out to the next one!
“For most people, the sky is the limit. To those who love aviation, the sky is home.” – Ray Fowler
EVENTS & HOLIDAYS
MAR 28 2025 WINGS BANQUET
APR 5 SATURDAY/COFFEE & DONUTS
APR 18 GOOD FRIDAY
APR 20 EASTER
MAY 19 VICTORIA DAY
JULY 1 CANADA DAY
JULY 19 BOUNDARY BAY AIRSHOW
AUG 4 BC DAY
AUG 8-10 ABBOTSFORD AIRSHOW
Know of an aviation-related event that's not listed? Let us know at vfcpatrician@gmail.com!
THE WINGS BANQUET
Join us for the 2025 Wings Banquet as we celebrate the achievements of all of our 2024 graduates!
This year the banquet will be held at Olympic View Golf Club and will feature a full buffet and cash bar.
Katrina and Claire from the Dispatch desk will be your MCs for a fun filled evening of celebration, good friends, and good food. We will even have prizes up for winning including a free hour of 172 rental!
Be sure to register prior to attendance by contacting Dispatch or responding to the email invitation you should have received as a member. Also, a reminder that this is a formal event, so we're looking forward to seeing everyone dressed up!
What: The 2025 Wings Banquet
When: 2025-03-28 17:00, PDT
Where: Olympic View Golf Club
GROUND SCHOOL SCHEDULE
PRIVATE PILOT LICENCE GROUND SCHOOL
PPL #25-01: FEBRUARY 9, 2025 TO APRIL 13, 2025
Sundays (09:00 - 16:00)
MOUNTAIN AWARENESS TRAINING GROUND SCHOOL
MTA #24-XX DATES AS REQUIRED OR REQUESTED.
Individual scheduling requests are available for Private Pilot Licence, Commercial Pilot Licence, Mountain Awareness Training (MTA), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (Drone) Courses (RPAS) by request.
Individual tutoring is also available for PPL and CPL upon request.
Confirm your attendance with Neil Keating on cell at 204-291-9667 and VFC Operations (Russell) at 250-656-2833.
FIRST SOLOS
"Without disruption of air traffic, these fearless, forthright, indomitable and courageous individuals did venture into the wild blue yonder in flying machines.
Furthermore, these skillful individuals did safely land said flying machines at Victoria International Airport, incurring no significant damage to self or machine, thus completing first solo flights."
THIS ISSUE WE CELEBRATE THE FIRST SOLOS OF THESE PILOTS:
Claire Evans
Benjamin Wolfe
Ryan Masingale
Jakob Fallis
Aiden Walters
We
PPL WRITTEN TEST
Evan Arnold
PPL FLIGHT TEST
Xenon Calwell
Justin Gray
Trey Dumonceaux
Levi Hoeppner
MULT-ENGINE RATING
Gavin Johansen
Ben Toner
CPL FLIGHT TEST
Manveer Singh
WELCOME NEW VFC MEMBERS
Oliver Beaucher
Alexandre Salcedo dos Santos
Richard Reid
Kent Pondevilla
Stanley Mathew
Graham Bradley
Brandon Feil
John Allen
Karen Navarrete
Jake Robson
Olivia Wang
Alistair Smith
Benjamin Sharrett
Andrew Wilson
Jack Rowlands
Brooklyn Dye
Tait Jones
Gordon Parsons
Keiran Meyer
Brian Govinda
Kirsty Marshall
Constantin Bomheuer
Anna Purich
Nicholas Stubbs
PARKING AVAILABLE!
Interested in prime paved parking spaces for your aircraft? Good News: there are spots available!
Secure, pull-in/pull-out, easy access.
Call Dispatch at 250-656-2833 to arrange a spot or to get on the waitlist for hangar spaces!
William Devey
Hugh Devey
Darin Herle
Alexander Sokol
Ken Rebudan
Thomas Boland
Ab Plosaj
Bryce Barton
Devin Antoniazzi
Joshua Baker
Bvandeep Shergill
Luke Hobby
Plhilippe Lafitte
Bradley Hooper
Jacob Di Battista
Noah Di Battista
Ethan Gear
Neil Costford
Nicholas Esau
Kenneth Cathro
Callie Warden
Craig Penner
Anees Pandaravalappil
Julian Irving
VFC MENTOR PROGRAM
Do you want other pilots to fly with, split flight cost, share knowledge, or get help getting to a new airport for the first time? Find potential mentors and their resumes posted on the Mentors bulletin board beside the Dispatch counter. Contact details are on each mentor's resume or you can email mentors@ flyvfc.com for more information.
Interested in becoming a mentor? There's always room for more experienced pilots! Send an email to mentors@flyvfc.com for more information on how to join up!
THE PROFESSIONAL
PILOT
by David Gagliardi
“‘Professionalism’ is commonly understood as an individual’s adherence to a set of standards, code of conduct or collection of qualities that characterize accepted practice within a particular area of activity.” -Universities UK et al. 2004
PILOTING LIGHT AIRCRAFT
TO A PROFESSIONAL STANDARD
Professional pilots embody the attributes in the definition above. Being a professional pilot has nothing to do with what license you hold, it is ultimately about the attitude with which you approach flying. This article is the tenth in a series that will examine aspects of piloting light aircraft to a professional standard.
While airline accidents have become relatively rare in North America light airplane pilots are involved in Loss of control in flight (LOC-I) events at
alarming rates. Losing control hundreds or thousands of feet above the ground presents unique and at times, fatal challenges; between 2001 and 2011, over 40 percent of fixed wing North American light airplane fatal accidents occurred because pilots lost control of their airplanes and LOC-I is the primary fatal accident category in light airplanes. These accidents were mostly caused by ineffective recovery from an upset, inadequate energy management, abnormal/inadvertent control inputs or maneuvers, or improper procedures. Insufficient
height above the ground was a factor in most unsuccessful recoveries, followed by limited pilot capability. The common theme with the accident pilots was they did not recognize and avoid the precipitating event, conditions that lead to an aerodynamic stall, especially situations approaching wing critical angle of attack (AOA) and/ or decreasing airspeed.
Since light aircraft proficiency requirements are much less rigorous than those of airline pilots. Light aircraft pilots are much more likely to
have longer intervals between training sessions and longer intervals between flights.
Victoria Flying Club (VFC) pilots need to complete a flight review, consisting of ground and flight training, every 12 months, but otherwise VFC pilots almost exclusively maintain and improve skills on their own, and their conduct of safe flight depends more on individual abilities and judgment, potentially leaving them unprepared for situations that can lead to loss of control.
So what can pilots do to avoid a LOC-I event ?
1) It is vital that all pilots have a full understanding of stall phenomena, including Angle of Attack (AOA) concepts, and how elements such as weight, center of gravity, turbulence, maneuvering loads, and other factors affect an airplane’s stall characteristics. The Flight Training Manual, From the Ground Up and Transport Canada publication TP 13747 Stall/Spin Awareness are excellent resources and should be reviewed periodically.
2) Be prepared to recognize the warning signs of an impending stall and be able to apply appropriate recovery
techniques before stall onset.
3) Be honest with themselves about their knowledge level of stalls, and their ability to recognize and handle them.
4) Utilize Pilot Decision Making (PDM) and Threat and Error Management (TEM) principals during preflight planning and in inflight operations.
5) Manage distractions so that they do not interfere with situational awareness.
6) Understand, properly train, and maintain currency in the equipment and airplanes they operate.
The VFC Annual Proficiency check flight is your opportunity to practice stall/spin recognition and recovery. Take full advantage of the opportunity.
Finally, those pilots who own their own airplanes particularly higher performance ones, should consider installing an AOA indicator, which, coupled with pilot understanding and training on how to best use it, can enhance situational awareness during critical or high-workload phases of flight.
airplane stakeholders have an important role in the reduction of loss of control accidents, however, individual pilots remain the critical piece in the goal of reducing LOC-I accidents. Profession Pilots recognize they have both ultimate responsibility and the ultimate opportunity to reduce these needless accidents through ongoing education, flight currency, self-assessment, and vigilant situational awareness in the cockpit.
VFC MEMBER PROFILE: Darren Rich
What's an early memory of flying that jumps out at you?
I attended the Rivers Regional Air Cadet Gliding School in Rivers, MB in the summer of 1977 where I received my Air Cadet Glider wings. After that I started working on my PPL in Grade 12 back in AB at the Red Deer regional airport at Johnstone Air Services. After graduating from Rivers and returning home to Penhold, AB, I was assigned to the Central Alberta Air Cadet Glider Familiarization Team, based out of the Innisfail (CEM3) airport. There were about six or seven of us on the team. We would set up at CAM3 for the weekend with a winch truck, put the glider together and give familiarization flights
to Air Cadets from the various squadrons around Central Alberta. With a winch tow you’d be lucky to get to 1000’ AGL. That fall the weather was atrocious and I only managed 23 flights in total, with only one being 0.2 in length, we got lucky and caught a thermal on the downwind, all the rest were 0.1 flights. I think we spent more time drinking coffee at the Bluebird Diner in Innisfail than we did flying.
The most memorable flight with “Oops Gillrie and His Flying Circus” was my final winch and field checkout flight with Dean Gillrie on 5 September 1977. CEM3 is an old BCATP satellite field, triangular runway layout but we would launch and land on the grass
alongside runway 34. The approach to the landing zone featured a ditch on short final. On that particular flight I was high so I elected full spoilers and a forward slip. Dean, thinking we were still too high, opened the back door of the glider! We dropped like a rock so I immediately closed the spoilers, straightened out from the forward slip and, seeing we were going to now be short, executed a maneuver called a penetration. It required me to push the stick forward, aim the nose down and get into ground effect and fly the glider with the reduced drag as far as we could. Dean slammed the back door at the same time. We were now in danger of impacting the berm on the approach side to the ditch.
As we got lower and the airspeed increased above Best L/D I pulled back slightly on the stick. We barely cleared the ditch and landed very short, but still safely in the designated landing zone. Dean hopped out, closed the door, removed some wheat stalks from around the tail wheel and cleared me for “first winch solo”.The next flight I managed 1200’ AGL without the “200-pound dummy” in the back seat. I sailed well past the LZ with a waive to the rest of the crew that now had to chase after me and push the glider back, with me sitting proudly in the front seat!
What made you want to become a pilot? Germany, 1965. One day my dad had to head onto the base at IV Wing BadenSollingen to repair a piece of radio equipment in the General Restricted Area. I went along with him but the RCAF policeman at the GRA checkpoint wouldn’t let me in. So, while dad went in to fix the item I got to sit on the curb of the island where the guard shack stood under the watchful eye of my baby sitter, an RCAF policeman, and watch the CF-104 Starfighters flying around. Their J-79 engine had a distinctive sound, similar to what you can hear from the Porter Air Embraer E195sas they taxi past VFC.
What licences have you earned? Which was the most challenging? Why?
It has been a long-haul journey to get where I am today. Definitely not a classic example of a flying career. I received a Gliding Scholarship from Air Cadets in 1977 and added my PPL before graduating Grade 12. In 2000 I added a Night Rating through Toronto Airways at Buttonville airport (ex-CYKZ).
I then did my Multi-IFR with ProIFR, who at the time flew HDP out of VFC’s facilities and had an old ATC-810 simulator where
Leonard’s office is. VFC had a Citabria 7KCAB at the time and I completed my tail wheel endorsement, emergency maneuvers training and aerobatics endorsement before starting on my CPL training. I completed my 300 nm cross country plus (CAT4 – KBLI – KOLM –KEUG) on 9 Aug 2001. I had to pre-position the Club’s Tampico TB-9, C-GDGZ, to CAT4 to start then fly back to CYYJ after the 300 nm was complete. Timing was everything as a month later the world changed. I was posted to Kingston, ON in 2003 and finished off my CPL with the Kingston Flying Club in 2004.
I added my float rating with VFC in 2015 and after retiring from the navy in 2017 we moved to North Saanich and I began my Flight Instructor training with VFC in September 2018. I’m now a Class Two instructor at VFC with over 2600 total hours and over 1400 hours instructing.
The Flight Instructor rating was probably the most challenging. Trying to figure out what I was doing, when I was doing it and then figuring out how to translate that into basic, concise, clear and accurate direction to
an ab initio pilot was difficult. I’d been flying for 41 years by that point and most things had become so internalized that I’d execute a maneuver almost without thinking consciously about what had to be done. The hardest lesson to learn was how to teach Steep Turns! It wasn’t until Graham Palmer watched me one flight as I contorted my body to maintain what I thought was an adequate visual lookout that we figured out why I couldn’t adequately manage the maneuver. I wasn’t keeping my body perpendicular to the floor of the aircraft and my eyes parallel to the glare shield! Once I learned to ‘straighten up and fly right’ it became much easier to fly and teach.
What about becoming a pilot was the most rewarding for you?
The most rewarding part of being a pilot is sharing the joy of flying with others; family, friends, Air Cadets, and now perspective pilots via the Discovery Flights we offer at VFC. The first such flight was with a friend from Red Deer (CYQF) to Calgary (CYYJ) on 2 January 1979. We flew a Cessna 150M, C-GWXQ, to Calgary for coffee. It was bitterly cold, close to -30°C if I recall correctly, and on the return flight we lost the radio shortly after takeoff and the fuel gauges froze and registered almost empty. We’d left CYQF with full tanks and the total flight time was only 1.9 hours so fuel exhaustion wasn’t the concern, but a frozen fuel supply line wasn’t out of the question. We could always execute a forced landing on highway 2.
What's your favourite plane of all time?
Of all the planes I’ve flown the Tutor (CT-114) is my favourite. I liken it to a slightly underpowered but still zippy sports car, with small wheels and a low ground clearance. I flew the AETE Tutor with Colonel Bill Werny on 11 January 2002 and scored a second Tutor flight with Snowbird 5, Captain Warren Wright on 23 April that year at CFB Comox.
Do you fly for a living?
I fly for fun with the added benefit of now getting paid. I love turning dead dinosaurs into noise. I shamelessly stole that line from Dave Gagliardi.
What is one of the most important things for a pilot to possess?
The ability to develop an air picture of what is going on around you. A big part of that is listening to broadcasts from ATC and other aircraft on the frequency and then anticipating what may be coming your way. For example, doing night circuits on 6 Feb we heard a Dash 8 check in with Tower on an eight-mile final for 27. We were in the late stages of the left hand downwind for a touch and go on 27. I knew immediately Tower would ask if we could “keep it in close”. Sure enough, Jordan got to practice what was basically a power off 180° touch and go in the dark. The alternative would’ve been a very long downwind into the dark hole that is Haro Strait and Orcas
Island. If you can correctly anticipate what is unfolding and are adequately prepared, mentally and skills-wise, to execute a particular option, then you’re less likely to be surprised and caught unaware.
What's your favourite flying animal?
It has to be the hummingbird. We have a lot of them around our house. It is always fun to watch them dogfight and abruptly change direction. I was sitting on the patio of our house in Colorado Springs one Saturday morning, coffee in hand, when a hummingbird stopped about two feet in front of my face, then decided I wasn’t a feeder, and shot off like a rocket in search of something to drink.
But watching videos of ducks landing on ice is quite entertaining.
What's your favourite movie about flying? Song?
It sounds like a cliché but my favourite movie has to be Top Gun. A bunch of us young JOs (junior officers) from HMCS Margaree saw it on the big screen in Halifax back in 1986. We then bought the VHS tape for the Wardroom’s VCR and played it incessantly at sea after the main evening movie finished (“down dead
lights, on red lights, rig for…”). I saw Top Gun 3D in Colorado, all that was missing was the smell of JP5 wafting through the theatre. Yes, we also did see Top Gun Maverick on the big screen.
My favourite flyingrelated song has to be the Maynard Ferguson version of “Gonna Fly Now” the main theme from Rocky (I). I’m listening to the link below as I type this and do admit that not everyone loves stratospheric trumpets wailing away, especially if you’re seated in front of them at a big band rehearsal.
David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is a close second. Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” would be third.
Tell us a joke.
“When is the only time you can have too much fuel?” Anyone who has flown with me should remember the punch line…
Why do you think people become pilots? What draws us to the skies?
Tough question to answer as I bet if you surveyed every VFC member you’d end up with about 200 different reasons.
How do you feel that being a pilot changes a person? What unique skills or perspectives does it provide?
The mother of one of my earlier students basically said that it gave her son more self-
confidence. I do see that in almost everyone I fly with. Hopefully they continue to strive to learn and improve. If it is true that a pilot’s licence is a licence to learn then I’d argue that a flight instructor rating is a master’s level licence to learn!
What do you enjoy most about flying? Is there anything you don't love or that gives you trouble about it?
I love “the view from my office window”, it never gets old. What I don’t love is this infernal We(s)t Coast winter weather. LOL!
What is your favourite place to fly / aerodrome to visit and why?
I’ve flown into and out of a bunch of different aerodromes in seven provinces and 14 states. I’d have to say that my two trips to KOSH (2006 in an Aztec and 2010 in a Cherokee), both from Kingston, ON, are flying career highlights. A close second would be flying over the Hoover Dam with my brother-in-law, an Aurora Tactical Navigator, in a C172SP, N106RA, rented from West Air Aviation in North Las Vegas, in March 2003. Third place goes to the mountain
Rolling Over the Top (2002)
endorsement cross country flight I did with Tom Murphy (an ex-USAF Phantom driver) in a T-41B, N-7909N, through the Rocky Mountain Aero Club, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs (KCOS), in January 2012. We flew from KCOS to Leadville Lake County (KLXV), the highest public use airport in the US, at 9927’ AMSL. Thankfully our DAlt that day was only 9900’. The remainder of the flight included stops at Buena Vista (KAEJ), Salida (KANK), and Fremont County (1V6) before flying right over the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, aka the NORAD Bunker!. A T-41B is the USAF designation for a Cessna 172.
If you could fly or visit anywhere (and I mean anywhere) where would it be?
I’ve never been to Australia or New Zealand. The navy got me to many other places during my two trips around the world but not there. No plans to head there soon but when we do we’ll have a lot to see.
What is your go-to in-flight snack?
I don’t eat or drink in our airplanes. The flights are short enough that it isn’t a requirement. But I do appreciate the occasional donations of unopened granola bars, packages of gummy bears, etc. that other pilots invariably leave behind for me to find. But I don’t appreciate finding banana peels under the instructor’s seat…
What is your favourite club airplane?
The Club’s Arrow followed closely by whichever VFC aircraft I’m signed out to fly next – except GKMY! ;-)
What was the hardest thing about becoming a pilot?
The hardest thing about becoming a pilot has always been and will continue to be the cost of getting into aviation. My private licence cost $1675 (in 1978 dollars, when banks were paying up to 15% interest on savings account balances) and that included 24.3 hours dual and 14.5 hours solo/PIC! Back then GUPA would’ve been considered an average outfitted aircraft. We didn’t wear headsets in GA aircraft and the 5.0 of instrument time hadn’t yet become part of the licensing requirement. The airspace was simpler and less crowded than it is today. We used VORs and ADF, including AM band radio stations, to navigate. GPS? Never heard of it until I arrived in Halifax for my advanced naval engineering training in 1986!
How has flying changed your life?
Flying has always been a part of my life. What has changed is the role that I now play in local aviation. Becoming a flight instructor has been a long-time pursuit, since at least 2000 when I first flew with Major-General (retired) Scott Eichel in HDP. I knew that I’d eventually have to retire from the navy and wasn’t really interested in an office job in the Dockyard or becoming a self-employed contractor. I watched and listened to Scott as he taught me to fly a twin then how to fly it under and in instrument conditions. When I passed my Class Four check ride in 2018 the first phone call I made was to Scott.
Do you have any advice you’d pass along to other pilots? Share your wisdom with us!
Check rides are a necessity in aviation. Your VFC membership dues cover up to 2.0 with a Club instructor once a year for an annual
check ride. Approach the event with a positive attitude, be open to learning new things as the open book VFC exam is written with an eye to get you into the books and review or learn important items related to flight safety, aircraft characteristics, local procedures, etc. It is written in collaboration with your Club’s instructors, VFC Maintenance and the Victoria ATC Unit. The Transport Canada exam is also an annual requirement and covers a wide variety of topics.
What's a truly memorable flight or experience you've had as a pilot or passenger?
As I mentioned earlier, I got to ride along in the right seat of Snowbird 5, Second Line Astern, at CFB Comox on 23 April 2002. The Snowbirds were in Comox for their version of Spring Training. My pilot was Captain Warren “Whisky” Wright and his crew member was Corporal Harold Duff (SB-5A). We flew the full high show! I wrote an article on that experience for The Patrician back in 2002.
What's something about you as a person that you'd like to share with other members? What are you passionate about? What's something that would surprise us?
I started playing the trombone in Grade 7 in Napanee, ON. Since then, I’ve played in probably 20-30 different musical groups between Plymouth, England; Halifax, NS; Ottawa and Kingston, ON; Colorado Springs, CO; Nanaimo and here. I currently play in four quite different groups: the New Swiftsure Big Band, the Greater Victoria (Senior) Concert Band, a trombone quintet called “Bones of Contention” and a neighbourhood quintet called “Eaglehurst Winds”. Like flying, musical groups have allowed me to meet a wider swath of society than I would have otherwise.
And the challenge of playing music, in tune, in a group, blending the sound, is a challenge that keeps the brain working. Mark your calendars; Thursday, 29th May the NSBB plays Hermann’s Jazz Club! Book early as we tend to sell the place out.
Are there any other stories or anecdotes you'd like to share? We're all ears!
In 2006 I flew C-GWVN, a Piper Aztec, from Kingston (CYGK) to Oshkosh (KOSH). Welanded at both Sault Ste Marie airports. CYAM to close our domestic flight plan and open a cross-border one. Then 0.3 over to KANJ – the shortest international flight I’ve flown, to close that flight plan, clear customs (nobody showed, done by phone) and file for the final leg to KOSH. We’d totally forgotten about the 2000 CDT airport curfew at KOSH, as they don’t want aircraft landing or ground maneuvering in the dark with campers wandering about. We checked in with Green Bay Terminal who knew we were heading to KOSH and when we realized we were going to be late, despite a ground speed of 169 Knots, GB Terminal basically told us to relax as KOSH Tower were aware we were inbound and would wait for us. No sooner had the three wheels made the satisfying squawk of contacting the runway at 2004 local, when KOSH Tower announced that “all runways are now closed until 0800 tomorrow morning”. We stayed and camped at KOSH then departed four days later for Abbotsford with fuel stops in Bismark, ND (KBIS) and Great Falls, MT (KGTF).
Is there anything else you want to share with the other members of the VFC?
You’re probably wondering how I can remember the dates, times, DAlts, snags, etc. from the various flights I’ve mentioned. My
logbooks are my flying diary. Nothing in the CARs regulates what you can or must put in the Remarks section or that you can only use one line in your logbook per flight. Last summer Glen Rippon and I attempted to get to Oshkosh in the Club’s Arrow. Weather, BC forest fire smoke and avgas shortages conspired against us and we only got as far as Regina before turning back.
I used almost two full pages of the big logbook to chronicle the seven combined legs we flew, including remarks about his flights! Your logbook is yours. Include details about each flight including passengers, any upper air work you do (Dual or PIC), routes of flight, any snags or other items of interest, such as being under flown by a four-ship of F-18s just north of Kingston (24 Jun 06), etc.
It makes for interesting reading years later and if you do decide to pursue any further ratings, the remarks can help flesh out exercises as required for an eventual Pilot Training Record and rating or licence application.
What's your favourite part about belonging to the VFC?
The people I’ve met and had the privilege of flying with.
Thanks for taking the time to share with us, Darren! Hey reader: do you want to be featured in a future issue of the Patrician? Email us at vfcpatrician@gmail.com today!
Buffalo Joe & Mikey @ KOSH in 2010
VICTORIA FLYING CLUB CHARTER SERVICE UPDATE
by Ted Krasowski Operations Manager/Chief Pilot
We are technically known as the Victoria Flying Club Part VII Commercial Air Service – but the VFC charter service is soooo much easier.
So let's get started!
Better weather is coming and, hopefully, the VFC charter service will be flying a whole bunch of flights during a great summer in British Columbia.
What does that mean? More revenue (i.e. money!) for the Victoria Flying Club!
The VFC charter service provides another revenue stream for our flying club – adding to the financial bottom line of the VFC and raising our profile in the community as a reliable, efficient and safe way to travel around our province and to Washington State.
We're providing employment opportunities!
We hire VFC commercial graduates and are giving these folks their first taste of what it means to be a working pilot. Our line folks are also getting a taste of aviation as they act as spotters for our forest fire management flights. We’re doing sightseeing flights!
(Take a look at our webpage: flyvfc.com/sightseeing-and-charters)
This year, we are again working with the Capital Regional District (and have been for a number of years) in keeping the watershed around the Sooke Reservoir safe and protected. And we are servicing professional photographers with our aerial photography work. If you need to get somewhere on Vancouver Island or the Lower Mainland (Boundary Bay, Sechelt, Port McNeil, Port Hardy, Abbottsford, Tofino, Squamish, Powell River, Nanaimo and even Vancouver International and more) or even Washington State we can get you there in minutes! Consider – we can get you to Tofino in under an hour and a half. How about a quick flight over to Friday Harbour for lunch, or Bellingham for some shopping? We can even take you to Revelstoke or Kelowna or Penticton and who knows where else. VFC dispatch has pricing
for all of these destinations (250-6562833).
Who are we?
We are professional pilots and all of our flights operate according to Canadian Aviation Regulations and are in keeping with the rules/ conditions laid out by Transport Canada (TC) and the business requirements that all air services operate under with respect to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).Our pilots complete annual ground school training and annual training and pilot competency checks in our aircraft.
What else do we do?
The charter service is well known for our work in the community, whether getting workers to Powell River and other destinations or conducting daily flights to Port Alberni in support of LifeLabs when Highway 4 was closed in 2023. We also worked with the regional government during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure our parks and the Sooke watershed remained safe.
More about sightseeing flights!
Sightseeing flights are our most popular, particularly with youngsters who are plane-obsessed from an early age (what is that like?). In many
cases, we are the first step in a girl or boy realizing they want to be a pilot! And there is nothing better than the excitement in a youngster’s voice when they ask ‘Can we go upside down?’
It is on these sightseeing flights that we all get a chance to marvel at the beauty of flying in British Columbia. A charter flight to Desolation Sound is an awe inspiring experience. A flight through Howe Sound, over Whistler and into Pemberton is definitely a day well spent. We can even come back via Harrison Lake and maybe stop in Chilliwack for pie (in Chilliwack, They Fly for Pie!). We can even climb up to 10,000 feet and get a real good look at Mt. Baker.
Ted Krasowski (me) is our Operations Manager/Chief Pilot and is always available to discuss how we can make your travels enjoyable and efficient. You can call at (778) 3503213, email tedk@flyvfc.com, or feel free to just drop by the charter office on the second floor of the club for a chat!
And if you do fly with us, please let us know how things went! There's nothing better than hearing something along the lines of ‘Yeah, we flew a great sightseeing flight and we definitely want to go again—and we’re going to tell our friends all about it!" It really makes it worthwhile.
The VFC charter service wants to get you up in the air. We know you will love it—SO GIVE US A CALL AND LET’S GO FLYING!
D awn , G or D on ,
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Dawn and Gordon Bartsch were Canadian aviation pioneers in the Yukon region. Their partnership not only advanced aviation services in remote northern communities but also challenged and transformed traditional gender roles within the industry. This article tells just a bit of their story.
DAWN BARTSCH'S EARLY AVIATION CAREER
Dawn Dawson was born in Penticton, BC in and was immediately drawn to aviation. From the start, Dawn faced significant barriers. Her high school career councillors told her that becoming a female pilot was impossible and
that she should focus on a more suitable career, such as nursing. Instead of giving up, Dawn applied to McGill University's aviation school... and was immediately rejected for being a woman. So she tried again. And again. Eventually, her dogged determination led her to a flight school in Vancouver that was more impressed with her skills and aptitude than her gender. She completed her studies in 1951, only to have the
government inspector refuse to administer her flying test.
According to the book Lady on a Pedestal (written by Gordon Bartsch himself), the instructor was quoted as saying: “I’m not going to fly with no goddamn girl, [and] there ain’t nothing in the book that says I gotta pass her.”
It took the intervention of Dawn's teacher to convince the inspector to let her take the exam, and when it was through the
inspector begrudgingly admitted that she flew so well that he couldn't deny her a license.
From there, Dawn was hired by what would become Air Canada... only for them to pull their job offer when they found out she was a woman. But it wasn't all bad: while she couldn't be a pilot, they
were happy to offered her a position as flight attendant instead.
Dawn declined and took a job as a fight instructor in Calgary, where she earned half what her male colleagues did. From there, she slowly made inroads with more progressive airlines in spite of the Canadian Air Line Pilots'
Association's refusal to admit women, which meant difficult advancement (if any), long flight times, and no schedule control. Not the type of situation that creates a sustainable life. And yet, she persevered. In later years, she would say that she simply ignored the struggles and focused on her passion. In her own words: “If you wanna do something bad enough, you just go ahead and do it.”
Dawn's aviation journey next led her to Dawn City, Yukon, where she cofounded an air transport business with her pilot father, Ron Connelly. The Connelly-Dawson Airways supplied remote northern
communities with critical supplies, like food and fuel, and delivered mail.
Some communities were so tiny and remote that they lacked runways and Dawn had to settle for landing on sandbars and frozen lakes. Their contributions not only greatly improved the quality of life for these
isolated regions, but provided instrumental transportation that allowed these communities to grow and thrive. It was busy work, and that meant that Connelly-Dawson Airways was going to need more pilots.
MEETING GORDON BARTSCH
Gordon Bartch’s was a pilot whose journey was the polar opposite of Dawn's own. He swiftly rose through the ranks of aviation and eventually became a pilot for Canadian Pacific Airlines.
During his time with Canadian Pacific, he met Dawn Dawson, and though the two were married to other partners, fate had something else in store for them.
In 1962, Dawn hired Gordon to work at Connelly-Dawson Airways. Their previous partnerships had both ended in divorce,
and before long their professional relationship blossomed into a personal one. By the end of the year, the two were married and remain so today—over fifty years later!
But there was one more part of their relationship that brought them together and carried them through their most pivotal adventures.
THE PLANE
She was a Douglas DC-3 with the call sign CF-CPY, built in August 1942 and used as a military transport for missions in India and China during World War II. The Douglas DC-3s were one of the most trusted and airtested planes in the world, and after the
war she was retired from military service and sold to Canadian Pacific Airlines, under which she flew for 15 years. In 1960, she was purchased by Dawn's father and became part of the Connelly-Dawson Airways fleet. At that time, CF-CPY was the biggest airport that ever landed in the Arctic Circle.
CF-CPY logged more than 31,000 hours of flying time, the bulk of which was in the North. Together with Dawn and Gordon, the trio braved the north without maps or radio contact and in rough conditions. Besides delivering supplies and mail, they also served as emergency transport and medevac.
Dangerous complications were common, such as a time when they were snowed in while picking up a shipment of fish from Hay River in the Northwest Territories. The snow packed atop the frozen lake that served as their runway was too chuny to allow for takeoff, so they had to shovel a landing strip themselves, by hand, which was 10 meters
wide and 500 meters long. Another time, they were hired to deliver a full loud of drunk miners from a camp to Watson Lake. The miners become rowdy and belligerent, and refused to settle down during the flight. Thinking like pilots, the pair ascended to 5,000 feet, where the thin atmosphere acted as a
natural lullaby. Before long, the miners were fast asleep and the trip was much safer—and quieter— for everyone.
The three would adventure together for a decade until she was retired in 1970. Since then, she's been restored and rests on on a swivelling pedestal near Whitehorse
Airport, where she earned the title of "largest weather vane in the world."
Shortly after, Dawn and Gordon retired from the business and moved to Hawaii, where they took a well earned rest from the cold.
AVIATION LEGACY
As said before, Dawn and Gordon are still married to thie day. Dawn continued to fly in international races, and even one the bronze medal in the 1997 World Air Games long distance race.
In 2011, the pair were
inducted into the Order of Polaris by the Yukon Transportation Hall of Fame. In 2015, Bartsch received the Elsie MacGill North Lights Award for Pioneers.
Gordon chronicled he and his wife's adventures in the Douglas D-3 in his book, "Lady on a Pedestal," which you still can—and should— buy today. Dawn and
Gordon Bartschs' legacy is a testament to the spirit of Canadian aviators. It reminds us that if we never give up, keep our eyes to the skies, and help our neighbours, there's no telling how high we'll go.
In Dawn's own words: “I had a great life in aviation. A great life.”
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SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO TAGGED US ON INSTAGRAM!
From top, left to right: @grants_aviation: "With the recent weather... it’s been hard to say no to logging some night cross country time"; @ thanku.ca: "Left the circuit to see the city lights."; @laurennpedersonxo: Saturdays are for the sky; @ ycd_aviation: " This Cessna Doing a touch and go at YCD"; @burtonader: Never thought I’d get a shot of a retired and active @buffaloairways aircraft in the same shot at YYJ."; @chipmkrbren.avp "B17 Fortress ‘Sentimental Journey’ standing tall and proud in front of the @victoriaflyingclub ramp on a warm summer night some time ago in 2023." // Thanks for the share!
