Hey guys,
I thought I'd show you a few pictures from my museum's (Canadian Museum of Flight) Members Day. This is a day where members can go for flights in our airworthy aircraft for a small donation, and enjoy a nice BBQ dinner. For the day we had our CMF pilots flying the Fleet 16B Finch, de Havilland DH82C Tiger Moth, Waco AQC-6, and North American Harvard MkII.
The event doubled as a museum open house as well as an open house for the 746 Air Cadet Squadron which meets at the CMF homesite. Because of the cadet function we were graced by the appearance and inspection from the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (Queens Representative), Steven Point. He made a nice speech and congratulated the CMF on the work we've done and the cadets on their good showing.
The day started out very cloudy and wet, but as the day went on it turned out to be a really wonderful day.
My girlfriend and I, as well as her Dad (John) and brother (Alex) came out.
First up was John going up in the Fleet 16B Finch. The CMF's Finch had been out of commission for a few years due to a nose-over on its way back from an airshow a few years back. The repair work went quickly, but an engine problem plagued its return to the air. The problem ended up being an after-market attachment put on the engine, which was then later removed causing the fuel pressure to constantly read abnormally low. Apparently we'd been operating the airplane for many years prior to this and just just accepted that it would read a lower than POH number. It was decided that the airplane would return to service until we figured out what was causing it, and then fix it. Needless to say it was fixed and flew great this air show season, and there was a big lineup to go up in here on Saturday. At the moment she's our only truly open cockpit bird we're flying and for some reason people love that!
I digress.
So John went up in the Finch, with the Tigermoth in formation with them. John was so excited to be in his first open cockpit airplane. His grin lasted a long time after landing! He told us about being in echelon formation with the Tigermoth, and then switching to let the Tiger Moth take lead. Then the two biplanes would split off and the Finch would chase the Moth around the sky for a few minutes then the passengers would get to try their hand at flying. The beauty of John flying so early in the day is that he really had a great time dancing between the clouds on that moist Saturday morning.
As it turns out the formation flying, and above aerial mission was actually a necessity because Langley Airport recently became class C airspace requiring a transponder. Seeing as how the Fleet Finch has the only transponder out of it and the Moth, they had to leave and arrive together, thus "Museum Flight" was our call sign. It ended up being a great highlight for many people being able to fly in formation with another beautiful biplane.
So next, Marina and I went for a ride in the museums 1937 Waco AQC-6. We'd both never flown in it before so it was quite a treat. What a plush airplane, and what a fun flight. The Waco really was the business jet of its era. We flew out to the US/Canada border crossing at Peace Arch and then along the beach at White Rock, BC. Then we came back, did a low-and-over of the field and then back down for a smooth landing. Shortly after we climbed out of the Waco, Marina's brother also came down from his flight in the Fleet Finch. He also had a great big grin on his face and it also lasted quite a while after landing.
Almost right after I got out of the Waco I was dragged over (hahahah, life is so unfair sometimes) to our de Havilland DH-82C Tiger Moth and went for a great flight with my pilot George Servis. Like all the other flights we took off shortly after the Finch and then formated on them. We flew tight to their left side (echelon left?) as we flew out to the Glenn Valley practice area, then switched to take the lead making some more turns and actively looking for traffic. After that we did a break and then I got to fly. I first tried out some medium turns, then graduated to steep turns and I began to get a good feel for the moth. Compared to must modern airplanes the Tiger Moth has a sluggish roll rate, but it just means you need to work harder to make it move. Meanwhile as I'm doing turns, Bill Findley, the pilot of the Fleet Finch kept on my tail. After a little while when headed back to home base. I got to fly her up until downwind and just really really enjoyed every second of stick time I got. On the ground I was given the chance to try a little taxiing, which I've got to say is some really hard for someone used to taxiing a C-172. First, you can't see straight forward, second....... the brakes are..... different/British. Things started alright, and I was getting it, but with my hand switching between the brake lever and throttle it got confusing, and the taxiway we were on was very narrow with airplanes tightly parked on both sides. George took over and suggested that next time he'll let me try taxiing in a more open location.
After our flying was done we had a wonderful BBQ with salmon, roast beef, potatoes, corn, all sorts of salads, and a ice cream sundae bar. For only $10 it was a great deal.
Just before dinner was served a group of veterans made a presentation of a large scale model of a Hawker Typhoon to the CMF. It was painted in the scheme of Harry Hardy's Pulverizer II. It also came with a plaque that commerates all the young men that lost their lives flying and servicing the Canadian Typhoons during WWII.
Once most of the people had left the event it was time for the usual suspects to put the planes away for the night. This isn't an easy task considering how little space there is in our tiny CMF hangar, but we did it. Here are some night shots that are kind of neat.
All in all a great day, good flying, good friends, good food. I wish all days could be like that!
Peace,
David McIntosh
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
I think we've had the idea tossed around on how much it would cost, but considering it is an old building, the amount of retrofitting work it would take to install a suppression system would be extremely expensive.
