Newsletter No. 33 Fall 1987 – Canadian Museum of Flight

Museum Newsletter

No. 33 CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION Fall 1987

CMFT NEWSLETTER

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION No. 33 Fall 1987

President’s Report… 3 Jello Airplane Wheels.. 14 19 Vancouver Island Report 4 Aermacchi Chimera 175. 22 TCA Lodestar Returns to Canada…. 5 New Members 8 25 Office Tech.. Donations… 27 Triumph and Tragedy. Member’s Questionnaire. Wants and Needs… 12 Fall Dinner Reservation Form……. 28 29 Tiny Island Home of Unique Hospital. 13 Membership Application…….

ALL PHOTOS S.SENARATNE/STAFF/CMFT COLLECTION UNLESS CREDITED OTHERWISE.

Board of Directors

Anderson, Ian Boyd, Robert Robinson, Jane Ryder, Alan Fraser, Doug Gardham, Fred Gerow, Earl Smith, David Smith, Joe Stevens, Frank Hamilton, Colin Hudak, Tony Humphrey, Phil Stunden, Ron Thompson, Bill Thompson, Wilma Jackson, G.Barry Olsen, Jerry Zalesky, Ed Zalesky, Rose

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF FLIGHT AND TRANSPORTATION 1987/88 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

E.V. (Ed) Zalesky, 531-2465 President David Smith, 270-4452 Rose Zalesky, 531-3744 Vice-Pres Secretary/Treas

COMMITTEE HEADS

Frank Stevens, 536-4570 Flying Joe Smith, 590-6262 April Zalesky, 531-3744 Display/Buildings Special Events Jerry Vernon, 420-6065 Sean Keating, 984-2070 Research Recovery/Hauling Restoration Mark Zalesky, 531-2465 Jerry Olsen, 687-6805 Underwater Recovery Colin Hamilton, 536-5193 April Zalesky, 531-3744 Tour Guides Newsletter/PR

The Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation is a non-profit society dedicated to the preservation of aviation and transportation heritage. Charitable status allows for the issuance of tax-deductible receipts for donations of artifacts, goods and money. It is governed by a board of 20 Directors, elected annually in April.

Enquiries: 13527 Crescent Rd, Surrey, B.C. V4A 2W1

Vancouver Island Members meet the Last Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Bay Street Armouries, Victoria. Please use the Field Street entrance. Anyone interested is invited to attend. For information please call Peter Knowles at (604) 477-3684.

Newsletter Editor: April Zalesky

Contributions are welcomed as are comments and criticism. No payment can be made for manuscripts submitted for publication in the CMFT Newsletter. The editor reserves the right to make any editorial changes in manuscripts which he believes will improve the material without altering the intended meaning.

NOTICE OF MEETING

Next meeting Nov. 19/87, 8:00 PM, CMFT Shop Meetings are the third Thursday of each month, 8:00 PM in the shop. Guests OK. Entertainment and refreshments.

COVER PHOTO:

CMFT’S Waco AQC-6, donated to the museum by the flying doctor” Jack Pickup.

Photo courtesy Johanna Postlethwaite.

President’s Report

Jun – Nov 1987

This summer has been exceptionally productive, with the grounds, aircraft and other exhibits a visible testimony.

More than 40 aircraft are on display – some restored and flying, some completle in appearance, but in static configuration, and a few in their “as-received” state and needing restoration.

The outdoor display area has been organized in walking tour format, with light ropes guiding the visitor on a self guided tour which includes views of airplanes and other items on display, all of which now have information signs. Neither the shop nor the storage buildings are accessible to visitors at this time, although a peek into the shop will be included in next year’s “walk” as we receive many requests to see work in progress.

The control tower with its view of entire site, has been glassed in with the intention that visitors could be monitored from it in comfort. This good plan was not implemented this year because of a lack of volunteers, but is a must for next year.

CMFT hosted many tours this year, including some from all over Europe, the UK, Japan, Calif. and all parts of the US. We had visits from International Organizations such as the Air Gunners, International Aerobatic Club, 99’s Husbands, Skylarks and others, in addition to visits from schools, hospitals, YMCA, Scouts, group homes, pre-schools, day cares.

The smoothly co-ordinated Open House ’87 weekend was a success in spite of bad weather which prevented the Hot Air Balloon from going up, and the helicopter being called away for fire patrol.

CMFT’s beautiful Waco INF and Nelson Dragonfly are on loan to the Historic Transportation Centre in Cloverdale. The Waco shares space with vintage cars, while the Dragonfly, in its first public appearance after a 3year restoration, hangs over the trucks.

CMFT’s aircraft and/or representatives attended the opening of the new Comox Air Force Museum, Victoria’s first Air Show in 30 years, and the usual Abbotsford Air Show. Individual members visited museum’s all over the world as emissaries of the CMFT.

For the 10th year in a row, CMFT provided airplanes for display at the Abbotsford Air Show in August. Sales from the well stocked souvenir booth, as usual, provided the bulk of the operational funding for the coming year.

This year’s Employment and Immigration Job Creation Projects, which ended in August, were successful. Not only did we provide excellent training in aviation mechanics and office automation as was the requirement, we also managed to catch up on some of the backlog of office, library and donations work, and to produce or upgrade several displays, including the Harvard, H21, SE5, Tiger Moth, Dageling, Bowlus, Quickie, and the Flying Flea.

Production of signage, the tidy yard and some computer data entry work were accomplished on the “Challenge ’87” student employment program.

A new Provincial Ministry of Labour Job- Trac project to provide training to employment disadvantaged women began in early September and will run until the end of March. This is proving to be a very successful program with the organization and computerization of the library and collection as a main objective.

The Senior’s Wing New Horizons project winds up in November, and has left an important legacy to the CMFT in the form of the restoration work on the Stampe, the gift shop and member’s lounge renovations, as well as materials and supplies to support the ongoing work in the book and photo library.

New major acquisitions during this period included the CF-100, a partially completed Taylor Monoplane, a 1953 Ford Tudor, as well as many important smaller artifacts, and some really good stuff for the library and photo collections.

CMFT was well represented at the CAPA (Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Assoclation) conference in Ottawa in October. Member organizations are working together to provide a network of outstanding aviation museums and displays across Canada. Delegates had the opportunity to “preview the collection at the National Aviation Museum, who hosted the conference this year, including peeks into the behind the scenes storage and administration areas. A tour of the storage section of the Canadian War Museum was another highlight.

The prospect of a permanent home at Cloverdale is still a practical dream, as Surrey continues to take steps towards making it a reality.

Closing day for the outdoor exhibits was Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 12. Visitors (380 of them) enjoyed free admission, free coffee, and a chance to win a beautifully framed picture of a Lockheed SR71. Thanks to our faithful members who helped on that day. Remember – opening is May 14, 1988.

Van. Isle Report

…by Tom Palmer

More work has progressed on the Link Trainer, with the next step being to get the airspeed indicator working as it appears to be a non-standard arrangement.

The Grunau sailplane trailer got three final coats of gloss paint and a wax job.

Work is proceeding very nicely on the insulated room at the storage shed with Bruce Jubb, Peter Knowles, Stoney Jackson and Tom Palmer doing the work. The loft on top is already in use, and paint was going on the interior walls and ceiling last session. We won’t miss the “frozen noses and toeses” this winter.

August 3 saw the first Victoria Airshow in 30 years. Stoney & June Jackson, Peter Knowles, Bruce Jubb and Cliff Jones staffed a display case area to the rear of the CMFT display aircraft: the Fleet Finch and Terry Elgood’s “Elgood Special/Taylor- craft.” April Zalesky was there with some CMFT merchandise along with Gogi Goguillot and Terry Elgood who ferried the stuff over. Other CMFT members were active to help make it all happen as members of the Victoria Airshow Society. The decision whether or not the Victoria Airshow will be held again next year or deterred until the following year has not yet been made, but CMFT will be there.

We are fortunate in having as one of our local members Mr. Theodore Cressy, who goes back to the opening of Victoria’s Lansdowne Field in 1928 and was part of the crew on the Ford Trimotor operated there by B.C. Airways until it’s loss.

Obituaries

It is with deep sorrow that we report the death of long-time member Clark Warwick on September 28, after a battle with cancer.

Clark held membership number 36, and was responsible for the creation of the CMFT Vancouver Island group, as well as being a productive and supportive member. He will be missed.

Thank You!

Once again, thanks go out to the volunteers who make the museum possible. It is through your hard work and offers of materials and supplies that we continue to grow and to gain recognition around the world, in spite of a zero $ advertising budget.

We rely on word of mouth to promote the museum and the growing number of services we offer. Members are encouraged to bring friends and relatives to visit (admission is free for members, but guests pay the regular fees) and to suggest it as a tourist destination where -ever and whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The grounds look really great. There are around 40 airplanes on display and the Gift Shop has a full selection of aviation oriented goods in stock for browsers and shoppers.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit your museum lately, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much is there. Although it is too late for this season to view the exhibits, we strongly suggest you pay a visit after Spring opening May 14/88 to see just how much we have improved.

OFFICE VOLUNTEERS

Thanks also to those people who turn up regularly (and irregularly) to help out with the thousand and one office jobs that need doing. You are indeed, V.I.P’s.

Membership in the CMFT is not a requirement and many volunteers are not members. These people come because they have a sincere desire to help, or because they want to gain work experience.

We are happy to train volunteers in computer and office skills, so if you or someone you know can’t find work because they have no experience come on out; but be prepared to commit enough time to make the effort of teaching you worth while.

TCA Lodestar Returns to Canada

…..by Jerry Vernon

After a 20-year sojourn in the Chicago area, one of Trans-Canada Air Lines’ old Lockheed 18 Lodestar aircraft has arrived back in Canada, following a 5000 mile round trip by a pair of Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation members.

The aircraft is CF-TCY, a Lockheed 18-08 Lodestar, s/n 2064, the 6th out of 15 such aircraft operated by the fledgling crown corporation in the 1940’s. CF-TCY served TCA from 1941 to 1947, surviving a belly landing at Gander, Newfoundland, in the early 1940’s, at the hands of veteran pilot Gil McLaren. Following TCA service, the Lodestar joined the Department of Transport, and still carried DoT markings when sold and ferried to the U.S. in the 1960’s. By 1968, still painted as CF-TCY, it had become an abandoned derelict at Chicago’s Midway Airport, and was due to be scrapped, having been impounded several years previously.

Earl Reinert, of the Victory Air Museum, came to the rescue, and took the old airliner off their hands. Unfortunately, in order to facilitate transport to his museum located some distance on the other side of Chicago both wings were sawed off just outboard of the fuselage, and then re-mounted with steel plates for display purposes. Earl painted the aircraft in a wartime RAF camouflage scheme, to represent (more or less) a Lockheed Hudson, and the side was coded “ER-V”, in honour of Queen Elizabeth, Earl Reinert and Winston Churchill’s famous “V-for Victory” sign. Sometime over the years, both engines disappeared and, when this writer visited VAM in 1977, the interior was getting pretty ratty, and was being used as a storage location for a great many spare parts, manuals and magazines.

Volunteer Terry Keene cleaning paint from around thousands of rivets after rough paint stripping completed.

Eventually, various neighbor and financial pressures have caused the Victory Air Museum to close down, and the collection has been liquidated over recent years. CMFT had shown an interest in repatriating CF-TCY back to Canada for the past 10 years and, when it was known to be finally available, an offer was made and accepted. In late 1986, the Lodestar was purchased by a member on the Museum’s behalf, pending a fund-raising campaign to cover reimbursement, and plans were made for a Summer trek down to Mundelein, Illinois. In the months following the purchase, a publicity campaign has been started among retired Trans Canada Air Lines and Air Canada employees, and a generous corporate donation has been forwarded from Air Canada, covering about half the purchase price. The recovery trip will now add many thousands of dollars to the bill, particularly for operating costs on the two hungry trucks travelling nearly 3/4 of the way across North America.

Lockheed Lodestar CF-TCY after unloading at the Museum in August

In July, 1987, a 2-man, 2-truck, 2-trailer CMFT team departed for Illinois, consisting of CMFT’s regularly-volunteering recovery crew of Gerry van Humbeck and Peter DeVries. Thirteen days (and a few trials and tribulations) later, the crew and Lodestar were back on the West Coast, and the aircraft was once again sitting on Canadian soil. Being no strangers to aircraft hauling, the VAM people were quite amazed what 2 men could dismantle and stow onto 2 rather small trailers – the aircraft having “grown” by 5 feet in length and 2 feet in width from the time it was sold to CMFT and the time it was picked up. Nevertheless, with much co-operation from Highway Patrols and other folks across 7 states, the two loads arrived home with little or no hassle.

One of the first orders of business has been to strip off the coats of crudely- applied camouflage paint. The next step will be to re-erect the Lodestar onto its gear, and get some fresh paint back on it. depicting how she looked in Canadian service.

Once again, CMFT is indebted to Gerry van Humbeck and his friends for another epic long-haul recovery trip with a large and unwieldy airframe. Less than a year ago, using the same small dolly, CMFT’s Vertol 44 “Flying Banana”(CF-NVC) was recovered from Arnprior, Ontario (near Ottawa), an even longer haul with yet another huge brute of a machine in tow. A great way to spend a vacation, and much appreciated by the hundreds of sit-at-home Museum members.

Fabric Seminars

We are again offering training seminars this fall and winter. These are 2 to 3 hour sessions, held Monday evenings in our workshop.

Prior Monday evening seminars have been successful in that participants have learned how to do wood work, minor repairs, and fabric work, while at the same time producing displayable aircraft.

If enough people sign up, we’ll run a series of 8 lessons this winter. Cost $40.

An 8 week course on how to build scratch- built airplane models will be run if enough interest. Price $40 plus materials.

Call April or Rose to arrange.

Self Guided Tours a Success But…

Commencing in July, when we first began to charge admission, visitors were no longer accompanied by a guide. A viewing “tour” area has been roped off, and each exhibit has an informational sign, so visitors can proceed at their own pace.

Unfortunately, some visitors ignore the ropes and wander where they shouldn’t, placing the museum at risk for loss or damage to exhibits, and themselves for injury.

The control tower was glassed in so that an observer could monitor visitors, but the call for volunteers must have been poorly worded or buried, as only one person came forward to help out, with the result that the shop crew, who should have been free to concentrate on their work, were constantly being interrupted to steer “strays” back into the roped-off areas.

It’s an easy job, and the view is great! While the season is over now, please offer your help for next year. Weekends are the busiest, but the watchtower has to be manned every day during the summer.

Meeting Entertainment

We now have a Committee whose job it is to provide entertainment for the general meetings. A schedule of movies, videos, slide presentations and perhaps even after dinner speakers if you want them, is being prepared.

Attendance at general meetings has been sparse. They are held on a regular schedule which is posted in every newsletter, so we don’t and won’t phone members to remind them to attend.

Meetings are held in the shop, so members can track work in progress, but perhaps it lacks class?

We have an offer from the Historic Transportation Centre in Cloverdale to hold our meetings there. Would you prefer to go there? Check the questionnaire which asks for your opinion.

Volunteer Hours

Last year, because of Expo and the extra work involved (the Lysander, Norseman, Quickie, Stampe project, NWT Pavilion models, and looking after the many people from around the world who visited the museum as a result of Expo) CMFT volunteers have set what might well be a Canada-wide (or more) record for volunteer participation.

Total volunteer hours recorded (and many of you do not record your time) for 1986 was a whopping 19,705 hours.

Time for 1987 is way down, but not bad considering that we are suffering from “Post Expo burnout”. Time for the period March 1 to August 31, 1987 is 9973 hours so far.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

The recording of hours is essential. While the CMFT is now eligible for almost no funding programs, once we have a permanent home this will change. Volunteer time is a powerful asset, and is “funding power.

We know it’s a bother, and hard to remember to do, but please make an effort to record your time in the volunteer book or mail in your hours. We are still piecing together time for 1986!

Info Wanted

The St. Catharines Historical Museum is trying to find out what happened to the COLUMBIA/MAPLE LEAF (N 5659) which visited St. Catherines on December 8, 1930. The previous October the plane had made Canadian history when it was flown across the Atlantic by Capt. Errol Boyd and Lt. Harry Connor the first Canadians to accomplish this feat.

It was thought to be totally destroyed in a hangar fire within the last 10 years, evidently while being worked upon in order to go on a tour.

If anyone can help, get in touch with Mr. Arden Phair, Director, St. Catharines Historical Museum, 343 Merritt St., St. Catherines, Ont., L2T 1K7.

Office Tech

COMPUTER AND SECRETARIAL SERVICE

We can offer the following services at reasonable cost:

MAILING LISTS: Set up and maintain your mailing list, and provide mailing labels or sorted lists.
SECRETARIAL SERVICE: Letters, reports, any kind of typing on computer to allow editing and repeat; or customized form letters, which can be tied in to your mailing list. Letter quality or Near Letter Quality (NLQ) printers.
RESUMES: We’ll help you make up, up-date, or just type your resume.
PHOTOCOPYING: Short or long runs. Enlarging and reduction coming soon.
REPORT OR BOOK BINDING: Hot process that “glues” in pages into plastic cover. No holes are punched and pages can be added or deleted. From 1/4″ up to 2″ thickness.
PLASTIC LAMINATING: Up to 25″ wide by any length. Waterproof and protect sales reports, instruction sheets, book dust jackets, report covers, diagrams, drawings, newspaper clippings, or any paper and some cloth products. Also special plastic laminate for photographs.
FAX MACHINE: Send your letter, message, chart, graphic (anything that can be photocopied) across the city or around the world in minutes. (Coming soon)
DATA BASE SERVICE (DBASE II, REVELATION, LOTUS) Lists created, maintained and reported in sorted order. Parts lists, inventories, customer lists, prospect lists, etc.
TELEPHONE ANSWERING/CELLULAR PHONE SERVICE Will be added if enough call for it.
ACCOUNTING WITH “ACCPAC” COMPUTER PROGRAM We’ll set up and/or maintain your small business books, including general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, financial statements, budgets, forecasts.
SPREAD SHEETS LOTUS 1,2,3: Payment schedules, mortgage schedules, or any information needing mathematical calculations using columns. Also graphs and charts.
TRANSCRIPTION SERVICE: We’ll “put into print” audio (or VHS video) tapes. We can provide a draft copy for you to edit and then a final copy, as you wish.
MANUSCRIPT TYPING: We’ll type up your manuscript, provide you with draft and/or final edited copy, as needed. All on computer so changes easily made.
DESKTOP PUBLISHING: Newsletters, reports, flyers, brochures – whatever you need with “Ventura” desktop publishing and our new Laser printer (which arrived too late to do this newsletter). We’ll re-type your copy or work. from your IBM compatible disk. Ask us about it. We’ll work out a way that suits you. We can do the type and headers only or the whole page layout. Let’s talk.
NEED A SERVICE NOT OFFERED? This is a brand new business idea, designed to keep expensive equipment working and valued people employed. Let us know what you need and we’ll work out the best way to do the job; and a price. If we can’t do it ourselves, we’ll try to find someone who can do it for you.

PACIFIC REGION AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE SYMPOSIUM

The annual symposium will be held at the Skyline Hotel in Richmond, BC, on Feb. 26 to 28th, 1988. Something for everyone who is concerned with aircraft maintenance and aviation safety. Call (604) 278-4831 or write c/o BCIT, Sea Island Campus, 5301 Airport Rd., Richmond, B.C. V78 185.

Triumph and Tragedy The Bolingbroke Flies… and Crashes

……by Jerry Vernon

After 13 years of painstaking work, the first Bolingbroke to fly in 40 years took to the air at Duxford on Friday, 22 May 87. Thirty-one days later, it lay in ruins, the victim of a failed engine on a touch and go landing at an air show. Fortunately, the crew of 3 excaped major injuries, but the future of Boly G-MKIV (ex- RCAF 10038) is once again in doubt. By chance, this writer chose to visit Duxford on 29 May 87, when the Boly flew 3 times, for air-to-air photo work and for the “official first flight” ceremonies, complete with tea and sandwiches, wartime Blenheim aircrew guests and the presentation to owner Graham Warner of FlyPast Magazine’s Mike Twite Trophy for their splendid effort.

Needless to say, my plans for a visit to both Duxford and Shuttleworth Collection in the same day quickly went out the window when the Bolingbroke was noted on the Duxford ramp, doing engine runups, and surrounded by the restoral crew, aviation press, etc. A pleasant chat was held with both the owner and pilot John Larcombe, a British Airways captain, who flies Jumbos into Vancouver in more mundane times. After some initial engine balkiness, the Boly took to the air, to be joined by Warner’s Beech C-45 G-BKGL (ex-RCAF 1564/5193, and ex-CF-QPD) for the benefit of the TV and press photographers. With a top speed of 238 m.p.h. at low level, the Boly quickly showed its heels to the slower Expeditor. After numerous passes, the aircraft set down gently among the gliders that normally inhabit this historic W.W. I and W.W. II airfield.

Later in the afternoon, the shiny old bomber took to the air again, this time for a series of very fast low level beat- ups of the airfield and warbirds on the tarmac. A second photo session with the trusty “Bugsmasher” added a few more slides to those I had taken earlier. These flights were made with all 4 seats filled, no doubt to give the dedicated restoral crew their chance to feel the Boly in the air, after some 40,000 manhours of labour.

Before getting to the sad part, a little history is in order. The aircraft is one of 676 Bolingbrokes manufactured by Fairchild Aircraft of Canada, at Longueuil, P.Q. After wartime service with No. 3 B&G School at Paulson and MacDonald, Manitoba, RCAF 10038 joined the dozens of other Bolys that adorned farmer’s fields in Manitoba. In 1969, it was purchased from the farmer by Wes Agnew and, in 1972, along with Boly RCAF 9893, it was sold to Flight Lieutenant Ormand Haydon-Baillie, the RCAF’s famous (or was it infamous?) warbird collector. In 1974, along with a collection of Bolingbroke spares, 23 Bristol Mercury engines, plus H-B’s Sea Fury, pair of T-33’s and other retinue, the two Bolys were shipped off to England. A workshop was set up at Duxford, with 10038 being picked as the ‘flyer’, and the other Boly was set aside for spares and later static display at Duxford. Work progressed from 1975 until Haydon-Baillie’s tragic death in 1977 in his new Cavalier Mustang, at a German air show. Work ceased for the next two years.

In 1979, shortly before this writer’s first visit to Duxford and the “Blenheim Palace” restoral shop, the project was purchased from the Estate by former race car driver Graham Warner, who was starting to accumulate a stable of old aircraft. The old team was re-assembled under the leadership of Fred Hanson, and work started anew. At the time of my 1979 visit, the fuselage had been stripped, repaired and primed, and looked very good. There was an entire room full of Mercury engines awaiting attention, and a lot of concern over what would have to be done with the wings to make the thing airworthy.

In the course of the work, the centre section from Boly 9893 turned out to be the best one, and was repaired and mated to the front and rear fuselage of 10038. Under the careful eye of oldtimer “Chalky” White, the 23 Mercury engines were stripped and examined. Fifty decent cylinders were salvaged, and the 18 “best” of these were built up into two runnable engines. Sadly, “Chalky” died in early 1985, and never got to see the results of his labour.

Jerry Vernon photo.

The Boly restoration crew being presented with the Mike Twite trophy.

In mid-1980, a young aircraft engineer, Jahn Romain, joined the project on a fulltime basis, and has continued on to be engineer in charge on the Boly. Due to exhorbitant costs for outside contracted restoral work, many of the tricky bits were done by John, “Chalky” and the rest of the crew themselves. This included items such as the carburetor rebuild, turret, plexiglas, electrical and undercarriage systems, as well as the engines themselves. Fortuitously, it was discovered that tires from a modern Shorts commuter airliner fit the original undercarriage and stowage space.

The one big problem remaining was the wings and in particular the wing spars. As can be seen on CMFT’s two Bolys, the wing spars are made up of aluminum webs, capped with four steel spar booms, which have badly corroded over the intervening 45 years since manufacture. As with any of the Bolys in North America, these spar caps had to be replaced, resulting in complete disassembly, rebuilding and reskinning of the wing panels…..a horrendous and terribly expensive process. Through the co-operation of British Aerospace and British Steel, sufficient 6 foot lengths of the correct material was obtained, initially from British Aerospace stock and later in the form of a special batch from the factory. The wings were thus rebuilt, including many new ribs and a new skin of heavier gauge than original. Also on the sheet metal front, new cowlings, fairings and assorted panels had to be made up from scratch, to replace missing or badly damaged articles.

While all this was proceeding, engine runs were commenced in mid-1986, with very little trouble noted. The originally- reserved registration of “G-BLHM” was discarded, and “G-MKIV” deemed more appropriate. Many detail items were completed, to Blenheim standard, rather than to the Canadian Bolingbroke standard. By the way, the owner and other Brits insist on referring to G-MKIV as a “Blenheim Mk. IV”, not as a “Bolingbroke Mk. IV.” Finally, the paint job was applied, that being the one carried by Blenheim Mk. IV, RAF s/n V6028, as flown by Hughie Edwards (Wing Commander Sir Hugh Edwards, VC) in his daring low- level attack on Bremen in 1941.

After 40,000 hours of work, much of it volunteer labour, and a 41-year stint on the ground, Boly 10038 was once again flown by John Larcombe and John Romain on the 22nd of May this year. The logbooks showed 489 hours 35 minutes flown in RCAF service. Over the next month, the Boly logged fresh air time, in the hands of John Larcombe and new pilot Roy Pullan, of Virgin Airways.

Jerry Vernon photo.

One engine running during start up procedures prior to test flight

On 21 June 87, while CMFT were hosting their Open House, tragedy struck the British Aerial Museum’s project. Roy Pullan was demonstrating the Boly at the Denham airfield. During a touch-and-go landing, one engine failed to respond on the go- around, and the aircraft cartwheeled into a nearby golf course, totally crushing the nose section, buckling the fuselage at the turret, flinging off both engines, tearing off both undercarriage units and twisting both wingtips. Injuries to pilot Pullan, engineer Romain and rear fuselage passenger John Smith were not too serious, and they were released from hospital within a day or two of the accident, even though John Romain had been flung bodily out of the Boly during its wild ride.

A number of photos of the wreckage can be seen in the August issue of FlyPast, a sad backdrop to the earlier triumphant writeup in the previous issue. Initial reaction from the British public was a flood of sympathy, offers of help and donations to rebuild the aircraft. By the time this is printed, some decision may have been made. There may be enough left of 10038 to enable a 2nd rebuilding, or perhaps Boly 9893 will now be restored, with all of the mechanical and electrical systems transferred over from the wreckage. Also, there are still a number of Bolingbrokes on farmer’s fields in Canada that could be obtained. Whatever is done, the photos indicate that a new nose section will be needed…again not an impossible item to find at all.

What went so terribly wrong that June Sunday at Denham? First of all, nobody in the world had flown a Blenheim or Boly for almost 40 years. Even the best of World War II pilots’ handling notes don’t take the place of a good instructor, current on type. Two pilots had been involved, in the short few hours the aircraft survived. John Larcombe had done most of the flying, but the new man….Roy Pullan….had less experience on the machine. With this level of experience, and an old and valuable aircraft, with unproven engines, was it wise to push their luck too much at air shows so soon?? The pilot’s notes specify a 2460 foot runway to clear a 50 foot obstacle….the runway at Denham is just 2417 feet long. The approach to the touch- and-go was made with the engines just ticking over…yet the Mercury had a reputation for fouling plugs at low rpm. I was sent excerpts from an article in the January 1987 Aeroplane Monthly, covering wartime evaluation of the Blenheim type. This states that it has one of the worst layouts of engine and system controls one could imagine….the cause for many an accident with inexperienced pilots, especially in the case of engine failures on takeoff, where prompt and precisely correct actions were essential to avoid a rapidly worsening situation. Reading the Boscombe Down test pilot evaluation of type, it almost sounds like a textbook example of a Blenheim accident is what happened. Pity.

Wants & Needs

Every item that is donated or offered at minimal cost allows available funds to be re-directed to restoration and procurement of artifacts.

If you, or someone you know has any of the following items to spare, please pass them along. Tax deductible receipts available; or if priced low enough we pay cash.

OFFICE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

An opaque projector, a photocopier capable of reducing and enlarging, small dot matrix printer, laser printer, FAX machine, modem, computers (preferably portable) for word processing, light table, drafting table, plain paper for copy machine, diskettes, computer paper, file folders, transcribing machine (a tape recorder with a foot pedal) as well as general office supplies.

OFFICE EQUIPMENT REPAIRMAN

CMFT has a collection of adding machines, dictating machines and assorted office machines (some current, some old and some ancient) which need repair. Some we need, while others could be offered for sale to help raise cash.

SHOP EQUIPMENT

Pressure washer, hand tools of any kind, small power tools, drill bits, squaring shear, welding rod (brass and steel gas welding rod, electric rod), small portable compressor, extension cords, hydraulic jacks, car jacks, wrecking bars, ladders, carpentry tools, heavy duty hand staplers, tack hammers, hole cutter, and many other items. Phone Mark at 531-3744 if what you have could be of use.

YARD EQUIPMENT

Wheel barrows, garden tools of any kind (but especially shovels and rakes), fertilizer spreader, roller, ride-on or power mowers (dead or alive), weed trimmers, pick axe, sledge hammer, axes, splitting maul, clau hammers, chain saw, skilsaw, plastic tarps, roofing cement, roofing tar, roll roofing.

YARD MAINTENANCE SERVICE

Grass cutting is a major chore there are 4 acres of groomed grounds, plus another 10 acres of other areas on which the grass grows faster than we can afford to cut it; even allowing for free and cut rate commercial service provided by Alnor Services. Is there a farmer, landscaper, golf course operator out there who would be willing to provide his or her equipment, with or without an operator?

KITCHEN APPLIANCES

Working, self-defrosting fridge, microwave 100 cup coffee urns, extra large thermos.

USED ENGINE OIL

Please pass on your used motor oil for spreading on the driveway to keep the dust down.

DARKROOM EQUIPMENT

Kaman/Pentax 50 mm lens or similar, UV filters, K2 filter, dial thermometer, safelights, lightmeter, OC filters (safe- light).

FUNDRAISER WANTED

The CMFT is now well established. A solution to the knotty problem of a permanent homesite now appears possible and major expenditures will be necessary soon. Funding requirements fall into three categories:

A) Specific aviation restoration/preservation projects.
B) The CMFT share of costs of needed buildings and major equipment.
C) Funding to provide core staffing of a fundraiser, general manager, curator, librarian, office manager, chief restorer and an assistant.

As in the past, all other operational funding costs can be met from funds generated by special events, gift shop sales and minor donations.

Balloon Contest

8.M.Robinson won the $20. prize for the balloon which travelled the furthest reported distance to Coal Harbour; where it was picked up by Darlene Cavill, who was awarded $5. for turning in the tag.

Tiny Island Home of Unique Hospital

Standing on the beach 50 yards in front of the hospital, the administrator and the nurse anxiously watched the seaplane as it landed. Seconds later they were helping the pilot to carry the patient into the hospital. The 2,000 inhabitants of Alert Bay Village heaved a sigh of relief. Their fabulous and youthful flying doctor, Dr. Harold J. Pickup, was home safely once again with one more mercy trip to add to the record in his log-book.

It is doubtful if any other hospital in British Columbia, and possibly Canada, can justify use of the word “unique” better than St. George’s, located on the tiny Cormorant Island, 4 miles off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. The present 60-bed hospital, which serves an area of some 7,680 square miles (one third of which is water), qualified itself for superlatives when it floated majestically down the Queen Charlotte Strait on logging construction floats four years ago. Originally an R.C.A.F. hospital at Port Hardy, 30 miles north, it was purchased in 1947 from the War Assets Corporation and, as time and tide permitted, was towed past the rugged coast-line of Vancouver Island in sixteen sections.

The flying doctor, Dr. Harold J. Pickup, added to its fame (and his own) when in 1950 he acquired a pilot’s licence in three weeks, bought a seaplane, and combined the careers of medicine and flying to a realistic end.

Thousands of loggers and fishermen, living on the innumerable islands, inlets, and lakes on the northern part of Vancouver Island, in the Queen Charlotte and Johnstone Straits, and on the west coast of the Mainland, owe their lives and limbs to the foresight and courage of the intrepid pilot-doctor.

The first St. George’s Hospital was built by the Columbia Coast Mission in 1907. Fire destroyed it in 1924, and the new building functioned with its 34 beds until 1946. At this time, lack of funds threatened its closure. The citizens formed a hospital society and, in taking over the operation, decided to bring Alert Bay up to date. The R.C.A.F. hospital at Port Hardy was for sale, and no time was wasted.

J. Pickup photo

Waco CF-CCW by Aero Surveys hangar, Vancouver Airport c1951

The old hospital is now the nurses’ residence and laundry. The recreation-room was once a 10-bed ward, and the nurses’ dining-room the operating-theatre.

St. George’s, the second largest building in the community, is, with the exception of electricity, entirely self-contained. Water is drawn from underground springs; it has its own automatic heating plant, laundry, incinerator, and garbage-disposal truck. Inside the building, the tri-coloured wall decoration, intercommunication system which connects all departments, and germicidal lighting in the nursery and pediatric wards make it difficult for the visitor to believe the hospital was not built yesterday. The two operating-rooms one major and one minor are constantly in use, due mainly to the large proportion of emergency cases brought in from the logging camps.

Mr. A. Lightfoot, the young administrator, is very proud of his establishment. He is not backward, either, in directing the credit to where it belongs.

In Dr. Pickup, who is the medical supervisor, his Austrian laboratory technician, Irish Cook, English X-ray technician, Newfoundland accountant, Finnish secretary, nurses from all parts of Canada, and his Indian staff, he has what he considers to be “the ideal staff.”

In the community, which for this purpose is the area served by the hospital, he has “people who realize how much the hospital means to them and who take their responsibilities seriously.” Women’s Auxiliaries in the village and in neighbouring logging camps are tireless in their efforts to raise funds for extra equipment and nurses’ comforts. The assistance given by the logging companies, both material and through donated labour on building projects, is, according to the administrator, phenomenal.

The 1,500 Indians of the Nimpkish tribe do their fair share, too. For two years now, they have performed hitherto jealously guarded dances before the public in fundraising campaigns.

Naturally everyone in the hospital and community for that matter is enthusiastic about flying. Many of the nurses have been up with Dr. Pickup in his Waco singleengined float-plane. One of the orderlies, a 24-year old lad, has become so bitten by the bug that he is passing away long night hours of duty studying for his pilot’s ticket. The administrator, too, finds the doctor’s enthusiasm makes it difficult for him not to want to get air-borne. Who knows, in but a short while the entire staff of St. George’s may form the first flying hospital contingent.

The reader will, by now, probably have gathered that this small community, and its hospital, quite isolated except for shipping and aircraft, is a veritable haven of goodwill. It is impossible to speak of the hospital without speaking of the community, for in purpose they are quite inseparable.

Note: This article was taken from a July 1953 ABC Hospital Insurance Newsletter, kindly donated to us by Johanna Postlethwaite, along with several photos of CF- CCW, the Waco owned by Dr. Pickup. This aircraft, donated to the CMFT by Dr. Pickup, is scheduled for restoration early next year.

Editor

Jello Airplane Wheels

…by Doug Girling

In 1962, General Foods in Toronto offered a series of “airplane wheels” as a marketing incentive. Inside each “specially- marked package” of Jello were two or three plastic disks the size of poker chips, each bearing a colour picture of an aircraft, drawn by Don Watt. The concept, a variation of the baseball-card, encouraged trading amongst collectors.

The series was broken down into 8 colourcoded categories, each of 25 aircraft: Pioneers, Fighters, Bombers, Transports, Airliners, Bushplanes, Trainers, and Others. As expected, many of the aircraft were fairly arbitrarily grouped as they fitted several categories. (The “Others category is a mixture of experimentals and those pushed out of the other categories through lack of space.)

The selection provides a good cross-section of significant aircraft from around the world, with a bias to those designed, used or built in Canada. When the incentive was withdrawn by the time school. started, General Foods offered to simply sell collectors any extra wheels, along. with a circular 8-hopper holder. A companion book, FAMOUS AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD, written by James Hornick gave a brief history of each aircraft. Of special note is the fact that the author managed to introduce a Canadian bias while avoiding the usual nationalistic chest-thumping.

On reflection, I suspect my persistence as a five year old is the reason why my parents to this day shudder at the sight of a box of Jello.

Ed. Note: Doug and Lisa Girling have kindly donated a virtually complete set of “wheels” to the museum. Unfortunately #16 is missing, but we have extras of #18, #21, #79, #163, and #178. A trade, perhaps?

CF-100 Arrives

A highlight of Open House ’87 week was the arrival of the CF-100 “Clunk.” Many of you will recognize this as the jet fuselage with engines, but no wings and tail that graced the parking lot at the BCIT Sea Island Campus (or PVI as it was then known), where it served as a training aid for many years.

CMFT wishes to express our sincere appreciation of the co-operative effort by many people which eventually resulted in the airplane being placed on display.

Some years ago, the fuselage and engines section was dedicated to the CMFT by the BCIT, but the problems of where to get wings, tail, tanks and a few other missing items, and the task of bringing it out to the Museum had yet to be faced.

Over time, wings (one of which actually came from this airplane), tail, and other goodies were located, and transported to Surrey (not without adventure, problems and cost). They were then taken out to the the airport for mating to the fuselage.

Although the CF-100 never was assembled or shined there, it did get delivered to the museum. Ferdie Vachon engineered the move, Stan Vivien ferried parts out, and BCIT students and instructors helped prepare it for the tow on Highway 99 to the museum the week before Open House. There CMFT elves assembled it, re-painted the trim, added squadron letters and markings in time for Open House.

Particular thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

More Bad Luck In Blighty

…..by Jerry Vernon

As if the Bolingbroke accident were not enough, there were at least two other historic aircraft damaged in the U.K. early this Summer.

The day I arrived in the U.K. and visited the Mosquito Aircraft Museum, the MAM people were all abuzz with the news that the deHavilland Comet racer, “Grosvenor House” had been test flown that day (17 May 87), for its first flight in 49 years, following a 15-year restoral job by the Shuttleworth Trust and friends. The following weekend, the Comet returned to Mildenhall for the first time since it left on its record-breaking flight to Australia in 1934. My English cousins watched it leave in 1934, and I saw it fly at the Mildenhall Air Show in 1987. Reports are that the Comet has since suffered some damage in an undercarriage collapse.

Also, and on the same afternoon that the Bolingbroke crashed, the Russavia deHavilland Dragon Rapide biplane ground-looped on landing at Duxford, ran into a parking lot and struck several vehicles. Damage was severe, but there were no major injuries. Restoral has begun, and it is hoped. that G-AGTM can be back in the air in time for the 1988 season.

Pedal Car Draw

A beautifully crafted child’s “Stearman” pedal car like the one displayed at the Gift Shop this summer will be raffled on Nov. 30th just in time for Christmas!

For those of you who would scoff “I could make that for almost nothing.” we say “Horsefeathers.” It takes over $100 in materials and many, many hours of work, including covering all the wood surfaces with dacron aircraft fabric. It’s sturdy and every kid wishes it was his. If your kids are grown, how about a try for your grandchild, or a friend. Or, how about donating it to one of the charities who provide toys to underpriveleged children at Christmas if you win?

There is still time to buy tickets. They are $1. each or 6 for $5.

Do-it-yourself Tours

The new “walk yourself through” system of visiting the museum, and eventual application of a schedule of (low) admission fees instead of the admission by donation system in force these many years, resulted in a slight initial drop in attendance, but a dramatic increase in revenue.

Some visitors prefer the personal touch that a conducted tour offers. We tried scheduling tours for specified times each day but this did not work out well because the majority of visitors prefer to proceed at their own pace, and tours had two, three or sometimes only one person – a clear waste of precious manpower.

In an effort to satisfy everybody, we will offer a new service next year- an extra fee to have a tour guide…possibly a flat fee of $10 extra for a maximum of 20 persons. Tours take about 55 minutes.

Exhibits Closing Work

The big job of getting the more fragile aircraft under cover for the winter began immediately after closing October 12. Work goes on every day, but let’s try to get a real big crew out on Saturday, October 24th and 31st. With a large enough crew on two or three days, a large portion of the aircraft disassembly and storage can be completed.

If you can help, please phone a day or more ahead so that we can arrange food and plan the work to be done.

PHONE ROSE AT 531-3744 TO OFFER YOUR HELP.

Mobile Home Help

The mobile home for a caretaker is finally on the property, but it still needs to be levelled, skirted, and a sundeck added.

We need someone (who knows what he’s doing) to take on any or all of these jobs – preferably as a volunteer project – to ready it for occupancy as soon as possible.

It also needs a holding tank installed, or a home sewage treatment “plant.” Any offers of assistance with equipment or installation, either free or very cheap?

Call Rose at 531-3744.

Aermacchi Chimera 175

….by Joe Smith

At last our first motorcycle exhibit is completely restored and ready for display.

The machine was donated to the Museum by member Elmer Fossheim of Edson, Alberta, and is an Aermacchi “Chimera” of 1956 vintage manufactured by an Italian aircraft company, Aeronautical Macchi, SpA of Varese, Italy.

The bike has a single cylinder, overhead valve, four stroke engine of 175cc capacity which is mounted horizontally in the frame. The frame is a single spine tube with monoshock suspension to the rear wheel. The whole machine is enclosed in easily removed aerodynamic fairings and has a top speed in excess of 70 MPH.

As far as we can ascertain the machine was imported in 1958 as part of the personal belongings of an Italian engineer who came to work in the mines in Saskatchewan, where he stayed for two years. At the end of this period he wished to return to Italy and in order to settle a debt, one of his fellow workers accepted the machine and later passed it on to Elmer, whom he knew to be a collector of anything rare.

For 25 years the machine lay in a corner of Elmer’s garage gathering dust. Finally, despairing of ever getting around to restoring the machine himself, in 1985 Elmer offered the machine to CMFT.

Brought to Surrey, it ended up in No. 3 hangar covered by spare aircraft wings. One day late last year, whilst straightening up the hangar, it once again saw light of day. I spotted it, and, being an avid lifetime motorcyclist and mechanical engineer as well as a current CMFT director, I took the bike home to my workshop where it was stripped down to a bare frame and engine.

The frame and suspension were found to be in perfect condition but the tank had a large dent in it. This dent was removed by Able Auto Body of Newton and Terry Pawluk, the owner of Able Auto, offered to do a custom paint job on the tank, frame and fairings at no cost to CMFT. Needless to say, his offer was accepted.

Meanwhile, I had stripped the engine only to find that all the piston rings were broken and the barrel scored. After much searching around the Lower Mainland, I found that, with a little modification, the rings from a Suzuki T350 could be made to fit. A bit of careful scraping and lapping and the scores were removed from the bore.

All that now remained was the manufacture of a missing handlebar fairing and then reassembly of the bike with new chrome plating on the various accessories.

We now own what we believe is the only example of this machine in B.C., and from comments by motorcycle dealers and other museums, possibly the only example of this particular breed in Canada, as they were never imported for commercial sale here.

We are hoping to place the machine on display with our Waco INF at the Historic Transportation Centre in Cloverdale.

RESTORATION OF THE AERONCA CHIEF TO FLYING STATUS

It has been proposed that the CMFT Aeronca Chief be restored to flying condition, then transfered to a newly formed NPO which would allow CMFT members to rent it.

Frank Stevens, 536-4570, is organizing the project, and is seeking funding, beginning with his cash donation of $1,500.

Anyone wishing to help with this project is asked to call Frank, or leave a message at the museum.

Open House Winners

COMPLETE CAR POLISH AND INTERIOR SHAMPOO (Minit-Man Car Wash) Maureen Bucholz; FREE MEMBERSHIP (1321 Exercise & Dance Co) A. M. Hayward, Robert Desaures; CHAMPAGNE FLIGHT FOR ONE (Pegasus Ballooning Limited) S. & D. Affleck; SCENIC FLIGHT FOR TWO (Skyway Air Services Ltd.) A. Steppler; 3 HOUR WINDSURFING LESSON (Barnacle Bill’s Surf and Ski Shop) Stephen Whone; $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE (K & D Furniture) G. Kirby: GIFT PACK (Ocean Fisheries) Sean Walker, A. B. Hildebrand, Mrs. D. Selbe-Hele, D. H. White, Mary Ferg, Gladys Kuss; LUBE, OIL AND FILTER (Midas Brake & Muffler, White Rock) Allan Clarke, Karen Holmes, John Dulmage; FREE FILM DEVELOPING (Don’s Quick Photo) Dave Dakin, Graham Callander, Roger Hendrix, Adrien NIcholson; MUG AND COFFEE GIFT PACK (The Coffee Mill) Gordon Grono; BRASS PLATE SET (Cash-2-U Furniture) Bev Williamson; SEWING BASKET (Bariboo Rattan) Mae Gosling; PARTY SET (Daryl McIntosh) John Sellers; SET OF GLASSES (Standard Aero International). Ophoff, Jim Wessel; FREE CAR WASH (Minit-Man Car Wash) D. S. Collings, Bill Henderson, P. Barrett, Evelyn Day, J. Griffiths, E. Meisterman, W. Lauson, R. Bradford, D. Sommerville, H. R. Sott, B. Conway, Tom Barrett, D. J. Robertson, Len Lundin, D. Moore, Clifford Dunnaway, Brian Graham, A.D. Baker, Jim Stewart; TEE SHIRT (BC Aviation Council) – Charles Finch, G. Lovell; PLAQUE (CMFT) J. R. Nix, Robin Orr, Brett Forrest, Dave Pender; TEE SHIRT (CMFT) Stephen Boros; HAT (CMFT) Allan Franz, D. Stubbs, L. Roberge; SEASON’S PASS (Historic Transportation Society) – Rick Kissel, P. Gray; MEMBERSHIP AND HAT (BC Aviation Council)- D. Eckert; GLASS SET (Brian Weeks) – D. Reeder; ULTRALIGHT INTRODUCTORY FLIGHT (Airflow Ultralight Aviation Ltd.) – R. Henderson, Anne Cruden; TEE SHIRT ( Ex- Service Woman’s Assoc. of BC) – Lee Coulter; BOOK (CMFT) – Brian McGee.

Volunteer Handbook

We are developing a handbook for volunteers. It will include a list of the many ways in which you or someone you know can get involved, as well as a set of guidelines and expectations for newcomers and for those who already volunteer.

The booklet will attempt to point out the joys and the pitfalls of volunteering at this busy and productive organization, and perhaps preclude some of the inevitable disappointments and frustrations that have occured in the past.

Please drop us a note with your ideas and suggestions for booklet content, as well as criticisms and praise as to our present program (or lack thereof). It is an endless process, and changes constantly, but we have to start somewhere. Volunteers are the backbone and one of the reasons that CMFT exists, so we want to treat you well. Please write and be heard. What you have to say is important and it does make a difference!

Desktop Publishing

The CMFT now has it’s own phototypesetting equipment, as well as the most current version of a popular Desktop Publishing program.

Because our small and overworked staff do not have the time to become familiar with the equipment and software, we are not using it for the many possible applications it has, including the production of the newsletter.

Is there someone out there who is familiar with “Ventura” Desktop Publishing and/or a Compugraphics Jr phototypsetter and/or Cybertext Microcomposer software, and who is willing to donate time (weekdays, weekends or evenings) to teach or to produce copy? Phone Rose at 531-3744.

LEARN WORD PROCESSING AND BASIC COMPUTER

Four 2-hour evening sessions (Monday and Wednesday evening) or two 4-hr Saturday sessions starting October 14th. Learn “Wordstar” and the basics of operating a micro computer – $50.

Phone Rose at 531-3744 to register.

Guided Tours

CMFT hosted tour groups from California, Japan, and other far off places, as well as groups from service organizations, institutions, day care centres and schools this year. They are always fun, and sometimes profitable.

Such tours must be booked in advance, so that guides can be on hand, and “show and tell” sessions arranged if appropriate.

Please take every opportunity to publicize this service with your service club, your local travel agent, Chamber of Commerce, Visitor’s Bureau, your child’s teacher anyone who might be interested.

Each tour member becomes an ambassador of good will. Children who first come with their school class return with their parents. It’s good advertising and tours increase attendance figures dramatically.

Fees are 50c per child/teacher/supervisor (schools and children’s institutions); or $1. each for adults (Minimum of $10 per group in all cases). Children’s groups must be accompanied by at least 2 adults.

Picnic lunches ($3.) can be arranged.

Educational Programs

The museum is receiving increasing numbers of school tours, day-care centre and institutional group visits. In addition we also visit various schools with our “show and tell” travelling exhibit.

This is currently done by our minuscule and hard pressed staff, who do not have the time to develop better programs, research exhibits and techniques, and produce booklets, coloring books and other handouts.

Is there an ex-teacher, or anyone who can work with kids who would like to help out, either with the preliminary work or helping with the visits and tours? Please call Rose at 531-3744

New Members

Frank Price, Fort Smith, NUT, E. Rountree, Victoria, Art Bates, White Rock, B.C. Jean, Bruce & Robert Prior, Burnaby BC, John N. Reid, Richmond BC, Alan Hooper, Vancouver BC, Dr. Philip Barber, White Rock BC, Ralph Morden, Surrey, BC, Roy Sandy, North Vancouver BC, Richard Day, Delta BC, Walter Dagg, Richmand BC, Ken Jones, Surrey BC, Elmer Tryon, Delta BC, L.G.Bradford, Richmond BC, Alan Brackley, Bedford UK, Ian Thirsk, Herts UK, Ian Marshall, Port Coquitlam BC, Aeronca E2/E3 Club, Franklin WI, M. Gagne, Port Hardy BC, Kevin Stevenson, Surrey BC, Jean Arnet, Tofino BC, Denis, Sandee & Patrick Brossard, White Rock BC, Lloyd Ward, Surrey BC, Donald Watson, Surrey BC, Thomas Davis, West Vancouver BC, Gary Klatt, Kamloops BC, Harry Bishop, Langley BC, Earl Collins, La Canada CA, Bruce Emerson, West Vancouver BC, George Muir, Penticton BC, Art Fox, Grand Forks BC, Brian Piro, Yellowknife NWT, W.A.McLaron, Coquitlam BC, Brent Cruickshank, Burnaby BC, W.Feduck, Port Colborne Ont, Michael Brown, Vancouver BC, Chris Makar, Richmond BC, Nick and Eileen Kapty, Vancouver BC, Yoko and Shirley Jackson, Richmond BC, Tom Beshr, West Vancouver BC, Andreas Wegmuller, Vancouver, BC, Ken Edney, Scottsdale, AZ, Cansteam, Surrey, BC, Michael Buckingham, Burnaby, BC, Glenn Irwin, Surrey, BC, Dr. Doug Norman, Chicago, IL, A.R. Gray, White Rock, BC. [1552].

Open House ’88

Plans for Open House ’88 are well under way. Readers are requested to pass on the names of organizations or individuals who have historic or classic transport related items for display; as well as contacts for aviation and transportation related nonprofit organizations. Open House is the important event of the year. It provides an opportunity for free advertising, and gives the community a chance to see progress made each year. It is also the single event where volunteers of all ages can help out and enjoy themselves at the same time. Open House is scheduled for June 18 & 19 start passing. the word now!

7th Annual Fall Dinner

7th Annual CMFT Fall Dinner is Sat. Nov. 7, 1987, St. Paul’s Church Hall, 8251 St. Alban’s Rd., Richmond. Bar 6, dinner 7pm A dinner speaker is arranged, and it will be an enjoyable evening as in years past; especially since we’ll be celebrating our 10th (official) birthday that evening! Bring a small birthday gift, (no more than $10 in value), gift wrapped, to be aucioned. 50/50 cash draw, door prizes, also. The menu is usual Chinese smorg. Tickets $10 ea. Please call now and reserve space, or fill out and mail the reservation form elsewhere this newsletter. Please confirm by 4:30 pm Oct 3, so we can order food.

Open House Program

Yes, we know that Open House is over, but while we had 200 members helping out, there are more than 1200 others who may be interested in what went on.

There are two reasons for including this program with this letter. Firstly, please try to interest local merchants in placing an ad, providing door prizes or other services so necessary for the success of Open House.

Secondly, the number on the program is your ticket to participate in the drawing of a framed Stranraer print worth $75.00. Send in your ticket stub along with your completed questionnaire.

Gift Shop Discounts

Effective October 1, current members will receive a 10% discount on most goods in the gift shop (there are a few exceptions).

Remember also, that admission is free to members (but not their guests), so bear this in mind when looking for a place to bring visitors next season. In the meantime drop in at the Gift Shop for your Christmas shopping.

Used Magazines

The CMFT has an outstanding collection of used aviation magazines for sale in the gift shop at very affordable prices. Prices range from $1 per copy for recent (1970-1987) issues, up to $5 per copy for pre-1950. This is a great opportunity to fill gaps in your collection, or obtain articles about a particular aircraft or subject.

Remember, if you have old magazines you no longer want, please pass them along to the CMFT. Most copies go towards completing the library, and any surplus helps to raise much needed money for the museum.

Members Questionnaire

We need to know if we’re doing the things that you, as members, want. Also, we need to know what you can and are willing to do for the museum. New members complete a “Survey Form” which is used to make up a skills bank, but time goes by and things change. We would like to keep in touch, so please take a few minutes to fill out the survey and drop it in the mail or bring it down in person. Please see page 27.

This is YOUR museum. Your opinions and suggestions are important and needed for future planning. Please take the time to complete it.

Newsletter Name

From time to time the suggestion that the newsletter should have a name comes up. We have been accepting names for a couple of years, some of which are listed below. If you’d like to see a name change, please state your choice in the questionnaire.

Suggestions so far are:

AIRROSE, FLAPS DOWN, FLYPAST, PLANE UPDATE, AIRCRAFT WEST, MUSEUMAIR, PLANE AS DAY, PLANE TALK, PLANE VIEW, AIRNEWS, NEWSAIR, SMOKE ON, FLAREPATH, PATH FINDER, VECTOR, IN-FORMATION, AIRBORNE, BITS & PIECES, BULLETIN, C.M.F.T. DISPATCHES, C.M.F.T. INTELLIGENCE, C.M.F.T. RECORD, C.M.F.T. COMMUNIQUE, RELICS, FLIGHT AND TRANSPORT, CHOCKS AWAY.

Have a suggestion? Please send it in.

Collections

CMFT STICKER/EMBROIDERED CREST COLLECTION

CMFT has started a collection of aviation, automotive, other transportation and communications stickers, bumper stickers and embroidered crests, civilian or military; from local sources or from abroad.

Please pass on any stickers you might have, including spares. We need one for the sticker board, plus others as traders.

COVERALLS COLLECTION

Planned future displays will require authentic coveralls (as well as mannequins to wear them).

We are looking for TCA, Western Canada Airways, Canadian Pacific, CP Air, PWA, QCA, Charter Flight, Vancouver’s U-Fly, Aero Club of B.C., Austin Airways, North Coast Air Service coveralls especially, but any other airline, school, charter service or repair shop ones are welcomed.

If you wore out or threw away the coveralls, but kept the patch, please pass it on, even if its worn and tattered. We’ve started a collection of loose patches as well. Spares will be used as traders.

PIN COLLECTION

CMFT has the beginnings of a lapel and hat crest collection. We’re looking for any aviation-oriented lapel pins, hat badges (metal or plastic), plastic stick pins such as given out by airlines.

Please rummage through your drawers and check your old suits and send them in.

All of these collections will be put into glass cases and placed on display for all to enjoy at our future permanent facility, but now is the time to collect them. Please help if you can.

AIRLINE SEAT POCKET ITEMS COLLECTION

A small collection of rare airline safety procedure cards was recently donated, which we would like to expand. The more obscure and defunct the better, but please don’t pass up items from your “common local airline”, as these can be used as traders.

This collection also includes boarding passes, seat occupied cards, crested head rest doilies, airline and charter flight tickets, dinnerware, stir-sticks, tokens, commemorative plaques, etc., etc.

If you have any suggestions as to other items that we should consider collecting, please let us know.

Disposals

CMFT has the following extra items of office equipment for sale:

IBM COPIER II dry process, plain paper copier with all the bells and whistles. Needs 220v power. Working when received. Price, as is: $500.
CANON NP5000. Plain paper, liquid toner, easy to use and reliable. Working, we think, but sold as is $250.
TELEVIDEO TS-802H COMPUTER 10 MB hard drive, plus one floppy, CP/M, with Wordstar and lots of other software. Perfect working order. Will trade for portable or sell at: $900
OFFSET PAPER PLATE BURNER AB DICK 675 Make your own paper offset plates or convert to a photocopier. We ended up with 2. Working order: $400

Volunteer Programs

We would like to offer our volunteers a more concrete thank you in the form of a reception once a year.

Poverty has prevented this from happening so far but we’d like it to happen starting this year. Who would like to take on the job of organizing this as an annual event, including canvassing for sponsors or raising the necessary cash to buy the food and rent the hall? Please call Rose or April if you can undertake this project.

Donations

LIST OF DONORS SINCE NEWSLETTER 32 (2077- 2207)

LARGE ARTIFACTS

Colin M. Stevens, Al Keifer, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Switzer”, Terry Harold*

SMALL ARTIFACTS

Wayne Manning, Rose Zalesky, Ian Morrison, Doug and Lisa Girling”, Avionics Canada Ltd., Peter Knowles, Darren Luu*, Valerie Parker, John Bellanger, C.R. Ellinor, Ron Krywiak, Mars Tarnowsky, P. Harrison*, B.C. Pioneers of America, Richard Beale, John Padmerow, Nick and Eileen Kapty, George Smith, E.W. Coey, K.W. Brown, Doug Barry, Archie Stutt, Gil McLaren, Basil Watson, Rob Dennett, Herb Hough, Otto Kiechle, Al Frazer, D. Norman, Mike Scott, W.D. Lee*, Martinolic Brothers Fishing Co., Ted Goode, John King, E.S. Keniston, Bud Neyedli, Joe Owens*

BOOKS/MAGAZINES/LOGBOOKS

Charles Roos, The War Amputations of Canada, Gary Moonie, Al Frazer, Roy Briscoe, Gordon Croucher, Ian Morrison, Basil Watson, Archie Stutt, Doug Barry, Harry Jepson, K.W. Brown, Mrs. Nobile, George Smith, Phil Humphrey, B & E Enterprises, Lois M. Ross, Marjorie Nicol*, Ross Gregory, C.R. Ellinor, Larry and Evelyn Morgan, Avionics Canada Ltd., Ingy Wikene, Doris Ndaba, Joanna Postelthwaite, Boundary Bay Flying Club”, Mary Carstensen, Henry Sundquist*, Charles Simmons*, Jim Fedoruk, John Gilmore, R.F. Stevens, Bill Kellett*, Frank Hewlett*, Wayne Manning, Peter Knowles, Prescott Aviation, Bruce Emerson*, April Zalesky, Edgar C. Grose*, Mike Skinner*, Joe Owens*, Yvonne Moir, CFB School of Military Engineering

PHOTOS/PICTURES/TAPES/MEMORABILIA

Bruce Emerson*, Omar Broaddus*, R. Banting, DeHavilland Aircraft, J.E. Vernon*, Ross Gregory, James Duthie, J.W. Haslett*, Roy Hutchinson, Brent Pastelthwaite, Betty Burton, Fred Gardham, E.F. Tucker, Canada Pavillion (Expo 86), Mosquito Museum, Valerie Parker, Ray Morley, Mike Gatey, Linda Vipond, Gary Moonie, W. Rivet, Larry and Evelyn Morgan, C.R. Ellinor, Ross Gregory, Doug Hannay, Ed Burns, George Smith, O.J. Nelson, Mike Scott, Dave Nilson, John Clark, Gordon Croucher*, Doug and Gwen Hennessy, D. Norman, Frank Hewlett*, A.M. Feast, Yvonne Moir*, Gordon Ballentine, Frank Apel, Bill Kellett”, Joe Owens*, Joe Lalonde*

UNIFORMS/MEDALS/CRESTS

Larry J. Lee, 637 Air Cadet Squadron*

TOOLS/EQUIPMENT/FURNITURE//FIXTURES

Dennis Brawdy, Norm and June McEachren, American Institute for Conservation*, Ken Danyluk, Mike Skinner*,

MODELS

Ingy Wikene, M & B Maquettes*, Ken Danyluk

The following is a list of donors who still have documentation outstanding from the last newsletter:

Gaston Proteau, Ed Stead, Cal Hough, Phil Humphrey, Doug Battrum, Bill Smithaniuk, Ron Krywiak, Newton Book Store, Alex McPhee, Gordon Croucher, Bob Skowronski, Bob Abello, Liz Simons, Paul Avis, Ferdin- and Joosten, T. Lippold, Ed Foster, National Aviation Museum, Brian Burke, Ed Long- Okanagan Helicopters, Alan Earle, Ernie Dahl, Gordon Hone, Glen Joneson, John Stocker, George Smith, Mrs. T. Shaw.”

Notice RETURN OF DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED

The donors listed above whose names are followed with a have NOT yet returned the forms needed to complete the gifting of the item donated.

A stamped, self-addressed envelope is always included with the acknowledgement letter, as it is very important that the documents be returned to us.

If you have not already done so, please sign and return the paperwork sent to you.

A new kind of sailplane that takes the work out of soaring!

TOWLESS TAKE-OFF-The 20 hp. auxiliary engine puts the BUMBLE BEE into the air with a run of 300 ft. or less! The “diny work of arranging the tow line and launching crew is eliminated your time is spent where you want to be-in the air!

*EXTENDED SOARING RANGE, ADDED SAFETY-The co gine can be started at will from the cockpit while aloft, providing extra hours of spart when thermal activity is at a minimum, and adding a valuable safety factor when the pilot has soared beyond range of his field.

*SIDE-BY-SIDE SEATING, DUAL CONTROL- The 2-place BUMBLE BEE provides side-by-side seating with unlimited visi bility for both occupants in the roomy, Plexiglas-enclosed cockpit. Full dual control makes the BUMBLE BEE ideal for training and instruction purposes.

AVAILABLE IN KIT OR FINISHED FORM- For those who wish to take up gliding on a limited budget, a 10-unit kit is avail able containing everything needed for assembly and finishing, and with all structural parts accurately pig-assembled. This may be pur chased one unit at a time a convenient way to build up a fine ship at minimum cost. The BUMBLE BEE is also available in semi- finished or completely finished “yaway” form.

NOW’S THE TIME TO ACT Limited production is now underway against a sizeable backlog of orders. Write, phone or wire for full informs tion, literature and prices, then get your reservation in early if you want to enjoy this all-sport way of gliding nest season! Nore: Veterans will be given delivery preference on presentation of athable discharge certificate

NELSON AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 13785 Paxton. Street SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA

THE NELSON Bumble Bee

Designed by WM. HAWLEY BOWLUS Pioneer glider enthusiast, designer and builder of many of America’s outstanding sport and military gliders, Wm. Hawley Bowlus has made another outstanding contribution to sport soaring in the auxiliary- powered BUMBLE-BEE.

BURAL FULL/VIEW PLESIO ENGINE LANDING GEAR DEALERSHIPS OPEN Write for details page 26 THE NELSON BUMBLE-BEE A little nostalgia taken from AIR NEWS with AIR TECH, February, 194

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

Please check your address label, the date on the upper right hand corner is the date your membership expires. Send in your $15 annual renewal today. CMFT needs your support. Thanks to all of you who have already renewed your memberships.

MOVING?

IF YOU’VE MOVED, OR PLAN TO SOON, PLEASE SEND US A CHANGE OF ADDRESS. IT IS COSTING US A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT IN WASTED POSTAGE WHEN NEWSLETTERS ARE RETURNED (@ 55c EACH) AND YOU RECEIVE NO FURTHER NEWSLETTERS AS WE DON’T HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE TO SEND THEM. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND FOR ANY FUTURE MOVES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.

We Repeat…

you can be a part of the effort to insure that our priceless relics are preserved and properly cared for through future generations if you include in your will a bequest to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation. You may bequeath cash, securities and real or personal property to the permanent Endowment Fund where the income from your memorial will continue helping to support the museum. Or you may choose a special purpose such as constructing buildings, acquiring important relics. the reference library, or renovation or restoration of an exhibit.

You will find that a living trust will secure your wishes while providing income for you or your designate for the rest of your lives.

Think of the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation as you look to the future.

Policy

Every letter, newsletter or other communication throughout the year contains a return envelope or other form of solicitation. We urge you to use these forms to recruit new members and to make memorial, tribute, anniversary or other additional contributions. Remember, in order to help build and maintain the Museum, and to acquire outstanding exhibits, we will remind you of the need for funds in every mailing.

ABOVE: CMFT’s H-21 helicopter after it’s facelift this summer. It now proudly wears colorful USAF markings. We are still curious as to what squadron insignia should be placed on the tail – if anyone has any information or photographs on USAF use of H-21’s and Stinson L-1’s in Alaska we would like to hear from them.