Warbird Information Exchange

Eventually I headed home. But some of the photos blow up OK.



Sweet flight back up the river. A zillion ice-fishing huts on the water, manned by kids and their grandparents, all waving happily at the little yellow biplane wandering by...

Note, from much later: I didn't land because of all the photographers that walked out onto the ice and crowded the landing surface. There was slush out beyond the ski-doo tracks, so I couldn't land there. But every time I lined up for the tracks, a photographer walked out, or several did, and were much too close to my line, so I kept having to go around.

Look here, at 2:35...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BLo95DgR0I

Dave

Dave

Very nice . The Trainer yellow is always a good contrast against a winterscape.
There is something very Canadian about an RCAF Trainer with canopies flying in the winter. Very BCATP

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

Hey Dave, I saw the videos and you made some very nice passes. From what I could see on the video it sure looked like the parked aircraft and spectators were close to the designated runway. Sure wish I could have been there. I guess there is no chance of getting you to the Orillia Ski-In on the 19th? Sure would be nice to see.

Cheers,

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Hi Eric,

Yeah, I got set up to land each time -- that's why I was going so slow -- hoping that a practical opportunity would arise, but no luck. I'm not being critical at all, because normally the whole river is a landing surface and pilots can choose their own path to stay well clear. There's no need to designate a landing area. But with the slush, the only option was the hard-packed ski-do trail, and of course that's where people wanted to walk too. So each time -- go-around. No big deal. All good training.

Ben Foisy photo



No, I can't make Orillia, unfortunately. I'm teaching the P-40 Groundschool at the Canada Aviation Museum at Rockcliffe.

Dave

The new season is starting up at Vintage Wings. Still snow on the ground, but time for some post-maintenance flights.

First was the Tiger Moth. It has a new radio antenna installation to avoid a "directional" problem. (They re-mounted it under the belly -- worked fine.) I practised a few things in the overhead, but all I took pictures up was the run-up, while the engine was warming.

I've gotta get a helmet-cam.

Then into the P-40. We've had a coolant rad and the oil cooler out for service, so they're back in for a test.



Unfortunately the engine developed a fuel leak during the start, so we shut it down for investigation.

All dressed up and no place to go!



Anyway, back next week to have another try.

Also, the Fairchild tailwheel has been out. New bushings have been installed, and I've got new bearings, and tube and tire for it as well, so it should get back in the air next week too. I hope we've got the shimmy fixed.

Dave

Thanks, Dave, for this awesome thread. Have just read it all the way through (now up to date!) and enjoyed it immensly.

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http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Andy! It's just been a lot of fun for me.

Hey, I got word they fixed the P-40 fuel leak next morning. I should have slept in the hangar!!!

Dave

Dave, when will you do the test flight and, oh, if you're looking for a piece of airspace to whistle through how about a low and over at Ottawa? I work in an office at the base of the tower.



Ernie.

Got airbourne for the first time this year. The snowbanks finally melted, and we got the tailwheel put back together.



Looks the same I know, I know, but it's got new custom-machined bushings in all 4 ends of the fork, new tire, new tube, new bearings... and all tightened up according to proper tolerances.

She started right up and we did a few circuits on the grass -- the tailwheel didn't fall off -- great! -- so went up to Edenvale for the test. ...will it shimmy on pavement... Had a great flight along the way -- beautiful spring day and very hard to fly straight and level.



I've got a CHT on the way, I hope.



Then wheel-landed on Rwy31, set the tail down gently, and ... Nothing! Total non-event! Not a hint of that frame-shattering vibration from last Fall. The bloody thing worked! So another circuit and this time plonk it down 3-point, and same thing. Smoooooth roll-out.

Triumphant taxi-in for some chocolate cake, richly-deserved.



Today I'll drop by the hangar and put the wheel-pants on.



Dave

Dave, good to see you are still not flying straight and level. I was in Barrie on Thursday and after a deviation through Camp Borden I stopped in at the airport but no sign of you being there. Good to hear she is running fine and ready for another summer.

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Sorry I missed you, Eric. Thursday I was at Vintage Wings where I flew the P-40 for the first time this year (post-maintenance test flight, and I certainly didn't fly straight and level!) and we had a Gala Dinner in the hangar for fund-raising purposes. This was great fun: fine-dining in front of the Spitfire and Swordfish with some very interesting people -- I chatted with a fellow who flew Sea Furys off the Bonaventure.

BTW the Swordfish finally gets its engine this week. A 4-year overhaul...

Then on Friday I was Guest Speaker at the Waterloo-Wellington Flying Club annual dinner and awards banquet, where they gave wings to an astonishing number of graduates, and I showed my slides. Some of them were your Dad's...



And some were yours... all very well received.



Dave

Dave, is that Fort still with us today?

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Yes, CF-ICB ended up with the Paul Allen collection, and CF-HBP was in Udbar-Hazy for years, then got loaned to Savannah's 8th Air Force Museum. My Dad flew them both for Kenting in 1960-61, high-altitude photo survey flying in the Arctic, and in Venezuela.

I also found that one of my old man's DH-104 Doves, which he flew corporate, still exists, which surprised us both.



Dave

Took the Fairchild away for a busy 4 days at Vintage Wings, at Ottawa/Gatineau. The plan was "Formation Camp" with the Air Force, flying the P-40, plus other training. Flying the F-24W there and back was such a pleasure compared with airline flying -- more expensive, and no faster in time, but much more pleasant to cruise over the spring countryside and listen to the Warner hum its way along, me gazing down at the farmers in the fresh-worked fields.

And good company upon arrival.



First though I finished a check-out on the Tiger with a new man, Doug. He had a lot of ultra-light time (Challenger), and is a commercial pilot as well, so for him it was an easy transition. Most of the differences are hand-starting, ground-handling, and stalls and spins, particularly the stall-as-you-turn-final scenario, when a pilot inadvertently steps on the inside rudder to increase the turn rate, while raising the nose to stretch the glide. (In that circumstance the lower wing of the Moth stalls, and the aircraft auto-rotates without warning, requiring 300 ft to recover -- a problem when only 200 ft is available...)



Then it was classroom work, establishing common formation procedures with the Air Force so that we can fly "Heritage Flights" with the F-18 Hornet. (NATO air forces don't use the F.A.S.T. hand signals, for example.) Then up in the air in the P-40 for formation with dissimilar types -- always interesting.

I have almost no pictures, but the guy-in-back did take a couple. Here's one of a re-join in a 3-ship on Rick Volker's Sukhoi.



I wish I had one of the Hornet on my wing -- that was a very large and unusual sight to have 10 ft away -- but the GIB was doing his job of calling things out to me in the air and on the ground, and thus no photos. And of course I was facing forward figuring out the display lines.