Eleanor’s
The
Patrician
S hort F inal
Newsletter of the Victoria Flying Club
FEBRUARY 2008 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 Thursday, February 21, 2008.
Board of Directors President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Directors
Paul Levie Doug Marin Lloyd Toope Colin Dormuth Jim Sutherland Don Goodeve Eleanor Eastick Dennis Arnsdorf
General Manager Gerry Mants Chief Flying Instructor Graham Palmer 1852 Canso Road Victoria, BC V8L 5V5
Phone: Fax: Email: Web:
(250) 656-4321 (250) 656-2833 (250) 655-0910 info@flyvfc.com www.flyvfc.com
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.
the right marketing solutions for YOUR business. Call today. 250.383.7777 seasidedesigns@shaw.ca seasidedesigns.net
2
Here we go into February and the days are growing perceptibly longer. According to psychologists, the last Monday of the last full week in January is the most depressing day of the year. So thank goodness that’s behind us now. It IS getting lighter; it IS getting brighter. It’s been cold, but it has been clear a lot of the time, and that makes for good flying.
Sundogs The splendid cover photo of sundogs was taken by Michelle Philp, a former Club member who is now in Flight Services in Fort St. John. Sundogs typically, but not exclusively, appear when the sun is low, e.g. at sunrise and sunset, and the atmosphere is filled with ice crystals forming cirrus clouds. When the sun is low, the two sundogs are located on the circle of the 22° halo. As the sun rises, the sundogs slowly move along the parhelic circle away from the sun, finally to vanish as the sun reaches 61° over the horizon. Is that too cool or what?
Flying High with Jetstream Cold Lake, AB - Vancouver-based Paperny Films has produced Jetstream, an 8 x 60 documentary for Discovery Channel Canada. This series was 35 weeks in the making. The $3.5-million series - financed by Discovery - follows six recently graduated Canadian fighter pilots selected specifically to learn to fly new state-of-the-art fighter jets over eight months. According to executive producer Cal Shumiatcher, the access given to Paperny by the military for the project was “unprecedented,” but it took about 18 months of negotiations to work out. “It was a matter of winning their trust,” says Shumiatcher. “They’ve seen our historical military documentaries [such as Victory 1945], and know that we tell an even and entertaining story. I think they want the human side of this story told. For an eight-month period we will be living cheek-by-jowl with these fighter pilot trainees and their instructors. “ Jetstream was shot at the Canadian Air Force’s 4 Wing Cold Lake Airbase in Alberta and is now being shown on Discovery Channel on Tuesday evenings.
First Victoria Aerodrome It was 79 years ago that Victoria first got a proper aerodrome and the era of commercial flight was ushered in. BC Airways opened its facilities at Lansdowne Field on January 29, 1929; the opening of the “large, ideal flying field” was attended by a few hundred people who braved the lousy weather. Acting Mayor, William Marchant, who officiated at the ceremony, declared that flying was here to stay, although he preferred to keep one foot on the ground.
He did, at least admit, that flying would be a great delight to many!
SEASIDE designs & photography
Now let’s hope for blue skies in these longer days so we can take our delight…………….