THOMPSON
VALLEY SPORT AIRCRAFT CLUB
(Member of
Recreational Aircraft Association)
Beautiful
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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Next meeting: Saturday,
September 12, 2009, at 10am.
Location: Clubhouse, Blair Field, Knutsford.
September
2009 Newsletter
Editor's
Notes
About
the Buy&Sell section: I
have been carrying those ads for FREE! as
a service to the flying community. I have kept
them on until the owner told me that the item had
been sold. Most owners have been quite good about
it, and some of them, like Ken Hemmerling, Wilf
Strahl, Mario and others even sent the Club some
money to say thanks after the sale.
But
too many never bothered to let me know, and too
often I had to hear from a third party that
something had been sold for months while the ad
was still on the page, adding to the clutter.
So
I came up with new reasonable rules to make the
process easier: the ads will now run for six
months, and if the owner does not renew it by
that time, I will assume that the item has been
sold, and remove the ad.
Everyone
now advertizing has been notified by e-mail; some
have already answered. I will now wait for
another week, and start removing all the ads
where the owners have shown no interest.
Digital
trickery?
Somebody
told me that hummingbirds can hitch a ride south
on the back of Canada Geese. But I don't believe
it.
I
think we have all seen a smaller bird chasing a
bigger one: starlings chasing a crow or a hawk,
crows attacking a hawk or an eagle.
I
have even seen a hummingbird chasing a starling.
But how about a red-wing blackbird riding on a
red-tailed hawk? Leif Berget sent me a picture
that at first I thought had to be a Photoshop
job. So I traced it to it's source on the Net and
found the original at http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicouldfly/journal/html/053007.htm
If
you go to the link, you will read that the author
claims it is a real un-retouched photo, and he
even has a few more examples, like this:
Despite
his claims of no hanky-panky, I still have
serious doubts. After all, I have seen dinosaurs
chasing people on Jurrasic Park. What do you
think?
Greg
Peterson
August
28.
I had a
great weekend of flying. I managed
3 mornings in a row and had a little stress
on my last outing. I was practicing
approaches on a friend's field, and suddenly
noticed a lot of friction on the throttle, so I
decided to land and say "hi".
He met
me with his kids and we had a nice visit, letting
them all have a turn sitting in the plane.
I love how every kid will ask what the red button
is for on the stick. Their eyes always
widen when I say that it's for the machine
gun.
I also
removed the key just to be sure .
I
was very mad at myself for leaving home without a
single tool, so I borrowed a screwdriver and had
a look inside. Turned out, the return
spring that would apply full power if the
throttle linkage broke was gone.
No
big deal, I'll replace that when I return
home. So we buttoned her up and got ready
to depart.
By now,
more of the family had showed-up, and I was
feeling a little nervous infront of the
crowd......I fumbled that key and heard it bounce
under the floor towards the tail. Now I was
really mad at myself.
Luckily, after a little hunting, it was just
within arm's reach. So, back in the saddle
again, I yell clear, and nothing happens.
W.T.F.? I try the key again but still
nothing. Voltage is good...I guess I'll
look under the cowl again. Turns out the
lead to the starter has broken off.
Now we need more tools.
I
finally get the starter re-connected and
blast-off with a steep climbing turn right after
lift-off. I made a bee-line for home,
chewing myself out the whole time.
Lessson
learned? Definitely. Never leave home
without a few tools, even if you aren't really
going anywhere!
Greg
FIRST FLIGHT
By Barry Meek
Ask any
pilot. They all remember their first solo
flight. Mine was a disappointment. A
total non-event. The instructors had taught
me well. Well enough to feel absolute
confidence in my ability to fly that airplane.
I feel robbed of the feelings, the exhilaration
so many pilots recall. It was just like any
other flight. The ritual at many schools
now is a bucket of water dumped on a fledgling
pilots head. Back in the early 70’s, I
attended a school that didn’t do that.
It was at a little flying service in Prince
George, British Columbia, and early in 1973 when
they let me take off alone. A few months
later there was a brand new private license in my
hip pocket. I was young, free and somehow
had enough money to pay the $745 it cost to pay
for the training. I was also early in a
broadcasting career, working for the last
television station in the country (so I was told)
to be broadcasting a black & white signal.
That’s a long time ago!
Like
others who always knew they wanted to fly,
somewhere along the way the seed was planted in
my head that I needed to do it too. I set
my sights on becoming a commercial pilot, and
perhaps someday flying the orange 737’s that
CP Air was using at the time. But the
obstacles quickly became apparent. The
biggest was the reality of logging 250 hours to
qualify for the commercial license. How
could a guy earning a disc jockey’s salary
afford it when the rental cost of the plane was
$17 an hour?
Inevitably,
like many others with the dream, I came back down
to earth. It was back to the job, to life
as it was supposed to be. We all kept our
feet anchored to the ground, paid the mortgage,
bought food, a car and got on with life. Some
married, raised families, and survived somehow
without flying. The time came eventually
when all those things were out of the way, and it
was right to get back to flying. Pick up
where we left off back when the dream was real.
It never dies, it just gets temporarily deleted
by the reality of life. The spark smolders
on.
Those
memories come back each time I get an e-mail from
someone who writes with his story. They’re
so similar, I could have written them all and
mailed them to myself. Some guys are still
dreaming, hoping to someday find the time and
money to fly again. Some have done it, now
that the important things in life are out of the
way. After many years of my
‘mundane life’, an opportunity came up
for a partnership in a Cessna 150. It was
the right time. I happened to be there in
the right place. Following all that’s
necessary, I soon had my medical back, a ground
school done, and a check ride complete. It
was finally time to get down and train for the
commercial license.
At age
48, I finished what I started in my early
20’s. By then, the end of a paramedic
career was in sight, and the resumes were going
out to air operators across the north. Initially,
no one wanted to hire me, an old pilot with low
time, but there were other ways to fly. Owning
an aircraft or two was a good thing. And
living close to a couple of glider and parachute
operations made it possible to fly on a part-time
basis. The pay was rotten, but the time all
went into my logbook. It was the hours I
needed, not the cash.
Very
soon I landed a bush flying job, seasonal work,
which I preferred. Now each summer I seek
out something where someone needs a temporary
pilot for a few months. Over the years,
flying never became a real job. Too many
pilots end up wishing they were on the ground.
Too much of anything can turn you off what
you’re doing. Flying should not become
something you want to stop. We all know
pilots who have hobbies like sailing,
woodworking, restoring old cars, things that
normal people do for a living and whose hobby is
flying. Strange, that we all want something
different, and that those who have it will always
be envied by those that don’t …
whatever it is.
If this
sounds like you, don’t think you’re
alone. Don’t think your life, your
dream, is different from everyone else. In
that regard, you are not unique. Your
choices are: go back to flying, or forget it.
For those who don’t have the choice because
of a medical issue, you have my sympathy. If
flying an airplane is on your list of things to
do before you die, go out and find a way. Befriend
a pilot. Pay him for the fuel, pay for the
rental, whatever it takes. You
wouldn’t want to be checking out at the end
of your life still wishing for a dream come true.
bcflyer@propilots.net
To read all of
Barry's previous articles, go to http://www.ocis.net/tvsac/BMLetters.html
Breezy
On
September 2nd, Craig dropped in with his breezy.
He normally keeps it at Quilchena, but came into
town to do some shopping. He said the flight in
was quite nice; but I was just coming for a
landing and the Beaver had been a bit challenged
by the updrafts and turbulence. Of course, the
Breezy is quite a bit bigger and heavier.
Incredible!
I
found this on the Net! It shows what a skilled
pilot can do with a single-seat Beaver. The video
was taken at the King George Airpark a few years
ago. Of course, those maneuvers should not be
performed at such a low altitude, but this fellow
seems to have no fear and a helluva lot of
skills!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81XqGyZVRjw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Eca%2Fvideo
search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dthundergull%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26ei%3DHihySv2mOobSsQOg3I
TwCA%26sa%3DX%26oi%3Dvideo%5Fresult%5Fgroup%26ct%3Dtit&feature=player_embedded
Do not for one
minute believe the claim that the pilot was on
his first solo flight! I have talked to a friend
who knew him personally, and that guy is an
expert, completely in charge of his aircraft.
I don't think you
will see me trying some of that stuff on my
Beaver anytime soon, except maybe for the
sideslips on approach which I have mastered a
while back.
New
in the Buy&Sell
Lazair series 3 ultralight
with straight floats.
$4500
1984
Lazair with conventional control stick and
factory extended fuselage for more leg room.
Tedlar covering has few patches but it is in good
servicable condition. Recently serviced engines
have redrives that swing larger propellers for
much more performance, especially for float
operation. Each float has a massive cargo hatch
for carring lots of stuff. This plane can haul
weight! Plane can be seen at Langley, BC.
Low profile float dolly included. Plane Is flying
currently on wheels. Call Phil at 604-530-9799 or
email bravo12@telus.net.
Murphy Renegade $1900.
OBO
The
wings are very damaged. But the parts are
available through Murphy. The tail and cowling
are in good shape. Instruments included are: altimeter, airspeed
indicator, rpm gauge. There is no motor.
Can be seen at Lac La Hache. Rick Duncan
Tel:
1 250 396 7778 Cell: 1 250 706
9754
This
site hosted by OCIS, On Call Internet Services.
250-376-3858 Check
their Website here: http://www.ocis.net/
Due
to the limited space available on the server, the
archives will not contain anything older than one
year. I
welcome your feedback. Do you have any
contributions for the newsletter? Photos would be
great! (At least 600 pixels wide) So would flying
stories, project updates or tall tales... Contact
me: Newsletter Editor: Cam Villeneuve
1-250-374-4181 villeneuve@shaw.ca
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