Victoria Flying Club
April 2007
“Summer flying season is just around the corner and with it the promise of adventures yet to experience. I took this photo while flying a de Havilland Tiger Moth over the City of Victoria in the summer of 2003. Happy landings everyone�.
Inside
Larry Dibnah.
2
3
5
7
Short Final
Letters t the Edito
Bears Air
In My Travels
9 My View
10
12
Stendec Three Times
VFC Pilots Get Dunked
Larry’s
The
Patrician
S hort F inal
Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club
APRIL 2007 Editor:
Eleanor Eastick PatricianEditor@shaw.ca Advertising inquiries: Bob Mace (250) 361-6996 or bmace@shaw.ca Publisher: Seaside Designs seasidedesigns@shaw.ca (250) 383-7777 Published monthly. Unsolicited articles welcome. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, April 25, 2007.
Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors
Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Jeremy Prpich Colin Dormuth Don Goodeve Eleanor Eastick Dennis Arnsdorf
General Manager Gerry Mants Chief Flying Instructor Graham Palmer 1852 Canso Road Victoria, BC V8L 5V5
Phone:
(250) 656-4321 (250) 656-2833 (250) 655-0910 info@flyvfc.com www.flyvfc.com
Fax: Email: Web:
Opinions expressed are those of the authors alone. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in any format without the written authorization from the publisher or author.
Hello everyone. It’s my pleasure once again to look after the April Patrician while Eleanor is away on vacation. We’ve put lots of interesting articles together for this issue so please enjoy. The Annual General Meeting was held on Friday March 9, 2007 and as a result we have a new Board of Directors. Please welcome the Victoria Flying Club’s new President, Paul Levie and Vice President, Doug Marin. The Club would like to extend our thanks to outgoing President Sean Steele and Vice President Bob Mace for all their many contributions. The full Board membership is listed here in the Patrician. The ATC Appreciation social and movie night on March 3rd was a great success thanks to all the hard work by Don Devenny and Ellen Wood. Please see Eleanor’s write-up inside for more details. Now that the days are getting a little longer and the weather a bit more civil, it’s time for us to dust off the ‘Flight Itinerary’ column again for this year’s flying season. The column only has a few entries at the moment but if there are any flying activities you would like to see included please let me know. Or if you’ve already done an interesting flight or two this year we would love to hear about your adventures and even publish them with your photos here in the Patrician. Eleanor and I had our Patrician meeting at the Dakota Cafe last week and I have to say that the menu selection, food, service and the view are definitely the ‘best in the west’. If you’ve yet to try out this great restaurant, I highly recommend it. The Dakota Café is a must for all you pilots and crew outside the Victoria area who are looking for a fly-in destination. Brian Burger and several other Club members recently participated in an Underwater Egress Training (Dunk Training) course. To find out more about the course be sure to check out Brian’s article. Happy Landings Everyone! Larry Dibnah.
Boar d of Dir ectors
creative
communications solutions for YOUR business
250.383.7777 seasidedesigns@shaw.ca seasidedesigns.net
2
SEASI DE designs & photography
President Vice-Pres Treasurer Secretary Directors:
Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Jeremy Prpich Colin Dormuth Don Goodeve Eleanor Eastick Dennis Arnsdorf
We have a new President and Vice President and we extend a very special thank you to
Sean Steele and Bob Mace for their many contributions.
Letters to the Editor Larry, Looks to me like a Cessna T-37 “Tweet”. The photo is of Serial #40005, the second production aircraft (tail # 542730). This aircraft is currently on display at the Randolph AFB museum in San Antonio, Texas. Cheers, Adrian Round Eleanor, Ahhh. A lovely little Cessna T-37 basic jet trainer, which is still around (at least was a few years back). I know this aircraft fairly well as aerospace medicine specialists learned to fly in this aircraft while studying in San Antonio, TX. That’s where I was heading back in the mid80s, when my life took me in another direction (courtesy of a new born daughter) and, instead, we returned to Victoria to raise a family and practice medicine here. It just took a little longer to start flying (ie almost 20 years!!!) Walt Salmaniw, MD PS: I’m now a civilian Aviation Medical Examiner (as is my office partner, Dr. Wayne Perry), and we’re happy to do those fun pilot medicals Eleanor, Looks like a Cessna T-37 C. There is one for sale at Controller if you have the money! Bill Stephenson Editor’s Note: Hi Bill! You are right about the Tweety Bird. My old Cessna book says the photo is a T-37 A (1955) which was phased out in 1959 by the T-37 B. The book goes on to say that the 1000th T-37 jet trainer was delivered to the USAF in 1968, but doesn’t say what model. I suspect they all looked the same. Thanks for writing - how much is the Tweet that’s for sale? Not that I’m thinking of buying one! Cheers...Eleanor
Hi Eleanor, This is a Cessna, believe it or not: the A-37 Dragonfly and T-37. The information I have was taken directly from one of my favourite books, A Field Guide to Airplanes by M.R. Montgomery and Gerald Foster. The 3rd edition came out last year and it was in Tanner’s bookstore a few months ago. The T-37’s spec’s include: Length of 29’ 4”, wingspan of 33’ 7”. Speed in level flight: 507 mph, Mach 0.68 at sea level. According to the Field Guide “the T-37 has low straight wings with conspicuous tip-tanks and inconspicuous twin jets at the wing roots; bulbous cockpit for side-by-side seating in the trainer version. Nothing else flying has twin wing-root jets and straight wings at right angles to the fuselage. “Though many combat aircraft have been converted to trainers, the counterinsurgency A-37B was developed as a gunship from the USAF’s standard jet trainer, the T-37. It saw wide use in areas of Vietnam not defended by surface-to-air missiles, carrying a 7.62 mm minigun capable of firing 6000(!) rounds a minute as well as cluster and phosphorus bombs. Suitable for use against lightly armed “insurgents,” the A-37’s low stall speed, under 100 mph, makes it a precision instrument.” I don’t know if it’s still in service, but there was a T-37 at the Victoria Airshow at least once (1993), and Comox in 2001. Have a good trip...Marie. Eleanor, If I’m not mistaken, that’s a T-37 Tweet and they’re still being used as trainers today. BTW, see you soon, I’m moving back to Victoria this summer! Chris Peschke Halifax, NS
APRIL
Mystery of the Month Developed by a well known US auto maker, this month’s mystery plane was one of the first all-metal multi-engine aircraft built for the growing air travel industry in the 1920’s and 30’s. There is also some local history involving an aircraft of this type.
Send in your answers to me at:
Larry_Dibnah@telus.net Thanks and Good Luck.
3
Many thanks to those readers who wrote in with their correct answers to the March Mystery aircraft.
Cessna T-37 The March ’07 Mystery Plane is none other than the Cessna T-37. Affectionately known as the ‘Tweet’ or ‘Tweety Bird’, Cessna’s Model 318 was the first American jet trainer and was given the military designation T-37A. The T-37A made its first flight in 1955 and went into service with the US Air Force in 1956. The T-37B became operational in 1959. The T-37 models A & B are powered by two Continental J69-T-25 turbojet engines of 1,025 pounds of thrust each. The aircraft seats two and has a top speed of 360 mph, a service ceiling of 35,000 feet and a range of 460 miles. When production of the T-37 ended in 1975, more than 1300 of them had been built. In 1989 all Tweets underwent airframe upgrades to extend their service lives. Today 419 of them remain in the USAF inventory. Tweety Bird becomes a raptor. In 1967, some of the T-37’s were converted to A-37A&B ‘Dragonfly’ heavily-armed ground attack aircraft and served in Viet Nam and other conflicts. Please see ‘Letters to the Editor’ where Marie Woodruff describes the A-37 in greater detail. Thanks everyone. Larry D.
Farewell to Robert
Cameron
The Victoria Flying Club is intensely saddened to learn of the untimely death of Bob Cameron, owner and operator of Canadian Avionics where much of VFC’s work was done. Bob was always cheerfully willing to donate wonderful aviationrelated prizes to various Club parties. It was a pleasure to visit his office. Bob is survived by his mother, his wife, his son, two daughters and four grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by the aviation community and all who knew him.
1910 Norseman Road Sidney, BC Canada,V8L 5V5 Tel (250) 655-3300 Fax (250) 655-1611 email: bcam@bcam.net
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA AVIATION MUSEUM is dedicated to preserving aircraft and aviation artifacts. We collect, restore and display aircraft and artifacts related to the history of aviation in Canada, with emphasis on British Columbia.
The Museum is open daily! Summer Hours May 1 - Sept. 30 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Winter Hours Oct. 1 - April 30 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
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R O YA L PA C I F I C MAINTENANCE LTD.
CALL
Mitchell Holme Cessna Parts, Sales, Service and Aircraft Maintenance General Aviation Services Victoria International Airport 9552 Canora Rd T: 250 656-7322 E: service@royalpacificmaintenance.com Toll free Parts line: 1-877-2CESSNA (1-877-223-7762)
Airplanes, Aliens and Global War ming T
here’s not much in this world that isn’t predictable. Not many things happen that someone would never see coming until it was too late. Most of us have been blind-sided once or twice, but who couldn’t foresee the lawsuits in the crash of the Cirrus SR-20 into a New York apartment building October 11 of last year (2006)? It didn’t take more than a month or two before the lawyers were on to that one like flies on fresh cow dung. The pilot of that plane, baseball pitcher Cory Lidle, could not have picked a better (or worse) place to fly into a building. The New York City Bar Association claims 23,000 members. Need an attorney? He came to the right place. With 23,000 in the neighborhood, there’s no lineups, no waiting. And he couldn’t have chosen a worse (or better) building to fly into. It was an upper East-side apartment building, predictably occupied by upper East-side “do you know who I am” people. Important people with big money. The NTSB, at this writing, has yet to release it’s “probable cause” report. However, that makes no difference, as the rush of finger pointing gets going before the finger pointers can become confused with the facts. So far, the family of the deceased pilot is suing the companies that built the aircraft, the propeller and the engine. One resident of the target building, a dentist whose patients include Bruce Springsteen and Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit against the estate of the unfortunate pilot and his on-board flight instructor for damages to his apartment. Another issue has to do with the insurance from Major League Baseball. Cory Lidle’s estate stands to collect well over $1million dollars if it’s shown he was not actually flying the airplane. So it gets more and more complicated. This story is certainly not over yet. That too is predictable. Stand by for more. Here’s another item in the news that’s worthy of some
BEAR’S AIR Barry Meek
thought. Alien spaceships, which not many of us have actually seen, are apparently for real. Governments know about them, but it’s all kept hushed up, lest the uneducated masses rise up in panic. We know this now, since former Canadian defence minister, Paul Hellyer told an Ottawa newspaper he wants governments to stop hoarding their secret alien technologies and use them to stem global warming. He says the advanced propulsion systems from captured UFO’s could be used in our aircraft to eliminate the burning of fossil fuels. In the past, Mr. Hellyer has announced that aliens are for real and that he has personally seen a UFO. He also believes that President Bush foresees building a military base on the moon to defend earth from an alien attack. Mr. Hellyer was a Liberal national defence minister in the mid 1960’s, and is now eighty three. Advanced propulsion systems. So that’s what they use. No one would suspect a half-century old Continental or Lycoming engine would be powering those UFO’s but it makes you wonder what knowledge the little green men possess that we’re still searching for. No one really has all the answers. That’s because so many questions keep us thinking, and before we can solve one of the world’s problems, another one pops up. Can attorneys sort out the Cirrus crash case? Who should pay for the damages to those peoples apartments? Can the insurance companies successfully sue the pilot? Who was the pilot? Is an aircraft manufacturer actually responsible for the death of two young men? And what about those little green men and their UFO’s? It’s all more food for thought at your next coffee break. And by the way, who’s buying? There really is no magic age. Pilots who are ready to give it up can still get on with life. Form your Plan “B”. It could uncover some excitement you’ve been missing all those flying years. Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net
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COPA FLIGHT 65 & VERNON FLYING CLUB Presents:
Spring Training / CO PA R ust R em over A Sem inar for Pilots
Saturday,A pril14,2007
*
D oors open atVFC C lubhouse 0830 forC offee & R egistration N o Pre-R egistration R equired ± W e have room foryou all-
0930 to 1530 hrs. G U EST SPEA K ER S: x
S teven B ellm on d, Chief CFO with Southern Interior Flight Centre, Kelowna o "The IdealCheck Ride "
x
A Fligh t S ervice S pecialist from Kamloops FIC o "Flight Filing, W eather Briefings, etc."
x
B arn ey D u n levy - Retired Senior Air Traffic Controller from the Lower Mainland o "C urrent VFR Flight Plan requirem ents from H ope w est to %RXQGDU\ %D\´
x
D r.H u gh C larke, MD, AME o "The Ageing Pilot"
C O ST:
x $10.00 perperson includes refreshm ents & lunch
Friday Evening Pot Luck & SocialApril13 th 1730 hrs. Sem inar Participants,M em bers and G uests W elcom e
6210 Tronson R oad,Vernon,BC A genda subjectto change w ithoutnotice
note: * Please this event takes place in Vernon only; VFC stands for Vernon Flying Club in this case. 6
In My Travels The Great London to Victoria Air Race
by Larry Dibnah
It’s a well known fact that Victoria and its surrounding area are steeped in history. The world of aviation has certainly added to the colourful mix of locally and nationally significant historic events over the past 97 years beginning with the flight of William Gibson’s twin plane from a farmer’s field near Mt. Douglas in 1910 – the first aircraft to fly in British Columbia and only the second in Canada! One of the more recent aviation events, the great London to Victoria Air Race of July 1971 entailed more than 5,700 miles of sometimes grueling flight over icy water and through four countries. Also, the London to Victoria Air Race was just one of many events held throughout 1971 in celebration of British Columbia’s Centennial year. The Victoria Flying Club played a major role by offering up its premises for aircraft marshalling and by officially welcoming each of the participants to Victoria at the end of this World Class event. You may recall a reference to the London to Victoria Air Race in my story about Britten Norman Trislanders in the February 2007 Patrician. It was during this event that I saw a Trislander for the first time when it had just arrived in Victoria at the finish of the Race. With a little extra research I managed to find the registration letters of the participating Trislander (G-AYZR) plus lots of other information about the Air Race in general. An impressive group of fifty four pilots and forty seven crew members from all over the world competed in the London to Victoria Air Race. Among the fifty four registered aircraft were types which ranged from Piper Cherokees to Lear Jets in categories including piston engines - single & twin, turbo props and jets. Participants included the famous aerial photographer and Hollywood camera pilot Clay Lacey who flew a Lear Jet and the well known aviation author Ernest K. Gann who flew a Cessna 310 twin. A little closer to home, twelve Canadians participated in the Race and included British Columbians E.W. Crombie & K.W. Akers (Lillooet), Hank Coleman (Nelson), D. Ireland & M.G. Meeker (Mission), Claude Butler and Rick Cockburn (both of Victoria). Claude Butler had become a well known, popular local pilot and business man. Claude flew a twin-engine Ted Smith Aerostar while Victoria Flying Club member Rick Cockburn, who wasn’t quite as well known, flew a North American Harvard in the Race. I personally had been cheering for Rick because he had taken this challenge completely on his own with no aircrew and in a single engine aircraft older than most others in the Race. And since the Race organizers had given Rick a handicap of 192 mph, a speed that no stock Harvard could ever achieve, he realized that there was no hope of winning anything. Rick was basically in it for the fun and for the invaluable experience. The overall first place prize went to German airman J.H. Blumschein and his crew who flew a Swearingen Merlin III twin turbo prop aircraft. Second and third place and various other category winners were too numerous to mention here. But if you had asked any of the participants what was their greatest reward for participating in the Race they would have told you it was the privilege of meeting other people who possessed the same aviation spirit and to have competed against them in one of the greatest air adventures of the century.
The spirit of flight is growing stronger throughout Canada and the world with organizations such as the Victoria Flying Club taking the lead.
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There is always sunshine above the clouds
courtesy of BC Aviation Council
Appreciating the ATC – and Others by Eleanor Eastick Once again, Don Devenney did a superb job of organizing a fun afternoon for Club members. Although the Tower guys were pretty busy, we did get to meet a couple of them, and pass on the word of how much we appreciate them. They really are a great bunch doing a very special job at an unusual and somewhat difficult airport. The Tower has to shuffle us little guys in light aircraft in and out, keeping us out of the way of the skeds and the heavies. Adding to the task, is the fact that a lot of us are just learning to fly, so may be somewhat unpredictable. Top that off with more than one runway active some of the time and the skill needed to keep it all running smoothly and safely is awesome. Three cheers for Victoria ATC! And at least three more big cheers for Don and Ellen Wood for putting together a gastronomic marathon of barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs with all the trimmings and condiments, as well as delightful salads, bowls of munchies etc. There was an exchange of amusing and heart-warming ATC stories amongst the pilots present, affirming that we all make mistakes – and I thought I was the only one! The afternoon passed pleasantly and quickly with eating and hangar-flying. Does it get any better? Around 1800, the smell and sound of popcorn popping signaled it was time for the movie portion of the gettogether. Three BIG bowls of popcorn were produced and the crowd elected to see Airplane! – who couldn’t love that one? Don had also brought along another movie, The High and the Mighty, by Ernie Gann. This 50-year-old flick starring John Wayne – who couldn’t love him? – was the movie on which Airplane! was based. This is highly evident if you’ve ever seen The High and the Mighty; it would have been interesting if time had permitted the showing of both films. Thanks again, Don and Ellen for a wonderful afternoon and the chance to reconnect with our fellow pilots.
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Why Can’t Hollywood Get it Right?
“My
view”
by Dan Bartie
Call it poetic licence, designed to thrill and engage a theatrical audience. Hollywood has often played fast and loose with the realities of air travel in favour of sensationalism. I watched the movie Trapped recently in which actor Stewart Townsend plays an aviator doctor who must outwit kidnappers into thinking that he is at home while flying his floatplane to the rescue. Every time the kidnappers call him on his cell phone, he kills the engine so as not to give away his plan. As soon as he kills the engine, the plane takes on the flight characteristics of a walk-in freezer with the altimeter unwinding furiously as the plane hurtles towards the ground at break neck speed. The call ends, and he restarts the engine and the plane leaps back into the sky like a homesick angel. This process is repeated several times for dramatic effect. Regretfully, this is the only exposure that many people will have to general aviation and they buy into what Hollywood has packaged as reality. Never mind that the plane would easily glide for many miles and afford the pilot the opportunity to choose a suitable landing site and execute a forced approach. Psychologists are calling it CSI syndrome. People have become so indoctrinated by the forensic procedures utilized in the hot TV show that they think its reality. Prosecutors lament that it is difficult to convince a real jury of someone’s guilt without DNA, ballistic, trace or other high tech forensic evidence being presented. This poses real challenges for all of us in general aviation. I recently had difficulty obtaining a new life insurance policy because I declared that I was a pilot. My insurance company considered this to be a high-risk activity at par with racecar driving, skydiving and mountain climbing. Not to speak ill of those who choose to jump out of perfectly good aircraft, I set out to educate my insurer that flying was one of, if not the safest way to travel. I explained the initial and recurrent training that all pilots undergo, the checks and balances on the maintenance side and the structure of the air navigation system. I told him he was statistically at more risk crossing the street for his coffee fix this morning than I was transiting the Norththumberland strait enroute to Charlottetown for a business meeting. His answer was blunt, “well what about JFK Jr.?” The point is that the general public have a skewed view of what general aviation flying is all about. A view propagated by the mass media and Hollywood. People need to know that we’re not taking our lives into our hands every time we take off. I think that it’s up to us as pilots to proactively educate those around us to the realities of flying so that others may learn to enjoy the pleasure of flight. Dan Bartie is a sustaining member of the Victoria Flying Club
A
OM RO
HA WI T
VIEW…AND AIR PLA NE ST
Open 8am 4pm daily
Wouldn’t you rather be flying? OO !
in the Victoria Flying Club
• Tax and financial planning • Rapid refunds (electronic filing) • Personal, corporate and estate tax
Owner Evelyn J. Andrews-Greene, CA Sustaining Member of VFC since 1983
Join us for breakfast or lunch…inside & patio seating 101-1852 Canso Rd
LICENSED
250.655.9395
386-4466 #202-31 Bastion Square Victoria BC V8W 1J1
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Stendec Times Three
by Eleanor Eastick
On August 2nd, 60 years ago, a civilian version of the Lancaster bomber was flying from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile when it disappeared over the Andes Mountains at 1741 UTC, only four minutes before its ETA in Santiago. This was the Lancastrian, G-AGWH, known as Stardust; its final Morse transmission was the enigmatic “stendec”. The Chilean radio operator, not understanding the meaning of “stendec”, or perhaps feeling he hadn’t heard it correctly, queried it and had the same word repeated by the aircraft twice in succession. The signal was received loud and clear at Santiago airport, suggesting that the aircraft was indeed close to its destination and a switchover to voice communication would have been expected to follow. From this time on nothing further was heard from Stardust and no contact was made with the control tower at Santiago. All further calls were unanswered. The probable route and crash area were flown over many times during a massive search in the weeks following the loss of Stardust but no sign of her was seen. For over half a century following the disappearance, no trace of the aircraft or the 11 people on board was found. Then, in 1998, climbers high in the Andes discovered fragments of the plane coughed up by a glacier. When officials reached the site of the crash, parts of Stardust’s engines and wheels were readily seen, as well as a few sad human remains and bits of clothing. At this time, the mystery of the crash was solved. The big Rolls Royce engines were turning at the moment of impact, indicating that Stardust was likely in level flight when it hit the mountain side – CFIT. The aircraft was manufactured by A.V. Roe and taken over by the British South American Airways Corporation in January 1946 . It was put into service in March 1946. The total time flown up to the last entry in the log book on July 22nd 1947 was 1655 hours 15 minutes. But how did this happen? There was no bending of any regulation: all crew licences were valid and all documents were in order, an inspection of airframe and engines had been carried out and a certificate of safety issued prior to the take-off., sufficient fuel was carried for the flight, the all-up weight and C of G were within prescribed limits. In addition, high altitude flying equipment was carried and was in order and the crew was trained to use it. The flight plan was made out for the route Buenos Aires-Santiago via Mendoza. The amount of fuel carried was 1,380 gallons, giving an estimated duration of 6 hours 30 minutes. The estimated time of the flight was 3 hours 45 minutes. By keeping to the flight plan and arriving over Mendoza at 18,000 feet the distance of 526 nautical miles from Buenos Aires to Mendoza should have taken 3 hours 12 minutes. The remaining distance of 106 miles from Mendoza to Santiago should have taken 33 minutes at a proposed altitude of 26,000 feet. The aircraft departed Buenos Aires at 1346 Zulu, August 2nd 1947. Before the “stendec” message, a series of entirely routine messages had been transmitted by the plane, reporting its position and intended course. En Route Reports: 1507 hrs: 10,000 feet, course 286°, speed 196 knots, E.T.A. Santiago 1730 hrs. 1600 hrs: 10,000 feet, course 282°, speed 196 knots, E.T.A. Santiago 1730 hrs. 1700 hrs: 20,000 feet, climbing to 24,000 feet, speed 194 knots, E.T.A. Santiago 1743 hrs. 1733 hrs: E.T.A. Santiago 1745 hrs. 1741 hrs: A signal was sent out by the aircraft, E.T.A. Santiago 1745 hrs. ending with “STENDEC.” What happened? Although no one knows for sure, the weather at the time was undoubtedly the biggest factor. The forecast predicted “dispersed”
10
cont’d on p.11
cont’d from p.11
cloud en route, ground level cloud obscuring the mountain passes and low cloud at Santiago, the destination. But the horizontal visibility at altitude was forecast to be clear all the way to Mendoza, only 106 miles from Santiago. The upper winds were southwest to northwest, 17 to 22 becoming 33 knots as they funneled through the passes. Snow storms in the Andes Mountains brought moderate to intense turbulence. In reality there was a large layer of alto cumulus and alto stratus between 10,000 and 20,000 feet with conditions in the passes unfit for visual contact or instrument flying. It is very doubtful whether at Mendoza the pilot could have seen the ground by visual observation at all. Navigating Stardust 50 years ago would have depended on looking out of the window and using the forecast winds to predict speed and drift angles across the ground. Investigators now speculate that Stardust’s navigator, not knowing that the newly identified jet stream could slow westward-flying planes, called for the plane’s descent too early, before it had safely cleared the cloud-covered Andes. Stendec The meaning of the flight’s last radio transmission, the word STENDEC remains unknown. Curiously, it is an anagram of descent, but that leads nowhere. By all accounts it was not a standard abbreviation for any phrase or term in use at the time. There have been many educated guesses, but not one addresses the problem fully. It is felt that the solution lies in the Morse code itself. Do you have a theory?
Jack Schofield is a local pilot and author of ‘Flights of a Coast Dog’ and ‘No Numbered Runways‘.
courtesy of BC Aviation Council
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DATE
PLACE
EVENT
CONTACT
April 14
Vernon, BC
Spring Training/COPA Rust Remover 09:30 to 15:30 hrs. Vernon Flying Club Clubhouse 6220 Tronson Road
Marion & Chuck (250) 542-1740 rv4@telus.net
April 20
Victoria, BC
Nav Canada Better Practices Information Sessions Chateau Victoria, Salon B
Don Henderson
April 28
Pitt Meadows, BC
COPA & Floatplane Assn. Rust Remover Pitt Meadows Airport Presented by Transport Canada
Floatplane Association (604) 649-6320 info@bcfloatplaneassociation.com
TBA
Port Alberni, BC
Alberni Flying Club - Fly-in and Tour of the Martin Mars Alberni Regional Airport (CBS8)
Darren Hansen (250) 724-9626
June 2
Nanaimo, BC
Nanaimo Flying Club - Fly-in
Doug Sowden doug.sowden@nanaimoflyingclub.org
VFC Pilots Get Dunked by Brian Burger Seven VFC pilots recently took Bryon Webster's Underwater Egress Training course, an intense one-day course in how to escape from an aircraft that has ditched into water. There's a lot of wet stuff around Victoria, and aircraft engines have been known to fail, so local professional pilot Bryon Webster ( www.dunkyou.com) developed his ditching/egress course to help save lives. The course consists of one very, very full day - roughly three hours in the classroom covering a huge variety of topics related to ditching, then three hours in the pool (we used the Sandman inn's pool, which has the advantage of being far warmer than the local ocean!), followed by another half-hour or so back in the classroom for badly-needed pizza and a debrief. Bryon and his employees (Willie & Jeff) have developed a variety of ways to simulate the ditching experience in a pool - the 'dunking chair' and the simulated Cessna 206 cabin, both made out of PVC piping & plexiglass, are his two main tools. Everyone got at least three or four "rides" in the chair, and lots of time to practice in the 206 cabin. We also got to try on standard aviation life vests (identical to the ones VFC has available), and use a full-sized life raft. Everyone who attended thought it was an excellent, eye-opening session. If more VFC Members are interested, we could try and organize another group for sometime this summer.
12
Into the pool, vests on, huddled in a lifesaving float.
Rescue practice with the life raft Group portrait! Front to rear: Vicky, Sylvia, Brian, George, Jeff, Ed, Tristan, Jeff (only non-VFC Member present!).
Everyone gathered around the 206 cabin, with the dunking chair floating in the background.
Photos courtesy Bryon Webster/Aviation Egress Systems www.dunkyou.com
P R I VAT E P I L O T G r o u n d s c h o o l Classes held Monday and Wednesday, 1900-2200 Apr
May
June
Achievements First Solo Matthew Miller Andreas Ruttkiewicz Dmitrij Usjakov Rory Nield Robert Watson Trevor Young Brendan O'hare
DATE
TOPIC
INSTRUCTOR
02
Theory of Flight & Licensing Requirements
Emily Harvey
04
Aerodynamics
Emily Harvey
09
NO CLASS EASTER MONDAY
11
Airframes and Engines
Steve Mais
16
Systems & Flight Instruments
Steve Mais
18
CARS
Steve Mais
23
CARS
Steve Mais
25
Meteorology
Bryon Thompson
30 02
Meteorology Meteorology
Bryon Thompson Bryon Thompson
07
Meteorology
Bryon Thompson
09
Meteorology
Bryon Thompson
14
Human Factors
Brad Fraser
16
Flight Operations
Brad Fraser
21
NO CLASS VICTORIA DAY
23
Flight Operations
Brad Fraser
Francis Plante
28
Navigation
Jessica Hamstra
Ryukichi Arakawa
30
Navigation
Jessica Hamstra
Israel Fisher
04
Navigation
Jessica Hamstra
Samuel Nowlin
06
Radio and Electronic Theory
Jessica Hamstra
Renee Kraft
11
Review (Tower Tour/Written Seminar)
Marcel Poland
Jordan Rogers
13
Review (Tour Seminar)
Marcel Poland
Phillip Jarnoth
PPL Written Test Allen Lynch Private Pilot License Laurie Leavett-Brown Class IV Instructor Etienne White Emily Harvey
Welcome New Members!
Glenn Golonka Adam Molnar Leon LeChasseur Michael Swindells Josephus Tenga William Brady
at the
Pilot Shop
Ben Smith Bruce Henson Chris Long
Lots of SALE items, new stuff here for spring. Est. 1946
13
ved a few pa spaces ble! a l i a v a are A number of outside tie-down spaces are now available. Phone Dispatch at 656-2833 for details.
VFC
Smile Cards The Victoria Flying Club is very excited to partner with Thrifty Foods in their successful
Smile Card Program. Pick up your Smile Card today and 5% of all your Thriftys grocery purchases will go towards creating scholarships and awards for VFC members.
To date, we have been able to create three new bursaries! Pick up cards for your family and friends too. This is a great opportunity for VFC members. We thank you for your support!
L indair Ser vices Ltd
Smile Card total to date $3498
IslandBlue R E P R O G R A P H I C S A N D A R T S U P P LY C E N T R E
Specializing in Cessna, Piper, Beaver float and wheel equipped aircraft. A high quality Service Department that is ready to complete any inspection or repair requirement you may have.
• QUALITY • DEPENDABILITY • SERVICE •
5180 Airport Road South, Richmomd, BC Tel: 1-800-663-5829 Fax: 1-800-667-5643
Tel: 250.385.9786 Toll free: 1.800.661.3332 E: repro@islandblue.com FTP: ftp.islandblue.com Web: www.islandblue.com
PRINT WHAT YOU NEED WHEN YOU NEED IT! 905 Fort St (at Quadra)
www.lindairservices.com 14
Our Complex Airspace NAV CANADA is pleased to invite you to attend a Better Practices information session for pilots operating in the complex & congested airspace in southern BC. The Better Practices information sessions will address topics such as communication procedures and frequency selection, airspace classification and related NAV CANADA services, pilot and controller responsibilities within different classes of airspace, procedures for operating within and in proximity to control zones and special use, advisory airspace (CYAs), use of aeronautical maps/publications and other good airmanship practices.
Please take the opportunity to attend one of the briefing sessions:
F riday, April 2 0, 2 007 Chât eau V ictoria Salon B 740 Burdett Ave. Victoria, BC 13:00 PM – 16:00 PM OR 19:00 PM – 21:00 PM Don Henderson, Manager Level of Service and Aeronautical Studies
TRIPLE SCREEN COMPUTER SYSTEM
T RY I T ! F LY I T ! B UY I T!
As Real As It Gets!
2950 Douglas Street Location Only • On Demonstration Now 383-3755 15
This year, be ready for fly-outs, cross-country and sightseeing flights through the mountains of British Columbia.
Mountain Flying Ground School Please call the Club’s dispatch office at 250-656-4321 or 250-656-2833 to sign up.
Take the first step toward a
See the world… from our point of VIEW!! Increase your confidence • Aerobatic Course* • Adventure Rides • Emergency Manoeuvres Training
Mountain Endorsement by enrolling in VICTORIA FLYING CLUB’S
Discovery Ride
$
MOUNTAIN FLYING GROUND SCHOOL.
99 95
Intro
The first course of 2007 is scheduled for April 14th from 10:30 to 14:30.
*Basic course - 10 hrs dual 5 hrs solo Courses customized to help you reach new horizons.
Accommodation Wanted
A
VIEW ITH A W OM RO
…AND AI
Open 8am 4pm daily
RPLA NE ST
OO !
in the Victoria Flying Club
Join us for breakfast or lunch…inside & patio seating 101-1852 Canso Rd 16
LICENSED
250.655.9395
VFC
Aerobatics
The Victoria Flying Club is looking for accommodation for a number of international students.Their training will begin in April and take about 8 months to complete. If you are interested in renting to one or more students please call 250-656-2833 and ask for Gerry.
Call Dispatch at the club for further information
656-2833