Message from our President
From RAA-Oshawa
Contents |
Sept 2010
A brief overview of the website after a review of the Hawke Field Flyin.
Send pictures of the fly-in to Don.
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE SEPT 2010
Well the last day of summer has passed us bye and the first day brings us a new fall season of flying. This summer I promised myself to go to more fly-ins and air shows than I have in the past even if my plane was not flying and I had to drive, and that I did. I went to Geneseo, down in the states, Edenvale and Brantford. Geneseo and Brantford featured fly byes as well as air show and they where great , Edenvale while only featuring fly byes had the biggest contingent of fly-in visitors, nearly 200. Geneseo is a must see for the warplane buff ,it features a full day of flying of all the war birds from trainers up to the modern day fighter jets. They allow fly-ins until 1:00 pm at which time the air is closed down and the show starts, and for the next 3 hrs your eyes are glued to the blue. Let me describe this place, it is slated as the greatest show on turf, yup turf 5000 ft of it and all the planes land on it for static display as well, except for the F-16 he just scoots over from Syracuse. War planes are divided up into two categories trainers and active planes the trainers started at the Tigermoths, Chipmunks, Cornells, Harvards, and a few I’ve never seen before and I guess you could count the WW 1 planes in that category to they only learned in what they had. The other war plane group was the fighters and the bombers: P-51, Corsair, Mitchell B 25, B-17, A-26, all these flying in fine shape as though they where ready to go off to war. Other planes included they Lysander from Hamilton, a Cessna sky crane .Beech 18, DC-3, C-130 Herc, and I probably missed some but you will just have to go to the Airshow next year and see for yourself, it’s a great time. Edenvale was a nice fly-in to attend even though it did not feature any great spectacular feats of flying but it did have the biggest contingent of fly-in visitors, planes of all types and vintages there was some great old classics, people as well as planes, Tom Dietric and Wop Martin of the Tiger Boys, there was around 200 visiting planes and all had the option of being judged. To keep the attention directed to the planes they had an announcer who would introduce most of the plane types and give a brief little background on each as well as make safety announcements and warn of un wanted behavior, lots of room for vehicles and planes, oh yeah some vintage cars on display too. Brantford was an airshow that totally took us by surprise who ever heard of an airshow in the middle of the week and if it did happen who would have time to go but down in Brantford it is almost a national holiday they have all the warbirds from the Warplane Heritage Museum from Hamilton there, they bring out all they this year the Lancaster, and Mitchell B25, the new Lysander, DC-3, Canso flying boat, Chipmunks, Harvards, Tigermoths, Stearmans this show had everything including wild and mild aerobatic demos. To it off the snowbirds where even there this being a by product of having them park there while they are getting ready for the CNE. How much does all this cost not a thing parking is ten dollars per car and there is just a donation bucket on the way in and out, they boast an attendance of 25,000 and they sure do get it. So if you want to see the snow birds, war planes Canadian Armed forces parachuting , Rob Holland aerobatic performance among others make a point to get on down to the annual Brantford airshow. Well that was my summer highlights but there is some museum visits mixed in there too but that can be saved for another news letter……..JIM
s and air shows than I have in the past even if my plane was not flying and I had to drive, and that I did. I went to Geneseo, down in the states, Edenvale and Brantford. Geneseo and Brantford featured fly byes as well as air show and they where great , Edenvale while only featuring fly byes had the biggest contingent of fly-in visitors, nearly 200. Geneseo is a must see for the warplane buff ,it features a full day of flying of all the war birds from trainers up to the modern day fighter jets. They allow fly-ins until 1:00 pm at which time the air is closed down and the show starts, and for the next 3 hrs your eyes are glued to the blue. Let me describe this place, it is slated as the greatest show on turf, yup turf 5000 ft of it and all the planes land on it for static display as well, except for the F-16 he just scoots over from Syracuse. War planes are divided up into two categories trainers and active planes the trainers started at the Tigermoths, Chipmunks, Cornells, Harvards, and a few I’ve never seen before and I guess you could count the WW 1 planes in that category to they only learned in what they had. The other war plane group was the fighters and the bombers: P-51, Corsair, Mitchell B 25, B-17, A-26, all these flying in fine shape as though they where ready to go off to war. Other planes included they Lysander from Hamilton, a Cessna sky crane .Beech 18, DC-3, C-130 Herc, and I probably missed some but you will just have to go to the Airshow next year and see for yourself, it’s a great time. Edenvale was a nice fly-in to attend even though it did not feature any great spectacular feats of flying but it did have the biggest contingent of fly-in visitors, planes of all types and vintages there was some great old classics, people as well as planes, Tom Dietric and Wop Martin of the Tiger Boys, there was around 200 visiting planes and all had the option of being judged. To keep the attention directed to the planes they had an announcer who would introduce most of the plane types and give a brief little background on each as well as make safety announcements and warn of un wanted behavior, lots of room for vehicles and planes, oh yeah some vintage cars on display too. Brantford was an airshow that totally took us by surprise who ever heard of an airshow in the middle of the week and if it did happen who would have time to go but down in Brantford it is almost a national holiday they have all the warbirds from the Warplane Heritage Museum from Hamilton there, they bring out all they this year the Lancaster, and Mitchell B25, the new Lysander, DC-3, Canso flying boat, Chipmunks, Harvards, Tigermoths, Stearmans this show had everything including wild and mild aerobatic demos. To it off the snowbirds where even there this being a by product of having them park there while they are getting ready for the CNE. How much does all this cost not a thing parking is ten dollars per car and there is just a donation bucket on the way in and out, they boast an attendance of 25,000 and they sure do get it. So if you want to see the snow birds, war planes Canadian Armed forces parachuting , Rob Holland aerobatic performance among others make a point to get on down to the annual Brantford airshow. Well that was my summer highlights but there is some museum visits mixed in there too but that can be saved for another news letter……..JIM
April 2010
For those who missed the last meeting the subject of whatever are we going to do with the money that the GIC is generating .it has grown to over 13,000 dollars and I feel that that that is enough to get a very good start to completion of a nice homebuilt, after all we are all very resourceful builders, if anyone of us had that amount of money at their disposal there would not much time be wasted getting started.
More details? Be at the next meeting!
November 2008
For my message this month guys I would like to borrow a couple of paragraphs from the Ottawa chapter president, Dave Stroud.
Dave writes: “Its election time again and it would be nice to see a good turnout for the vote. More specifically, it would be a great help to the executive if members could bring forth ideas for presentations or discussions at the meeting and articles for the newsletter. We're all involved in aviation somehow and I'm betting that there may be some topics that we've not touched on that would be of interest to the group. How about coming forth and letting some of those tightly guarded secrets out in the open. It will be for the benefit of all and, especially the viability of the club itself. We need your support”.
We need two directors this year to complete the executive, come forward and contribute to make a difference.
January 2008
October 2007
Have you ever wondered what the big hype about owning your own airplane is. Well let me outline a few good reasons aside from the obvious, the lower cost of flying, but it seems the price of gas is trying to take care of that and the availability of a plane when you want it, not having to book ahead.
One big plus about owning your own plane is how personal they can become and even more so if you build it or if you have a plane registered in owner maintenance and you do your own work. It is very satisfying to work away at something and get it absolutely the way you want it. It doesn’t take long to discover what type of care the plane has been under, sometimes you would be surprised with what you find.
Once you have looked into things and got them all adjusted you then can make a mental note of how things are and keep this in mind as you fly and as for if things are going out of sync you can stop and correct them. With rented planes you don’t ever get to be as in tune with the plane you are flying because it probably is not the same one you flew the last time, you always seem to have quite a mixture of planes when you rent. From one model to the next they aren’t the same, instrument layout is different, radios are different, it is sure nice when you can look at the same panel and all controls are in the same place as they where the last time. I once sat on the tarmac yelling into the mike until I almost deafened myself because I could not see the smallest black knob on the biggest black background made me feel like a fool.
One other point our plane has taught me too, the fuel primer had plugged up one day and the engine wouldn’t start, further examination led us to the primer and we discovered the check valves in the little pump had seized up a clue that we should have picked up on was how the pump was becoming very stiff when priming a good indicator that something was wrong after we freed up the valves the primer work freely and the engine fired up right away.
The trim crank was acting strange too looking into that we found that the jack screw that moves the stabilizer was plugged up with dust and oil which had been used to lube the screw so a thorough cleaning of the screw had it moving nice and easy and a world of difference in the trim system.
Now all these things might make it sound like we have a real troubled plane but not so they are just little things that any plane is susceptible to. Age and blowing dust, I guess the construction around has kicked up more dust than usual. So all these things are to think about when owning a plane they can teach and train as long as you stay ahead of things and heed the warnings.
I would like to acknowledge the passing away of an icon in our circle of aviation. Stan Miller will be missed by the aviation community and all who came to know him.
JIM MORRISON
January 2004
Happy New Year to all RAA Oshawa members and their families! I hope that you all enjoyed at least some time to relax and unwind over the past few weeks, not to mention had time to think about that creation in the garage, hangar or basement that may one day fly!
Our Annual Awards Banquet Dinner and Dance was a huge success with attendance by many chapter members and friends of the local aviation community. For those who missed this annual event, I hope that you will come along next year and get to know your fellow builders and flyers on a more personal level than we normally have time for at monthly meetings. A complete report will be presented at the next general meeting for those who missed it.
In summary, completion awards where given out to Weldon Howell for the restoration of his Ercoupe and Brian Patch for the completion of his Zenith 701. Well done guys, this is what RAA is all about. Special appreciation awards were also presented to Don Dutton for 5 years as Chapter President and Jim Morrison for his significant contribution to educational events and fund raising for the chapter. ( Woody's Award) .
I hope to continue in the fine tradition Don has started as your new chapter president this year and face the challenges that will inevitably come our way. And I hope that you will volunteer some of your time to help make this club even better in 2004. We need your participation to make things happen, so please get involved!
Our new executive will also help us to plan another exciting year of events and meetings as the summer approaches. The first of which is a planned field trip to Endevour Aerospace Co. Inc in Lindsay , Ontario on Saturday Feb.28,2004 at 10 AM.
This company builds Lancair IV aircraft under contract for individual builders who don't have the time to build themselves. This is one of the first companies to take advantage of the new Transport Canada exemption from subsection 507.03b and section 549 of the CARs issued in 2003, which allows for contracting of professional assistance in the construction of an aircraft, subject to the builder's ( owner's) overall control. They are currently constructing a group of 4 Lancair IV aircraft with 750 hp turboprop engines and very sophisticated avionics packages for individual builders. We plan to visit them on a Saturday for an hour or two to see examples of their workmanship. I hope that many members will at www.endevouraerospace.com
Our January General meeting will be on January 26th at 7:30 PM at the 420 Wing building and will feature Capt. Hoey from Search and Rescue, as our guest speaker. This will be an open meeting to all pilots in the area and COPA members to maximize the audience requested by the SAR people. Please invite your friends who are pilots and aviation enthusiasts. COPA has graciously offered to provide the cheese and crackers for everyone so it should be a good evening .
And just as a reminder, Reg Gardner will also be on hand to renew your 2004 RAA Oshawa membership which is now due.
Regards
Chris Gardiner
November 2003
Officially I step down as president of Oshawa District RAA at the end of the year but I'm already looking forward to doing some of the things I haven't been able to do for the past five years.
No, laying around on a beach in the Caribbean isn't number one on my list, although thinking of some of those cold, blustery days ahead makes Antigua or Guadeloupe pretty enticing. What I'm really looking forward to though, is being able to get around to visiting some of the builders in our chapter and seeing and photographing their projects.
I keep hearing that there are some excellent aircraft under construction in the garages and basements or our members but I never seem to have time to get out to see most of them. And as the old saying goes, "It's like pulling teeth" to get some of those builders to even talk about them so I'm sure many members are not aware of what the guys sitting next them at our meetings are building. So I'll be chasing them down and if they will let me I'll spend an afternoon or evening working on, take some pictures and prepare something that our newsletter editor, Art Stevens, might publish.
One thing I've noticed in the casual conversations during the breaks at chapter meetings is that there is not much talk about actual building. I believe that seeing photos and reading about what chapter members like Dan Tomlinson are building will spark more discussions on building and encourage more members to actually start building.
I'm heading out of town for a couple of weeks so this message is being written well before our usual deadline. Dan Tomlinson is one of those members who has been quietly working away on his project and surprised several of us at our October meeting when he brought out photos of something that is rapidly beginning to look like a real airplane. Before I left I talked to Dan and he agreed to send some pictures of his plane to Art to put in this newsletter. It's photos like this and the discussions that are sure to follow that I think will be an inspiration to those who have not yet got started on their dream project.
See you at The Wing.
Don
April 2003
Sun 'n Fun's Had A New Look in '03
Returning to Sun 'n Fun after a five year absence I found a lot of changes, saw some new airplanes and for the first time was up early enough on the Saturday to be on the flight line for the dawn launching of the balloons. What a sight it was as just after a spectacular sunrise on a perfect morning for ballooning, the multi-coloured balloons rose from a heap, filled and gently drifted across the field to settle a few minutes later behind a row of trees.
I spent two days at the Lakeland, Fla. show and obviously that wasn't time to see every exhibit but the Canadian exhibitors didn't appear to be there in numbers as in the mid-'90s. Some companies, such as Ultravia, out of Gatineau, QC, now have U.S. distributors who handle the show for them. By the way they had the usual tri-gear Pelican out front at their display (I suspect with most pilots learning to fly on planes with a big wheel up front that is their big seller) but just behind was a sweet looking tail dragger that looked like it would be about 20 mph faster. The salesman said it picked up only about 5 to 7 mph over the tri-gear model but on looks alone it got my vote.
The newest entry out of Canada at the show was also a Quebec company, Dream Aircraft from Granby with their sharp looking 4-place Tundra. This was the first big show for the Tundra but they said they planned next to be at the Canadian Aviation Expo in Oshawa. in June The Tundra, looking like a longer but leaner Murphy Rebel, was built for a 160 to 235 hp engine and, according to company officials, is a great STOL float plane with room for four plus substantial baggage. It is a fast build kit with all the holes pre-drilled and is priced at $38,500 (less engine) for the tail dragger and $41,750 for the tricycle gear. The green and white Tundra which they flew down, was displayed just inside the exhibit area where everyone heading for the show planes areas would pass. It turned a lot of heads - but so did the big trailer with photo quality paintings of Tundras on floats wheeling over a Quebec lake. Sales staff said on the way down motorists would pull up beside the trailer, stare to long at the pictures and sometimes almost go off the highway.
A hit among the new entries in the composite category was Partenair Design's S-45, a sleek pusher with a nose and two tandem seats in the cockpit section that looked like it was stolen from a jet fighter. Staff from Partenair, based in Boucherville, QC, said that with 160 hp pushing the S-45 it cruises at 160 mph and has a 55 mph stall.
Found Aircraft, based in Ontario's Parry Sound area, had their Bush Hawk XP on amphibious floats parked where it couldn't be missed by most of the crowds going to the afternoon aerobatic show. It looked like what it is - a rugged real bush plane. Zenair's Chris Heintz was there and his U.S. based operation had a prominent display featuring their CH 801. According to Sebastian Heintz their twin engine design is currently on the back burner - probably four or five years away from introduction to the market.
The Ultralight section was a hotbed of activity as usual - according to a regular there it was as busy as ever and had more kit companies represented while in the main section I was told the number of companies with displays was down. Among the missing at the 2003 show was Skystar and their popular Kitfox. According to the Southern Aviator, a magazine distributed widely at the show, Skystar decided that in lieu of the expense of taking their planes and staff to Florida where the opportunities for test flights are limited, they will pay for potential customers to visit their Caldwell, Idaho, factory, meet the crew and test fly the plane in a more relaxed atmosphere. They plan to make the shorter trips to Oshkosh and the Arlington fly-ins later this year.
Sun 'n Fun has a lot to see but to me it is getting further and further from "affordable" homebuilts. The kits that are selling are the "fast build" ones and there are a lot of nice ones to see, You just need a wallet that will stand the strain.
Each year I promise myself that I will take the short drive over to Lake Parker to see Sun 'n Fun's sea plane "Splash In" but again this year I was sidetracked. I got a guided tour the Warbirds section with Hannu Halminen, who usually flies in their Warbirds show, and was surprised at the number of jets that now show up in this section. But the crowd pleasers at teh air shiow were the T-6's and Harvards and a section made up of a Mustang, a Spitfire and a Russian -built Yak. We talked to the pilot of the Yak later - he said it was factory new and he liked the plane's flying characteristics but the quality control wasn't up to the standards found in U.S. and British prop aircraft.
Before heading back we went on Saturday night to the Warbirds award dinner at Fantasy of Flight, the castle-like creation of Kermit Weeks at nearby Polk City. It was almost sunset when we arrived and Weeks, a former international aerobatics champion was rolling out a WW I Fokker to put on a low level display for the Warbirds. If you haven't seen it this is a place to put on your "To Do" list the next time you are in the Lakeland -Tampa - Orlando area.
You may recall a few years ago when a huge Short Sunderland, the world's last airworthy civilian four-engine flying boat, stopped over in Toronto on its way from England to Fantasy of Flight. It is just one of about 50 display aircraft, from World War I through the barnstorm era, World War II and including airliners from the Ford Tri-Motor used in the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to a Starliner Constellation. If WW II fighters get you going, just seeing his restored Mustang, Corsair and others in Fightertown are worth the price of admission. And while there you can strap yourself into a simulator and, with all the sounds and motion of aerial combat, fly a mission. Not a bad way for an aviation enthusiast to spend a few hours.
Don
January 2002
I hope all our members and their families enjoyed the Christmas/ New Years holidays. Now it's back to business and with the RAA Oshawa Chapter that's not so bad.
Sometimes I just get a good feeling about things and I dont realize why until I stop and try to figure it out. Even then the reasons may not be all that evident.
That's the way it was over this past few months when ever I thought about our RAA Chapter. At our fly-in last September the weather didnt seem to be cooperating but it improved before noon and things turned out pretty well. Then came our elections and some valuable members who had been helping guide chapter activities for some time decided to take a break. We will miss their thoughtful advice, good ideas and experience but other members stepped up to fill the vacancies. Those new to the executive brought with them a renewed enthusiasm, fresh ideas and different approaches to our problems.
Since our last general meeting in November we have had two important executive meetings. At the December 2 meeting someone asked why we were involved in certain chapter activities and what were we as members expecting to get back. At last week's meeting each executive member answered those questions and without exception their answers showed a selfless dedication to the promotion of recreational aviation. Then we sat around that table and with enthusiasm and in a spirit of co-operation worked through a lengthy agenda that should guarantee an interesting few months ahead.
That's when I realized why I really feel good about this chapter. So a special thanks to all those members who have served on the chapter executive and made it what it is today and, to those on the current executive, I believe that the good things will only get better, and to the members - you show your appreciation by attending and taking part in the activities.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Elsewhere in this newsletter is the list of what we will be doing in our chapter general meetings in the next few months. Check it out and mark your calendar because you probably won't want to miss any of them. Then on June 14, 15 and 16 the Canadian Aviation Expo (CAE) comes to the Oshawa Airport and the Oshawa RAA executive intends to make our presence known. Four members of your executive had a good meeting with Stephen Wilcox of the CAE. There are still many details to be worked out but we'll tell you much more about it at next Monday Jan. 28th meeting. Of particular interest to the "Old Timers" around the Oshawa airport, don't forget the retirement party for Jim Pengelly Saturday afternoon, Feb. 16. Fly Safe. See you at The Wing.
Don
January 2001
The Spirit Is Still Alive!
There was something special about our June 4 executive meeting, something that's hard to define but which has been growing. During that 2 1/2 hour session it just seemed to all come together as we worked our way through details for our first "Workshop" for new builders.
We are fortunate in the Oshawa chapter. We have a good mix of long time members whose experience both in building their own planes and in the operation of the chapter dates back to the old EAA days, and newer, enthusiastic members who as builders are just as dedicated as ever but bringing with them new ways and new ideas.
Yes, much has changed since the first days of the EAA chapter here and up through the early 1980's after it became an RAA chapter. They held their seminars to teach everything from how to interpret rough blueprints to all the basics of "scratch" building an airplane.
Today if plans are used they are usually much more detailed and there are many more sources of materials and pre-built parts. The kit plane has become more and more popular - with it's composite parts sliding easily together, or its aluminum panels precision predrilled, or a steel tube fuselages all welded up and sometimes even powdercoated. However, while it may take less time, putting these planes together and getting them flying is still a daunting task.
After discussing the idea of a Workshop with a member of the RAA National Executive I talked it over with our chapter executive and we started from here. More information came by way of dozens of e-mails and telephone calls, many of them with members of the Toronto chapter which has held several successful "Seminars."
We also had a spot at the RAAC booth at the Toronto Aviation Show where we had lengthy discussions with potential candidates for the Workshop. It appeared that the most important decision facing new builders was which materials they wanted to use to build their planes, then selecting a design that best fit their needs.
Based on that we started our June executive meeting with a rough draft for a Workshop program and agreed on the builders who would lead or assist at the various sessions. As we hammered out the details suggestions came from several members on how to improve our presentations and give the candidates the valuable information to ensure they will make good decisions and eventually get their plane in the air.
What impressed me at the meeting was the way those members - both the builders who will talk from their own building experiences and others who will be helping with a variety of other tasks to make the Workshop a success - stepped forward to get the job done. Those volunteers include several who are not on the executive.
The old days of the 50's when planes from all over Ontario lined the taxiways and infield for Oshawa's annual breakfast fly-ins are gone but today there is a genuine enthusiasm for our sport within our chapter that bodes well for our future. Oh, yes, we're expecting about a dozen candidates to take part in our Workshop in a north field T-hangar on June 16. Keep 'em Flyin!
Don
