1956 Fiat G.91 PAN, c/n 10, MM6244/10

1956 Fiat G.91 PAN, c/n 10, MM6244/10, Frecce Tricolori, 313º Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), based at Rivolto Air Force Base (IPI), Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy; powered by one 4,990-lbs thrust Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 803 turbojet engine with no afterburner; single-seat, aerobatic display; built by Fiat Aviazione Aeritalia; built as pre-production G.91; converted to G.91 PAN; one of several G.91s used by Frecce Tricolori (Three-coloured Arrows), Italy’s Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (national aerobatic team), flying G.91PANs from 1963 to 1981; donated by Aeritalia—Societa Aerospatiale Italiana.

Static display on the South Lawn, The Museum of Flight, King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, Washington, USA on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 12:58 pm.

[Casio Exilim EX-Z20 point-and-shoot 8.1 MP digital camera, 38–114-mm f/3.1–5.9 lens]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, December 2010

1967 Cessna 150H, c/n 150-68002, N22003

1967 Cessna 150H, c/n 150-68002, N22003, James Daniel Gomez, Mercer Island, Washington, USA, based at King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, Washington; powered by one 100-hp Continental O-200-A four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade McCauley propeller; side-by-side pilot and passenger, general aviation; built by Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas; airworthiness issued on December 13, 1967; certificate issued on September 25, 1990.

West side of the airport, immediately north of The Museum of Flight, King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, Washington on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 12:12 pm.

[Casio Exilim EX-Z20 point-and-shoot 8.1 MP digital camera, 38–114-mm f/3.1–5.9 lens]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, December 2010

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

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT at Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in late May 1963

1945 Martin JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), c/n 9264, CF-LYK, Philippine Mars, FIFT (Forest Industries Flying Tankers Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.

• tail painted white
• 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; two inboard engines fitted with reversible-pitch devices on their 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 Plant, Middle River, Maryland (M)
• built as JRM-1 Mars (Model 170A), powered by four 2,200-hp Wright R-3350-8 Duplex-Cyclone supercharged 18-cylinder, twin-row, air-cooled radial piston engines with constant-speed four-blade Curtiss Electric propellers; long-range transport; JATO (jet-fuel assisted take off) rockets mounted under wings
• delivered as BuNo 76820, Philippine Mars to US Navy on June 26, 1946
• VR-2 Naval Air Transport Squadron, Naval Air Transport Service, USN, NAS Alameda, Alameda, San Francisco Bay, California, USA
• coded 820/RA
• converted to JRM-3 Mars (Model 170B), 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
• withdrawn from use on May 7, 1956
• stored outside at NAS Alameda (NGZ/KNGZ), Alameda, San Francisco Bay, California, USA
• tt 18,661:8 hours
• sold as scrap
• bought by Hugo Forrester, trading as Mars Metals Company, San Francisco, California, USA in late spring 1959
• sold to FIFT (a consortium of five British Columbia forest companies formed by MacMillan Bloedel Limited, British Columbia Forest Products Limited, Pacific Logging Co. Ltd., Tahsis Company, and Western Forest Industries)
• ferried from San Francisco Bay to Patricia Bay by Fairey Aviation conversion crew
• 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, refitted with 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
• conversion by Fairey Aviation Company of Canada Limited, Victoria International Airport (YYJ/CYYJ), North Saanich, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in 1962
• registered as CF-LYK on July 4, 1962
• into service for the fire season in 1963
• re-registered as C-FLYK in 1976
• registration cancelled on September 28, 2001
• registration renewed with Flying Tankers Inc. (TimberWest Forest Ltd.), Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on September 28, 2001
• based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9/CBT9), Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• registration cancelled on February 6, 2004
• registration renewed on February 25, 2004
• offered for sale on November 10, 2006
• registration cancelled on June 8, 2007
• C-FLYK, Philippine Mars, Coulson Flying Tankers (Coulson Aircrane Ltd./Subsidiary of The Coulson Group of Companies), Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on June 29, 2007
• based at Sproat Lake Seaplane Base (CAA9/CBT9), Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• parked onshore, not operational since 2007
• Update: The Coulson Group of Companies announced on August 23, 2012 that Philippine Mars would be retired and flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola (NPA/KNPA), Escambia County, near Pensacola, Florida, USA to become a static display
• Update: to be repainted in original US Navy markings and colour scheme, expected to be delivered to museum in November 2012

[1959 Kodak Retina IIIS (Type 027) rangefinder 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 86125, with Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50-mm f/1.9 Synchro Compur lens, s/n 6841319; Agfa Agfachrome 64 (19 DIN/ASA 64) 20-exposure colour slide film]

© Copyright photograph by Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, May 1963 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 2011

1933 Stinson SR Reliant, c/n 8732, NC13477

1933 Stinson SR Reliant, c/n 8732, NC13477; powered by one 225-hp Lycoming R-680-17 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed two-blade propeller; floats; pilot, four passengers, bushplane; built by Aviation Manufacturing Corporation, Stinson Aircraft Division, Wayne, Michigan, USA; NC13477, Russell “Duke” Riley, Boston, Massachusetts in 1933; flew as a landplane with many pilots in the Northeast before being switched to floats for water landings; it flew in Alaska, beginning in 1979, sometimes equipped with skis.

Hanging in flying configuration in the Great Gallery, The Museum of Flight, King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, Washington on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 10:21 am.  

At 10:22 am.

[Casio Exilim EX-Z20 point-and-shoot 8.1 MP digital camera, 38–114-mm f/3.1–5.9 lens]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, December 2010

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

1954 Cessna 170B, c/n 26452, CF-EFF

1954 Cessna 170B, c/n 26452, CF-EFF, Wayne Cave, Abbotsford, B.C., Canada, based at Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C.; powered by one 145-hp Continental C145-2 six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade McCauley propeller; pilot, three passengers, general aviation; built by Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA; CF-EFF, Lawrence Cave, Quesnel, B.C. on June 28, 1977, cancelled on June 23, 1998; owner registered since June 23, 1998. 

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:41 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

Current fate of 1944 Grumman G-21A Goose, c/n B-101, C-FVFU, Aline, European Coastal Airlines

Anyone wondering as to the fate of the 1944 Grumman G-21A Goose, c/n B-101, C-FVFU, Aline, European Coastal Airlines? She was most recently refurbished in 2004. Then she was sitting in a hangar at Vukovar Borovo N Airport (DOB), Borovo Naselje, Slavonia, Croatia, a settlement in the northwestern industrial part of Vukovar, Vukovar-Syrmia, Croatia, on the right bank of the river Danube across from Serbia. There are five photos of her in that hangar, dated October 20, 2008. The airfield appears to be so small it does not have fuel services. Founded in 2000, the company was put on hold after September 11, 2001, then launched scheduled services in 2008. Their fleet at this point consists of three seaplanes, apparently including the Grumman G-21A Goose, and they operate on routes around the Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea.

• 1944 Grumman G-21A Goose, c/n B-101, C-FVFU, Aline, European Coastal Airlines, in a hangar at Vukovar Borovo N Airport (DOB), http://planewatcher.com/details.php?image_id=1342
• Vukovar Borovo N Airport (DOB), http://www.fallingrain.com/icao/LDOB.html
• Vukovar Borovo N Airport aerial view, http://www.ourairports.com/airports/LDOB/
• Borovo Naselje, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borovo_Naselje
• European Coastal Airlines, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coastal_Airlines
• European Coastal Airlines Fleet, http://www.ec-air.eu/englisch/flugzeuge.html

1974 Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking 300A, c/n 74-30661, C-GDOR

1974 Bellanca 17-30A Super Viking 300A, c/n 74-30661, C-GDOR, English Bay Brokers Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, based at Boundary Bay Airport (YDT), Delta, B.C.; powered by one 300-hp Continental IO-520-K fuel-injected six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hartzell propeller; retractable landing gear; pilot, three passengers, general aviation; built by Bellanca Aircraft Corporation, Plainview, Texas, USA at Alexandria, Minnesota; C-GDOR, Dorien Aubee, Wandering River, Alberta cancelled on October 5, 1988; C-GDOR, Fascon Enterprises Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta on October 5, 1988, cancelled on January 20, 1989; C-GDOR, Earle Fleming, Calgary, Alberta on January 20, 1989, cancelled on August 14, 1989; C-GDOR, Ipec Consultants Ltd., North Vancouver, B.C. on September 21, 1989, cancelled on September 9, 1992; owner registered since September 10, 1992.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:36 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1981 Cessna A185F Skywagon II, c/n 185-04264, C-GMEI

1981 Cessna A185F Skywagon II, c/n 185-04264, C-GMEI, Lee Pond, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C.; powered by one 300-hp Continental IO-520-D fuel-injected six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with constant-speed three-blade McCauley propeller; amphibious floats; pilot, five passengers, utility transport; built by Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA; airworthiness issued on March 22, 1995; N185M, Paul Swanstrom/Mountain Flying Service, Inc., Haines, Alaska, tundra tire-equipped, accident while landing on firm sand at an off-airport site on the Alsek River, Yakutat, Alaska, right landing gear dug into sand, aircraft spun around, sustained substantial damage to both landing gear attachments and both wings, at about 1700 Alaska Daylight Time on August 16, 2000, pilot and both passengers uninjured; repaired; N185M, Paul Swanstrom/Mountain Flying Service, Inc., Haines, Alaska, ski-equipped, accident while landing in deep snow on a glacier at Haines, Alaska, landing gear attachment bolts on right ski sheared, nose down, structural damage to right wing and aileron, at about 1700 Alaska Daylight Time on May 1, 2007, pilot and all three passengers uninjured; repaired by Beegles Aircraft Service, Inc., Greeley, Colorado; registration cancelled on February 11, 2008; imported in 2008; owner registered since February 13, 2008.

South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C. on Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at about 11:50 am.

[Casio Exilim EX-Z20 point-and-shoot 8.1 MP digital camera, 38–114-mm f/3.1–5.9 lens]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, December 2010

“Death in Blue” by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg

Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVF, T1807, LA-E, No. 235 Squadron, Coastal Command, RAF, based at RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk, England since June 24, 1940; powered by two 920-hp Bristol Mercury XV supercharged nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines with variable-pitch three-blade Hamilton Standard propellers; retractable landing gear; crew of three (pilot, navigator/observer, gunner), long-range fighter-reconnaissance; built by Bristol Aerospace Company, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England; built as Blenheim Mk. IV; converted to Blenheim Mk. IVF; armament of one .303-inch Browning machine gun in port wing; four fixed forward-firing .303-inch Browning machine guns in special ventral pack; manually-operated powered dorsal turret with two .303-inch Browning machine guns; four 250-lb bombs externally-mounted on underbelly of fuselage aft of ventral pack.

    

No. 235 Squadron crest, motto of Jaculamur humi (We strike them to the ground), badge is a double Wyvern spouting fire.

“Death in Blue”

The clear, blue sky, brushed by a few distant vapour trails, spun, twirled, in slow clockwise motion. Nothing but silence. Peace.

These were the days of the Battle of Britain. We left on a low-altitude coastal reconnaissance to the Dutch coastline in the early afternoon of September 13, 1940. The late-summer sun was already seasonally a little thinner. We were nearing the island of Texel in the province of North Holland. I was the dorsal turret gunner of the Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVF, T1807, call letters LA-E, a high-speed long-range fighter-reconnaissance aircraft. We had to be careful of Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s with their 20-mm MG FF cannons, while looking for Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s, and Dornier Do 17s. We were from No. 235 Squadron, based at RAF Bircham Newton, attached to Coastal Command, protecting and escorting shipping convoys from German maritime patrol aircraft and long-range bombers, running reconnaissance missions over the North Sea, and protecting downed Allied aircrews until rescue craft arrived. 

I swung my hydraulically-assisted gun turret of two Browning .303s the full 360 degrees in slow, steady ellipticals and lemniscates across the sky. It appeared to be a routine run flirting at the edges of boredom. I arced through the blinding sun. A short, deep jolt of pain followed a staccato burst from the golden glare. It cut through my chest. The aluminum and plexiglass dome came apart in shreds, shards, and strips. I was somersaulted into the blue. The roar of the two radial piston engines fell away. I was at peace as the light chop of the sea reached up to encircle me in her arms. Cold and yet warm at the same time.

I was a 19-year-old farmer’s son from a small village in West Yorkshire. The Royal Air Force meant life in an itchy blue-grey wool uniform, leather flight jacket, and leather flying helmet with flying goggles and oxygen mask.

We were pushed through a rapid training in ground and flight school. I joined No. 235 Squadron in late June 1940 with the rank of Sergeant, just days after it moved to Bircham Newton in the west of the county of Norfolk, eight miles west of Fakenham, on June 24, 1940. I was proud of our motto, Jaculamur humi (We strike them to the ground). No. 235 Squadron was formed on August 20, 1918 from Nos 424 and 425 Flights, RNAS, at the seaplane station at Newlyn, Cornwall, flying Short 184 seaplanes on anti-submarine patrols until the Armistice and disbanding on February 22, 1919. No. 235 was reformed as a fighter squadron at RAF Manston on October 30, 1939, receiving Fairey Battle light bombers for training purposes in December. In February 1940 the squadron was equipped with Blenheims and transferred from Fighter Command to Coastal Command on February 27, 1940 for fighter-reconnaissance duties. With the German invasion of the Low Countries in May 1940, No. 235 Squadron flew patrols over Holland.

Many times in childhood I awoke from nightmares of falling through the sky. They started in my ninth year. Bit by bit the past returned—the full-colour scenes, cinematic reels, running through my mind, through my sleep, each time a little more lucid. Mother or father would come to my bedside, always calm, singing German lullabies, saying a child’s prayer by Rudolf Steiner. I asked many questions about life, death, and life after death. By my teen years, studies of Steiner’s epistemological works and lectures were my solace, the key to my searching, feeding the spiritual yearning, while the image of falling through the sky filled itself with a life of memory, clear and concise in its delineations and details.

Around puberty in the summer of 1975, a few months shy of my 13th birthday, my fascination with aviation became an obsession, finding its fullest expression in all matters of World War Two aviation, but in particular with the RAF and the Battle of Britain. In September I joined the RCAirC (Royal Canadian Air Cadets) at 744 Cowichan Squadron with the sole intent of becoming a pilot. The blue-grey wool uniform was like coming home again.

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

1977 Maule M-5-235C Lunar Rocket, c/n 7132C, N9181E

1977 Maule M-5-235C Lunar Rocket, c/n 7132C, N9181E, Thomas G. Donnelly, Seattle, Washington, USA; powered by one 235-hp Lycoming O-540-J1A5D six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with variable-pitch three-blade propeller; pilot, three passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) general aviation; built by Maule Air, Inc., Moultrie, Georgia; airworthiness issued on August 30, 1977; owner registered since January 4, 1994.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C., Canada on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:34 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1975 Rockwell Commander 112, c/n 343, C-GICV

1975 Rockwell Commander 112, c/n 343, C-GICV, Jorn Graugaard, Abbotsford, B.C., Canada and Kevin Griffith, Abbotsford, B.C., based at Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C.; powered by one 200-hp Lycoming IO-360-C1D6 fuel-injected four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with constant-speed two-blade Hartzell propeller; retractable landing gear; pilot, three passengers, general aviation; built by Rockwell International, USA; C-GICV, Joyce Woods, Calgary, Alberta cancelled on June 18, 1984; C-GICV, Gordon Kosolofski, Eston, Saskatchewan cancelled on July 5, 1985; C-GICV, GC Enterprises Inc., Chilliwack, B.C. on July 15, 1986, cancelled on June 6, 2000; C-GICV, Jorn Graugaard, Abbotsford, B.C./Boyd Chalmers, Abbotsford, B.C./Kevin Griffith, Abbotsford, B.C. on June 8, 2000, cancelled on January 22, 2009; owners registered since September 14, 2009.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:33 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1963 Beechcraft 23 Musketeer, c/n M-18, N2306Z

1963 Beechcraft 23 Musketeer, c/n M-18, N2306Z, Yvette J. Bellerive, Lynden, Washington, USA; powered by one 160-hp Lycoming O-320-D2B four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade Sensenich propeller; pilot, three passengers, general aviation; built by Beech Aircraft Corp., Wichita, Kansas; airworthiness issued on September 21, 1962; certificate issued on May 13, 2009.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C., Canada on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:33 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1996 Bombardier Learjet 31A, c/n 31A-120, C-GHJU

1996 Bombardier Learjet 31A, c/n 31A-120, C-GHJU, Helijet International Inc., Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada, operated for BCAS (British Columbia Ambulance Service), based at South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C.; powered by two 3,500-lbs thrust Garrett AiResearch TFE731-2-3B turbofan engines; crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), eight passengers, business aviation/air ambulance; built by Bombardier Aerospace, Dorval, Québec at Wichita, Kansas, USA; I-TYKE, Eurofly Service S.p.A., Aeroporto “Sandro Pertini”, Caselle Torinese, Turin (TO), Piedmont, Italy in 1996; N200TJ, JRW Aviation, Anchorage, Alaska on February 13, 2006; imported in 2007; owner registered since February 23, 2007.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 10:03 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1945 Avro Lancaster B.X (Type 683), c/n 3414, FM213, C-GVRA

1945 Avro Lancaster B.X (Type 683), c/n 3414, FM213, C-GVRA, marked as KB726/VR-A in wartime markings and colour scheme of No. 419 Squadron, RCAF, known as the “Mynarski Memorial Lancaster” as a memorial to Canadian VC recipient P/O Andrew Mynarski, Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Mount Hope, Ontario, Canada, based at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM), Mount Hope, Ontario; powered by four 1,620-hp Packard Merlin 224 supercharged V-format 12-cylinder, two-stage, liquid-cooled piston engines with variable-pitch, paddle-type, three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propellers; retractable landing gear; crew of seven (pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer, wireless operator, mid-upper gunner, rear gunner), heavy bomber; built by Victory Aircraft, Malton, Ontario; taken on strength on August 21, 1945; stored at RCAF Trenton, Trenton, Ontario from 1945 to 1950; converted to Lancaster MK. 10MR by de Havilland Canada, Downsview, Ontario on August 28, 1950; first test flight in January 1952; assigned as VC-AGJ, No. 405 (MR) Squadron, RCAF Greenwood, Greenwood, Nova Scotia, suffered a heavy landing on ferry flight of January 15, 1952, centre section destroyed, repaired with parts from Lancaster B.X, KB895, rebuilt in July 1953, first test flight on August 26, 1953 by pilot Bob Fowler; during its service it had an incident occur on October 10, 1954 under the command of F/O J.K. Vincer, aircraft was to drop plasma on a vessel at night, and although the plasma wasn’t recovered the parachute and the marine marker hit the deck of the ship, an extraordinary feat, the next day another drop was successful in that the plasma was recovered from the sea by lifeboat; CX213/VC-AGS, No. 107 (UR) Squadron, RCAF Torbay, St. John’s, Newfoundland from August 1959 to August 1961; retired from active duty on November 6, 1963; struck off strength on June 30, 1964, into storage at RCAF Dunnville, Dunnville, Ontario; sold to The Royal Canadian Legion, Goderich, Ontario on July 1, 1964 for $1,200.00; stored at Sky Harbour Airfield in 1966; after necessary funds raised, displayed as VR-A on three pylons without structural alterations on September 15, 1968; many years in the open air; sold to CWH; transferred to CWH in 1977; removed from plinthe and tranported by No. 450 (Helicopter) Squadron to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM), Mount Hope, Ontario on November 5, 1979; restored to airworthiness by CWH and Lancaster Support Club from March 24, 1983 to September 11, 1988; registered as C-GVRA on September 1, 1988; first flight again on September 11, 1988; minor damage in a hangar fire on February 15, 1993, repaired; damaged in a ground accident with a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter at CWH on July 21, 2002, suffered propeller damage, repaired and returned to the air by August 2002; grounded due to corrosion found in the propeller blades but after an appeal for funding flew again in May 2009; many appearances across Canada and USA as the only airworthy Lancaster on the continent. 

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 8:36 am. 

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1968 Cessna 180H Skywagon, c/n 180-51973, C-GYVA

1968 Cessna 180H Skywagon, c/n 180-51973, C-GYVA, Ocean Air Floatplanes Inc., Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, based at Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome (CAP5), Patricia Bay, Sidney, Vancouver Island, B.C.; powered by one 230-hp Continental O-470-R six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with constant-speed two-blade McCauley propeller; Edo 2960 floats; Horton STOL kit; pilot, five passengers, utility transport; built by Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA; imported in 1968; C-FXCQ, Sabourin Lake Airways Ltd., Cochenour, Ontario cancelled on June 10, 1983; C-FXCQ, Whitehead Moose, Pikangikum, Ontario on March 16, 1984, cancelled on December 11, 1987; C-FXCQ, Howey Bay Camps Limited, Red Lake, Ontario on December 11, 1987, cancelled on December 11, 1989; C-GYVA, Alvin Bancarz, Sherwood Park, Alberta on June 27, 2002, cancelled on September 4, 2002; C-GYVA, Canadian Institute of Aviation Technology Inc., Kelowna, B.C., operating as Air Hart Aviation, on September 16, 2002, cancelled on December 22, 2003; owner registered since January 20, 2004.

Just arrived, taxiing past the Harbour Air and West Coast Air seaplane docks for a Coal Harbour marina near the foot of Denman St., north of W. Georgia Street in the West End, Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH), Vancouver, B.C. on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 11:16 am. 

Taxiing out at 11:32 am.

[Casio Exilim EX-Z20 point-and-shoot 8.1 MP digital camera, 38–114-mm f/3.1–5.9 lens]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

2000 Raytheon Beech B300 Super King Air 350, c/n FL-273, C-FVKC

2000 Raytheon Beech B300 Super King Air 350, c/n FL-273, C-FVKC, Carson Air Ltd., Kelowna, B.C., Canada, operated for BCAS (British Columbia Ambulance Service), based at Kelowna International Airport (YLW), Kelowna, B.C.; powered by two 1,050-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A turboprop engines with constant-speed four-blade Hartzell propellers; retractable landing gear; crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), maximum 13 passengers, utility transport/air ambulance; built by Raytheon Company, Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kansas, USA at Wichita, Kansas; N4473E, Sun Aviation Inc., Wichita, Kansas on May 5, 2000, cancelled on June 30, 2000; exported to Denmark; OY-JVL, Bulgari Operational Services ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark; imported in 2007; owner registered since March 22, 2007.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 10:02 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010

1947 Cessna 140, c/n 14027, CF-EKU

1947 Cessna 140, c/n 14027, CF-EKU, David Zoppa, Chilliwack, B.C., Canada, based at Chilliwack Airport (YCW), Chilliwack, B.C.; powered by one 85-hp Continental C85-12F four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine with fixed-pitch two-blade McCauley propeller; side-by-side pilot and passenger, general aviation; built by Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA; CF-EKU, Al and Lloyd Michaud, Vancouver U-Fly in August 1947; installed on floats by Brisbane Maintenance, Vancouver International Airport in September 1947; trained many student pilots; CF-EKU, Art Seller, Skyway Air Services Ltd., Langley, B.C.; C-FEKU, John Striloff, Abbotsford, B.C. on June 15, 1989, cancelled on November 26, 1990; C-FEKU, Vernon Hoeppner, Fort Smith, B.C. on November 26, 1990, cancelled on July 18, 1996; owner registered since July 18, 1996.

The 48th Annual Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX), Abbotsford, B.C. on Saturday, August 14, 2010 at about 9:02 am.

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujicolor Pro 160S 36-exposure colour negative film]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, August 2010