Glidepath THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF The Canadian Museum of Flight
First Airmail – a Stunt?
Ever since the Wright Bros aviation feat of 1903 there was an absolute flurry of aviation development and activity throughout Europe and North America. It was a period full of aviation ‘firsts’ that were limited only by the available technology, not by man’s imagination. To understand our very first attempt at airmail service out here on the west coast is to understand the perceptions of the people of the early 1900’s with regard to this new aerial phenomenon. Airmail didn’t just happen as a progressive stage of natural development, instead, it stumbled and faltered its way along until the rapid growth of this latest technology collided with societal acceptance.
Once the patents of 1903 set the benchmark for budding engineers, military men and backyard enthusiasts, they set about making their individual aviation lines in the sand. Those early days of flight challenged the scientific, technical and military minds, the business of flying would have to wait its’ turn. The concept of flying for profit eased its way in to the Canadian history books with the transportation of commercial cargo in October 1913.
Slowly proving itself over time and with technology leaping forward each year, aviation would still not be embraced by federal regulatory bodies for years to come. The concept of transporting paying passengers would not win acceptance and regulation until 1920. That very first Canadian commercial passenger flight consisted of 2 bush pilots escorting a fur buyer from Winnipeg over northern Manitoba.
By 1918-1919, airmail systems were approved of and operating throughout Europe and the United States. Canada too was utilizing private air delivery in 1918 and lobbyists and Flying Clubs were busy prodding the Canadian Post Office into adopting a national airmail policy. Continued on page 7
Earl Macleod clipping message on the leg of a came pigeon before releasing it Because radio … on leavy-weighing at much as 150th-gigen were used for
Photo from BARNSTORMING TO BUSH FLYING 1918-1930 Peter Corley-Smith
A couple of companies were granted special permission to fly mail in and out of remote mining camps in northern Ontario and Quebec and a few other special flights for airmail delivery were organized, but it was the period of summer of 1918 through to the spring of 1919 that saw airmail service being recognized on both sides of the 49th parallel and both coasts of Canada. On August 12, 1918, the United States Post Office Department took over airmail service from the U.S. Army. In Eastern Canada two months earlier an airmail flight between Toronto and Montreal took place on June 30th.
Early aviation exploits took on a carnival persona often appearing before the public for amusement purposes. If the early scientist or military man or even business man was to harness the potential of this flying device he had to hurdle those ‘cary’ perceptions when appealing to the banks or senior decision makers. One Canadian visionary capitalized on these circumstances to promote Canada’s first international airmail service and it happened here on the west coast.
The very first airmail flight between Canada and the United States would be introduced as an extra attraction to help publicize a Canadian Exposition of War Trophies, the Horse Show Building in Vancouver being the venue. Exposition director, E.S. Knowlton thought it would be interesting to bring in an “aeroplane” as an extra attraction.
Through Knowlton’s connections he garnered the attention and approval of the Vancouver Postmaster and the Seattle Postmaster as well as the owner of the nearest aeroplane to perform such a feat: William E. Boeing from Seattle. With Boeing agreeing to the use of his personal CL-4S, this first Canada-US airmail flight took place March 3, 1919 from the moorings of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club at Coal Harbour, at 12:58 pm.
The March 3 mail flight was an admitted stunt and didn’t result in any immediate Canadian-US airmail program. Airmail service was still impractical when competing with rail service between the two cities; pilots faced terrible flying conditions, rugged terrain and poor weather. Flights occurred during daylight to spot visual landmarks. In night conditions pilots watched for bonfires and flares lit by helpers on the ground. Maps were non-existent or poor at best not showing elevation changes. The planes were also unreliable; their outer skin wasn’t as durable as the polyester Dacron we see in use today at the Canadian Museum of Flight.
Mr. Boeing went on to bigger and better things, the airmail service Mr. Knowlton envisioned finally happened on October 15, 1920 with the inauguration of a Seattle to Vancouver Island airmail service while the west coast aviation buffs take pleasure in a distinction and a first of our own.
Story submitted by CMF Member Mike Craig
ISSUE 91
FALL 2006
HANGAR # 3 5333-216th STREET LANGLEY, BC V2Y 2N3
TEL: 604-532-0035
FAX: 604-532-0056
museum@direct.ca
www.canadianflight.org
- PAGE 1 First Airmail
- PAGE 2 Board of Directors & Staff/ Dinner Meeting
- PAGE 3 Volunteer of the Quarter/ Veterans Week
- PAGE 4 New Members/Summer Projects
- PAGE 5 We Lose a Friend
- PAGE 6 We Lose a Friend continued/ Spire Experience
- PAGE 7 First Airmail-A Stunt? continued / Monthly Donation Program
- PAGE 8 Classifieds/Upcoming Events
THE NEWSLETTER
The CMF Newsletter is published quarterly by the Canadian Museum of Flight. Contributions in the form of articles, news items, letters and photos are welcome, as are comments and criticism. No payment can be made for any manuscripts that are submitted for publication in the CMF Newsletter. The Editor reserves the right to make changes in the manuscripts without altering the meaning.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Sandy Sideroff at the Museum by calling 604-532-0035. The Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
CMF BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF
- Matt Offer President
- Gord Wintrup Vice President/Treasurer
- John Campbell Secretary
- Carol Bellavance Director
- Terry Brunner Director
- Roy Hafeli Director
- Jerry Lloyd Director
- Bob Parkes Director
- Capt Bill Thompson Lifetime Director
- Sandy Sideroff Executive Director
- Teresa Rhodenizer Gift Shop Manager
- Rob Currington Volunteer Coordinator
DINNER MEETING Saturday, October 14th, 2006
Doors Open: 6:00 Dinner: 7:00 Guest Speaker: 8:00
Dinner is $23.00 Per Person
Due to rising costs of catering etc, we have had to increase the dinner from $20 per person to $23 in order to cover all costs.
RSVP by 4:00 pm Thursday October 12th, 2006 We require 48 hours notice of cancellation or you will be charged for the dinner To Reserve your tickets, please call the Museum at 604-532-0035 or email museum@direct.ca Dinner reservations are required for caterer’s count.
GUEST SPEAKER: Brian Walton Mt. Slesse Crash of Trans Canada Airlines Flight 810 on Dec 9th, 1956
Brian Walton grew up in Chilliwack BC and has pursued careers in forestry/logging and later film and video production with his company Wayward Wind Productions.
At an early age of 6 ½ Brian remembers watching the sky with his parents as they looked at the mountains surrounding Chilliwack, and wondering where the plane had gone down. This plane crash remained a life long interest for Brian’s father and was the subject of one of Brian’s first films, although most of his films are now wildlife and outdoor. There will be an introduction of the film by Brian, a viewing of the film, followed by a question and answer session. The film basically follows the Transport Canada finding on the flight from start to finish, and is not intended to pass blame on anyone. The film is intended to state the facts as known to the author, and clear up some misconceptions. It must be remembered that this was a much different time with state of the art equipment that is now more than 50 years old.
The Fall 2006 Volunteer of the Quarter
Ralph has been a member of the CMF since July 1998 and drives in from Chilliwack. We have written many times about volunteers who work behind the scenes and Ralph is definitely one of those volunteers. Over the winter, Ralph volunteers out of his home and this past year created two Browning Mk II replica’s for our Lancaster Turret on display in the hangar. When we were getting the replica’s appraised by professional machinists it was commented that Ralph’s workmanship was second to none and that unless you were to look very close, you would assume they were real. Ralph has spent many hours at the museum painting and polishing and always with a smile. You might not have had the privilege of meeting Ralph while he is at the museum but you can see the results of his hard work and dedication all around the facility.
We are very pleased to congratulate Ralph Weflen as the 2006 Fall Volunteer of the Quarter
A Little Goes a Long Way
As a Non Profit Association, we sometimes feel that we are constantly asking for something, whether it be money, product or volunteer manpower. Although we try to individually thank everyone there are times when thank you just does not seem enough. For people like Peter Harraway who went out and purchased tools for the shop from our “Wanted List” and Carol and Jim Day of CAT SIGNS who donate the services of their printing company and provide us with signage and vinyl lettering when required; to Norm Reader of VISION FIRE AND SAFETY who donates his services and tests our fire suppression system and fire extinguishers…. Thank you.
To them, it’s their every day routine, their job, but to us…it means the world
Look for them and other sponsors on our website at www.canadianflight.org
VETERAN’S WEEK
In recognition of our Veteran’s, the Canadian Museum of Flight will be opening the doors of the museum free of charge to any and all veterans.
This special offer will be in effect from Saturday, November 4 through to November 12, 2006
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS
Melanie Lamb Richmond, BC Burnaby, BC Henry Lees Buckley Burnaby, BC Abbotsford, BC Guy Hebert Norm Reader Michael Seemann Vancouver, BC Courteney, BC Sandro Verrelli Sam Bethel Abbotsford, BC Surrey, BC Hank Starek Alexander Gray Rick Sapinski Langley, BC Langley, BC Surrey, BC Langley, BC Christopher Allen Randy Custer
The wonderful weather that we experienced this summer allowed us to give some much needed attention to the aircraft in the courtyard.
In August the CF-104 received a new paint job. Thank you to all the volunteers who spent many hours prepping the aircraft for paint, with special thanks to Jim Beswick and John DeVisser.
The restoration of the Vampire is coming along very well with volunteers Don Butterley, Gord Varney and Cyril Meadows working diligently on the aircraft while the weather is favourable. With the aircraft having been on display outside, the elements took a toll on the wood. There were many areas where the wood was rotten from the rain getting inside from parts like the canopy, etc not closing properly due to damage and weather.
Most of the rotten wood has been replaced from behind the cockpit forward and any other wood has been preserved to stop any further deterioration. New balsa wood is being fitted and all areas that were allowing water to enter the aircraft have been blocked.
With hopes that the good weather continues, the aircraft could be ready for painting within the month.
WE LOSE A FRIEND
On April 18th, 2006 one of the worlds true gentlemen and a great friend of everyone in the RV world (whether you’d met him or not) passed on. Eustace Bowhay died at his home in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. He was 82, and had never fully recovered from a stroke he suffered last year.
Eustace spanned aviation from before World War 2 to the present day. He must be one of the few people around who accumulated well over 20,000 hours of flying time without ever having a military or airline career. He didn’t spend much of that time in relaxed cruise on autopilot sipping coffee either – the vast majority of it was spent over the Canadian bush, often in the very far north, operating off rough strips or water. His first flight was in a Gypsy Moth over his native Alberta in 1934 or 35. It’s a great story…
Ten-year-old Eustace and his mother lived on a farm outside Calgary, and every weekend the weather permitted they’d go into the city for supplies and a bit of recreation. He would spend part of his Saturday morning at piano lessons. Nothing in this world was going to make a pianist out of Eustace, but he went to please his mother and because she gave him a quarter so he could go to the movies after his lesson.
Eustace soon discovered that the airport on the edge of town was far more interesting than any movie, so after his lesson he’d go down and hang on the fence until it was time to go, just hoping to see an airplane fly. He’d time it carefully so he could run back to town and meet his mother at the theatre…he knew she’d never approve of something so dangerous as flying!
After a few weeks of this, one of the local pilots saw him clinging to the wire mesh, motioned him over to a hangar and opened the back door. Completely awestruck, Eustace stepped through and into what was to become his world for a lifetime.
In the hangar was a brand new Beech Staggerwing, painted royal blue. Out in front, a pilot who needed to warm the oil in his Moth invited Eustace to occupy the front cockpit. Stricken to silence by his good fortune, Eustace pulled on a leather helmet and goggles and held on to the cockpit coaming as the upright Gypsy engine rattled the Moth into the air. They flew out over the prairie and over Eustace’s home. When they returned, Eustace realized he was late meeting his mother and dashed into town, maintaining a minimum altitude of about six inches the whole way.
Without comment, he climbed into the car and home they went.
At the dinner table that evening, his uncle casually mentioned that an airplane had circled the farm several times earlier in the day. Did Eustace know anything about that? “Oh, no”, Eustace said. He’d been at piano lessons and the movies the whole day. Everyone at the table broke into laughter. When his mother handed him a mirror he saw why: he looked like a surprised raccoon. The Gypsy had been spraying a fine mist back over the fuselage for the entire flight and the oily outline of the helmet and goggles was clearly printed on his face.
When Eustace told the tale, the memories of that day- almost seventy years earlier- were printed on his face as plainly as the outline of those goggles. He remembered it all: the rich color and the smell of the new dope on the Staggerwing, the taste of slightly burned engine oil on his tongue and the exhilaration of seeing his home between the tilted flying wires of the Moth.
After that came flying and more flying. Eustace instructed thousands of students in the RCAF, some of whom died in combat just weeks after he soloed them he never really accepted the terrific human waste the war caused and a bit of grief stayed with him the rest of his days. After the war he instructed thousands more, as well as flying Navions and Aeronca Champs and God knows what else away from the factories and back to Canada.
Supported by his wife Nora, he formed his own company, providing charter air service all over Canada and the Northern Territories. He flew and flew; in Aztecs, Cessnas, Beavers and Otters. He acquired a P-51 from the Canadian government and flew it all over the country keeping an eye on his operations.
He owned and flew a DC-3 for many years. He flew more than 9000 hours of water operation… 1000 hours of it in a Grumman Goose. He landed parts of a bulldozer on the edge of the Arctic Ocean in a Beech 18, helped weld the machine back together and build a landing strip. A couple of months later, he watched the bulldozer leave, intact, in the hold of a Hercules that flew into the strip to retrieve it.
And all the while, one of his primary concerns was keeping other pilots safe. He preached, cajoled, and extolled safe flying at every opportunity, bringing his vast experience to bear and distilling it to benefit the newest of pilots. We will never know how many pilots are alive (and airplanes unbroken) because Eustace had a quiet word with them, planting some seed of care and awareness that allowed them to avoid disaster.
He joined the RV ranks in the 1990’s by building C-GHAY, a 180 hp RV-6 which he flew on wheels, floats and amphibious floats. In the RV community he found many low-time pilots venturing into the world of relatively high performance and became their mentor.. At Van’s Aircraft they learned to listen carefully to the tall, white haired, slightly deaf Canadian fellow with the suspenders. There was a lot of “eh?” and a little “oot” in his speech, along with vast humanity, humor and wisdom.
Many other builders met Eustace and Nora at Van’s Homecomings and we’d often see a cluster of pilots seated around them, leaning in, listening and learning- essentially sitting around a campfire and absorbing knowledge gained over a career that spanned 70% of powered aviation. Even after the stroke ended Eustace’s flying days he continued as best as he was able through Doug Reeves’ website (www.vansaircraft.net), using a tape recorder and typing answers and thoughts with the one hand he could still use.
This article was published in the Van’s Aircraft Newsletter. Special thank you to Ken Scott who wrote the article and gave permission to the CMF to insert it in Glidepath News.
imagine if you were going to visit the UK and for a year you had worked diligently to arrange a flight in a Spitfire only to arrive for your flight and find out the aircraft was put unserviceable that morning due to a fuel leak! This happened to CMF member Wally Hall this past summer when he arranged a flight in a Spitfire in North Wales. When he realized that his life long dream to fly a spitfire was not going o happen in this aircraft he and his wife continued on with heir holidays and went to visit the Duxford Museum. When he arrived at the Museum still not willing to give up. e asked if there were any other spitfire’s flying other than Lady Grace’s which had a 3 year waiting list for a ride.
You could imagine his surprise when the reply to his question was, that yes, there was another spitfire owned by John Romain which was restored in September 2005 located not far away. Wally was given directions and off he went determined to see if here was any way his lifetime dream could be finally realized. Once again, Wally asked the question, was there any way that he would be able to fulfill a dream and get a ride in a spitfire? Much to his amazement, although owner John Romain had to attend ne of his children’s parent teacher interviews, yes, Wally’s dream would be realized and he would get his flight.
after getting suited up and given a preflight, he climbed into the 1944 Spitfire TR.9 and took to the skies for an hour-long experience he will never forget. (Ironically, Wally was born in 1944)
On speaking with Wally recently I could not help but get goose bumps as I heard the excitement in his voice and felt the thrill as he recounted the experience. Sometimes things are just meant to be…or as some may say…fate. For Wally it was a bit of fate and persistence that helped him realize his dream.
Monthly Donations
We would like to sincerely thank the individuals who have taken advantage of our Monthly donation program. To date we are receiving 100.00 in monthly donations which vary from $10.00 per month to $25.00. This will mean a total of $1200.00 by the end of the year. This is a way to help support the museum, receive a Tax Deductible Receipt but not have it be a burden financially. A form is included on the back of your membership renewal. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact Sandy or Teresa.
Page Eight The Museum welcomes donations of used AVIATION BOOKS for the Library and to sell in the Gift Shop HELP SUPPORT THE MUSEUM & receive a tax deductible receipt for yourself! October 14 November 5-11 November 5 Veterans Week November 6-12 November 13 Set up Semiahmoo Mall Semiahmoo Mall – Selling Display December 16 Tear Down – Semiahmoo Mall Volunteer Christmas Party Renew your JOIN NOW… Gero SKYWAYS RECEIVE A FREE ISSUE WITH YOUR NEW MEMBERSHIP (PLEASE MENTION THIS AD) SAMPLE ISSUE $4 PLUS $3 POSTAGE WORLD WAR 1 Geroplanes, INC. 15 CRESCENT ROAD, POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, 12601 (845) 473-3679 www.ww1aero.org www.skywaysjournal.org membership early and receive 20% off all regular priced items in our Gift Shop until Dec 31, 2006. JET Official Sponsor of CAPA CAPA CANADIAN AERONAUTICAL PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION ASOCIATION CANADIENE DE ACCA CONSERVATION AERONAUTIQUE The Canadian Museum of Flight is proud to be a member of the Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association UPCOMING EVENTS Dinner Meeting