1936 Stearman PT-13 Kaydet (Model 75), c/n 75-003, N68492

Kevin Maher (sometimes pilot of 1954 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk. I, c/n 713, C-GHPG, Metasoft Systems Inc.) invited me into his hangar to see his pride and joy, the third oldest of this model in existence: 1936 Stearman PT-13 Kaydet (Model 75), c/n 75-003, N68492 in a private hangar at Duncan Airport (DUQ/CAM3), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 14:02 PDT.

1936 Stearman PT-13 Kaydet (Model 75), c/n 75-003, N68492 (CF-KTE reserved), Kevin Maher, Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Duncan Airport (DUQ/CAM3), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C.

• powered by one 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior supercharged nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed two-blade Hamilton Standard propeller and propeller spinner
• tandem instructor and student, military biplane primary trainer for USAAC
• biplane, positive stagger wings; outboard aileron on each lower wing; no flaps
• open cockpits, windscreen for front cockpit, windscreen for rear cockpit, baggage compartment behind rear seat
• fixed conventional landing gear with steerable tailwheel

History:

• built by Stearman Aircraft Division, The Boeing Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA at Stearman Plant, Wichita Municipal Airport, Wichita, Kansas (BW)
• Stearman Aircraft Company purchased by The Boeing Aircraft Company in September 1934
• Stearman Aircraft Division renamed as Wichita Division in 1939
• built as PT-13, powered by one 225-hp Lycoming R-680-B4B nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade Sensenich wood propeller
• third in Model 75’s initial production run of 26 (order no. 36-026: c/n 75-001 to c/n 75-026, s/n 36-2 to s/n 36-27) !
• the third oldest Model 75 in existence
• the oldest is c/n 75-001, s/n 36-2, N75001, William B. Field Trustee, Pleasanton, California, USA in a private collection at Bud Field Aviation, Hayward Executive Airport (HWD/KHWD), Hayward, California, USA (certificate of airworthiness issued on April 18, 1974 and expired on June 30, 2013)
• the second oldest is c/n 75-002, s/n 36-3, N4900V, Jack Ellis, El Centro, California, USA (cancelled on August 8, 2012)
• all initial Model 75 manufacturer plates had no mention of “Boeing” printed on them as well as some, if not all, of the PT-13As
• PT-13 had the vertical format plate riveted to the rear instrument panel base on the starboard side, PT-13 had unique instrument panels, the floating portions of the panels were different shaped from all the other aircraft and had different shock mount locations than the rest of the aircraft; they aren’t interchangeable
• delivered as s/n 36-4 to USAAC on October 26, 1936
• ferried by Deed Levy to Parks Air College, Parks College Airfield, Cahokia, Illinois, USA in late October 1936
• to Air Corps Training Center, USAAC
• based at Randolph Field, Bexar County, near San Antonio,Texas, USA
• markings in yellow on fuselage & in black on lower wings; coded 502 on forward fuselage and on rear fuselage; titled ARMY on lower surface on lower port wing and U.S. on lower surface on lower starboard wing; USAAC roundel (August 1919–May 1942) on upper surfaces on each upper wing and on lower surfaces on each lower wing; overall gloss light blue (23) finish with gloss yellow (4) on upper and lower surfaces on each wing, horizontal stabilizer, & vertical stabilizer, gloss light blue (23) wheel covers, wing struts, & landing gear legs, and dark blue vertical band at rudder hinge with thirteen alternating red & white horizontal tail stripes on rudder; in USAAC colour scheme (pre-1939)
• fixed conventional landing gear with steerable tailwheel
• assigned to 46th School Squadron, redesignated as 46th Basic Flying Training Squadron; 47th School Squadron, redesignated as 47th Basic Flying Training Squadron; 52nd School Squadron, redesignated as 52nd Basic Flying Training Squadron; or 53rd School Squadron, redesignated as 53rd Basic Flying Training Squadron; all redesignated on September 1, 1940
• Air Corps Training Center, USAAC redesignated as Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center, USAAC on August 22, 1940
• Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center, USAAF redesignated as Gulf Coast Training Center, USAAF on March 15, 1942
• assigned to Air Corps Flying Training Command, USAAF on January 23, 1942
• assigned to Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, USAAF on March 15, 1942
• PT-13, PT-13A, and PT-13B redesignated as PT-13 Kaydet, PT-13A Kaydet, and PT-13B Kaydet in 1941
• USAAC (United States Army Air Corps) became the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) on June 20, 1941
• served there until accident in 1943 when flipped over on landing
• after a rebuild six months later, sent to Ontario AAF (Army Airfield), Ontario, California, USA
• USAAF surplus in 1946 with tt 3,000 airframe hours
• sold to Agair Inc. at Eagle Field, Dos Palos, California, USA
• converted to American Airmotive NA-75, agricultural sprayer, single-seat open cockpit with front seat replaced by chemical hopper, unequal-span positive staggered high-lift wings with outboard ailerons on upper and lower wings, spray bars on wing trailing edges, metal fuselage, and a 55 US-gallon fuel tank, either remanufactured by or converted via a conversion kit sold by National Aircraft Division, American Airmotive Corporation, Miami, Florida, USA sometime after 1956
• N68492, “10”, Agair Inc., Dos Palos, California, USA
• based at Eagle Field, Fresno County, near Dos Palos, California
• the 225-hp Lycoming R-680-B4B was replaced with a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior, then a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp SC, and finally back to a 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior
• its working days ended in 1987 with tt 8,500 hours, finally being replaced by an Air Tractor AT-301
• N68492, William L. Young, Temple City, California, USA on January 12, 1990 and cancelled on February 24, 1993
• purchased by Kevin Maher in 1994
• imported in 1994
• long, slow restoration process with many life-driven interruptions but Kevin Maher hopes to return the Stearman to the skies within a few years
• he says it has been a wonderful life-altering experience restoring it
• the predecessor to his employer Air Canada, Trans-Canada Air Lines (Trans-Canada Air Lines Ltd.), Montréal, Québec, Canada, operated one Stearman: 1930 Stearman 4-EM Senior Speedmail, c/n 4010, CF-ASF, “20”, previously owned and operated by Canadian Airways
• Canadian Airways (Canadian Airways Limited), Montréal, Québec, Canada operated four Stearmans: 1930 Stearman 4-EM Senior Speedmail, c/n 4016, CF-AMB; 1930 Stearman 4-EM Senior Speedmail, c/n 4017, CF-AMC; 1932 Stearman 4-EM Senior Speedmail, c/n 4028, CF-ASE; and CF-ASF on its airmail routes in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Québec in the early 1930s
• he was hoping to secure the registration marks from one of those aircraft, but, unable to do so, s/n 75-003 will fly again as CF-KTE (Kevin, wife Tracy, and son Evan; or KiTE for short)
• N68492 (CF-KTE reserved), Kevin Maher, Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in 1994
• based at Duncan Airport (DUQ/CAM3), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• Kevin Maher pilots Boeing 777s for Air Canada
• currently undergoing long, thorough, detailed, complete restoration

At 14:04 PDT.

At 14:13 PDT.

At 14:36 PDT.

[2010 Nikon D3100 14.2 megapixel DX-format DSLR Nikon F-mount camera, s/n 5119118; Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, s/n 53867376, with 52mm UV(C) filter]

  

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 2013

1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, c/n 288, C-GXYR, York Realty Ltd.

Update: I am now able to confirm without a doubt, my photograph of the previously unidentified Otter (click on the posting title above) is in fact C-GXYR (some sources identified c/n 288 as C-GXRY). Please see the link http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1021204/ for definitive proof.

1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, c/n 288, C-GXYR, York Realty Ltd., Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada; powered by one 600-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp supercharged nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller; pilot, 10 passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport; built by de Havilland Canada, Toronto, Ontario at Downsview, Ontario; delivered as U-1A-DH Otter, BuNo 58-1683, US Army on September 30, 1958; N3382; rebuilt at Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. in August 1997(?); N68086, Temsco Airlines, Ketchikan, Alaska, USA; N68086, Taquan Air Service Inc., Ketchikan, Alaska on May 12, 1998, cancelled on November 17, 1999; deregistered, exported to Fiji; Vazar turbine conversion; converted to DHC-3T Turbine Otter, powered by one 750-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprop engine with constant-speed, full-feathering reversible-pitch, three-blade Hartzell propeller, Edo amphibious floats; DQ-GLL, Pacific Island Air (Pacific Island Amphibious Seaplanes), Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji in December 1999; accident when DQ-GLL tipped over near Vomo Island, Fiji, extent of damage unknown, 1 crew, 5 passengers, no injuries, no fatalities, on December 29, 2009 at about 6:00 pm; fuselage without engine, wings, tail, or floats, stored on field at Nadi International Airport (NAN), Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji; rebuilt; imported in 2011; C-GHAQ, Harbour Air Seaplanes (Harbour Air Ltd.), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C. on November 30, 2011, reconfigured for 14 passengers.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in June 1980.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1980

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, tail painted white, FIFT (Forest Industries Flying Tankers Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9), Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.; powered by four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; flying boat hull; crew of four (pilot, co-pilot, two flight engineers), firefighting water bomber; built by Glenn L. Martin Company, Baltimore, Maryland, USA at Middle River, Maryland (M); built as JRM-1 Mars (Model 170A), powered by four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; delivered as BuNo 76820, Philippine Mars, USN on June 26, 1946; VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron, NAS Alameda, Alameda, California; converted to JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), powered by four 3,000-hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360-4T Wasp Major supercharged 28-cylinder, four-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; withdrawn from use on May 7, 1956; stored at NAS Alameda, Alameda, California, tt 18,662; bought by Hugo Forrester, trading as Mars Metals Company, in 1959; delivered to FIFT on September 5, 1959; converted to air tanker configuration with removal of all unnecessary military and cargo-loading gear, installation of side drop system, large water tanks (inside main fuselage where cargo used to be stowed), and sophisticated retractable scooping system, re-installation of original configuration of four 2,500-hp Wright R-3350-24WA Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers, by Fairey Aviation of Canada, Patricia Bay, Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C. in 1962; CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT, Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. on July 4, 1962; into service for the fire season in 1963; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT, Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. in 1976, re-registered; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Flying Tankers Inc., Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C. on July 4, 2001, registration renewed; offered for sale on November 10, 2006; C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Coulson Aircrane Ltd., operating as Coulson Flying Tankers Inc., Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9), Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., on May 1, 2007; owner registered since June 29, 2007.

Philippine Mars passing by at low altitude at the Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1982(?).

Philippine Mars putting on a demonstration, dropping a load of water from its two outlets on either side of the fuselage.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Felix Hayo Scharnberg, 1982 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, October 2011

1976 Britten-Norman BN.2A-20 Islander, c/n 770, C-GTOP, Tradewinds Aviation

1976 Britten-Norman BN.2A-20 Islander, c/n 770, C-GTOP, Tradewinds Aviation, Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada, based at South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C.; powered by two 300-hp Lycoming IO-540-K1B5 fuel-injected six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engines with constant-speed two-blade Hartzell propellers; crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), eight passengers, utility transport/regional airliner; built by Fairey Britten Norman Ltd., Bembridge, Isle of Wight, England at IRMA (Intreprinderea de Reparatii Material Aeronautic) (Enterprise for Aeronautical Material Repairment), Bucharest, Romania (built “green”, then shipped to Bembridge for finishing); G-BDHX, Fairey Britten Norman Ltd., Bembridge, Isle of Wight, England, based at Bembridge Airport (BBP), Bembridge, Isle of Wight on November 8, 1975; exported to USA on March 11, 1976; N6365G; TI-AKD, Costa Rica; imported in ?; registration cancelled on March 19, 1984; C-GTOP, Aztec Aviation Consulting Ltd., Delta, B.C. cancelled on July 12, 1984; C-GTOP, Top Sales Ltd., Richmond, B.C. cancelled on August 29, 1984; C-GTOP, Fa May, Richmond, B.C. cancelled on November 27, 1984; C-GTOP, Venture Aviation Services Ltd., Sea Island, Richmond, B.C. cancelled on August 14, 1986; C-GTOP, Finlay Forest Industries Ltd., Mackenzie, B.C. cancelled on January 7, 1987; C-GTOP, Williston Lake Air Services Ltd., Mackenzie, B.C. on July 9, 1987, cancelled on June 26, 1996; exported to USA on June 26, 1996; airworthiness issued on July 25, 1996; N442S, Griffings Island Airlines Inc., Sandusky, Ohio, USA on February 23, 2007.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1982(?).

1976 Britten-Norman BN.2A-20 Islander, c/n 770, C-GTOP near the north end of the gravel and grass airstrip, east side of the airport near the Duncan Flying Club’s clubhouse.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Felix Hayo Scharnberg, 1982 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, October 2011

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, construction number and registration unknown; powered by one 600-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp supercharged nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller; pilot, ten passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport; built by de Havilland Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Downsview, Ontario.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in June 1980.

* I was unable to decipher the Otter’s registration on the tail fin when I enlarged this scanned photograph. The only possible clues I do have are: 

- the pilot and possibly owner had the surname of Roberts, who I seem to recall living on Miller Rd. between the Glenora Rd. turn-off to Langtry Rd. and the airport, and Allenby Rd. that runs parallel to the Cowichan River at the outskirts of Duncan.

- the pilot’s son was at the Fly-In that day, riding his red bicycle with a banana seat, a few years younger than my brother and me. I seem to recall his name was Brad Roberts. I was almost 18 years old at the time. 

- Otters c/n 131 and c/n 307 were located and purchased in Nicaragua in 1979, shipped from Managua to Miami, trucked north to Montreal, then sold to York Realty Ltd. of Duncan, B.C. for parts used in rebuilding Otter c/n 288 into 1980. Is there a connection between the above Otter and York Realty? Is the above Otter c/n 288? The only Canadian registration I have unearthed for c/n 288 is C-GXRY, but the last two letters of the above-photographed Otter appear to be “YB”, “YD”, “YO”, or “YR”.

If anyone has any information as to which Otter this could possibly be, it would be much appreciated. I have searched several websites and blogs for clues, but it looks like I need to order a CD of Karl E. Hayes’ extensive Otter research, de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter: A History.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1980

1978 Davis DA-2A, c/n GDDA278, C-GSDS

1978 Davis DA-2A, c/n GDDA278, C-GSDS, Grant Sauerberg, Calgary, Alberta, Canada and David Sauerberg, Delta, B.C.; powered by one 100-hp Continental O-200-A four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade wood propeller; side-by-side pilot and passenger, amateur-built; built by Grant & David Sauerberg; registered on July 25, 1978, cancelled on November 8, 2002; C-GSDS, David Kirkeby, Strathmore, Alberta on November 8, 2002, cancelled on January 31, 2003.

The Annual Duncan Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1979.

[Agfamatic 100 viewfinder camera, Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, 1979

1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper, c/n 16-322, CF-YYN

1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper, c/n 16-322, CF-YYN, Soren Sorensen, Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada; powered by one 115-hp Lycoming O-235-C1 four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with cruise-pitch two-blade Sensenich propeller; pilot, three passengers, general aviation; built by Piper Aircraft Company, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, USA; registered on July 18, 1969, cancelled on June 10, 2002; exported to USA on December 23, 2003; N108PC, Wayne P. Hess, Terrebonne, Oregon on March 7, 2004.

The Annual Duncan Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1979.

[Agfamatic 100 viewfinder camera, Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, 1979

1941 Piper J-3C-65 Cub, c/n 6909, C-FELR

1941 Piper J-3C-65 Cub, c/n 6909, C-FELR, Charles Price, Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada; powered by one 65-hp Continental A65-8 four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade Sensenich propeller; tandem pilot and passenger, general aviation; built by Piper Aircraft Company, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, USA; registered on March 26, 1979, cancelled on May 1, 1989; C-FELR, J. Furgale, Winnipeg, Manitoba/R. Larner, Winnipeg, Manitoba/T. Paul, Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 1, 1989, cancelled on November 16, 1993; C-FELR, Raymond Larner, Winnipeg, Manitoba/Bruce Bowles, Winnipeg, Manitoba/Timothy Paul, Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 16, 1993.

The Annual Duncan Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in summer 1979.

[Agfamatic 100 viewfinder camera, Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, 1979

1972 Bell 206B JetRanger II, c/n 763, CF-ALF, Alpine Helicopters

1972 Bell 206B JetRanger II, c/n 763, CF-ALF, Alpine Helicopters Ltd., Kelowna, B.C., Canada, based at Kelowna, B.C.; powered by one 400-shp Allison 250-C20 turboshaft engine with two-blade main rotor and two-blade tail rotor; skids; pilot, four-passengers or equivalent cargo, multi-purpose utility transport; built by Bell Helicopter Company, Textron Inc., Hurst, Texas, USA; owner registered since March 28, 1972; re-registered as C-FALF; registration cancelled on July 25, 1996.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. on Sunday, June 10, 1979.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1979

Royal Canadian Air Cadets, 1975–1979

The sole surviving shoulder patch from my “battle dress”-style (short waist coat) blue-grey wool uniform, the 1941–1976 issue. Officially the colour was known as Azure Blue.

The “battle dress”-style blue-grey wool uniform was changed to a CAF rifle green safari-style uniform. The style and weight were more suited to the indoors of the cadet halls and the summer training climate and temperatures. The first of these were issued to squadrons starting in 1978. Although the old blue-grey wool uniforms were hot in the summer, but warm in the winter, I did not like the change from the traditional WW II-era RCAF style to one that made the male cadets look like little wussies and sissies, and it was not flattering to the females either. The current blue Air Cadet uniform is a great improvement on the green style and a big step in the right direction. Our head gear was the “Wedge Cap”, or “Wedgie” as we named them, worn with a slight tilt to the right side, one inch above the right ear, and centred forward and aft on the head, the front one inch above the eye brow. It was designed with pull-down ear flaps and neck protection, useful in the cold Canadian winters on windy and icy parade squares.

About one month before my thirteenth birthday, I joined the local RCAirC (Royal Canadian Air Cadets) unit, 744 Cowichan Squadron, enlisting for four years, sometime September 1975 to the early autumn of 1979 just after the start of Grade 11, with the aim of receiving and achieving flight training through their glider and small aircraft familiarization programs. My parents were not too thrilled about the uniform and the military aspects of this, as father had experienced mandatory enlistment in the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) during the wartime Nazi years, from age 12 in March 1941 to the end of hostilities in early May 1945, but nonetheless allowed me, and a year later my brother, to enlist.

Since childhood I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming either a bushplane or a commercial pilot. Flying was it. I did not care much for the military discipline, although I always followed commands. But I only attained the rank of Corporal.

In those years the squadron was based in the old St. Ann Rectory, a former Catholic convent and girls residence school for many Cowichan natives for 100 years, built by the Sisters of St. Ann in 1864, next to the Stinesen’s farm and the little white St. Ann’s Church, Quamichan, 1775 Tzouhalem Rd., almost at the foot of and in the shadows of Mt. Tzouhalem and its white cross overlooking Cowichan Bay. My Blackfoot First Nations uncle, John McHugh, (Siksika Nation in Gleichen, Alberta) is buried at St. Ann’s Church. He took his own life with a hand gun in the early 1970s. He had experienced the horrors of a residential school. Today St. Ann Rectory is known as Providence Farm (where for a time, or maybe still, the annual Island Music Festival annually takes place).

A girl I knew and liked since Grade One, Jennifer Brain (now Lally), joined during my last year of enlistment. A few other cadets I remember are a Stinesen daughter, Simone Desautels and her brother, Peter Norie, Fiona Barr and her brother, Greg Anderson, Sabina Braun, Richard Leduc, Ken Dzuba, and Stuart Lumgair.

Nanaimo Airport (YCD), Cassidy (near Nanaimo), Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada was where the weekend familiarization flights took place on a few weekends in late spring, summer, and autumn, typically from late March to early November, weather-permitting. This included flying as a passenger in the rear seat of the tandem two-seat Cessna L-19A-CE Bird Dog or Bellanca 8GCBC Scout tow plane and in the front seat of one of the tandem two-seat Schweizer SGU 2-22C, Schweizer SGU 2-22E, or Schweizer SGS 2-33A gliders, participation in the ground operations which included positioning the gliders for take-off and retrieving them after landing, signalling between the tow plane and the glider, holding up and running with the right wing tip until the glider picked up sufficient take-off speed, and retrieving tow ropes dropped by the tow plane prior to it landing, from the grass strip between Runway 16/34 and the parallel tarmac, hooking the tow rope to the tow plane and the glider, and lollipop duty, holding up a big round orange day-glo aluminum sign to stop taxiing aircraft until the tow plane or the glider had passed and landed, at the edge of Taxiway Able, Runway 34, or Taxiway Bravo, Runway 16, depending on the wind direction indicated by the orange wind sock situated on the grass strip. On one occasion I was in the enviable position of stopping a just-arrived Douglas DC-3 from entering the taxiway and crossing the incoming glider’s landing path. I can still see the pilot and co-pilot looking down at me, and the passengers peering from the cabin windows. The Air Cadet League provided administrative and recreational support at these events. This reduced the workload of the CAF flying and training staff and the Air Cadet squadron commanders. 

I attended two or three extended field trips to NAS (Naval Air Station) Whidbey Island, near Oak Harbor, Washington, USA including a tour of the Boeing 747 factory at Paine Field (PAE), Everett, Washington. There was also an excursion to the South Terminal at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C. which included a tour of some hangars and clambering inside the sickly green Grumman G-73 Mallard amphibious flying boat, CF-HUB, or was it the Grumman G-73 Mallard, CF-HPU ?, seemingly a little lost and forlorn, parked out on the weed-plagued tarmac.

In the summer of 1978, I attended the Basic Training camp at CFB Penhold near Red Deer, Alberta. We flew Victoria–Vancouver–Edmonton with a Pacific Western Airlines Boeing 737-275 and then bumped our way to the base, on hard, vinyl benches in a dark green Canadian Armed Forces Bluebird bus. I neglected to use an airport washroom when an officer gave us the opportunity, thinking I was not in need until the base. I sat suffering in silence and anguish with a full bladder and urine erection, luckily on a last row bench at a window, covering up with my blue grey wool jacket. We were underway for a little over two hours.

I remember flying with the 1975 Boeing 737-275(A), c/n 20959/395, C-GCPW, “741”, PWA, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; powered by two 14,500-lbs thrust Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A(HK3) low-bypass turbofan engines; crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), seating configuration Y117 (economy-class), short- to medium-range, narrow-body airliner; built by The Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington, USA at Renton, Washington; first flight on January 22, 1975; delivered on February 24, 1975; N126AW, “126”, America West Airlines, Phoenix, Arizona on June 20, 1983; C-GCPW, Canadian Airlines International, Calgary, Alberta on November 12, 1987; C-GCPW, America West Airlines, Phoenix, Arizona on May 10, 1989, leased; C-GCPW, Canadian Airlines International, Calgary, Alberta on January 6, 1998; C-GCPW, “541”, Air Canada, Montréal, Québec on March 8, 2001, merged; full Air Canada colour scheme; last regular flight in October 2001; ferried from Calgary International Airport (YYC), Calgary, Alberta to Opa-locka Airport (OPF), Miami-Dade County, Florida on April 10, 2003; broken up by BlueSide Metals at Opa-locka Airport (OPF), Miami-Dade County, Florida; scrapped.

My summer training highlight was flying in a de Havilland Canada CC-138 Twin Otter through a series of loops and hammerhead stalls high over the Alberta prairie, the blue skies sparsely battened with a few high-altitude puffs of straggling cloud. With the G forces through the manoeuvres our wedgies floated from our heads to slide a moment along the cabin ceiling.

As best as I can recall, it was the 1971 de Havilland Canada CC-138 Twin Otter (military version of -300 Series), c/n 309, 13807/807, CAF; powered by two 680-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 turboprop engines with constant-speed, full-feathering reversible-pitch, three-blade Hartzell propellers; crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), 18 passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) SAR (search and rescue)/Arctic utility transport; built by de Havilland Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Downsview, Ontario; taken on strength on September 17, 1971; No. 440 Squadron, CFB Namao, Edmonton, Alberta; struck off on May 5, 1987; she was used by crew from reserve unit No. 418 Squadron at time of the crash on June 14, 1986, searching for a civilian SAR aircraft that had gone down looking for an overdue light plane; the aircraft was destroyed flying into the side of a mountain, killing all on board: pilot Captain Ted Kates, co-pilot Captain Wayne Plumtree, and six observers; according to the official accident report, the crash was caused by a freak optical illusion; the colour of the rocks in the mountain combined with the sun angle at the time of the crash made a large ledge impossible to see; the crash location is 74 kilometres (46.3 miles) west of Calgary, Alberta.

I was a day dreamer, having difficulty focusing on math and theory knowledge and the skills necessary to be able to learn all the technical stuff. I could not grasp the navigation calculation formulas. I scored poor marks on the mathematical and navigational problems and questions of the flying ground school lessons and exam. I failed the exams as a prerequisite for applying to glider school training and beyond.

At about the same time I did not pass the exacting medical physicals. I notoriously fainted during the doctor appointments and anytime there was any talk of medical-related subjects and issues.

I quit Air Cadets a week after washing out, my long-held dreams of flying dashed. I was in a blue funk.

In time I applied my focus in a new direction. Camphill was to be just over the horizon.

© Copyright scanned image by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 2011

1977 Bowers Fly Baby 1A, c/n 600 S, C-GJTS, Tom Staples

1977 Bowers Fly Baby 1A, c/n 600 S, C-GJTS, Tom Staples at the Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ/CAM3), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on Sunday, June 10, 1979

1977 Bowers Fly Baby 1A, c/n 600 S, C-GJTS, Tom Staples, Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Victoria International Airport (YYJ/CYYJ), North Saanich, near Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C.

• powered by one 65-hp Teledyne Continental A65-8 four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade wood Sensenich propeller
• fixed main landing gear and tail wheel
• single-seat, open cockpit light amateur-built
• built by Tom Staples from a design by Peter M. Bowers, Seattle, Washington, USA
• registered to Tom Staples on August 29, 1977
• awarded Grand Champion Custom-Built Classic at the 2000 NWEAA (North West EAA) Fly-In, Arlington Municipal Airport (KAWO/AWO), Snohomish County, Washington, USA
• refitted with one 85-hp Teledyne Continental C85-12 four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade McCauley propeller
• refitted with a canopy
• active

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 (20 DIN/ASA 80) 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1979

1966 Bell 204B, c/n 2043, C-FOKY, Alpine Helicopters

1966 Bell 204B, c/n 2043, C-FOKY, Alpine Helicopters Ltd., Kelowna, B.C., Canada, based in Kelowna, B.C.; powered by one 1,100-shp Lycoming T53-L-11A turboshaft engine with two-blade main rotor and two-blade tail rotor; skids; crew of one or two (pilot, co-pilot), 8–9 passengers or equivalent cargo, multi-purpose utility transport; built by Bell Helicopter Company, Textron Inc., Hurst, Texas, USA; registered on May 26, 1975, cancelled on May 16, 1988; C-FOKY, Eagle Copters Ltd., Calgary, Alberta on May 5, 1988, cancelled on May 19, 1989; C-FOKY, Vancouver Island Helicopters Ltd., Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C. on May 19, 1989, cancelled on August 11, 1989; C-FOKY, Les Hélicoptères Abitibi Ltée, La Sarre, Québec on August 24, 1989, cancelled on February 20, 1990; C-FOKY, Nationwide Helicopters Ltd., De Winton, Alberta on February 20, 1990, cancelled on March 3, 1992; C-FOKY, Conair Aviation Ltd., Abbotsford, B.C., operated as Frontier Helicopters, on April 28, 1992, cancelled on June 5, 1996; C-FOKY, Denendeh Helicopters Ltd., Hay River Dene Reserve, NWT on July 16, 1996, cancelled on January 23, 1997; C-FOKY, Venture Helicopters (M.K.C.) Incorporated, Calgary, Alberta on May 27, 1997, cancelled on April 20, 1998; C-FOKY, Provincial Helicopters Ltd., Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba on May 26, 1998, cancelled on May 21, 2004; C-FOKY, Provincial Helicopters Ltd., Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba on September 3, 2004, cancelled on June 3, 2005; C-FOKY, Hélicoptères Panorama Ltée/Panorama Helicopters Ltd., Alma, Québec on June 3, 2005, cancelled on May 26, 2006; C-FOKY, Hélicoptères Panorama Ltée/Panorama Helicopters Ltd., Alma, Québec on August 23, 2006, cancelled on May 26, 2010; C-FOKY, Hélicoptères Panorama Ltée/Panorama Helicopters Ltd., Alma, Québec on February 3, 2011, cancelled on March 24, 2011; C-FOKY, Eagle Copters Ltd., Calgary, Alberta on March 24, 2011, cancelled on June 16, 2011; C-FOKY, Black Swan Helicopters Ltd., Berwyn, Alberta on June 16, 2011.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. on Sunday, June 10, 1979.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1979