Pacific Perspective - January 2003

Happy New Year!

	Air Cadet Corporal Carter Mann, 828 (Hurricane) Squadron, Tony Swain and of course Bessy, prepare for the Remembrance Day Flight over Vancouver area Cenotaphs. Photo by proud mom, Dawn Mann
	Jeff Rochon's Murphy Renegade taildragger seaplane astonishes The Guys at Delta. Photo by Ken Hicks
	Short Torpedo Bomber at Royal Naval Air Station in the Mediterranean, during WW 1. Photo Anon, Swain archives

This year it's going to be different. I'm going to fly more!
Things have got so complex on weekends that by the time we reach Delta I'm ready for home.
Mary rousts me early, so I'll be out of the bathroom for her "fix up". She checks my ears for high water marks, then thrusts cereal under my nose and says, we must pick up "stuff" at Cosco.
Never airplane stuff. It's sustenance stuff, which is for OTHER people, as I get enough at home.
We lug this stuff to the car, then 22 miles later, lug it to the Pilot's Briefing Room, and it's a good bet it's pouring rain... It's ALWAYS pouring rain for this job.
I wait for tea and ponder the huge hangar doors, which stick when the ground heaves. Will our venerable Corvair tug start? Will the front tire be flattish?
These things must be resolved before trying to haul Old BESSY out.
Next, will the tug wheels spin on the wet grass, get Bessy a teenzy bit sideways, and remove at least one $139 wingtip light?
There's always a bunch of guys on hand with free advice... I visit the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Jerry arrives, opens HIS doors, pulls his plane/trailer/tug or spare fuselage half out, jacks it up and pulls a wheel off... I retreat to the Old Coffee Shop for tea and join the hangar talk discussing the tricky crosswind... I sneak a cookie.
The sun shines and lots of planes fly about. We troop out to see the huge new ditch, dug with a special machine by the farmer next door, magically drain the floods that previously defeated our puny efforts.
I wander through the tie-downs chatting with the guys. The last two planes in are women. Easy! Instantly, tricky crosswind Guy-Talk ends.
Back in the Briefing Room, we eat pies, sup coffee and grumble about ELT's, Aero Studies, Mode C's and other good airplane stuff.
Jerry goes out and shuts his doors... I go look about, people drift off, Mary's busy vacuuming, don't
want to miss Heartbeat. So we head home.
Great day at the airport... Maybe TOMORROW I'll fly, that'll be nice!

POPPY DAY FLIGHT
Nov. 11, everyone was psyched up for the Remembrance Day Fly-pasts.
There'd been lots of practicing in the previous weeks, through rain, snow, and murk of day.
There were to be four Harvards to fly over more than 10 Cenotaphs, honouring the grand old Vets down there on parade.
It's a great honour to be asked to join this flight. Bessy and I have participated for the last 20 years or so.
We always take a deserving person along to experience the solemnity of the occasion.
This year was to be Royal Canadian Air Cadet, Carter Mann, just recently made Corporal. He turned up resplendent in his immaculate uniform and highly polished boots.
It is a parade, and that's the only reason he is allowed to come.
He must be in uniform. I worry about grease on his uniform. Not to worry, He has brought an official cadet flight suit!
I worry about his shiny boots. He will wear them! I marvel at his confidence. We wore special big flying over boots when I was a cadet. They were wool lined, and even buffed the polish while flying!
Mom and friends hovered about snapping pictures whilst we held our briefing. Like nosey paperatzi. We stayed cool, and discussed what to do if upside down in a plowed field, and how to get out without breaking your neck, and more to the point, without scratching the precious boots.
For a corporal at 14 that's a major concern. We were to rendezvous with the other Harvards at 10:30 Hrs over The Trestle.
Bessy fired up with no problem. Lots of smoke, coughing and wheezing, the usual showing off stuff. It was pretty windy from the south, and there'd been lots of rain the last week. In fact there was concern for cancellation because of low cloud building by the mountains.
The RAA Chapter group were getting organized, with twelve vintage, replica and custom built aircraft - busily warming up their engines.
We majestically taxied out, and completed a run-up.
There was a bit of moisture in the right mag, that cleared up as the big Pratt warmed through. Run up completed, we turned to taxi down to 07, off the paved taxiway, on to the grass. The wind picked up the tail, and to my surprise, spun us around into wind. "Must have had the tailwheel unlocked?" said I, and tried again, same thing! Though this time I caught it, and tried backtracking down the runway.
But the wind from the port rear quarter was too strong, and we slid sideways on the wet grass, crabbing down the runway. The grass was so wet, that the big fat Harvard tires simply floated on it like ice. I called it a day, turned into wind, and returned to the Barn.
The smaller aircraft with narrower tires had no such problems, and heroically flew the mission as planned. Fortunately, a reserve Harvard arrived at Boundary Bay, and Four Harvards flew past all the Cenotaphs as planned, and, as always, thrilled the old Veterans, smartly on parade on the street below.
My Cadet was disappointed, but like a good trooper, understood these things. There would be another time.

TAIL DRAGGING
Those who learned on 'conventional' aircraft, i.e. taildraggers, are always slightly smug when pilots gather to talk about landing techniques. The nose pushers are nervous as to their ability to keep the old fashioned flying machines on the runway on touchdown, and we Clever Dicks enjoy their discomfort when contemplating a check out required before flying the club plane.
This comfy superiority was shattered a bit recently when a bloke arrived at Delta with his amphibious taildragger Murphy Renegade!
A taildragging floatplane? An awed crowd soon assembled to discuss all the nuances this created. As owner Jeff Rochon said, "Why not?"
Older folk soon recalled the Sopwith Baby popular in the Med during World War One. How popular we're not sure, and there were other's, some even capable of dropping torpedoes!
But will it work. As of this writing, I believe that apart from flying it around off land, Jeff has only established that it floats as planned... Stand by for further press releases!

DELTA FIVE YEAR PLAN
One of the pleasures of being a Regional Park is that there's plenty of paperwork and meetings to attend. GVRD Parks from time to time request a Five Year Plan for approval and budgeting purposes.
This forces the airpark users to think about where they want to be down the road.
There are numerous issues. General maintenance, upgrading the Old Coffee Shop, improving the parking situation, tie-down area drainage, multiple group usage, better grass cutting machines, and more hangars.
About 35 tenants turned out in November to discuss all these matters and more. It was a very spirited meeting, with many fresh ideas, posted around the room on huge sheets of paper, in the time honoured 'Brain Stormer' system.
Committee member Hammy McClymont, a Citabria Group leader, and show administrator, took all these ideas away to prepare a Draft Plan, which he will present at the next DAPCOM meeting.
It makes one aware just how precious our airports are, great or small.

BANFF SAFETY STUDY
Parks Canada are conducting a study of the safety consequences of closing the Banff and Jasper Airports before actually doing it.
We have hailed this as a very good idea, and remind them that it is the safety of the flying folk that is our imperative. If we are safe, those on the ground are safe.
We need to remind the study group that these airports were placed at regular intervals through the mountains to provide safe options for pilots in the first place. This carefully thought out system provided the flying equivalent of Truck Runoffs, or Rest Area Laybyes, standard provisions on our Canadian highways.
Back in 1971, enroute to Calgary from Vancouver, Bessy, Mary and I were forced to land there after encountering a Blizzard at Exshaw. There was no way we should have to risk flying back all the way to Golden.
There were blue skies and unlimited visibility in Calgary, and clear visibility through the mountains to that point. Forecast weather was good. What else were we to do?
Co-ordinating input for this study is Bob Kikby, Bryn Thomas, and Bernie Scheiesser.
Please tell COPA director Bob Kikby of any precautionary landings made at Banff or Jasper for any reason, but especially for weather-related concerns, that you, or any people you know of made, for as far back as you can remember. Pass this information ASAP to Bob Kirkby's email at bkirkby@copanational.org, or mail to B. Kirkby, RR 7, Box 16, Site 20, Calgary, AB, T2P 2G7.
So that's it. Happy New Year.

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.