Glidepath THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF The Canadian Museum of Flight HANGER #3 5333-216th STREET LANGLEY, BC V2Y 2N3 TEL: 604-532-0035 FAX: 604-532-0056 museum@direct.ca www.canadianflight.org
THE ARRIVAL OF AVIATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA Part 2
Excerpt taken from CMF’s Pioneering Aviation in the West
Stark was not the only aviator to appear before the Vancouver crowds in 1912. Just two weeks after his appearance at the Hastings Exhibition grounds, Stark was upstaged by American’s Phil Parmelee and Clifford Turpin who, as an added attraction, had brought along a parachutist billed as, “Professor Morton.” In providing the Hastings Park crowd with the spectacle of a parachute jump, on May 24, 1912, Morton also found his way into history as the first person to perform a parachute jump from an aeroplane over Canada.
Morton took his position in the body of the aeroplane within touch of the canvas parachute attached to the bottom of the airship. Parmelee made off from a splendid start, again in the same direction he had followed on the first trip, but perhaps owing to the increase in weight, the airship did not rise very rapidly until it had gone out of the park grounds, continuing fairly low as it flew over the waters of the inlet. Those standing on the ground in the park were unable to follow it owing to the surrounding trees and failed to see the turn made. It was a minute and a half before either sound or sight of the airship again was noticed. Then it appeared well over North Vancouver heading east. Parmelee and his professorial passenger were now flying high and the machine followed up the course of the inlet until, with a wide sweep, it turned and retraced its course clear against the skyline over Lynn Valley. Shining like a huge white bat with two spread pinions, two circles were made in close quarters, then the expectant watchers saw the professor drop, and hundreds of sighs of relief went up when the parachute was seen to fill. Three minutes afterwards Parmelee brought the airship down light as a bird in front of the grandstand. But what had become of the professor?
No one knew until the aviator gave out the word that he had seen Morton get up and pick up his parachute. The shifting character of the wind had decided Parmelee to run no risk of being able to drop the parachutist short of the park grounds, so he let him go at a suitable place, which happened to be over the mud flats at Seymour Creek. The height from which the drop took place was 1,800 feet. When Morton reached terra firma he was immediately surrounded by several hundreds of picnickers who were rather astonished as his sudden appearance amongst them. The daring parachutist was promptly conveyed to the shore and at four o’clock he appeared carrying his parachute, smiling and none the worse for his experience. (Daily News Advertiser, Vancouver, May 25, 1912)
Later in 1912, James V. Martin visited Vancouver with a two-seat biplane of his own design. His flight at Minoru Park on August 10, during a lull between horse races, was terminated when the machine suffered engine failure on take off and ran into a fence.
Nelson, B.C. became a venue for a series of demonstration flights in September, 1912 when the Nelson Exhibition Committee made a contract with Billy Stark for an appearance at the Nelson Exhibition. An accident in Portland, Oregon prevented Stark himself from fulfilling this obligation but he arranged for Walter Edwards, an American pilot, to perform in his stead In spite of adverse conditions, Edwards made successful fights on September 24, 25 and 27.
The following year, 1913, saw yet another traveling aviation show, the Bennett Aero Company, entertain the Vancouver area public. By this time, the crowds needed more than just the usual dips, swerves and figure eights to attract them to the show. For crowd pleasers, Bennett, the manager, arranged for an altitude record attempt by John M. Bryant and a flight by an aviatrix, Alys McKey Bryant. For whatever it was worth, Bryant established a new Pacific Northwest altitude record of 5,100 feet, on Thursday, July 31, 1913. The flight by his wife, Alys, the same day was more significant, since it was the first flight in Canada made by a woman pilot.
Alys McKey had a short-lived career in aviation. Bennett, foreseeing the advantages of having a woman pilot on his list of attractions, had recruited her in 1912 and arranged for her training. During this period, she had married the star of the show, John Bryant, but it was to be a short marriage. The week following their appearance in Vancouver, Mrs. Alys McKey Bryant became Canada’s first aviation widow, when Bryant was killed in Canada’s first fatal aircraft accident while making a flight over Victoria.
The daring airman, after twice attempting to bring his machine into the wind and at the same time descend towards the harbour, whence he had arisen five minutes before, dashed down like a plummet as his craft became helpless. When the plane collapsed Bryant was between 350 and 400 feet from the earth. Bearing him securely attached to the seat, the machine fell almost perpendicularly, alighting upon the roof of the two-story structure at the northwest corner of Theatre Alley and Cormorant Street. With a crash that could be heard for several blocks, the Hydroplane dashed upon the roof. Bryant was underneath, the craft having overturned in its descent through the air. (Daily Colonist, Victoria, August 8, 1913)
This accident changed Mrs. Bryant’s outlook on aviation and she left the air show circuit and gave up flying.
Pioneer American airman John Milton Bryan killed in flying mishap at Victoria BC on August 7, 1913 Husband of Alys McKey Bryant
In 1914, Billy Stark brought his Curtiss out of retirement and resumed flying, while an American, Weldon Cooke, brought a Curtiss-type seaplane to Nelson in July to fly from Kootenay Lake over the Nelson Carnival. A month later, on August 13, he made a flight front Okanagan Lake at the Kelowna Regatta.
With the outbreak of World War I on August 4, 1914, the days of the exhibition flights were numbered and flying soon took on a more serious nature.
This story was taken from CMF’s Book Pioneering Aviation in the West Canadian Museum of Flight and Lloyd Bungey Photos from CMF photo collection IS
Nelson, BC, July 14, 1914, Curtiss Pusher flown by Weldon Cooke
ISSUE 84
Winter 2004/2005
HANGAR #3 5333-216th STREET LANGLEY, B.C. V2Y 2N3
TEL: 604-532-0035
FAX: 604-532-0056
museum@direct.ca
INSIDE
- PAGE 1 The Arrival of Aviation in BC
- PAGE 2 Dinner Meeting/ 2nd Annual Auction
- PAGE 3 Volunteer of the Quarter/ Newsletter now Online
- PAGE 4 New Members/ AGM Notice The Value of A Displey
- PAGE 5 The Arrival of Aviation in BC, cont
- PAGE 6 Latter from CMF Member
- PAGE 7 What’s happening in the Hangar/ Volunteer Recognition
- PAGE 8 Classifieds
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 (Tinsley) at the Museum by calling 604-532-0035. Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
CMF BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF
- George Preston President
- Bill Findlay Vice President
- Terry Wadhams Treasurer
- Ken Knutson Secretary
- Bob Fowles Director
- David McIntosh Director
- Matt Offer Director
- Ken Smith Director
- Capt Bill Thompson Lifetime Director
- Sandy Sideroff Executive Director
- Teresa Rhodenizer Gift Shop/Bookkeeping/ Collection Management
- Alicia Kapustianyk Administrative Assistant/ Volunteer Coordinator
HELP SUPPORT AVIATION OF PAST AND PRESENT 2nd ANNUAL AUCTION
EVERYONE WELCOME DATE: BBQ DINNER: AUCTION: No Charge Saturday February 26th, 2005 $10.00 per person TIME: 6:00 PM TIME 7:30 PM LOCATION: Hangar #3-5333 216th Street, Langley BC. V2Y 2N3
Please book your dinner tickets by calling the Museum at 604-532-0035 before Thursday February 24th, 2005.
All donations valued over $20.00 will receive a Tax Deductible Receipt We welcome you and your friends to attend this event…many wonderful items up for bid including:
- Vancouver Harbour Dinner Cruise for 4
- Cordless Screwdriver
- Hand Made Quilt
- 2004 Signed Snowbird Mahogany Model
- Autographed Patty Wagstaff Books
- Road Side Emergency Car Kit
- P-51 and B25 Weather Vanes
- Aviation Models and Prints
- Harvard Ride
VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER
In May of 2002 Gord Naslund received a call from his brother-in-law BJ saying, “I need some help at the Museum that I am volunteering at, could you come and help me on this one project?” Well, that was the beginning of many projects for Gord who is known around CMF as “Buddy Gord”.
The calls continued to come in from BJ, one of them went like this “Gord, we need to go and do some work at the Museum and it is going to be a 5 hour job” Gord replied “Ok, what time do we start then?” BJ answers “we have to start at 5:00 am. because to do the job we have to cut the power and so we have to be finished at 10:00 am when the Museum opens.” Gord’s reply “See you then”. Most people around the Museum have no idea the behind the scenes work that Gord has done on Saturdays after working full time during the week. Some of the projects include re-organizing the Museum’s Library and Magazine archives – renovating the Museum’s Restaurant – building an office for our Volunteer Coordinator-building a cover for our display engines. These are just a few of the things that Gord has done for CMF, usually before the Museum even opens, and out of sight and acknowledgment of other members. We may not have seen Gord do the work, but we have all seen the results. This award is not only well deserved, but also well earned.
Congratulations Gord on being CMF’s Winter 2004/05 Volunteer of the Quarter
CMF MEMBERS SECTION IS NOW ONLINE
The Member’s only section of our website is now online at www.canadianflight.org. When you go to the main page and look on the left hand side of the page you will see the Members Page button. Click on this button and you will then be asked for your USER NAME and PASSWORD. Until further notice, the USER NAME is Museum and the PASSWORD is Member. To date we have Issues 76 – 84 there for you to view in PDF format, so if you are a new member and would like to read past issues, you will have that opportunity.
To help cut down on ever increasing postage costs, we hope that you will use this tool to read your newsletter. However in order for museum staff to keep accurate records as to who to send newsletters in the mail to, please contact the museum in writing either by email (museum@direct.ca) or post (Hangar # 3-5333 216th Street, Langley BC V2Y 2N3) to notify us if you will be accessing your newsletter electronically through our website. Without written instructions from you, we will continue to send your newsletters via Canada Post.
The Canadian Museum of Flight was pleased to host members of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association (CAPA) from January 14-16, 2005 for their quarterly board meeting. With special thanks to CAPA’s Corporate Sponsor West Jet, there was representation nationally from coast to coast.
Present in the photo from left to right:
- Director Byron Reynolds-Reynolds Aviation Museum
- Chairman George Elliott – 17 Wing Heritage Museum Winnipeg
- Director Steve Ogle – Acro Space Museum Assoc of Calgary
- Secretary Mike Rozak – 17 Wing Heritage Museum Winnipeg (back row)
- Vice Chairman Bryan Nelson – Greenwood Military Aviation Muscum (front row)
- Director Paul Cabott – Toronto Aerospace Museum
- 2nd Vice Chair Sandy Sideroff – CMF
- Executive Director Brett Binnie – Wetaskiwin AB
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS
James Adam West Vancouver, BC Cathy Porter Randy Kelley Rick Armour Surrey, BC Abbotsford, BC Burnaby, BC Delta, BC Francois Leh Linc Alexander Richard Logie Rob Currington Langley, BC Surrey, BC Langley, BC Angus Gillon Marc Stevens Bill McKnight Surrey, BC Longuevill, Quebec William Chambers Harry Parsons Langley, BC Chilliwack, BC Langley, BC Chuck Bishop Soren Bach Langley, BC Surrey, BC
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice of Special Resolution
In order to maintain continuity each year on the CMF Board, a motion was passed at the January 19th, 2005 Board of Directors meeting that the Bylaws for the Canadian Museum of Flight be amended by a Special Resolution which reads:
That the following be added to Part 2, paragraph 4 of the Bylaws and numbered Sub Paragraph L: The Board of Directors shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting for a term of two years with the elections of Directors being staggered each year. Elections of Officers shall be by a simple majority.
This Special Resolution will be voted on at the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Museum of Flight which will be held in the Museum hangar on Saturday April 30th, 2005.
THE VALUE OF A DISPLAY
The response to the last article on the Value of a Display has been wonderful and I would like to thank Mike Farrell, Phil Ward and Gene Kapustianyk for volunteering their time towards the development of displays starting with the Early Aviation in British Columbia forward. Also a sincere thank you to those members who have donated to date $800.00 towards the costs of building new display cases. The preservation of our artifacts is so very important, but is also very expensive. The $800.00 will fund three new 4 x 6 x 2 display cases along with shelving and lighting, but more is needed.
What happens to the artifacts when they are not on display?
Members Chris and Scott McLean along with Fred Hazel have for the past year been working in our archives to not only inventory our collection, but also put better measures of preservation in place. In order to do this materials are required to store the items. There is never enough money to do this, but every bit helps.
Help in this area is needed both financially and also in materials. If you would like to donate financially, please use the 2006 Membership Renewal form enclosed, or to donate materials such as lumber, glass, shelving or lighting, contact Sandy at the Museum office. All donations valued over $20.00 will be issued a Tax Deductible Receipt.
MEMBERS MEMBERS !!!
Looking for members who have some free time to come and help.
PLEASE COME AND HELP, WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!
Submitted by B.J. MacMillan
There is so much work to be done at the museum, yes I know it is not working on the flying airplanes, but it is very important work. We have over the years temporarily fixed some of the problems around the museum but now we have to make some major epairs. We must look after the building in which our priceless artifacts are kept. We look at the tragic fire at the Yankee Air Museum and it brings to the forefront the necessity of regular repair and maintenance. We have dedicated a sum of money into he 2005 museum budget but that will be used up in material and supplies, we need help with the labour.
We require help from roofers, carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, and laborers. We have a project manager and along with Alicia, CMF’s volunteer coordinator, we will try to have the material at the museum for those who are doing a job.
Example: if you offer to change doors on the building there will be doors for you put in, if you offer to paint the paint will be here. Some of the jobs are not always fun to do; we have all heard the old saying “ITS A DIRTY JOB BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT”.
I know some of you have come to volunteer and some of the jobs were not the best, with hope of a budget the jobs will be something you can enjoy and be proud of. There is a program for volunteers that give a color pin at 75 hrs colored pin, 150 hrs a pronze pin, 250 hrs a silver pin, and at 500 hrs a gold pin. In September we have a Volunteer Thank You Potluck dinner that is a fun time with great food.
Below is a sample of work to be done
- GIFT SHOP
- Replace Front and rear doors of the gift shop.
- Clean the outside of the gift shop and painting
- Front and rear ramps clean and painting
- Replace the lighting in the gift shop
- Check the roof of the gift shop (There is a leak in the Gift Shop)
- 6 Check under the gift shop building for damage
- Check into changing the fuse box to circuit breakers
- OUTDOORS COURTYARD
- Main compound to be clean and resealed.
- Replace the tent with a shed
- 3 Make steps for the T-33 and the Vampire.
- 4 Repair the picnic table’s and benches and paint
- 5 DC3 compound to be landscaped and lighting
- 6 Repair engine display and repaint.
- Wash and polish the CF-100, T-33, and the Beech 18.
- HANGAR
- 1_Replace the door on the south side and paint the south side.
- 2 Replace the carpet runner
- 3 Paint the walls and large door
- 4 Build new displays and new lighting
- 5 Check hangar roof for leaks and repair
- 5 Repaint hangar floor
- ODDS AND ENDS
- 1 Repair the Zeppelin Airship (model)
- 2 Paint the lunchroom
- 3 Paint the kid’s room
- THE BARN
- The barn is a large job that needs a crew to go in and down size the space (in half). This means that we have to move engines, parts, along with aircraft. There will be a need to build shelves. This will be a tough and dirty job but we will have garbage containers to make it easier We hope to have a crew in early march on a weekend. We will supply overails, gloves and masks but please bring a hat.
IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP IN ANY OF THESE AREAS, PLEASE CALL ALICIA AT THE MUSEUM OFFICE (604-532-0035) AND LET HER KNOW OF YOUR AVAILABLITY.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE HANGAR
Work has commenced of the wing strut repairs on the Fleet Canuck. Once completed we will then proceed onto repair work on the wings. The wings will be the last major part of this airplane for repair work and then we will go on to the fabric, paint and assembly. We now have original Fleet drawings of the wings to work from.
Fabric work is proceeding slowly on the WACO INF restoration. The upper wings, one lower wing, and all and flight controls are pretty much ready for spraying. The fuselage fabric needs taping and brush coats, and one lower wing and upper wing center section are ready for fabric installation shortly. Work has proceeded slowly on this aircraft for the past month due to Christmas and New Years holidays. I hope to pick up the pace on this project shortly in an attempt to have the aircraft flying again this summer. It is not looking good at this point unless increased manpower comes available to work towards this objective.
Annual inspections to proceed shortly on all of the flying aircraft. I am willing to have those tasks undertaken in my hangar during the evenings, since there are several members who would like to participate in this task who cannot attend in the daytime. My hangar is occupied by a private Harvard right now and as soon as it is out of the door we will start on the annuals for the museum fleet. It is not imperative that all annual inspection work be done in my hangar. If volunteers would like to work during the daytime in the museum on work that is conducive to a public access museum that will be fine. Any one wanting to get involved in this phase please contact me and we will get started.
Submitted by Rick Church
Above Don Butterley (left) and Bill Aitken (right) are shown with plaques made to thank them for their outstanding workmanship on the rebuilding of the WACO INF Upper Wing Center Section. To make their mark in history, both Don and Bill signed the center section along side a plaque that reads: 1930 WACO INF CF-CJR SERIAL # 3324 UPPER WING CENTER SECTION BUILT IN 2004 BY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT VOLUNTEERS DON BUTTERLEY AND BILL AITKEN.
URGENT
We are looking for 4 individuals who would be able to volunteer one Sunday a month to work in the Museum Gift Shop, training will be provided. If you are able to help, please contact Alicia at 604-532-0035
Page 8 GLIDEPATH NEWS 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! WW1 AERO (1900-1919) SKYWAYS (1920-1940) historical research workshop notes Information on panor aeroplanes, engines, parts your wants and deposals information on cunant projects news of museums and airshows technical drawings and data ⚫photographs scale modeling maunal news of current publications Sample Issues $4 each BUILD ONE! A REAL ONE! Sodbutors for P3V, a computer program to generate a 3-vew bum a photograph Published by WORLD WAR 1 Geroplanes, INC. 15 Crough, NY 12601, USA 415473-3679 The family of pioneer aviator CAPT. ANDREW (ANDY) CRUICHSHANK is looking for any books, publications or references of his aviation career. Some of these references include the following books. 1) SEARCH IN THE NORTH by Guy Blanchart 2) FIFTY YEARS OF ADVENTURE IN CANADIAN SKIES by Frank Ellis 3) AIRBOURNE FROM EDMONTON by Eugene Miles If you are able to help with this search, please contact Stan Stanley at 604 983 3407 2005 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Thank you if you have already renewed your 2005 Membership. 2004 memberships expire on February 28th, 2005 IF YOU HAVE NOT RENEWED, PLEASE USE THE ENCLOSED FORM TO DO SO TODAY WEST JET 11 The Official Airlines of the Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association CAPA CANAAN ARONAUTICAL REVATIONCIATION