Pacific Perspective - February 2006

By Tony Swain

Where’d all this start

This has been a hard column to write. They came and took Old Bessy away… Sigh.

It’s been a long time, but she couldn’t have gone to a better home. However, it might seem like boot camp to the old girl!

Many years ago in Yorkshire, when I just turned 16, my old man, a boot repairer, figured I could make good brass being a fighter pilot in the Air Force, “Anybody can do it lad!” So he gave me 10 bob and sent me off to the flying club near Brid to learn.

It was all very Brit and ‘Old Boy’ casual. Blazers, flannels and club ties. There were no pilots notes, “Stick and Rudder” or “From the Ground Up”s.

‘Chips’ Larsen, an ex-Spitfire pilot from Trinidad, simply briefed me on how to fly an Auster, and said to make up a ‘cheat sheet’ from memory when I got home to use next time, should we get lucky and the engine starts. I still have it!

Learning cost a bob a minute, and it was four bob for the bus!

Anyway, all went well and somehow I accumulated six hours over two years and the Royal Air Force welcomed me with open arms as a sucker for the Romance, the Glory, helmets, goggles and all.

That was 54 years ago, and seems like yesterday. Been a lot of air under the wings since then.

After the RAF, selling shoes, designing Navy jets, coming to Canada, modifying Rescue planes, drawing circuit boards, and stuff, I met The Mary, and the world changed! We bought Bessy and I ended up selling fish.

With a bunch of like-minded flying friends we formed the Western Warbirds, which evolved into a sort of Flying Circus. We had a ball. My boyhood dreams of zooming about the sky in a fighter plane became almost true, near as damn it.

TWO NICE GUYS

And now it’s over. After 36 years, the old Harvard Warbirders have drifted off to other things, bigger planes, display teams, Reno Racing, and other exotic stuff.

So, at 72, Mary and I agreed the expense and logistics of keeping Old Bessy could be better handled by younger people, and we should find something a bit more sedate.

No sooner had we advertised Bessy in COPA’s Canadian Plane Trade, than we got a call from the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association demanding to buy the airplane. Now just a minute. We’re hardly used to seeing the ad yet!

After a bit of argy bargy (there were seven other blokes wanting to trade wives and stuff), a deal was struck and the guys were coming forthwith to check her out. Pick us up at 2 pm at YVR.

Two pm came and no guys! I called Mary. “Well! Wait for the next flight!” she said. At 4:30 pm I held up my forlorn little sign ‘TONY SWAIN HERE’, and there they were! Kent Beckham and Greg Burnard. All smiles and huge luggage, right from Tillsonburg.

“Lets go!” Straight off to check out Bessy.

It was a dark and stormy night, and as we burst into the old hangar barn, furry animals scooted off in all directions.

They peered at this, looked at that, removed panels, pulled props, devoured log-books and everything. Then, back to our place for late supper. Big Mary Salmon feed. 

“OK, we’ll take it!” …”Wha??? Now?!” “Yep, let’s fill out the forms.” 

I was sort of ready with all the stuff in COPA’s “How to buy an airplane” guide. Where’s the COPA “How to SELL an airplane” guide?

Kent handed me a crumpled handwritten cheque for rather a lot. “It’s certified,” he said, pointing out a little red rubber stamp. Now there’s a poser! My bank didn’t open till Tuesday? …Sigh.

“Aw!” said The Mary, “They’re nice guys.” So I signed the forms. We thought we knew what we were doing. We checked and double checked the COPA instructions, and shook hands.

The guys were tired, so I tucked them in a nearby comfy B&B, with a seven a.m. pick-up for a Mary mega brekka. They planned a good early start.

WHAT HAVE I DONE

Kent kept calling weather and it was not the best. Typical VFR not recommended stuff. I offered a demo flight to prove Bessy was real. “Will it start?” says Kent. “Well yes!” says I, “Always has, and I just charged the battery.”

“That’s good enough for me,” says he, “We’d like to get going.” They loaded up their considerable stuff, and were impressed with our Corvair tug, till it got stuck twice in the soft mud. So Kent fired up Bessy, and taxied to the pumps.

Bessy embarrassed me by presenting a flat tail oleo. Cold you know. After much huffing, puffing, wrenching, hissing, and lots of advice, my old air bottle and me managed to replace the missing air.

They’d filed their plan, and climbed aboard. I jumped up to advise on which switches to flick, set and stuff. But Kent already had the starter humming. These were real Harvard guys! So I stepped down, walked over to my Mary, and took her hand.

I’d never seen our Bessy in action before… I’d always been the driver. What a magnificent bird. What had I done?

She looked worth 10 times the scruffy cheque! Too late now! They taxied away for a flawless run up. I was fascinated. Then off down to 07, turned around, a mounting roar, and she leaped off the soft ground like a gazelle, and swooped by, over the road, the barns, the trees, and rumbled away, away, until ‘blink’ she was gone!

We were stunned. It all happened so fast. Gone from our lives! We cried a bit. Thank goodness our friends were there to commiserate.

It’s not the best time to ferry a Harvard across Canada. So if you happen to see them on their way, wish them Godspeed and easy flying. Thanks! So what now?

SO WHAT NOW…

A recently emptied hangar is a forlorn place.  There’s still stuff in there but it loses relevance. Exhaust bits, power unit, old radios, manuals, used plugs, tools, chocks and all, still there, waiting for nothing. Sigh.

There’s even a Mighty Wasp shipping crate. It’ll all move on to new folk who find it precious, but right now, it’s just old stuff.

When the weather brightens, Big Jerry plans to bring in his exotic Morava twin. That‘ll be something to show off on our airpark tours. A genuine foreign plane!

Mary and I will take it easy for a while and get used to not having Bessy. We’re promised that if out Tillsonburg way, we can go fly her. And a really good friend in England has offered his T-6G when we visit, so life’s not all bleak.

DELTA TO COME

New Years at Delta could see some changes about the place. The GVRD Parks have applied for more appropriate zoning, and so maybe a new caretaker’s lodge and a row of T-Hangers could be in the works. But don’t hold your breath. These things take a long time.

The Airpark operating committee, DAPCOM, and the GVRD Management committee work very hard to keep the Airpark working in a safe and efficient manner.

The volunteers do terrific work keeping up with grass cutting, fuel supplies, building maintenance, neighbour liaison, Transport Canada and NavCan negotiations, etc.

The RAA Chapter and Boundary Bay Flying Club, and COPA Flight 5, enjoy fine facilities at Delta within a pleasant rural atmosphere. True vintage ‘Grass Roots’ type ambiance such as we enjoy is not easy to come by.  

As time passes, there is a gradual turnover of working volunteers on these committees, and as always, more hands make lighter work, so please offer your time and skills when needed.

Neither the Airpark, nor its resident clubs run themselves, and those of us who benefit from the facility shouldn’t be shy to get involved come election time.

AND AT COPA

It’s the same at COPA. After 10 years I’ve done my watch, and it’s time for someone new to step up to the bar for the next four years. I’ll still submit an occasional column, but Mary and I intend to get out more and do some traveling.

Also, with real regret, I withdrew from the BCAC Board, just as they enter a dynamic new era. So now it’s crucial we choose a new Champion to handle all this important stuff.

Delta Air Park Chair Terry Wilshire says he will run. Terry’s experience negotiating with local government, Parks, Transport Canada and Nav Canada, on the frustrating complexity of running a small airport, make him an excellent candidate.

There are others, each with there own skills to bring to the table. The choice is yours! Please vote. 

OLD FRIENDS

It was a rather sad Christmas for us, as we lost a number of good friends to old Father Time. At Delta we were shocked at the unexpected loss of George Spence at 83.

George always attracted a crowd with his beautiful blue camouflaged Chipmunk, and had only just last year completed a 10-year Glasair project.

Our deepest sympathy goes to Eleanor and family. A memorial fly-bye is planned over the hall during the memorial reception.

Others so unexpectedly gone from us at years end were long time Aviation Activist, BC Floatplane Association co-founder, Myron Olson. Also, sadly, Fred Sebus, founder of A-1 Propellers.

And for me, in the UK, my old RAF NATO trainee friend, Eggy Shaw, who shared our youthful adventures as hero jet pilots, all those years ago. Goodbye old friends. It’s been a slice.

And that’s all… Fly Safe in 2006…

Tony Swain is a COPA director representing B.C. and Yukon. He has also been a COPA member for more than 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.