Busy summer...
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Photos courtesy Tony Swain (unless otherwise noted)
Delighted future pilot in Bessy at Arlington N.W. EAA Fly-In |
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Rick Dion receives COPA Good Show Award from Tony & Mary
Swain at the renowned Camp Seabee, Arlington WA. |
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Tony Swain presents 'Doc' Jim Trembath with the COPA
Appreciation Award outside his office at Langley Airport, BC. Photo Sandy
Tinsley |
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Western Warbirds Re-union group at the Wetaskiwin Legion
barbeque. That's a Beech Musketeer on the pole. Photo by John MacKay |
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World travellers Swiss Danielle Rentsch, facing on left,
and Austrian Philippe Sturm, far right, at Wetaskiwin with their Austrian
Diamond Super Dimona motor glider. |
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Joe Howse and Don Crowe brought their identical CJ-6's
across The Rocks from Duncan and Boundary Bay, BC, to Wetaskiwin for the Western
Warbird Re-union. |
Well... It's been a very busy summer!
The Mary and I have been rushing about from one event to
another. However, we are not exactly rushing persons, and so have mostly watched
our friends flying about.
Bessy came back from her annual check-up all tickety boo,
except that as always, things seem to change during the Great Inspection, what
with all the little adjustments and all. By the time the new idiosyncrasies
become familiar, we'll be due for the next big looksee and reset. It never ends!
...Sigh.
As for what to do and where to go, poring through the
different events calendar is quite a trick. You must ponder more than one
published list, or you may find yourself at a Premium Fundraiser instead of your
favourite Type club Fly-in! It is difficult to find a date for your airport
social that doesn't clash with a must-see traditional fly-in event in your
region.
Have you noticed how most places describe their day's
program in some detail, you know, Armpit BC's 3rd Annual Flivver Fly-in,
Barbeque at 6pm, Dance to a Swing Band, Call Jack at 250 123 4567 and a
www.armpit.flywebpage whatever...???
But it's really frustrating to look up a favourite
happening and find the sole information is..."Snowbirds Event" period. We all
admire and drool over the Snowbirds, but is there nothing else happening? Is no
one else welcome? Come on guys?!
DELTA DAYS...
Our Annual Fly-in was a great success, with over 60
visiting planes and approx 2000 visitors over the day. A couple of neighbours
kindly made space available for overflow parking, and the place was jumping all
afternoon. Besides numerous classic airplanes, there were classic cars, really
old farm tractors, and antique stationary engines.
My favourite was a little gas engine demo'd by an old guy,
which back in the thirties, had once powered his mother's Maytag washing
machine!
It lived in the basement. She stomped down on a foot pedal
to start it, and poked a flex hose out the window for the exhaust. It must have
been miraculous back then in the days of laundry tubs and washboards!
COPA FLIGHT 5...
Flt Capt Al Fielder and his enthusiasts flew a magnificent
115 Young Eagles at the July event. It was a great effort, and the regular crew
was thrilled that so many other airport tenants and friends turned up to help.
There is so much personal joy in introducing young people
and parents to the magic of flight. There is no better way to describe what 'Our
Thing' is about, than a Young Eagles Day.
When we were kids, it was O.K. to go hang about the local
airport, marina, what have you. Now, good kids pretty well stick close to home,
parents don't let their kids simply roam about exploring like we did. So this
was a wonderful thing for everyone. Well-done folks!
ARLINGTON WA...
The Great Arlington 2003 North West EAA Fly-in and
Convention promised to be a Dandy this year to celebrate 100 years of powered
flight. Traditionally flying enthusiasts from B.C., Alberta, and of course the
N.W. USA flock to this magnificent event. Particularly enticing for Canadians is
the friendly convenience of U.S. Customs right on the field. No advance Customs
notice required (however, you must still file a Flight Plan).
Hundreds of Homebuilts, Ultralights, Antiques, Classics,
Warbirds and Rotorcraft are on display or strutting their stuff.
Airplanes and tents as far as the eye can see. The ambiance
is 'Early Oshkosh' with exhibits, forums, fly market, workshops, guest speakers,
food service, theatre, and an excellent air show every day.
Getting around is as easy, just jump on one of the
circulating bench seated shuttle wagons.
The Mary, Bessy and I of course were headed for the Warbird
area, where the Cascade EAA Warbird Squadron have their fantastic WW 2 Pacific
Theatre set piece, complete with the proper '40's swing music, palm trees, and
all.
We'd gone to some trouble to update Bessy's radio
capability, by hanging a portable standby ICOM A-5 on her emergency starter rope
secured to the port side cockpit upper fluorescent fitting, complete with a
convenient PTT (Press To Talk) switch Velcro'd to the throttle quadrant handle.
The obligatory myriad curly cords were tastefully draped mostly out of sight via
the starboard night light, the standby compass, and the spare dedicated VHF
aerial hook up.
It was only a minor inconvenience to unplug from the circa
1953 in-house radio thingamajigs, and plug the David Clarks into the new rig.
Shazam!!! A million thousand channels!!!!
Well, the desired split freeks anyway. A whole new wireless
world! I could actually monitor the Arlington ATIS!!! Way to go!!!
However, as I had no idea how to provide the desired 12
volts from Bessy's 24-volt system, thus, after some relevant wires were poked,
Bessy got in a huff, and blew the regular radios off line.
So we were now totally dependant upon the A-5's minuscule
battery pack and the unknown quantity of charge there-in.
The expert's advice was... "Be brief ... Do not chat!" And
this to cross the dreaded Canada/US border during what was probably a Code
Purple Alert. Nevertheless, as you guessed, we made it.
Subsequently, for reasons not entirely clear to me,
Squadron Commander David Desmond requested I submit a Bessy Arrival Procedure
Report, so, here you go...
BESSY ARRIVAL REPORT....
We arrived Thursday around 13:20. My main radios were dead,
so I was using my new Icom A-5, with PTT and mare's nest of curly wiring hanging
off the panel lights, and plugged in to an external antenna.
Worked fine, but had no intercom, and took both hands to
see and change freeks. By habit, under arrival pressures, kept pressing main
radio xmt button by mistake. (PTT was velcroed to other end of throttle handle,
and I kept forgetting that!). The following dialogue is approximate. I was not
taking notes, and Mary couldn't monitor!
Requested "Warbird Shoreline Arrival" (or as per your
instruction sheet) for Canadian Yellow T-6, whilst circling right, west of the
shoreline at 2500 ft I believe I had to call twice due to other traffic on freek.
Tower approved, and asked to confirm type, and said to call at two miles.
(Approx the rail road track) Proceeded direct to AWO, descending rapidly to 1700
feet (arrival altitude not clear in instructions)
At 2 miles, multi other aircraft called tower with
accompanying dialogue, so unable to call till approaching edge of field...
assessed this as two miles, and called, "At two miles, 1700 feet."
Tower responded, "Yellow T-6 cleared direct to the
numbers."
Bessy Driver replied, "Yellow T-6, left base for 34."
Instant Tower response, "I SAID DIRECT TO THE NUMBERS!"
"Hokay! Direct to numbers!" ... which called for rapid
descent from 1700 ft and approx 150 degree left spiral! No sweat. Throttle
closed, gear down; fine pitch, full flap, all trims back.
Great adrenalin rush after all that cruising! Bounced a
bit...
Tower, "Exit left on the 45 and contact ramp on 124.3"
Was directed to great welcome at Customs. Another vital
mission accomplished!
GROUND & AROUND...
Such a relief to be on the ground, through customs, and
Bessy parked safely on the Warbird line, that all else seemed routine.
Chatting to the strolling throng, refuelling and topping
off with a couple of gallons of oil. This always brings gasps of disbelief from
Piper and Cessna owners, they don't use that all year!
Showed a delightful little girl and her brother the
airplane.
She ran over and thanked Mary, and announced she was now
going to be a
Pilot when she grew up! So thrilled. The Mum ran out of
film, so I took the little girl’s pic, but I know not who or where she
is....Sigh.
Other than that, everything went fine, looked at planes,
had fish and chips, poked through the booths, and signed up for DUARTS. There
was the fantastic Warbird Barbeque, and everything..
CAMP SEABEE AWARDS....
There's a secret spot in the RV Camping area where a
special group of Canadians circle their motor homes and establish the famous
Camp Seabee.
Here a unique group of airplane enthusiasts gather to relax
and socialize throughout the weekend. After the daily air show, many performers
sneak away to unwind at this oasis by the woods, and many a fantastic
hangar-flying tale is recounted to this unique gathering.
Some in the group are experienced maintenance engineers on
volunteer call to help pilots whose show planes are smitten by a glitch. Much
respected of these stalwarts is Rick Dion, a cheerful, resourceful, and
easygoing guy.
It was my particular pleasure to present a COPA Good Show
Award to Rick before an appreciative group of his friends right there at Camp
Seabee.
The award acknowledged his much-appreciated volunteer
efforts and his Camp Seabee, which he normally bases at Boundary Bay, near
Vancouver.
Mary and I enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome into this close
knit special group, and were delighted to find so many were COPA members,who
assured me they read and enjoy my monthly stories.
Shortly thereafter, the Seabee duty 'Dead Radio'
consultants, Rick, and crew, poked about in Bessy and announced a BROKEN fuse.
Not blown, broken. I didn't know they did that! Looked good
to me.
Seabee operatives were dispatched far and wide for an
unbroken 5-amp fuse, to no avail.
Even Crash Williams's maintenance Wizard, Paul Yuman, was
unable to supply, even from that big fuse box in the sky, Crashes personal
Avenger.
We eventually made do with a 3 amper, and was advised to
keep an eye on it? Yesseree! Thank goodness for ICOM. What a great weekend. We
were reluctant to go home.
DOC TREMBATH AWARD...
The other day another opportunity arose to present a COPA
Appreciation Award to Dr. Jim Trembath, C.A.M.E., an extremely accomplished
aviation personality, skilled in all the myriad facets of airplane activity,
flying, restoring, maintaining, medicalling, radio hamming, and everything!
'Doc' Trembath's convenient office at Langley Airport has
provided a crucial service, 'on the spot' for local pilots these many years.
Congratulations Jim!
WESTERN WARBIRD RE-UNION....
In the eighties and early nineties, the Western Warbird
Association was arguably the premier Warbird Display group in the world. Other
international groups watched enviously as the Western Warbirds performed show
after show across the Canadian and US North West.
Their newsletter was distributed regularly to all similar
Warbird groups, and there was a tremendous camaraderie and pride amongst the
members.
There were three Squadrons, the Calgary Gophers, Edmonton
Mosquitoes, and the Vancouver & Seattle Seagulls. There was a Zulu Squadron for
the more remote members from Ontario or California.
In it's heyday, the Warbirds boasted approximately 40
Harvards, 4 Mustangs, 4 T-28's, 2 Mitchells, 4 Beech 18's, 7 Chipmunks, 3 Tiger
Moths, 1 Corsair, a Vampire, and an F-86 Sabre. This was some Flying Circus, and
when out in force on display, was an awesome show!
But time marches on, airplanes change, people get older,
seek something more sedate, show needs change, and so now, only a few of us
still actively perform at air shows.
However, John Douglas and Byron Reynolds thought it time we
had a re-union, and so we did, at Wetaskiwin AB, in conjunction with the Museums
open house and fly-in. It was a great week-end, highlighted by the arrival of
three Harvards in formation, Wayne
Watson, Don MacTaggart and Blain Fowler (The Corsair
owner), a couple of Nancheng CJ-6's came out from the coast, and a Navion from
Airdrie.
Most of us came by car or motorbike... such are the times!
Many of us just wanted to see inside of the Reynolds
Alberta Museum's huge new storage barn, brimming with exotic cars and airplanes.
Absolutely incredible! Wacos and Bolingbrokes, Tiger Moths, Ansons and much,
much more.
There was a great barbeque at the Wetaskiwin Legion, with
more than 50 people attending. Mayor Don Montgomery welcomed everybody, and
hoped we would come again.
Lots of Warbird War stories, telling old friends how good
they looked, how no one seems to change, and so on. A minute's silence for those
no longer with us. Memories, memories... Sigh. All over way too soon.
WORLD TRAVELLERS...
A surprise arrival at the fly-in were a couple from
Switzerland, on their way around the world in their rebuilt Super Dimona motor
glider. They arrived at Wetaskiwin via Greece, Turkey, Iran, India, Vietnam,
Japan, Russia, Alaska, etc.
Danielle Rentsch and Philipp Sturm's next big destination
was Oshkosh, and they were scurrying about for charts and U.S. port of entry
information, with which the Copaguy was pleased to help organize.
Danielle is a Commercial pilot and flight instructor with
over 7000 hours, and Philipp is a 2000 hour private pilot and agricultural
engineer. Their ambitious trip will entail some 50,000 kms!
SO THAT WAS SUMMER...
I guess there's still some to go! Sadly, we didn't make it
to Chilliwack, they closed the airport quite early this year because of the
Snowbirds, and advised everyone of being short of fly-in parking space.
Abbotsford is this weekend and we'll probably drive in on
Saturday. The Snowbirds put on a great show for us tonight over English Bay,
right out front of our window! ...Of course the camera was in the car, and I
dithered about too long before rushing down
three flights of stairs to get it. Too late I'm afraid.
...Sigh.
Anne and Harry Whereatt were in from Assiniboia to see
their daughters, who live here. Local Hurricane worshippers were all agog at his
photos of his very own serviceable one back at the farm, never mind his almost
flying restored Lysander.
Harry is an amazing bloke; his farm oozes airplanes, noses
and wings poking out from every nook, cranny and shed.
Well... That's it for now... See you in October... 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.