Greetings of the Season
THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORATION 13527 Crescent Road, Surrey, BC, V4A 2W1 Phone (604) 535-1115 FAX (604) 535-3292
MINI NEWSLETTER 39.1 December 3, 1991
Mini newsletters are produced on an irregular basis to keep members informed of Museum activities and coming events.
CMFT AIRPLANES IN THE MOVIES
The Lodestar becomes a Hudson with “Mac-Tac camoflage”, a smoke machine hung on an engine mount and a realistic engine start-up recording add to the illusion. All is finally ready for the “shoot”.
The Museum grounds were the scene of intense activity October 16th with the filming of a scene for a pilot TV series called “Secrets of the Unknown”. The airstrip became an English WWII aerodrome and the Lodestar a “Hudson” with a bomber crew “scrambling” (only in the movies) for a mission. The whole scene, if it even makes the screen, will probably take two or three minutes but its filming was an all-day effort involving many support vehicles, a portable kitchen and lots of people.
Fabric light reflectors try to catch as much of the fading daylight as possible while the “bomber crew” (at left) waits for the signal to scramble in the final shoot of the day.
Volunteer Coordinator Mike Gatey persuaded a number of volunteers to push and pull airplanes around, open and close gates and help wherever needed. The revenue from movie rentals such as this one are very welcome.
SEASON’S GREETINGS
A special greeting to all the members of the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation, and to those who provide support in any way. We wish each and every one of you a most happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS
For members who have not had the opportunity to visit the museum’s gift shop, now is the best time. There is a huge selection of aviation gifts and books to choose from, and the prices are as good or lower than in downtown stores. Remember, too that all members (except Friend category) are entitled to a 10% discount on all purchases that carry enough of a profit margin to allow it.
We can mail, and we take Visa, Master Card, or cheque, but mail is very expensive and anything but reliable. Why not take a trip out for a personal visit? Hours are 9-4 Friday, Saturday and Sunday commencing December 1 through to mid- May 1992 (unless volunteers can be found to staff the store on other days on a regular basis).
NORSEMAN NOTE CARDS
Included with this newsletter is a Norseman note card. Our thanks to member Richard Blakey from Ontario who surprised us with the donation of several thousand of these note cards showing three different views of a Norseman. One print depicts the Museum’s Norseman CF-BSC at Port Harrison on Hudson Bay in 1955 (see illustration). Another shows ‘BSC nosed in to the beach at James Bay (1955). Richard’s father Rusty flew CF BSC for over 12,000 hours while it was owned by Austin Airways Ltd. The third card is of Norseman CF-GMM in flight. These black and white cards are a tribute to Rusty, and a very generous way to help the Museum earn extra money. Thank you, Richard..
Card and envelope are priced at 75c (5 for $3). Please specify which view you want. Better yet, buy the whole Norseman series of three views.
See pages 7 & 8 for two of the three different views offered. All are excellent are perfect to slip in with a gift or a birthday card. Lots in stock.
MORE EXCUSES
Much to our disappointment, the Museum’s book “Pioneering Aviation in the West” is still not published, although it has been promised for “spring” publication, (we hope that means 1992). We also note that the price keeps climbing and the price on the sample cover submitted was $16.95 (plus GST and mailing). All book orders are on file, and everyone who ordered and prepaid for the book will get their book at the price they paid. The last price advertised was $16.00 including GST and postage. We will honour all prepaid orders received by December 31, 1991 at the same price ($16.), but any orders received after that date will have to be at the new price of $18.50 which includes GST.
Please bear with us. There really is a book. No one ever thought it would be so long in coming. but it is worth waiting for.
FALL DINNER OCTOBER 18
Over 70 members and their guests enjoyed the usual good food and good companionship at the Fall Dinner Meeting held at Yic’s Dining Lounge in Whalley. Basil Cooke and Bob Heakes shared some short anecdotes, there were lots of door prizes, and it was a great way for members and guests to meet and get to know each other. Plan to attend the next dinner meeting January 16.
Mike Gatey, the Museum’s Volunteer Coordinator at the Fall dinner meeting tells us how much fun it is to volunteer. Special thanks to this very special man for the countless hours he spends at this very difficult job.
Doug Barry accepts a door prize, Ed Zalesky reads off the next winner, while Rose Zalesky looks on… now you can put a face to the voices on the telephone.
A TRIBUTE TO VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer participation has been great these past months, with up to 10 members turning out for the Saturday work bees. Aircraft exhibits and grounds were “winterized”, the furnace installation in the portable building completed, lots of parts sorted, things hauled and space made to airplanes. accommodate new acquisitions. Thanks to regulars Mike Gatey, Ken Danyluk, Wilf Lawson, Steve Heinemann, Inky Klett, Mel Neidig, Gary Crawford, John Clark, Tom Cave, Ken Jones, Norm Hoy, Ewan Boyd, Jane Robinson, Greg Evans-Davies, Doug Fraser, and to those who are not named but who come out when they can.
The regular volunteers who help out with administrative, collections work and gift shop are making a real difference. Thanks to Ingy and Chris Wikene and Colin Hamilton who look after the photo collection, Norah Klett and Bob Heakes who help in the gift shop and at whatever else needs doing, Bob Lalonde who patches up our office equipment and provides copy services, Frank Kinnelly for printing services, John Nuttall, our library cataloguer, David and Tessa McIntosh who spent their holidays sticking, stamping and pricing, Carol Weeks, our caretaker who is also your new Volunteer Hours their own way. Keeper and does whatever else needs doing. and Rose Zalesky who coordinates administrative volunteer activities. Call Rose at 535-1115 if you would like to help, as there are lots of jobs to do.
Jerry Vernon puts in lots of time at his specialty of research, and Laila Bird, lan Anderson, Myra Danyluk and John Clark (and others) set up and staff Special Events. Jane Robinson is CMFT’s Casino Nights organizer. Archie Fraser is our Scrap Book keeper, a task which requires lots of time. Don Olson spends countless hours and lots of his own money doing the museum’s black and white photo reproduction.
Hank Koehler and Chuck Haigh are making real progress with the off-site Waco wing project, while Fred Gardham, Don Dines and Jerry Olsen are in their 6th year of work on the Hampden project. Brent Stickle is working on the trailer.
Clyde MacLeod irons out computer problems, as does Ken Lassasen, who drives up from the Seattle area with his family who help wash
Ken Neville-Smith, Lock Madill, Inky and Norah Klett, Frank Kennelly and conscripted others are our official Newsletter folding, stapling, stamping team.
Thanks also to all those members like Bill Thompson, Ron Krywiak, Gary Mooney and all the others who work on behalf of the Museum in their own way, on their own time.
Thanks, too, to those who turn out to make special events such as Wings & Wheels, the car meets, Abbotsford Airshow, etc., and to the Air Cadet squadrons who always do such a great job of parking and traffic control.
And finally, a very special thank you also to those who are unable to provide physical assistance because of health, time or distance, but who make cash or in-kind donations, renew their membership and who support the CMFT each in
It’s your museum, volunteers, and it exists because of you.
EDITORIAL SPARKS RESPONSES
The editorial in the Fall edition (#39) of the newsletter concerning volunteer participation in aircraft restorations prompted a number of responses, some in favour, some against, and some included very welcome donations to be used for a shelter for exhibit airplanes. Thank you.
Our apologies go out to those volunteers who have been working regularly at the Museum doing all those dirty but necessary everyday jobs, who felt that they were not recognized. Not so. These are the very people who make the Museum’s existence possible and sincere appreciation goes out to you. Please continue.
The Museum would like to accommodate all members and sincere volunteers, and a way must be found to do so. Mike Gatey is doing a tremendous job at the thankless task of co-ordinating volunteer efforts, and smoothing out personality
problems, but it is much too big a job to be tackled on a part time basis, even with Steve Heinemann helping with phoning. It is apparent that a much larger and broader based Volunteer Committee which would address the overall needs of the Museum, and which would work closely with an expanded Restoration Committee is needed. Unfortunately, repeated requests for members to sit on Committees go unheeded, and many Committees are vacant. Those who expect to see the system improved must come forward to help make it happen.
Volunteers at the CMFT booth at the Abbotsford Air Show struggle to keep stock dry, but kept right on selling for a very welcome share of the souvenir sales profits.
Members who want to work on airplanes are reminded that there are two off-site restoration projects which require volunteers. Fred Gardham urgently needs help with the Hampden, but Don Dines is the only one who has come forward and stuck with it. No prior experience is necessary, nor do any of the other provisos such as yard work apply. Hank Koehler and Chuck Haigh may be able to find work for a few more people on the Waco wing project, but that would have to be cleared by Chuck and Hank. Their working space is very small, and competence must be established.
TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT TIME
Lori Cockereil is our new part time “accessions clerk”. She is learning the complexities of the paperwork and computer work involved with donations, and is making good progress. If you donated something to the museum in 1991 for which you expected a tax deductible receipt but have not yet received it, please give us a call. We are working hard and expect to get them out by the February 28th, 1992 deadline, but sometimes a problem may arise which delays the issuance of the receipt.
FLEET FINCH SNUG INSIDE
Mike Gatey arranged for inside storage in the Air Canada equipment storage hangar at Vancouver Airport. Many thanks to the good people at Air Canada who made it possible for the Fleet to spend the winter inside. Mel Neidig flew it in on November 23. Hangaring the Finch was delayed so that it could participate in the Nov 11 flypast, which had to be cancelled due to weather. The two occasions were used to give a few of the regular volunteers rides, either in the Fleet or in the “chase plane”: John Clark’s Cherokee.
VOLUNTEER AIRPLANE RIDES
A warm thank you to John Clark who tries to make room for a volunteer whenever he has occasion to fly his airplane. Any other members who have aircraft are encouraged to come forward and offer rides. Volunteers who work at the museum love airplanes, and a ride is small reward to their efforts. We try to ensure that everyone who puts in a reasonable amount of time gets up but the logistics of arranging these rides makes it difficult to reach people on short notice.
For years the criteria has been that if you put in 16 hours per year of volunteer time you got a ride in an airplane, but that is not enough to justify the costs in time, effort and cash involved in doing the rides. Effective immediately, volunteers will have to rack up a minimum of 50 hours per year to qualify for a ride, so be sure to fill in your volunteer time sheet each time you come out to help. 1991 hours are those donated from March 1, 1991 through February 28, 1992, so there is till lots of time to make up enough hours. A list of volunteers and hours will be published in the first available newsletter after March 1, 1992.
A “Volunteer Appreciation Ride Day” was a regular annual or bi-annual event when we had paid staff to arrange for airplanes and make hundreds of phone calls to volunteers, but an organized “Day” has not happened these past few years. Volunteers got rides on “catch as catch can” basis, and many were missed for which we apologize. Anyone willing to co-ordinate a “Ride Day”, probably at Delta Airpark, for a day next summer?
COMING EVENTS
- December 5 & 6: CASINO NIGHT AT GREAT CANADIAN GUILDFORD CASINO ⚫
- January 16/91*: DINNER/GENERAL MEETING (Yic’s Dining Lounge Whalley unless otherwise advised). *This date may be changed to the third Thursday in February. Please voice your opinion.
REMEMBRANCE DAY MALL EXHIBIT
Laila Bird and lan Anderson manned a display at the Westwood Mall on November 9 in support of a Remembrance Day event which featured Fran Dowie singing songs from WWI, WWII to a disappointingly small crowd.
FREE TOUR GUIDES IN 1992
We are very fortunate that Insight Tours chose the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation as a pilot project to test their “Electronic Tour Guide” 30-minute Walkman guided tour. Insight paid all expenses of developing the tape which was professionally done and very popular with those visitors who could be persuaded to pay $1 including GST extra to rent it. 75 cents of that $1.00 went back to Insight Tours, as they also provided all the equipment.
Those who did take a Walkman along invariably commented on how much the tape added to the enjoyment of the visit, so the directors decided on a new admission fee structure for 1992 which would include an Electronic Tour Guide.
New rates for 1992 will be:
- Adult (Age 16 up): $4 (includes one Walkman for every two people)
- Youth (Age 6 to 14): $3 (no Walkman)
- Family: Two adults plus up to 4 youth (6 to 14): $10. (no Walkman)
- Walkmans available to those wanting their very own unit or if one is not included in the admission fee, at $1. for one unit with two headsets.
NEW BALL GAME?
A new Provincial Government has been elected in B.C. CMFT looks forward to working with them. CMFT has always been non-political as our members hold all political beliefs.
With luck, the many years of striving for assistance in providing buildings at the new homesite will not have been wasted. With luck, we will no longer have provincially funded parallel organizations competing against us for scarce dollars. Perhaps the other group’s collection of vehicles will be turned over to CMFT along with operating seed funding, and B.C. will have a first class, efficiently run Flight and Transportation Museum all on one site.
We hope Victoria is listening. Write your MLA and suggest this proposal to them. Working together, we can make it happen
The entry to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation with signs, flowers and flags all ready for the opening of the 1991 season.
HOMEFRONT UPDATE
The question we hear asked most often is “When are you going to move?” It is a tough question to answer. Permission has finally been given by the Agricultural Land Commission to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation to use an approximately 18 acre portion of farmland for the museum’s operations. The land had been purchased several years ago by Surrey for use by the CMFT, but the needed permission from the ALR was long in coming, and funding that was tentatively in place four years ago is no longer available. Surrey continues to hold the land for the museum, and has submitted a draft lease.
The lease was complex and had many clauses to which we would not be able to commit the members and directors of our non-profit Society. We have had knowledgeable people look over the lease and make their recommendations for changes. The revised lease is now back with Surrey for further negotiation.
For those of you who are not aware where the new homesite is, it is located South of Cloverdale on Colebrook Road. Colebrook Road runs parallel to and south of the coal train tracks and this particular portion is west of 176th St (Highway 15 which runs north from the U.S. border).
In the meantime, a request to the Museums Assistance Program administered by Communications Canada for funding to help pay for a Feasibility and Operating Study was turned down, yet no further applications for assistance can be made unless we first have such a study. A request to Surrey to fund the other half of he study was also turned down.
A proposal funded by the CMFT several years ago, with the cooperation of Surrey staff, an architect and an exhibit designer set the pricetag of site preparation, buildings and exhibits at just under $10,000,000. for a fairly modest facility, to be built in phases over a 10 year period.
A major hurdle is the cost of site preparation, and servicing of the land, estimated by Surrey to be just under $1,000,000. Nothing can happen until money can be found for that expense.
Work will soon commence on updating the original proposal with an alternate and more modest building program carrying a smaller pricetag.
NEW TEE SHIRTS IN STOCK
Finally, we have received a shipment of good quality Tee shirts in Large and Extra Large sizes. Two designs
Waco INF: Price Large, Extra Large (blue, ash) $13.95 $10.00 Small, Medium, (pink, grey)
Harvard: Price, Large, Extra Large (Black, ash) $13.95 Price, small, medium (beige only) $10.00
Also stocked in full range of sizes: F16: (Pink, Royal Blue) L, XL $13.95, S, M $10.00
CLOSEOUT ON SOME TEE SHIRTS: $5 ea Expo 86 Stampe tee shirts, ladies “airplane in pocket” tees, and Lockheed Lodestar tees. Not available in full size range or colours.
NOTE THAT THIS PHOTO HAS BEEN CROPPED TO FIT THE AVAILABLE SPACE. ACTUAL CARD MEASURES 5.5″ X 4.25″
One of the 3 Norseman note cards described on page 2. Caption on this one reads:
“Dick Blakey refuelling at Port Harrison on Hudson Bay. Photo by pilot Rusty Blakey on June 18, 1955. Note patch of snow on hill to the left. Norseman CF-BSC now at Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation, Surrey, (Vancouver), BC
Another of the series of three Norseman note cards. This one reads: “Noorduyn Norseman Mark V CF-B on Fort George River of James Bay. Photo by Dick Blakey June 1955. Flown by Rusty Blakey. Aircraft now at the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation, Surrey, (Vancouver) BC