Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation
Storage Site Phone 531-2465 or 531-3744, or 278-9804
“MINI” NEWSLETTER JAN. 6, 1984
HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 1984 be your best year yet.
1984 IS GOING TO BE THE BEST YEAR YET FOR CMFT. While we had hoped to be well and truly established in our new home at Fort Langley long before now, circumstances (money) have dictacted otherwise. Progress is being made, with tentative plans for a housewarming in the summer. Watch the newsletters and Quarterlies for progress.
In the meantime, the major delay is still with us just not enough money. Some of you responded to the call for pledges in the November “Mini”, and we thank you. But we need more pledges from members and supporters. Check the form elsewhere in this newsletter. You’ll notice that there is an area where future pledges are possible. If you can’t help just now, please pledge future assistance.
GRANVILLE ISLAND PROJECT
As reported in prior newsletters, the Granville Island building is very important to CMFT. It would provide tremendous visibility for the museum as Granville Island is a world class attraction. The gift shop would provide much-needed revenue, an some restoration work can be carried out there, making it practical for Vancouver people to become involved.
The two sites- Fort Langley as the main storage/display site and he Granville Island operation completement each other, and allow for changing of displays. All we need is money!
Talk to your friends and acquaintances about 13527 Crescent Road, Surrey, B.C.,V4A 2W1 the museum – the more people that know about it the better chance we have of getting the funds that we need. And, don’t be afraid to ask for money, goods and artifacts. No money, no goods or artifacts = no museum!
A possible joint Provincial Government/CMFT participation is being investigated.
NEXT GENERAL MEETING IS AT 8:00 P.M. THURSDAY, JANUARY 19,1984
at the farm storage site: 13527 Crescent Road, Surrey, B.C. The business portion of the meeting will be kept short to allow for time story-telling, and two short WWII flying movies. Coffee free. Donuts 25g each. GUESTS WELCOME
EXPO 86
After years of trying to get a “foot in the door”, something positive might finally come about. Preliminary enquiries have been made regarding our supplying historical appropriate aircraft for the show. More news as it develops.
ED BATCHELOR “SUPER INSTRUCTOR”
“Batchie”, who has been with Skyway Air Services for many years will be our guest speaker at the March 15 General Meeting. 50 years in aviation and 25,000 hours of flying, mostly as an instructor, both military and civil, have provided countless memories. We’ve asked him to share a few highlights with you. He’s a great guy and delightful to listen to. Please be sure to attend, and bring a guest.
FOURTH ANNUAL SPRING DINNER (see next page)
ANNUAL SPRING DINNER
Tentatively set for about May 16th or 17th. Same format good Chinese food and a guest
speaker, at an affordable price. Guests welcome as always. Set aside the date and a few dollars. If you have suggestions as to a speaker or to make the evening more interesting, please phone in.
SHORT SUNDERLAND NOSE TURRET 15 years ago, we located a gun turret at Korolevu, Fiji. The manager of the resort agreed to donate it to us, but the problem of getting it from there to here aborted the project. It was still there in 1978 but the same problem prevented bringing it home. Member John De Visser visited Fiji on his way through to Australia for a holiday and in his usual efficient manner got the turret crated and delivered to CPAir at Nandi, all in about two hours. CPAir transported it to Vancouver at no charge. Thanks go out to John, to CP Air, and of course to the people at Korolevu. We are pleased to have this rare item, althrough the years and the tropical climate and vandals have taken their toll. It will be displayed in its present condition at the Victoria Harbour Market, where Vancouver Island members will start on restoration.
409 SQUADRON COMOX CLOSING UP SHOP
July 1, 1984 will see the closing of the Squadron at Conox. A big party is planned at the base. More on this as news is available.
NORSEMAN CF-BSC RESTORATION
Work has started on BSC. There is a lot to do and it will require a great deal of money to put her back into flying condition for Expo 86. Thanks to those of you who have sent in donations to the fund.
Please keep the donations coming, no matter how small.
Some of the tailplanes are being overhauled off-site, and one wing is in the shop. Lots of opportunity to put your woodworking and fabric recovering skills to work. Hours are 8:00 to 4:30 Monday through Saturday if you would like to come down and physically help.
GRANVILLE ISLAND ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
Ian Morrison, in co-operation with Ted Watkins, has been working for months on these drawings and obtaining quotes on renovating the building. There is still much to do, and we are taking this opportunity to thank you, Ian. Thanks, too, to Mike Macgowan for handling the ladder and measuring tape up on the roof.
GREAT NEW TOYS
Our gift shop has branched out and we are now selling die-cast metal models. These are high quality, and come in two sizes, the usual approximately 3″ type, and the new “super” size, about 6″. Not only that! We still have the usual full range of airplanes (old, WWII, new, and brand new), but now we’ve got dirt bikes, street bikes, motorcycles and car. Prices range from $2. to $4. Come in and browse. More and more goods are coming in. Refer to the Dec. “Mini” for prices. Gift shop is open from 8:00 to 4:30 weekdays and til noon on Sat. Located at 13527 Crescent Road, Surrey.
“HARRIER” TEE SHIRTS
We’ve listened to the younger members, and are now offering black tee shirts with a a Harrier firing rockets “coming at you”. Good quality shirts with realistic airplane in white. Also new are kid’s sizes 6-8, and 10-12 in the Spitfire design on a white shirt with blue trim at neck and sleeves.
Real cool. Lots of Harvard, Tiger Moth and Spitfire shirts as usual. The Tiger and Harvards come in Beige or Blue, the Spit in Blue only. Price $7. for children’s sizes and $8. for adult sizes.
BOOKSTORE
New titles arrive all the time,- some current, some out of print and hard to get items. If you’re looking for a gift or if you’re a collector, buy your books here. Remember that your purchases help the museum grow as profits are used to build the permanent library.
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTERS
I know you’ve heard this before, but we still need material for the newsletter, and original items are much preferred. Lock Madill and other members have submitted great stories, and Jerry Vernon and Ken Swartz always make contributions, but we need more material, especially if you’ve got pictures to go along with it. If you are concerned about your wiritng ability, but have a story to share, please get in touch. We’ll either tape the story and produce an article from that, or go over your notes with you to get the final draft. Next quarterly due about mid-February, but send in your material any time, as time is needed to type-set and get the copy ready.
DONATION OF NELSON (BOWLUS) DRAGONFLY (BUMBLEBEE)
Will be on display at the Victoria Harbour Market. Be sure to drop by and see this beautiful aircraft. One of only 7 built. Next newsletter will give more details.
VAL GOES TO THE U.S.
We’ve been trying to acquire the National utical Collection’s (x-Diemert) VAL we’ve now learned that it has been swapped for a Sikorsky R-4 helicopter from the Planes of Fame museum in California.
SOPWITH CAMEL, SOPWITH PUP AND FE-8 PUSHER
We’ve just received the donation of (film strip) plans for the Camel and Pup and some photographed plans for the FE-8. Thank you, John Owen. Now all we need is someone to build us one of each for display, either as static or flying replica airplanes. What is your offer, let’s work something out.
B.C. AVIATION COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
Application forms were distributed with last month’s Mini, but many people phoned to find out what the fee is, as this was omitted on the application form. Membership is just $10. per year for individuals. Please mention CMFT when you send in your $10 and completed membership to the B.C.Aviation C.
1984 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE SUMPOSIUM
For AME’s, learner AME’s, Operators. Lectures on new wiring systems, computers, composite materials and much more. Write or phone the Pacific Vocational Institute, the sponsor, at 3650 Willingdon Ave., Burnaby, B.C., V5G 3H1 or phone (604) 434-5711, or Sea Island Campus, 4440 Stark St., Richmond, B.C., phone (604) 278-4831 to enroll. Symposium will be held at the Richmond Inn, Richmond, B.C., February 16, 17, 18. Cost is $30 which includes 24 days of seminars, reception, coffee intermissions, and lunches (no breakfasts or banquet or hotel) Over 400 people attended last years very successful symposium and this year’s event is expected to draw many more. Mechanics, Operators and supply house participants attend from all over 8.C. and Western Canada, and its one great place to catch up on the latest in maintenance techniques while at the same time renew old acquaitances.
The following article, entitled “HELICOPTERS, HOW THEY WORK” has been taken from the July, 1947 issue of AVIATION SERVICE MAGAZINE, Chicago, Ill. We have reproduced only the first two pages – you’ll have to visit the library to read the rest. We have three issues only of this great little magazine. – Aug. 46, Jan 48, and the July, 1947 issue mentioned here. Does anyone have more to add to the CMFT collection? How about other magazines that are no longer around? Magazines form a very important part of our library. Help make it the best around.
HELICOPTERS have been over- publicized and over-glamorized. They can definitely do some jobs better than any other vehicle or mechanism, but they are complicated. costly, and hard to handle. This does not mean that the skilled operator cannot put on a marvelous demonstration, but it does mean that he has had many hours of training before he was ready to impress the public with his accomplishments.
HELICOPTERS- HOW THEY WORK
by Herb Packer, Editor
At the present time, a helicopter costs about ten times as much as a conventional airplane of similar capacity, it requires an engine two or three times as powerful, and has a lot of intricate mechanism, every function of which is vitally important to the safe operation of the vehicle. We do not propose to attempt to explain all the intricate mechanisms, but we do hope that some of the principles that apply to the helicopter will be better under stood by those who read this article.
Fig. 1. Cutaway of Bell Helicopter, showing construction and also the two rotors-the big one overhead to do the lifting, and the small one at the rear to counteract torque
What Makes It Go Up?
This may be self-evident to most of us, but again it may do no harm to consider the action which gives the helicopter its lift and permits it to go straight up, at least in starting a flight.
Referring to Fig. 1 we see that there are two propellers or rotors. One is directly above the cabin and rotates in a horizontal plane. This is the one that does the lifting. The one at the tail of the machine will be explained later.
The big rotor, or propeller, above the plane, when spinning rapidly, sends a column of air down toward the ground, and the reaction from this produces the lift that permits the heli copter to fly. It is the same principle used in an airplane when a propeller rotates and pushes a column of air toward the rear of the plane, causing the airplane itself to go forward. And, of course, when the reaction from the helicopter propeller is greater than! the weight of the machine, the machine will be lifted from the ground.
Purpose of Rear Propeller
Let us imagine that the helicopter of Fig. 1 is a small model and that for an engine it uses a rubber band. To wind up the rubber band we would turn the rotor in the wrong direction until the band was tightly twisted. Then, by holding the helicopter fuselage, or body, we could release the rotor and the torque created in the rubber band would cause it to twist rapidly, creating a lift. On the other hand, if we decided to hold on to the rotor and release the body of the helicopter we know that the same torque would cause the helicopter fuselage to turn in the other direction,
LIBRARY
A full time librarian/archivist (til mid- February) has been sorting and organizing the books and magazines but there is still much to do. How about some offers of help to help now and in the future? Members are invited to use the library. No lending of books, but we have a copier for those items you can’t live without. 15% p9.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Jerry Vernon, Gary Warnock, Jeff Cooper are doing as much work as their busy schedules permit. They have arranged and carried out luncheon talks, visits to Air Cadet squadrons, and arranged a Channel 10 (Delta) – hour feature on CMFT which has appeared several times and is scheduled for showing on Vancouver cable 10. The B.C. Hydro “Buzzer” carried a very effective little ad asking for volunteers. More help is needed in P.R. We do all kinds of things that are worthy of mention yet we are not making ourselves known to the community. There are talented people out there where are you now that we need you?
AVIATION PIONEER TAPE LIBRARY
This project is at a standstill for lack of someone to carry it out. We have names and contacts, but need someone with the time and interest to research the candidates and make the orginal contact. If you can do the interviews as well, great! We guarantee you’ll meet some of the world’s greatest people.
INFORMATION WANTED
We’re trying to locate Roland G.A. Gilbert. Phone 531-2465 with any information, please.
OPEN HOUSE 1984
Tentatively scheduled for June 23 and 24th Yep – two days! Much the same as last year but with more involvement from other clubs and groups. The Vintage Car Club were very welcome participants last year and are making plans to be out in even greater numbers this year. We are looking for an antique fire engine to display. Let us know of any that may be available for that weekend. A hot air balloon will be giving rides at $5 each (weather permitting). Food and events all day, both days, with the usual Sunday evening dinner for members and guests. Everybody welcome, so start now to pass the word.
STORAGE SITE TOURS
Tours start again March 17th weekend. Open for visits weekends only unless we can get. enough members to volunteer as guides during the week. We’ll make up a tape to make the tours easy to do and consistent. Phone Rose.
GIFT SHOP ASSISTANCE
Commencing March 17th, we’ll need people to work in the Gift Shop. In the meantime, there is about one day’s work each week unpacking shipments, pricing goods, rolling posters, updating stock cards, etc. Anyone interested in taking on the job on an on-going basis? Occasional help is always welcome, too.
NEWSLETTER MAKER-UPPERS
The newsletter is a big job each month, with the same people turning up to held fold, staple, stamp and mail. Thank you, Lock Madill, Fred Gardhom, April Zalesky and those who we’ve missed here. But the job goes faster and it’s more fun if a number of people work at it together. Please phone if you can help.
SATURDAY WORK BEES AND RESTORATION
The shop will be operating Saturdays until further notice. This means that those of you who want to help with the restoration of airplanes and can’t come during the work can get involved. There are also many other chores that need doing, such as sorting the material in shed #3, and lots of odd-jobs, some of which require woodworking skill, others no skill at all. Hours 8-4:30. Come early and stay as long as you can, but please don’t arrive late in the day. No work on Sundays until March 17th- it’s the Zalesky’s day off
VIDEO CAMERA AND RECORDER
An audio-visual record of our growth is a must, especially as each succeeding year is filled with more and more activity. We’ve got to get it “in the can” as we are making history right now. Our pleas for the donation of a camera and recorder or the money to buy one have fallen on deaf ears, so we will be purchasing one out of operating funds. Let us know of any real bargains.
VICTORIA HARBOUR MARKET
The CMFT display there has been manned week ends since opening day Nov. 27th. Its been a great success in contacting people and in bringing in dollars for restoration. A very few people have been working long hours to make it go. If you can help, either on week ends or during the week, please phone Dave O’Byrne at 388-5464, pager 267, or 362-4672 Adele Hatch at 642-5046 or Peter Knowles at 477-3684 or MIke Gatey at 478-4451. Be sure to visit the display if you can. Its at 1810 Store Street, in Victoria.
NORTH AMERICAN HARVARD
CMFT has purchased a damaged and slightly derelict RCAF Harvard Mark IV, less engine, prop, and many other pieces. Through donations and pieces collected over the past years, we have the makings of a rebuildable airplane. We still need an engine and prop, so help us look. It’s an R1340 Pratt and Whitney.
DEHVILLAND VAMPIRE PROJECT
Dave Smith, Jim Kneesh, Ray Marbray and Mark Zalesky spend Monday and some Wednesday evenings at it. If you’d like to help, phone Dave at 273-8029 (keep trying) or Rose at 531-3744. Other evenings can be arranged if enough people are interested.
AIRCHILD CORNELL PROJECT
Through a Manpower grant, CMFT has one full time restorer on the project, along with volunteer Gordon Dann and other members part time. Most of the wing ribs are built, and work now proceeding on the spars. Fuselage being disassembled and parts cleaned. Ian Morrison is keeping ahead with plans and drawings. The greatest need is for money to buy supplies. We’ve long since run out of funds earmarked for the Cornell and are using money kept in reserve for artifacts purchases, to keep the project operating. If you’d like to see work on the Cornell continue, please send in your donation, no matter how small. We also need a set of brakes, fuel tanks and a sheet or so of 4.0 and 5.0 mm plywood. Does anyone have – some left over from a homebuilt project? Need not be full sheets.
BOLINGBROKE
Wayne Cromie, Brian Weeks, Gary Pooleand Mark – Zalesky work on the nose section Wednesday evenings. More people will be needed when the weather improves and work can be done outside. Phone Wayne at 277-3394 if you can help later.
DAGELING GLIDER
Depending on space available in the shop, work proceeds in spurts. Covering to start Jan. 14th. Phone if you want to attend. The finished airplane will be seen at various displays this spring and summer.
COMPUTER HELP
Someone to type in data. No experience necessary, and you set the hours, and time spent.
ACCOUNTING AND OFFICE ASSISTANCE
Under control now, but will need help about mid-February. As many days a week as you can spare. Experience nice, but not necessary.
JIM SPILSBURY TO SPEAK AT DINNER MEETING
March 21, 1984 at the Quarter Century Club.
QUARTER CENTURY CLUB
Do you have 25 or more years (continuous) in Aviation service jobs? The Quarter Cen- Ein Aviation club meets 6 times yearly for dinner meetings, with an average attendance of 200 per meeting. Keep in touch with old friends and make new ones. If you are eligible to join or know of someone who is, phone or write for details.
CONGRATULATIONS,TO MEMBER MIKE MACGOWAN!
The Best All Round Student Award was presented to Michael Macgown for having demonstrated dependability, attendance, industriousness, enthusiasm, and effort applied to complete the Aircraft Mechanics Course at PVI last June. We’d have mentioned it sooner but didn’t find out til today.
Next General Meeting
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1984, at 8:00 P.M. at the storage site: 13527 Crescent Road, Surrey, BC Ph. 531-2465,531-3744 Two short WWII movies. Guests welcome
Striking Similarity in Skeletons of Man and Bird. Skeleton of bird enlarged or purpose of comparison. Who says men weren’t meant to fly Compare the two drawings above. (Drawing and caption reprinted from “Flying Machines: Construction and Operation” by J.E.Jackman and Thos. H. Russell) Pub. 1910