Guelph - In the hangars - airplanes

Tuesday May 19, 2009

The airplanes

Glenn comments...

A rare Gypsy Moth being given a new life.

The Moth's new fin and rudder.


A beehive of restoration activity...an Aeronca Champion and a Taylor Cub. Even the registration letters on the Cub are done in the old way, i.e. CF-, instead of the current C-F.

The Cub's tail feathers.

And the pristine interior of the rare old Cub.

This Tiger Moth goes by the name Miss Gloria.
G-L-O-R-I-A. You can watch it flying at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbZqyOivA2g We like the part where the pilot laughs.

It would be fun to fly this homebuilt Corben Baby Ace.

The open door invites you to climb into the cockpit of a 1935 Taylor E2 Cub, the first Cub in Canada. Looks better than factory new.

A look along the fuselage of the E2 Cub. Interesting how the rear of the cabin is open to the breeze.

Now here's a real jaw dropper. It's a homebuilt designed along the lines of a Waco Biplane, sporting a magnificent NINE CYLINDER radial engine. This is the Hatz Classic biplane. The builder, Kurtis Arnold, describes the 150 HP Rotec engine as "A work of art" and we certainly agree.

Top: A truly classic antique, the Thruxton Jackaroo. This is an aircraft that Widge and Fearless have a lot of time in.

Middle: There, that's the name on the fin.

Bottom: A peek in the cockpit reveals the FOUR seats. (This is, believe it or not, a modified version of the ubiquitous two place Tiger Moth.) Note the two control columns are offset for the left hand seats. The fuselage has been widened to accommodate four persons. This Jackaroo has flown all across Canada and is one of only two still flying! A rare airplane indeed.

From the internet: "The Tiger Boys purchased the aircraft just THREE DAYS before it was scheduled to be cut apart - then took seven years to restore the aircraft to its current mint condition."

And, behold, here is another Fleet Finch! Can you believe that at the end of WW2 the government saw fit to bulldoze most Fleets into a big pit and buried them? Sacrilege!

An open cockpit Gipsy Moth.

Here's one of the late Pete Bowers babies...a Fly Baby sporting a canopy of all things.

No, this is not a Harvard. For those of you who saw the wartime propaganda movie, "Captains of the Clouds", you may recall seeing this Yale which starred alongside James Cagney and Billy Bishop, the guy who pinned on my Wartime wings.

* * * * *

The interview

After touring the hangars Fearless went away for about 20 minutes to set up lights and other equipment for Glenn's interview. This would take place in the hangar by the Finch. Perfect.

Fearless' professionalism showed and it was fascinating to watch. He was working hard changing camera angles and giving Glenn non-verbal cues. He used printed text we had given him beforehand as a guide, so he'd do a section and then pause before continuing to the next section. Meanwhile, Glenn was as cool as a cucumber. I had worried that this interview might be a bit stressful but he seemed completely relaxed throughout the three hour (!) interview. Altogether, Fearless must have spent four hours of his time on the setup and interview alone. Near the end, Rotten arrived and we all agreed to go out for supper.

Rotten's wife joined us and we had another jolly time. Rotten and Fearless are quite the comedy team.

So that ended our time with the Tiger Boys. We can't thank them enough for the use of their airplane and organizing such an unforgetable visit for us.

By the way, on the third weekend of September the Tiger Boys have an open house. If we could instantly transport ourselves, we would be there! Also, if anyone is interested in the Fleet Finch video you can buy a copy for $26 or so including shipping. (50% of the proceeds go to the restoration and upkeep of The Tiger Boys antique aeroplanes.) On it, among other things, is a walk-around with Widge and Rotten, that marvelous flying sequence shown on YouTube, and an interview with one of the Tiger Boys.

Guelph - In the hangars - miscellaneous

Tuesday May 19, 2009

Day 2 in Guelph

Our room at the hotel was quiet and we had a good sleep. In the morning we wandered down for the do-it-yourself breakfast where I made a waffle, of course.

We had agreed to meet Fearless at the airpark at noon. Unfortunately, Widge had to work so we would not see her again. When he arrived at the airpark he presented us with two DVD's of our flights on the previous day - one of Widge's still photos (about 770 of them!) and the other of his movie footage. The two of them stayed up half the night working on this for us! What a great pair.

It was a good thing we went flying when we did because now there was more cloud and wind. Two things were on the agenda. One was to poke through the hangars, which to me is similar to visiting hardware/lumber stores. Fun!

Two of the Tiger Boys had returned from the U.S, and we went inside their hangar to meet them. 'B' was busy making coffee. Tim Horton's coffee no less. 'T', one of the owners of that wonderful Fleet Finch we flew in, was sitting in his chair as relaxed as can be. It seemed that a constant stream of people came to see him.

Glenn describes:
'T', the patriarch of the Tiger Boys hangar, sits just inside the door in a large overstuffed chair, one leg usually slung across an arm rest and most times with a phone glued to his ear while he assures some anxious aircraft restorer, "Sure, I got two of those, I'll send one of them right off!" He admits he never married and it's easy to see why. Most women would not put up with a guy who would rather spend his life in a hangar full of airplane parts. And what a hangar! I've had a love of airplanes, both models and prototype, all my life but have never seen a more comprehensive collection in one place. 'T' tells of seeing a model of a Fleet when he was a kid that he desperately yearned for. He was denied that pleasure until just recently when a friend brought it to him out of the blue. There's no denying, his first and only love is airplanes. He must have a million stories. I hope he writes a book.

The second thing on the agenda was that Fearless was going to tape an interview of Glenn. This is something he does for free... out of enormous respect for veterans. In a world of ever-increasing money grabbing, this is so refreshing and helps to restore faith in humanity.

But first, we'll take a walk around.

There is a lot of history in the Tiger Boys' hangar...

many models...

and a fine painting of a Harvard.

A target drone that survived. These were radio controlled miniature airplanes used for target practice.

Well, yeah.

One thing you notice in southern Ontario are the fields of yellow flowers. I heard that the province banned the use of herbicides. Some fields were so thick with them I wasn't even sure they were dandelions, but they were really quite pretty.

Guelph - Antique airplanes!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Back to the trip report...

Flying in the Fleet Finch!

The reason for this detour to Guelph began when Glenn's eldest son sent us an email with this link to a video called Flying the Fleet Finch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LvE6plMwa8. Back in January I wrote a short email complimenting the producer of this beautiful video. Next thing you know we had an invitation from him and his wife, 'Fearless' and 'Widget', to visit the Tiger Boys Aeroplane Works and Flying Museum. This group of airplane enthusiasts track down rare old airplanes and restore them to pristine, and often flying, condition. No half measures here. We would meet some of the Tiger Boys and see some interesting airplanes. We would also get to flying in that marvelous Fleet Finch!

By the time we got off the train in Guelph, taxied over to Avis where we had to wait for the rental car to be washed, got lost on the drive to our hotel, and checked into our room it was about 3:00 in the afternoon. We met Fearless & Widge, who seemed like old friends, and followed them to the airpark. It is a small airport with two runways - an old-time kind of place too few and far between these days, where people are in their glory doing what they love.

Out on the flightline sits a Tiger Moth, the type of airplane Glenn did his illegal solo in many years ago.

* * * * *

But we're going flying in this beautiful 1940 Fleet Finch biplane, flown by the same pilot, 'Rotten' (that's his nickname), as in the video. Glenn has flown in Fleet Finches a long time ago, but I never have. When I asked that we not to anythng too freaky on my flight he said we could do some wingovers. I didn't even know what that meant, but they sure were fun!

Taxiing out. Tiger Moth is in the foreground. These pictures are a compilation of both Glenn's and my flights.

And we're off! So handy to have paved and grass runways here. Could we have asked for a better flying day? I don't think so.

Climbing away and looking back.

We fly over flat-flat land - much different than here on the island...

... and over sparkling water.

What's this coming up? Another plane. It's getting closer...

closer...

We get to do a bit of formation flying! Glenn was on the ground remarking that I would get a kick out of this, and I sure did.

On Glenn's flight they did some fun passes over the airport. Glenns says, "Rotten brings us in over the trees for a low pass, levels out and with a sharp pull up, throws in a steep bank! We see two photographers catching the action. As we climb away I study the stick and rudder pedals and Rotten asks, "Do you want to fly it?" Well, I guess so! I'm at the controls for a couple of medium turns. Ain't nothing like stick control!"

Handing it back to Rotten he sets us up on the crosswind.

Turning Final for landing on the grass.

And setting up for a greaser of a landing.

The many uses of Pledge furniture polish... Rotten cleans up the Fleet Finch before putting it away in a hangar.

An interesting feature of this Fleet Finch is this inspection zipper, now cleverly adapted to a panel for easier access.

* * * * *

Afterwards we went out to dinner with Fearless and Widget at a restaurant in Guelph. They tell fascinating and often hilarious flying stories. Widge, by the way, has been flying since she was 16 years old.

Beautiful weather, wonderful flights, friendly people and lots of laughs - it was a day we won't forget. Many, many thanks to everyone involved in giving us this marvelous experience.

Guelph - Fairfield Inn & Suites

Monday, May 18, 2009

$105.40 per night

'Where is Guelph?' you might ask. It is in southern Ontario, west of Toronto and slightly south. John McCrae who wrote In Flanders Fields was brought up here.

Our hotel is in an obscure place across town from the airport, but Guelph isn't very big. Population is about 115,000. Unfortunately I don't have a single picture of the town.

At $105 a night, the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites was our best hotel deal of the trip. How refreshing to receive a warm welcome at the front desk. In the afternoons cookies were there too.

The room was very clean and comfortable. Internet was free without having to sign up for some special club as was the case with Fairmont hotels.

Hotel has a pool, which I don't care about.

Do-it-yourself breakfast was included. I love those waffle makers.

We really liked this. Instead of the over-priced in-room mini-bar, the hotel had a 'store' in the lobby where you could buy things at regular prices. We wish more hotels would do this.