Pacific Perspective - May 2002

SPRING IS SPRUNG...
Easter arrived after a long wet winter, and I’ve been getting antsy from not exercising Old Bessy. It’s not that it’s been too bad to fly, but a Harvard tailwheel can create some pretty fancy grooves in Delta’s lovely turf runway. There’s a lot of load on that wheel.
My friends have been flying about and yapping about it in the Old Coffee Shop. “Had Old Bessy out yet? We were up to Chilliwack on Sunday!” ...and so on. It hadn’t really rained for a few days, and there’d been some wind, which the experts said dried out the ground. I have always suspected wind just spread water about more. But the Great Delta Drainage Works project must have achieved something, so I went and walked the lawn access ramp to the new pumps, and jumped up and down on the actual runway. Seemed pretty firm? But was it pretty firm enough for a Harvard tailwheel not to leave incriminating patterns about the place?
Beyond a special modification of my discarded cotton fabric tester, the only turf softness test known to persons, is actual taxiing about of the said Harvard, or jumping up and down on selected spots. The former seemed like more fun, and would achieve more accurate results.
So the saga begins. It’s a big deal. One doesn’t simply push a two and a half ton Harvard out of the hangar, jump in and hit the starter, and Bob’s your uncle. No sir.
There are other considerations. Have all the birds, mice and other furry animals inhabiting the barn been suitably discouraged from living in the actual airplane by Mary’s patent Red Pepper deterrent? A bemused field mouse once floated serenely about the cockpit during a barrel roll. In the Air Force it was Coke bottles and screwdrivers. They were easier to catch.
Thankfully, there was no sign of critters. The cockpit was examined for levers, switches and knobs set in non-active positions, and the prop carefully pulled through 13 blades. The book says three turns, but as Bessy sits around more than she did in the military 36 years ago, I feel she enjoys the exercise, and I get to hear all her clicks and wheezes twice, all the better to ponder things. The extra blade always seems to set the prop horizontal, the optimal position to miss my head when poking about, but not my friend Jerry’s. There are disadvantages to being tall.

BY THE BOOK...
It takes “The Book” four and a half pages to get to the actual take-off part, and we’re not even out of the barn yet. That requires the old Corvair tug to start and have the right front tire topped up with air. It stays up if you watch it. Sigh. Hook up the towbar, decline help, as this always takes longer, and back out with a bit of a rush to mount the curb. Hard left once the wing tips clear the door, about six inches clearance, the tail swings around, then down between the hangars without removing wing tip lights on the doors down each side. Like backing a trailer down an alley. Finally clear of the buildings, find a nice spot on the grass, or over at the pumps. Eighty gallons should be comfy for an hour’s sightsee, about 360 litres.
Mary is the honoured back seat driver for this first trip of the year, and after some huffing and puffing, she settles in the instructors seat, a full cockpit with all the relevant knobs, dials and switches. I clamber in front, buckle up the harness, and ponder the starting procedure.
Park brakes on, throttle set a quarter inch open, mixture rich, pitch coarse, switches off, fuel on the fullest tank, carb heat cold, unlock the primer, wobble the fuel hand pump to prime the primer, give her four full shots of prime. Not easy as the primer seals dry out over winter, and leak a bit at first.
“All clear!” Master switch on and energize the starter flywheel for twenty seconds. Moment of truth, “Engage!” Lot’s of screeching and the prop moves fitfully to a compression, then painfully indeed hesitates for a long time before suddenly jerking free for “One - Two - Three” and eventually six blades, then “Contact!” Switches on, and amidst a great eruption of pops, bangs and clouds of blue smoke, she rumbles to life. It’s always a magnificent moment! Idling at a 1000 rpm, she takes 15 minutes for the temps to come up enough to taxi. Which allows time to check the radio, do the cockpit check and all that stuff.
The rest is pretty normal. You go fly. It was a beautiful day. We looked at White Rock, by Langley and over the Fraser River, up to the Golden Ears to admire the fresh snow, then plunge down into the shade over Pitt Lake, to wend our way home over Surrey, and a wonderful view of Vancouver, The Islands, the mountains, the Straights of Georgia, and home to a greaser landing on Delta’s runway 25. What a glorious flight.
Finally, the old tug heaves Bessy back into the barn. The little group of admirers disperse, and Mary and I have some tea, and are ready for home. What a day.
That’s why I do all this volunteer stuff, so that somehow, the spark of this fabulous experience of flight, will pass on to others, who just happen by, and watch, and understand that we are just average people, who enjoy their dream... And so could they.

DELTA LOOKING GOOD...
Now that the pumps have been relocated conveniently nearer to the runway, the GVRD Parks have plans to beautify the main entrance and parking area and provide better access to the Linear Park on Mud May.
It’s a beautiful and invigorating walk along the dyke by the water, and, on a fine day, with a fabulous view over the Gulf Islands and the far off Olympic Mountains.
The Old Coffee Shop is now a Pilot’s Briefing Room and Lounge for tenants, guests and visitors. A perfect place to plan the next leg of your flight. A planning WAC chart on the wall reaches as far east as Oshkosh! A chart on the other wall shows Britain and Europe at the same scale allows surprising comparisons of distances of over here to over there. There’s basic serve yourself coffee and cookies in the Briefing Room, and if there’s a volunteer around to play mother, maybe a little more. There’s no set hours, but the door is always open weekends, and often midweek when a volunteer is about.
The tiedowns are filling up now that summer is almost upon us. Some are still available at mid-field at very reasonable rates, and the ambience is peaceful. The Old Barn, and original Coffee Shop hangar line buildings provide a true grass roots aviation heritage atmosphere.
Before you fly in, please read the entry in your Canada Flight Supplement carefully, particularly the remarks on the circuit heights and procedures that pertain to our good neighbour policy. Please check with the office or caretaker for available overnight tiedowns.

PORT ALBERNI FLY-IN...
The folk at Port Alberni asked me to remind you all of their Fly-in on May 5th. A tour to the Martin Mars Water Bombers is a big attraction. This event is at the Alberni Regional District Airport. There’ll be refreshments at the field, and they’d like to know who’s coming for catering plans. Contact Ray Bowerman, Tel.: 250-723-8278 or Doug Moore, Tel.: 250-723-9385 ...Please note regretfully there is no gas available at the airport.

HOPE FLIGHT FEST...
The next weekend is the Hope Flight Fest, 10, 11, and 12th May, which promises to be a like a country fair! There’s to be a VIP reception on Friday evening, when under wing camping or local motels and RV camp sites will be organized. There’ll be organized activities, light snacks and refreshments for ticket holders.
Saturday, the local school band and choir will open the events, which will feature a Trade Show with numerous booths to explore, heli tour rides, exhibition para jumping, etc. The Vancouver Soaring Society is having an Open House, and offering glider rides, demos, and music? all weekend.
The Grand Barbecue is from 5 until 7pm. There’s to be a Pancake Breakfast on Sunday morning. Sounds like a fun weekend for those who can make it. Hope has probably the best grass runway in Canada. Almost 4,000 feet long!
Contact: Flight Fest, Tel.: 604-869-2819 or www.hopeflightfest.com.

BCBC SALMON ARM...
The pilot’s Breakfast Club of BC report a great gathering at Salmon Arm the last weekend of March. They had about 12 planes fly in and hosted 35 people. One from as far away as Winnipeg, he walked? They toured home-built projects in the hangars, and had a great meal at the Prestige Inn. Thanks to Ken Hoshowski, the Salmon Arm Flying Club, and Airport Manager John McDermott for looking after everybody so well.
The next BCBC outing is to Cranbrook April 27, and hopefully on to Radium, which will be done by time you read this, let’s hope they had clement weather!
They have quite a schedule for the rest of the year, and can be contacted via the Penticton Flying Club, Gary West, Tel.: 250-497-6466, or Internet: www.angelfire.com/bc3/pfc.

WARBIRD REGS...
Now Canada has dedicated regulations for ex-military and foreign “Warbird” type aircraft, you enthusiasts need to ensure your organization, CARMA remains the voice for your type of aviating. Joe Howse did a wonderful job, and it’s time you got together and thought up a program for the group to follow. The general COPA volunteers are really not into the sort of flight activities you will normally participate in. We don’t want everything to happen in the Good Ole States. We need visible group participation at Canadian Fly-ins and Airshows. This is where family members and enthusiast friends and supporters can be involved.
On the West Coast we have the EAA Warbird Squadron 2, around Seattle, but surely there is a place for a few COPA Warbird Flights on the Prairies, or in Ontario. I don’t know, but you’ll need to think very hard about what’s next for Canadian Warbirders. We used to have the Great Western Warbird’s Flying Circus back in the eighties, built around a group of 13 or so active Harvards. There are such groups about today, but no national co-ordination that I know of except CARMA, the Canadian Association of Recreational
Military Aircraft. It’s a great name, and the group needs to consolidate its activities and move onwards to more things. Let’s not drop the ball! Contact Joe Howse, CARMA president, Tel.: 250-748-2203 or E-mail joeh@shaw.ca.

GEORGE NOBLE MAGICS...
The Tenants at Delta Heritage Air Park have Pancake Breakfast the second Sunday of every month. It’s a social event held for the users of the field to talk about their airplane stuff, and the events generally concerning our flying hobby in and around the Airpark. It provides a set time for pilots, families and friends to meet. Usually they come and go at differing times and so don’t get to talk. It’s a great time.
As summer rolls in, parents will be seen pushing kid-sized airplanes up and down the old taxiway with ecstatic kids playing pilot in the cockpit. These push-about-planes are fabulous play planes. They have pseudo instruments, wings with controls, propellers that revolve by kid power, engines that clank and spin. These pretend airplanes are magic. I would have gone nuts as a kid if I’d had access to one. These are much bigger than the popular pedal car type.
The great genius who built these wonderful machines is a guy named George Noble. He built them for his grand kids to play in. They appear in downtown parades, with thrilled be-goggled kids in the cockpits. Problem is, the pusher parent gets lots of exercise, but, once a kid is in, no one has yet figured out a sure-fire way to get a kid out! We are working on it.
George makes things. A homebuilder, and longtime member of Chapter 85 RAAC, George is respected at Delta for his Pazmany, and his fabulous Super Pietenpol, a really skookum machine, with a five cylinder Kinner radial engine. It was awesome to behold, with its huge wooden prop, with brass leading edges. It was pretty slow, but leaped into the air with mighty whumping thrusts of that prop. Opening the throttle seemed to merely make louder whumps, however, you could really feel the increased thrust, the prop taking mighty chunks of air, and spitting them behind. A truly impressive beast to fly. Unfortunately, the speed and range precluded you ever seeing it at Oshkosh, where I’m sure it would have been a sensation.
A couple of months ago, George brought his latest creation to the airport: his working cutaway see-through wooden radial engine. He built it to show his grand kids how a radial engine works. We grown-ups learned a lot too!
One of his pretend planes has an almost working WW 1 rotary engine, which spins around, complete with spark plugs and noisy tappets, much to the delight of kids, and airplane-nut type grown-ups.
Sadly, the Super Pete’s engine called it quits some years ago, and the airframe is in the midst of obtaining a modern transplant, but the project seems to be lagging. That dear old Kinner was just so romantic!

LETTERS TO GOVT GUYS...
We all feel the need now and then to write blistering letters to the government guys. But you gotta do it right. The Old Goverment Guys Club, better known as the Federal Superannuates National Association, recently published some “Tips on Writing to the Prime Minister” which should work for other important Poo-Bahs... Remember, these guys are Ex-Pooh-Bahs themselves, and skilled in the sort of writing that senior civil servants understand!
So here you go, I’m sure they won’t mind...
Be original - Be legible - Be brief - Be polite, but firm. Request an answer to a specific point, and end with a statement that cannot be rejected outright. Remember to include your name, address, and postal code.
When you receive the eventual reply, if it still seems required, respond with a supplementary question. copy such letters to your premiers, and other ministers as appropriate. No postage is required to the Prime Minister. His address is: Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Office of the Prime Minister, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa K1A 0A2

RED DEER/PENHOLD...
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good weather come mid-June for the COPA Convention. I really want to arrive in the Harvard, Bessy. Blain Fowler of Camrose will urge some local Edmonton area Harvards to attend the convention, which would surely thrill the Penhold Reunion attendees who will hope to relive those fantastic memories of their military training right there at Penhold/Red Deer Industrial Airport. The Western Warbirders kept the Harvard flying tradition going for many years, and at one time, boasted 43 of these classics in their group. See you there!
See the COPA Convention Web page: www.copanational.org or e-mail: scooper@skywings.com.

THE END BITS...
Well, I guess that’s it for now. Take care, know your airplane, know your route, and Fly Safe.

Tony Swain has been a COPA member for over 20 years and has been an active participant in many aviation groups. He flies many types of aircraft and is concerned about the rights of sport pilots.