Flyvertosset's Aviation Blog

Crew Member on the Collings "Wings of Freedom Tour"

2013-05-13T01:55:00Z

At 6:30am the wake up call jars my mind and after a quick shower it is off to hotel breakfast. At 8:00am sharp the crew van leaves for Tacoma Narrows Airport, we are 15 members and the van is packed and quiet.

Arriving at the airport we check the planes and the perimeter fence and suddenly there is a crowd of excited people who are going on a 30 minute flight in either the B-17 or B-24. The B-17 is the most popular and will fly every day while the cousin B-24 could have a morning rest. We need a minimum of 6 passengers to make the flight pay for itself.

B-24G Liberator "Wichcraft", its landing being filmed by local TV.

After safety briefing the planes are loaded, the radials are fired up, and off they go with their load of people, loaded with cameras for this "Once in a Lifetime event" or for the few WW2 veterans who can still fly, a memory flight into the past. When the planes return we ready them for the many visitors who are going to see the inside of a WW2 bomber for the first time. The P-51C Mustang is parked on the side and is flying when somebody wants a ride and fly the two seat dual control fighter.

I am the Gatekeeper, the Meeter, the Greeter and the Talker on the Collings "Wings of Freedom Tour". I control the gate and collect the nominal fee we charge for people to see the planes up close and to walk through them. I stand at the gate and talk constantly to the steady stream of visitors. After a few hours I get a break ,as you get "potty brained" by repeating yourself 700 times in two hours.

Rear gun turret on B-24G

B-24G getting some TLC

The day flies and I am telling stories about our planes and aviation and everything else and at 4:30pm the crowds thins out and we do another 1-2-3 flights with the early evening crowd. When that is over, the planes are secured for the night and we head back to the hotel for a 10min refresh and then it is off to dinner where the talk is all about aviation.

The Bowser fueling the B-17G "Nine O Nine"

B-17G getting ready for an afternoon flight.

We fly between cities and depending on the boss and the people like media etc.that are invited to fly with us, it is either one or the other. I seem to alternate between the B-17 and B-24, which means I have quite a flew flights in each type.

Flying between Tacoma and Boeing Field in the Liberator.

Flying in the B-17 from Boeing Field to Paine Field.

This is what happens everyday, new city, new airport but the program is almost always the same.

In the sky again

Pushing back "Witchcraft" to make parking space for "Nine O Nine".

Canadian Regional Airlines Connects Canadians

2013-05-09T23:07:00Z

From small, family-run airlines to the nationwide reach of the Air Canada Express network, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more dynamic and competitive aviation sector than Canada’s regional airline industry.

All but three of the carriers on Transport Canada’s list of 50 scheduled passenger airlines (Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat) can be considered regional airlines, if judged by the routes and the aircraft they fly.

The Air Canada Express network (Chorus’s Jazz, Sky Regional, Air Georgian and Exploits Valley Air Services) is the domestic and trans-border network served by a fleet that is expected to reach 159 aircraft by mid-2013.

The balance of the domestic routes are flown by approximately 35 private airlines, six carriers owned by publically-listed companies, and 10 airlines partially or fully owned by northern First Nations communities.

BY THE NUMBERS

Operating statistics for the regional airline sector are scarce, since only a handful of Canadian carriers regularly publish operating results.

In 2011, Statistics Canada reported that 58.5 million passengers flew on scheduled services operated by a total of 102 Canadian airlines (all carriers with annual revenues exceeding $2 million). About 42 million of these passengers (72 per cent) flew on the three largest scheduled airlines, with an estimated 16.5 million (28 per cent) flying on regional airlines (of which Air Canada Express flies about 10 million passengers).

With 16.5 million passengers, the Canadian regional market is about 10 per cent of the size of the U.S. market, where regional airlines flew 160.7 million passengers in 2011, according to data published by the Regional Airline Association (RAA).

An increasing number of regional aircraft are touching down at Canadian airports. Between May 2002 and May 2012, domestic departures increased by 50 per cent and trans-border departures by 33 per cent, while monthly domestic seats increased by 61 per cent and trans-border seats by 72 per cent, according to a Bombardier study of Official Airline Guide schedules for 30-to-99-seat aircraft.

The 50 scheduled regional airlines identified in the Transport Canada 2011 annual report owned a total of 925 aircraft in March 2013, according to the civil aircraft register. Of these, about 625 aircraft were flown on scheduled passenger and combi (passenger/cargo) flights, and another 300 were used to fly charters, air cargo, fire patrols, aerial surveys, medevacs, or for pilot training.

MARKET EVOLUTION

Canada’s oldest scheduled regional airline route is probably between Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., which received Boeing 204 flying boat service in the late 1920s.

In the mid-1980s, airline deregulation prompted Air Canada and Canadian Airlines to expand their code sharing agreements, and equity investments in second- and third-tier airlines.

The merger of the two national airlines in 2000 eliminated airline competition in many smaller communities. Air Canada’s network focus on high-yield travellers resulted in some passengers returning to the highway, while others flew on independent regional airlines serving niche markets.

Economic activity is the greatest driver of air traffic growth, so it’s not surprising that Alberta, and other provinces with strong natural resource economies, are seeing an increase in local and connecting regional airline passengers.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Very soon, Canada’s second-largest airline will enter the regional airline business for the first time since it made its inaugural Boeing 737 flight back in February 1996.

Encore, WestJet’s new regional airline subsidiary, is launching scheduled service on June 24 with the first of up to 45 new 78-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops on firm order (20) and option (25).

“We are about to see a major boxing match between Air Canada Express and WestJet Encore,” observed Brent Gateman, president of Integra Air of Lethbridge, Alta. “For the first 18 months, the two airlines are going to be dancing around each other; but then Encore will have enough Q400s to punch a hole in Air Canada’s market share.”

The coming “Q400 War” between Encore and Air Canada Express is expected to stimulate passenger traffic with more frequencies, more seats and lower fares.

Expanding Q400 services may have a negative impact on the profitability of some independent carriers, but as 70-seat turboprops become the new service benchmark, the market may expand for third-tier airlines flying 19-to-50-seat aircraft.

AIR CANADA EXPRESS

Jazz Air Ltd. (now part of Chorus Aviation) was created through the integration of AirBC, Air Nova, Air Ontario and Canadian Regional Airlines Ltd., into a single Halifax-based company in 2002.

Photo: Flyvertosset, Air Canada Express Dash 8-100 at YYJ.

Paralleling changes in the U.S. airline industry, a Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) became the foundation of the business relationship between Air Canada and Jazz, after the two airlines emerged from CCAA (Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act) protection in September 2004.

Air Canada is entitled to all Jazz revenues (except bar and buy-on-board sales) and is responsible for all scheduling, marketing and pricing of flights under the CPA. It pays Jazz for flying, crewing and maintaining the aircraft, with a markup applied. Volatile costs, such as fuel, are a pass-through expense from Jazz to Air Canada.

Photo: Andrew H. Cline, Air Canada’s fleet of 15 Embraer ERJ-175 aircraft is being transferred from the mainline fleet to Sky Regional Airlines between March and August of 2013, in order to reduce operating costs.

Any new regional flying since 2011 has been put out to competitive bid, expanding Air Canada’s supplier base.

On May 1, 2011, the Air Canada Express brand launched to coincide with the startup of CPA flying by Sky Regional Airlines between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Montreal’s Trudeau Airport. The route is served with five 70-seat Q400s acquired from Lynx Aviation in Denver, Colo.

Then, on June 7, 2011, Jazz launched its Q400 services in eastern Canada with its first 15 74-seat Bombardier Q400s, which replaced 50-seat Bombardier CRJ100 regional jets on a one-for-one basis.

Bombardier says the cash operating costs of a Q400 are about 16 per cent more than a 50-seat CRJ100/200, but the 74-seat high speed turboprop provides 45 per cent more revenue seats, which reduces total seat mile costs.

In response to WestJet’s growth strategy, Jazz exercised options for six additional Q400s to expand service in Western Canada. Initial routes served include Calgary-Fort McMurray; Calgary-Regina; Calgary-Saskatoon; Vancouver-Fort St. John; and Vancouver–Prince George. As the six Q400s entered service, nine Jazz CRJ100s were retired.

The Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) agreement with Air Canada contains “scope” provisions that control the growth of Air Canada Express by setting limits on the size of the regional fleet, maximum aircraft seat capacity (74 seats), and linking Air Canada Express capacity growth to growth in Air Canada’s available seat miles (ASMs).

Air Canada Express plans to operate 159 aircraft under CPA agreements with four carriers by the end of 2013, an increase of 13 aircraft from 2012. This reflects the recent transfer of 15 Embraer 175 jets from mainline Air Canada service to Sky Regional, a unit of Skyservice Business Aviation, to lower operating costs.

The transfer, once complete, will see Sky Regional flying 20 aircraft under a CPA contract – 15 E-175s and five Q400s.

Jazz serves 56 destinations in Canada and 27 destinations in the United States, with about 39.4 per cent of its passengers connecting to Air Canada in 2011. Jazz will fly 122 aircraft for Air Canada Express in 2013, in addition to flying two Dash 8-100s, two Dash 8-300s, and one CRJ200 used for its charter business.

Chorus Aviation, Jazz’s parent company, reported revenues of $1.7 billion and a net income of $101 million in 2012. About 96 per cent of Chorus revenues came from fees paid by Air Canada, which for 2013 are based on an annual minimum guaranteed 331,000 block hours of regional aircraft flying.

Two Tier III airlines fly 18 Beech 1900Ds for Air Canada Express under CPA contracts: Air Georgian (16 aircraft) and Exploits Valley Air Service (two aircraft).

Air Georgian serves Toronto (12 routes), Halifax (six routes) and Calgary (three routes) flying about 320,000 passengers annually. Exploits Valley Air Services (EVAS) links five communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

WESTJET ENCORE

WestJet launched passenger service in 1996, emulating Southwest Airlines’ low-cost carrier business model, including an all-Boeing 737 fleet.

“When Gregg Saretsky became president and CEO of WestJet, many believed it was only a matter of time before WestJet expanded into the regional airline market,” observed one experienced regional airline executive. “During the time Saretsky was an executive at Alaska Airlines, he witnessed firsthand the financial contribution Horizon Air’s Q400 turboprops made to Alaska’s bottom line.”

WestJet took delivery of its 100th Boeing 737 in December 2012; and this June, Encore will receive its first two 78-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, with five more coming by the end of the year.

Photo: Bombardier, WestJet "Encore' Bombardier Dash 8-400Q.

Encore’s Q400s will serve smaller communities that WestJet has never served before, such as Nanaimo and Fort St. John in B.C. They will also fly new point-to-point routes and supplement the airline’s Boeing 737 flights at off peak times, initially in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, and Saskatoon.

PORTER AIRLINES

In October 2006, Porter Airlines launched scheduled service from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The downtown airport location next to Toronto’s central business district has been served by many airlines, but none had the start-up capital Porter secured to “do things right.”

Photo: Eric Dumigan, Bombardier Dash 8-Q400

Since 2006 Porter’s fleet has grown to 26 70-seat Q400s, with Porter serving 13 destinations in Canada and six in the U.S.

The next growth milestone could come as early as 2016, if Porter wins approval to fly 107-seat Bombardier CSeries CS100 jets from Billy Bishop to cities such as Calgary, Vancouver, Miami and Los Angeles. On April 10, Porter announced a conditional purchase order for 12 CS100 jets, options for 18 more, and purchase rights for six Q400s.

To complete the CS100 deal, Porter requires several amendments to the 1983 Tripartite Agreement (signed by the City of Toronto, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority) to permit jet operations (other than medical and air show flights) as well as approval of a “modest 168-metre [550 foot] extension into the water at each end of the existing main runway” to increase the length from 3,988 feet to 5,092 feet.

The CS100 is designed to operate from short runways at Stockholm Bromma Airport (5,470 feet) and London City Airport (4,327 feet). Porter said CS100 flights to cities up to 2,950 nautical miles from Toronto will bring an additional 1.4 million annual passengers through the airport by 2020, and create 1,000 new airline jobs.

In 2010, Porter opened a new $45 million, 150,000-square-foot passenger terminal at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. For the 2012 calendar year, the airline carried 2.45 million passengers versus 2.13 million in 2011, an increase of 15 per cent.

By late 2013, Porter hopes to reach the trans-border passenger threshold required in order to apply for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pre-clearance facility, needed to serve New York LaGuardia and Washington Regan airports which don’t have customs facilities.

Currently, the Toronto Port Authority is constructing a tunnel from the mainland to the island airport to accommodate an 800-foot pedestrian walkway that will open in Spring 2014.

SMALL BUT SUCCESSFUL

Every region of Canada has a few independent regional airlines serving niche markets and staying out of the way of the big guys.

Provincial Air Lines (PAL) of St. John’s, N.L., flies a route network linking communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec with a fleet of two Saab 340As and five Dash 8-100/300s. Its partner, Innu Mikun Airlines, flies Twin Otters and Beech King Airs to small communities in northern Labrador and Quebec.

Photo: PAL, Saab-340

In the fall of 2012, PAL launched three times weekly service from Halifax via Charlo, N.B., to the booming mining town of Wabush, N.L.

Pascan Express of St. Hubert, Que., operates 28 aircraft flying about 80 segments a day between 18 communities in Quebec, Labrador and New Brunswick. The airline transports more than 100,000 passengers a year.

Pascan launched service in 1999 from Montreal’s St. Hubert airport, flying Pilatus PC-12s and later upgrading to King Air 100s and then to BAe Jetstream 31s (14 now in service), introducing the first of three ATR 42s in mid-2012.

The point-to-point carrier flies a lot of routes between small communities that never had non-stop service before. This has stimulated the growth of same-day return business travel. Schedules are timed to allow passengers from different regions of Quebec to connect at small airports like Mont Joli and Sept-Îles.

Most of Pascan’s flights depart from FBOs or its own facilities, rather than from airport terminals; this reduces passenger transit times and increases airline flexibility.

Photo: Michael Durning, Pascan JetStream32

The airline’s first two ATR 42s entered service in 2012, operating from Quebec City and St. Hubert, with the third ATR 42 arriving this summer to support Pascan’s launch of scheduled service from Montreal-Mirabel airport to eight destinations.

Bearskin Airlines of Thunder Bay, Ont., flies east-west routes across Northern Ontario with a fleet of 17 Fairchild Metros, and also provides the only domestic turboprop service at Waterloo Regional Airport to Ottawa.

Photo: Eric Dumiga, Bearskin Fairchild Metroliner

In 2011, Bearskin Air was purchased for $32.5 million by Exchange Income Corporation (EIC) of Winnipeg, which has become a significant investor in the regional airline industry since buying Perimeter Aviation in 2004; Keewatin Air in 2005 and Calm Air International in 2009.

West Wind Aviation of Saskatoon, Sask., operates two separately-branded regional airlines serving southern and northern routes.

Express Air flies a shuttle service between Saskatoon and Regina with a pair of Jetstream 31s, which use West Wind’s Shell Aerocentre FBOs as terminals.

Pronto Airways operates Beech 1900Cs on northern routes from Saskatoon and Prince Albert, serving Points North, Wollaston Lake, Stony Rapids, Uranium City and Fond du Lac in Saskatchewan, and Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake in Nunavut.

For the past 14 years, Integra Air has been flying under the radar. It operates scheduled service between Lethbridge, Alta., and Edmonton. The Lethbridge-based airline started life flying into Edmonton Municipal Airport, where city politicians restricted airlines using the airport to a maximum of 10 passengers.

When Integra moved its service to Edmonton International in 2005, it upgraded to a larger capacity Jetstream 31, which had more revenue potential and lower seat mile costs.

In 2010, Integra broadened its business base when it bought Bar XH Air in Medicine Hat, Alta., the primary fixed-wing medevac operator in southern Alberta. Now, the ambitious airline is positioning itself to eventually become “a third tier feeder to WestJet” and to support this goal, it will welcome its first Saab 340B in June or July 2013.

British Columbia’s rugged mountain ranges and island-dotted coast have long supported airlines that offer significant time savings compared to surface travel by road or ferry.

Nowhere is this more evident than in downtown Vancouver and Victoria, where appropriately-named Harbour Air has 14-passenger DHC-3T Turbo Otters and 19-passenger DHC-6 Twin Otter seaplanes departing from its docks every half hour on weekdays.

Photo: Flyvertosset, Harbour Air Turbo Otter landing at YVR Southside Floatplane Terminal in the Fraser River.

An excellent example of market stimulation, Harbour Air flew about 200,000 to 220,000 passengers on the downtown route in 2012; and between 300,000 and 400,000 passengers across its route network, which grew with the purchase of rival Westcoast Air in 2010 and Whistler Air in 2012, which boosted the fleet to 53 seaplanes – the largest fleet in the world.

The airline acquisitions also gave Harbour Air strategic terminal and dock locations at Whistler’s scenic Green Lake and Victoria’s Inner Harbour, where a modern seaplane terminal will be built to also serve Kenmore Air of Seattle, Wash.

In Vancouver, Harbour Air reached a mutually agreeable settlement with Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC), which cleared the way for the airline to move to the modern facility on Nov. 1, 2012.

Harbour Air spent an estimated $2 million customizing the terminal and dock facilities to meet its requirements; and effective Dec. 1, the carrier introduced a $9.50 per passenger terminal fee for all flights departing from and arriving into the Vancouver Harbour.

K.D. Air began flying 20-minute Piper Navajo routes 22 years ago, linking Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island with Vancouver Airport and Gillies Bay on Texada Island, using a modest fleet consisting of a Navajo, a Navajo Chieftain and a Cessna 172.

Originally an aircraft leasing company, the airline’s two female founders – Ketty and Diana – found themselves with an idle Piper Navajo when Alberni Airways ceased operations. Darryl Smith, founder of Pacific Coastal Airlines, suggested they start an airline and take over his Qualicum Beach routes. And so, K.D. Air was born.

The airline also provides regular service to Port Alberni with a shuttle van that connects downtown hotels to its Qualicum Beach flights. The van was introduced when K.D. Air recognized that it couldn’t provide reliable year-round service into Port Alberni airport because of the frequent poor weather.

Meanwhile, in Northern B.C., three airlines – Central Mountain Air, Hawkair and NT Air – with a combined fleet of 27 aircraft, share common ownership and support each other’s scheduled flights. Their routing system is broad, serving 16 communities in B.C. and five in Alberta, including four code-sharing routes feeding Air Canada in Vancouver.

Northwest Air of Fort Smith, NWT, entered the scheduled airline business flying to northern communities, but in the last decade has expanded to the south by adding service from Edmonton to Fort Smith and Hay River, NWT, and Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan, Alta. In 2006, Red Deer Airport management encouraged Northwest Air to develop scheduled service to former RCAF Station Penhold, located halfway between Edmonton and Calgary. The market was tested with Jetstream 31s but service was suspended because the J31 “lacked the ‘hot and high’ performance” required for routes to Fort McMurray and Kelowna, B.C.

After a two-year break, Northwest Air resumed flights to Fort McMurray and Kelowna from Red Deer in April 2012, utilizing a higher performance Jetstream 32. On March 3, 2013, the carrier extended its Kelowna route west to service Abbotsford airport.

Whether large or small, Canada’s regional airlines serve an essential purpose, providing frequent service and connecting smaller communities with larger centres – and, ultimately, with the world. In a country as vast and sparsely populated as Canada, these operators draw on the entrepreneurial traditions of northern bush pilots and commuter airline pioneers to connect Canadians.

Source; skiesmagazine, Kenneth I. Swartz

Moving a Simulator

2013-05-04T04:58:00Z

The Museum moved its first simulator into storage last Saturday, It is a big step even if it is a small homebuilt simulator it is important to have it in storage.

The North American Museum of Flight Simulation. do not have a museum building yet, but have been given storage space a Boundary Bay Airport, Delta BC. in their old legacy hangar, that is from the Commonwealth Training site that trained a lot of pilots during WWII. You can watch the progress on our Museum website.

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Here is a photo story on how the move went.

Andy's Simulator getting ready for the move, It is based on the F-4 Skyhawk also known as "Heinemans Hot Rod".

Cockpit needs some work to get operational. We have plans for that and will keep you updated.

Here it is on Manfred's truck with the help of Peter, Christian, Eric, Andy,Manfred and Kevin. The two old "farts" were looking on.

Offloading the Simulator in the large hangar, where we have been given storage space by Alpha Aviation.

We even have a workbench, which will come in handy when we paint and buff up the simulator which has aluminum on one side in mid May. we will also have decals on it and it will be on display at the Open House Air Show day on July 27, 2013. Watch our website for more news.

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Starting a Museum, Fifth Blog, "North American Museum of Flight Simulation”

2013-04-22T06:45:00Z

Our Founding Membership drive is going strong and we have signed up over 30 members. On April 27th 2013 we will move our first simulator (home built) to the Hangar at Boundary Bay Airport where we have been given storage space of 500sq.ft.

Boundary Bay Airport, BBA (CZBB) is centrally located in Delta, BC (which is part of the Metro Vancouver area) is about 20 minutes from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and less than 40 minutes to downtown Vancouver, Surrey and the US Border.

We are working on the land/building lease deal we have been offered from BBA and will keep you up to date when we have news on this matter.

A brochure about the Museum is in the making and will be distributed at the BBA open house and other events that we are involved in.

The Boeing 727 cockpit in Kingman Arizona are in the pipeline and we are contemplating using crowdsourcing to raise the money for transporting it to BBA.

Somebody has donated the first two books to our library, a manual for a link traine and a book about flight simulators.

We have been informed that our request for support has been submitted for review by one of the industry companies.

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Introducing our Flying Start Young Program

Fun educational programs for school aged children 13 years old & under

This planned 90 minute session introduces children to aeroplanes and flying and our experienced team of Pilots and Crew take the children through how aircraft are built and how they fly.

Using various interactive resources we plan to profile the roles of pilots, cabin crew, and other essential roles that are undertaken at the airport.

All children have the opportunity to be at the controls of one of our simulators and actually fly it! Our helpful and informative instructors assist our “captains of the future” while they are at the controls and provide an engaging insight about some of the instrumentation in the cockpit.

These young captains will also watch some short aviation related films and even do practical exercises such as building paper airplanes. Lots of student participation will be encouraged and there will be opportunities for the children to ask our teachers questions. It will be an interactive session and one this age group will enjoy.

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We need more than Money and old Simulators!

When you start a museum there is also the need for all the essential things that are needed, such as chairs, tables, brooms, display materials etc.

If you have anything that you would like to donate to the museum and live in the lower mainland of BC, let us know. You can send us an e-mail: info@flightsimulationmuseum.org

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Starting a Museum, Fourth Blog, "North American Museum of Flight Simulation”

2013-03-16T02:44:00Z

We have started a "Founding Membership" drive, which for $ 25.00/year gives you the honour of being a founding member and supporting the Museum. We will recognize all the founding members when the museum is opened.

Founding Membership Information

We are looking at getting a feasibility study for the museum at a cost of $ 15 to 20,000.00 which would include:

(a) Review of institutional documents;

(b) Creation of Exhibition Narrative

Phase II – Business Planning

(a) Create a preliminary project budget

b) Create a preliminary project schedule

(c) Museum staffing requirements (as related to museum operation)

(d) Market Research of area

(e) Facility Costing, Capital Costs (Preliminary Estimates)

(f) Costs to opening

(g) Initial Operating Costs projection

(h) Research of comparable institutions

(i) Recommendations

This is a lot of money for an upstart museum, but it could be money well spent. This will be discussed at our next board meeting. Our bank account has not grown that large that we have money for the study, we will however keep looking at the possibillity to do it.

Our corporate fundraising department is busy sending out letters to the aerospace industry, btw the department is a "one man show" and consist of "Me" :-)).

We have a proposal for leasing land and/or land and building at Boundary Bay Airport where our museum is going to be located.

Boundary Bay Airport (CZBB) is centrally located in Delta, BC (which is part of the Metro Vancouver area) is about 20 minutes from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and less than 40 minutes to downtown Vancouver, Surrey and the US Border. We can also pre arrange helicopter service from Boundary Bay to downtown heliports.

With its non-congested and accessible location, Boundary Bay Airport offers:
•Excellent FBO services for corporate and private aircraft
•World class helicopter maintenance facilities
•Multiple Flight Training schools for pilots
•Attractive leasing opportunities for business

Since its conception during WWII as a flight training centre for Canadian Air Force pilots, Boundary Bay Airport still is a major flight training hub for local and international pilots. In fact, Boundary Bay Airport is Canada’s 5th busiest airport.

Boundary Bay Airport is owned by the Corporation of Delta and operated under lease by Alpha Aviation Inc. Alpha Aviation Inc. is working with the aviation industry to make Boundary Bay Airport (ZBB) the preferred location for both visiting and locally based corporate aircraft as well as Canada's premier aviation training airport.

We will be present at the Boundary Bay "Airshow'13" on July 27, 2013 and will have a tent where we will show videos, and one of our new additions to the museum collection.

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Warbird Nostalgia

2013-03-06T05:22:00Z

A friend sent me this story and I also have no idea who Jeff H is. I am crediting the photos to him, and if they are not his, let me know so we can give correct credit.

There are only 7 remaining flyable P-38s in the world, including the restored 'Glacier Girl' (y'all know the story). I think Lefty Gardner's formerly white P-38 is now shiny aluminum, but is in England? Not sure.

Anyway, to get 5 out of the 7 together for a photo shoot is amazing, and to get them in the air at the same time, headed to an airshow is real skill!

Great photo, and a little story about the flight. I have no idea who Jeff H is. Enjoy.

Jeff H's Story

Thought you might appreciate this....last Thursday we took 5 of the 7 flying P-38s from Chino to the Sacramento Capital airshow at Mather for the weekend show.

John Maloney flew chase in our P-51...First we joined up over lake mathews for a quick and dirty photo shoot then climbed up and headed north..along the way Hinton decided we would buzz Shafter where his son was preparing "Stega"for Reno..so we went whistling by their hangar line a *** at about 300 and pulled and came around single ship....climbed back up and joined up..

Then about Fresno, the Air Museums P-38 " 23Skidoo" cracked a head so we followed her to descent at FAT and pressed on.....then about 10 out of KMHR Hinton again decided on some tom foolerery and we did a super low echelon pass at Sanders private strip at Ione before we headed to KMHR for a fan break with the mustang as -5 cameras rolling...

At one point in the flight Maloney came from behind in the Mustang and dove down our right and pulled up into a giant exaggerated barrel roll around the rather loose goose formation so the camera man could snap a photo thru the canopy of the mustang as he was inverted over the P-38 flight.....what a fun deal that was......
here’s a few of the shots..hope your well.

All the best Jeff H

About Wardair Canada

2013-03-04T03:59:00Z

Wardair Canada was a privately-run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1953 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and folded into Canadian Airlines in 1989.

Wardair had its roots in the air charter business in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. From a modest start with small biplanes as a passenger and cargo charter company, the airline expanded into the more populous regions of Canada and turned into a holiday charter airline, from 1962 onwards. Wardair was not a discount airline but an airline providing good service at lower-than-average prices. They were known for high quality meals and friendly staff. "Steak & Champagne" flights was a popular advertising tag line in the 1980s, and won various awards from magazines for their service. Flight attendants served food on Wardair branded Royal Doulton china on tray-table tablecloths on the passenger tray. The seats featured generous pitch. It is remembered as one of the most luxurious Canadian airlines.

In 22 June 1961, Wardair Ltd. changed its name to Wardair Canada Ltd., signalling a new business spirit of expanding charter service. To realize this new vision, Max Ward leased a four- engine Douglas DC-6 from Canadian Pacific Airlines. On 10 May 1962, Wardair began its first chartered passenger service in southern Canada with a return trip from Calgary to Ottawa booked by the Alberta School Patrol Band.

Wardair was not going to limit itself to chartered service within Canadian borders. On 22 June 1962, Wardair flew its first charter flight overseas from Edmonton to Copenhagen, Denmark, transporting 88 war brides to visit their relatives in Europe.

These charter flights of Wardair’s first DC-6 were the beginning of a significant success story in Canadian civil aviation history.

The first jet was a Boeing 727 (Canada's first Boeing) in 1966, the first Boeing 707 (allowing non-stop flights to Europe) in 1968, and the first Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet in 1973. Although initially centred on Edmonton, the long-haul flights were moved to concentrate on Vancouver and Toronto as their main origins, also serving other major Canadian cities. Hawaii became a significant winter destination, and London Gatwick a major summertime one.

Wardair B-727-200 Photo: longshot

The 1970 mainline fleet consisted of two 707s and one 727; in 1980 it was four 747s and two DC-10s. Wardair was a small, steady-growing company. In 1987, from a fleet of seven jets, Wardair undertook a major expansion, ordering 38 aircraft: 14 A310, 12 MD-80 and 12 Fokker F100 - an exponential expansion of operations that would ultimately prove unsustainable.

Wardair 747-100, Photo source: Eduard Marmet

The airline changed from charter to scheduled service in 1982. Rapid expansion, problems with their computer booking system, and failure to attract business customers, who had developed customer loyalty to frequent flier programs on competing airlines, led the airline into financial difficulties, ultimately resulting in the sale to Canadian Airlines in 1989.

Only the first 12 A310s had been delivered — the remaining A310, MD-88 and Fokker F100 deliveries were cancelled after the takeover.

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US NAVY Blue Angels, Fat Albert and JATO

2013-01-28T21:11:00Z

This story is too long for our "Forum" and I decided to publish it on this blog.

For nearly thirty years, almost every airshow presented by the Blue Angels, the US Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, began with the team’s C-130 Hercules support aircraft making a fiery, smoky, noisy jet-assisted takeoff. That era came to an end on 14 November 2009 as the crew of Fat Albert, the affectionate nickname given to the team’s C-130, carried out the last-ever JATO blastoff.

For nearly thirty years, just about every airshow presented by the Blue Angels, the US Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, began with the team’s C-130 support aircraft making a fiery, smoky, noisy jet-assisted takeoff. Photo by John Rossino

“Our primary mission is to provide logistical support for the Blue Angels,” said Maj. Brendan Burks, Fat Albert’s lead pilot in 2010. “We fly approximately 35,000 pounds of spares, tools, and equipment and thirty to forty maintainers to the show sites during the season. We fly close to 100,000 miles each year.” The Blue Angels typically fly twice at each of the approximately thirty-five show sites where they appear during the average show season, which runs from March to November.

“Our secondary mission is to show the max capabilities of the C-130,” Burks adds. “We fly the aircraft to its limits. The primary task of this squadron, after all, is to enhance the image of Naval aviation to the American public through our flying and civic outreach.” The team performs in front of approximately 15 million people each year.

But the Hercules wasn’t always a part of the show. In 1969, the Blues switched show jets from the F-11A Tiger to the larger, faster F-4J Phantom II. If a spare engine was needed at a show site, the team’s C-121 Constellation support aircraft could not carry the F-4’s huge J79 jet engine. So the C-130, which could, was assigned to the team in 1970.

In exchange for the Marines offering up a non-tanker C-130F as a dedicated support aircraft, the Commandant of the US Marine Corps at the time, Gen. Leonard Chapman, directed that the aircraft would be crewed by Marines. Fat Albert flies with three pilots and five enlisted crew members—two flight engineers, a navigator, a loadmaster, and a flight mechanic. The enlisted crew members are all cross-trained and also maintain the aircraft.

“At the beginning, the C-130 crew was considered a Marine detachment to the Blue Angels,” notes Phil Brooks, who, as a Marine captain, flew Fat Albert from 1976–78. “They weren’t even part of the team. It was just a Marine Corps aircraft painted white with ‘Blue Angels’ painted on the side. The Navy and the Marine Corps have really come together.”

AN ICON

Shortly after it premiered in 1972, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, an animated Saturday morning cartoon show, became a huge hit. “We don’t know the exact date, but a little kid saw the big C-130 slowly taxi in at an airshow and said it looked like Fat Albert,” notes Burks. “And the name stuck.” Team members shortened the nickname to just Bert and collectively call themselves Bert Boys.

“We have our own fan base,” adds Capt. Edward Jorge, Fat Albert’s second pilot in 2010. “Kids everywhere love Bert. It’s big and bright. It’s a friendly looking airplane.” One former Bert pilot noted that when he was on the team, many of the children of the Blue Angel jet pilots actually liked Bert better than the aircraft their fathers flew.

The Blue Angels traditionally end the show season at NAS Pensacola, Florida, their home base. Near the end of the 1975 season, then-Capts. Steve Petit and Ron Fleming decided they wanted to include Fat Albert in the annual homecoming show.

Recalls Petit: “We walked into the Boss’ [Blue Angels leader/commander] office and said, ‘We want to be in the airshow,’ and he said, ‘What can you do?’ So we said we could put JATO bottles on Albert and light them off and climb up rapidly. Walking out of his office, I asked Ron, ‘How do you do one of these JATO launches?’ We had no idea.”

Developed at Cal Tech under the direction of legendary aerodynamicist Theodore von Kármán, the first JATO test launch came in 1941. During the Vietnam War, the bottles were used regularly to get C-130s airborne in minimal time and distance to escape ground threats.

The only guidance Petit and Fleming could find on JATO was two pages of instructions in the Naval Aviation Training and Operations, or NATOPS, manual. Eight JATO bottles were shipped down from the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and were attached to Fat Albert on 12 November 1975, the day of the final show that year. The team performed no practice runs.

“We fired the bottles, climbed out at show center, and the crowd went nuts. We circled and landed. I looked at Ron and said, ‘Well, that was fun.’ That was it,” says Petit, whose last military assignment was as the Fat Albert pilot. He later had a thirty-year career as a captain with American Airlines.

However, it appeared that first JATO launch was only a one-time spectacle. For several years after the first blastoff, officials at Pensacola had no interest in storing the bottles, which require special handling and procedures. But a memorable impression had been made.

Popular demand brought the flames and noise back, and, by the early 1980s, the Fat Albert crew was carrying out JATO launches at nearly every practice and at most shows. This has continued with the three C-130Fs, the TC-130G, and the current C-130T that have served as Fat Albert. “The JATO launch became a trademark for us,” observed Jorge. “It’s a great wow factor for the crowd.”

The JATO checklist is propped up against Fat Albert’s throttles prior to the last blast on 14 November 2009. Photo by Jeff Rhodes

A FULL SHOW

“The demo has greatly expanded since that first takeoff and landing. We now have an eleven-minute show that shows the capability of the C-130,” notes Maj. Drew Hess, who completed his three-year tour in 2009 as the lead Fat Albert pilot. “For a long time, the show started with the JATO launch.”

The eight solid rocket bottles weigh about 150 pounds each full and produce about 1,000 pounds of thrust. They provide the equivalent power of a fifth engine to the Hercules. Igniters are threaded into the top of the bottles and are linked via a simple electrical connection to a button on the flight engineer’s panel in the cockpit.

“On takeoff, we release brakes and pick up speed. Near show center, the flight engineer pushes the magic button,” Hess notes. “The rockets go off with a big pop and a lot of smoke and flames,” adds GySgt. Donny Pharr, who also completed his tour on Bert in 2009. The aircraft takes off at a forty-five degree angle and reaches 1,200 feet in about eleven seconds.

As the bottles are expended, the aircraft noses over, and the crew and the twenty to thirty passengers on each flight—local civic leaders, recruiters, and other VIPs generally—briefly experience negative g. The loadmasters, who are not strapped in, grab something solid like a door frame and take great pleasure in simply floating up.

There is a big pop, and a lot of smoke and flames as the expendable JATO bottles on Fat Albert are fired for the last time. The aircraft takes off at forty-five degree angle and reaches 1,200 feet in about eleven seconds. Photo by John Rossino

After a series of turns, the C-130 crew repositions and makes a parade pass at a sixty-degree bank angle in front of the crowd. Another series of turns and Bert comes back for a flat pass at 370 mph at sixty feet off the ground. “We always use miles per hour instead of knots because it sounds faster,” quips Hess.

The flat pass is followed by a minimum-radius turn in front of the crowd. The crew then gains altitude and sets up on the downwind leg for an assault landing. Approaching the runway, the crew pushes the nose over at a twenty-eight degree nose-down attitude, makes a maximum effort landing, and stops in 1,200 feet. The crew concludes the show by putting the engines in full reverse and backing up—to cheers from the show crowd.

“We have a lot of crew interaction,” says Hess, who has now returned to the operational Marine Corps fleet flying KC-130J tankers. “Our demo is a textbook example of crew resource management. The demo requires constant communication between the pilot, copilot, and flight engineer. We all support each other. The Navy’s safety school has even sent observers to watch us work.”

END OF JATO

The development of higher performance engines over the last several decades has eliminated the need for JATO launches in the wider C-130 fleet. The non-operational nature of the JATO launch was a contributing factor, but costs—storage, handling, and operations with the bottles—were becoming prohibitive. However, the main issue that spelled the end to the Fat Albert JATO takeoffs was the fact that the Navy was running out of the bottles.

“The last bottles were cast shortly after the end of the Vietnam War,” Pharr notes. “The remaining bottles had to be X-rayed every year to make sure the solid fuel was still intact, and a number of bottles were failing inspection. We have been rationing the bottles for the last several years. Because the bottles were also considered armament, they had to be shipped separately to the show sites.”

Nearly two dozen former Bert Boys returned to NAS Pensacola to fly as passengers on Bert’s last blast in November. Many were retired, but a couple of the former crew members now command KC-130J squadrons. The last flight also included current Blue Angel enlisted personnel who were completing their tour with the team as well as a couple of what the Bert crew calls JATO Dogs—current team members who act as safety observers during the demo as recognition for their good work.

Nearly two dozen former Bert Boys returned to NAS Pensacola to fly as passengers on Bert’s last blast on 13 November 2009. Included on the flight was Steve Pettit, who, as a captain in 1975, carried out the first Fat Albert JATO launch in 1975. Photo by Jeff Rhodes

On command, Pharr fired the JATO bottles for the last blast. Shouts of “one more time, one more time” could be heard as Hess, making his last flight on Fat Albert, taxied off the active runway at the end of the demo. The appreciative crowd of about 100,000 people roared their approval.

GySgt. Donnie Pharr, the flight engineer, pushes the “magic button” to fire the JATO bottles for the last time, closing out nearly thirty years of Fat Albert blasting off to start a Blue Angels demonstration. Photo by Jeff Rhodes

After landing, each member of the current Bert crew signed the used JATO bottles as did Petit. The Fat Albert JATO launch had passed into history, and the empty bottles were enshrined in the National Museum of Naval Aviation just down the ramp from the Blue Angel hangar at Pensacola. By tradition, the two Marines rotating off the 2009 Fat Albert crew were presented specially painted and decorated JATO bottles.

GySgt. Donny Pharr, the flight engineer who fired the JATO bottles on Fat Albert for the last time, signs the expended bottles after Bert’s airshow demonstration on 14 November 2009. The bottles joined the collection at the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Photo by Jeff Rhodes.

“It would be great if the JATO launches could continue,” said Brooks. “It was a great era. But it has passed. The Marine Corps has gotten a lot of good press out of Fat Albert. Marine aviation, in the form of this C-130, will continue to be an integral part of the Blue Angels.”

The JATO bottles are nearly expended. As the aircraft noses over, the crew and the twenty to thirty passengers on each flight briefly experience negative g. The National Museum of Naval Aviation, which is located just down the ramp from the Blue Angels hangar, can be seen below. Photo by Jeff Rhodes

The Navy’s long-term aircraft recapitalization plan calls for replacing the current Fat Albert with a C-130J, but that is several years away. For now, the Fat Albert crew will continue to lead off Blue Angels shows, creating goodwill and demonstrating the capabilities of the C-130. But as the Bert pilots all noted, “We won’t have JATO, but we have some great ideas on how we’re going to start the show this year.”

Source: Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.

Starting a Museum, Third Blog, "North American Museum of Flight Simulation”

2013-01-15T07:20:00Z

This is the third blog about starting a Museum:

We got a new logo

We did not get charitable status by the CRA (Canadian Revenue Agency). But the 4 page letter explaining why we were not approved, taught us something. We have withdrawn the application and can apply again at the right time.

We are carrying on as a non-profit Society and are now trying to find out what the land we need will cost. We are initially planning for a 6000sq. ft. steel building that can be expanded to 15000sq.ft. We will off course also need space on the property for parking and access to the back of the building where the workshop will be situated.

We are talking to an airport in the Vancouver area about land and will have more about this in our next blog.

We have been offered a B-727 cockpit, pending approval from the owner. To get that and the other cockpit (Beechcraft King Air 100) ,transported to Vancouver will cost money and that is one thing we are a little short on. Last bank statement $ 70.00 in the bank.

This is not a fundraising appeal, but we need to address it at our next board meeting. We have sold 2 aviation photo books making $ 15.00 on each. It will take a lot of book sales to get transport money for our cockpits.

We are planning on selling memberships for $ 25.00/year but as we have very little to show, it could be hard to convince people to become members at this point.

We need two more board members to bring the board to 7 members…. Anybody interested that lives in the Vancouver Area ? Let us know

We have compiled a list of Fortune 500 companies that we will start bugging for money, equipment etc. within the next month. Good that I have unlimited long distance calling in my bundle.

We will carry on with the museum and one day we will have the grand opening and you are invited.. if you are a member.

Watch for our next blog.

For more information visit our beta version Website

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If you know anybody who has any material that is associated with simulator training, please contact us at: info@flightsimulationmuseum.org

About Found Aviation

2013-01-14T03:16:00Z

In 1946, Found Brothers Aviation was established by Nathan K. (Bud) Found and his brother Micky, to design and build the FBA-1 aircraft. The design was based on experience gained from bush operations north of Edmonton, and down the McKenzie River to the Arctic coast. It was designed to operate on wheels, tundra tires, skis and floats and to withstand the rugged use encountered in the undeveloped regions of Canada’s bush country. The FBA-1 first flew in 1949 and was used as a proof of concept aircraft.

Photos Source: R.A.Scholefield
The Centennial 100 was developed as an improved version of the Found FBA-2 in 1966-67. Only five were built.

Design refinements were started in 1950 for the FBA-2. Due to limited funds, progress was slow and this aircraft, with a tricycle landing gear, first flew in 1959. This flight demonstrated the aircraft’s excellent handling qualities and, as a result, John David Eaton (of Eaton's Department Stores) purchased two aircraft for Georgian Bay Airways in Parry Sound. Mr. Eaton also ended up being the major investor behind the development of the FBA-2C production model. Certification in Canada and the United States was obtained in 1964, with production starting that year.

The company had difficulty producing the hand-made aircraft in a profitable manner and production ceased in 1967, after only twenty-seven examples had been produced. During the following thirty years, the FBA-2C developed a legendary reputation as a safe, rugged, reliable, and economical aircraft. Nine FBA-2C's remain flying in Canada today, some having over 13,000 hours of operation.

In 1994, N.K. (Bud) Found regained control to the rights of the aircraft. In 1996, these rights were then transferred to Found Aircraft Development. This company, and its wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary, Found Aircraft Canada, were established to develop and produce the FBA-2C1 Bush Hawk, essentially a minor update to the original in order to comply with new regulations. In 1997, Transport Canada reinstated the FBA-2C's type certificate. After two years of redevelopment work to the design, the Bush Hawk was certified in Canada in March 1999 and the United States in March 2000.

Found Aircraft's largest customer to date is the United States Department of the Interior, which uses the aircraft mainly in its U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service division in Alaska.

Today, Found aircraft produces and sells the FBA-2C3 E350, which is an evolution of the 2C2 Bush Hawk, with tricycle landing gear, five seats and a Lycoming IO-580 engine producing 315 hp (235 kW).

This aircraft, taking off from a dry river bed, is one of the many Bush Hawk-XP's operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska. These aircraft continously fly into some of the toughest areas in the world.

This photo shows the Bush Hawk-XP taking off at the dirt strip next to Lake Hood in Anchorage, Alaska. The Bush Hawk-XP is one of the best selling new piston aircraft in Alaska!

BELIEVE IT! This aircraft on Aerocet 3500 straight floats has a useful load of over 1400 lbs! Even more impressive is that this is a typical load for this hard working Northern Ontario operator.

Bush Hawk-XP with floats and Canoe.

Found Air Website

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About Summit Air

2012-12-12T19:47:00Z

Summit Air started in Atlin, British Columbia in 1987. In January 2001, the base of operations was moved to Yellowknife. The Ledcor Group of Companies became a partner on June 1, 2009.

Summit Air has been in the business of providing specialized remote service for over 20 years, throughout the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

They regularly serve the needs of some of the country’s largest companies, across a wide range of industries. Whatever your transport needs, Summit Air is there for you.

In addition, they also provide stand-alone operations for remote services. They can customize tailored full service flight operations based on needs throughout Northern Canada and beyond.

Summit Air’s charter services are suited to serve the transportation needs of industries operating in northern Canada. Their fleet is diverse and designed for the extreme conditions of the region.

The Shorts Skyvan is used mainly for cargo transport, while the Dornier 228 are suited to accommodate executive travel and cargo.

With a payload of up to 4500 lbs, the Skyvan can transport almost anything: equipment, fuel drums, and even a mid-size pickup truck! The large freight area can also accommodate up to nine passengers.

Loading and unloading the Skyvan is efficient thanks to its single rear cargo door and easy loading options.

Operating on 2 Garrett turbine engines producing over 1400 horsepower, the skyvan cruises at 170 mph, while still maintaining excellent short field performance.

The Dornier is geared for passenger comfort. It can seat up to 19 passengers comfortably, but can transport cargo, as well. The Dornier can carry payloads of up to 4000 lbs. Satellite phones are available onboard. For added comfort, onboard refreshments are served during long flights.

In addition, the Dornier has exceptional short field capabilities. The Dornier’s 2 Garrett turbine engines are fuel efficient and produce over 1400 horsepower.

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Cargo door of aircraft. It reads "Hows My Driving?"

Photos: CambridgeBayWeather

About Pacific Coastal Airlines

2012-12-11T20:59:00Z

The airline was established in 1979 by the merger of Powell Air and the Port Hardy division of Air BC. It acquired the shares and assets of Wilderness Airlines on 1 April 1998. It has 275 employees (at November 2010).

This family run airline was founded by CEO and Director Daryl Smith over 30 years ago. Daryl's roots are in the logging business, but he gained his reputation through 42 years of aviation experience as a pilot and owner of several regional carriers. With various degrees from the University of British Columbia and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University the Smith family oversees all operations in the Northern and Southern BC Regions alongside a staff who have previous experience with Air Canada, AirBC, Trans Provincial Airlines, Canadian Airlines, and more.

A well-established name on the Canadian West Coast. Pacific Coastal Airlines operates a mix of aircraft,

The DeHavilland Beaver (float) and the Grumman Goose (amphibious) are stationed at Port Hardy airport.

Grumman Goose at Port Hardy

There are a variety of wheel aircraft based at Vancouver South Terminal airport, predominantly the Saab 340A, the Shorts S360 & the Beechcraft 1900C.

SAAB 340A at Vancouver South Terminal

Shorts S360 at VST

Beechcraft 1900C at VST

Pacific Coastal's headquarters are located at the Vancouver International Airport South Terminal. The South Terminal is very efficient, designed to be a "smart terminal" for busy travelers, it features numerous benefits: reduced congestion, short check-in lineups, short walks to gates and parking. The South Terminal also features amenities such as a restaurant, gift shop, car rental services, and taxi service. Transfers to and from the Main Terminal are provided by Pacific Coastal's own complementary walk-on shuttle service. Shuttle service is available on a routine schedule.

Pacific Coastal Airlines

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A Canadian at The Kingman AZ Aircraft Storage Facility

2012-11-18T21:46:00Z

I was attending the "Aviation Nation" Air Show at Nellis AFB and had arranged to drive to Kingman AZ to have lunch with the VP and to see the facility.

I was also looking for the opportunity to get a cockpit for our museum, "The North American Museum of Flight Simulation".

The drive from Las Vegas was about 2 hours and I met Bob who unfortunately was tied up in business and could not go for lunch. We had a chance to talk about the facility which currently stores about 300 aircraft.

The new arrivals are mothballed and then they run the APU, engines etc every 30 days until the owner tells them to stop. 90% of the arrivals do not fly out of there again. The aircraft are stripped of engines, fuel, oil, instruments, seats etc. and then goes on the chopping block.

Lots of different types of aircraft are stored here, DC-8, Airbus A-30,SAAB 340B, Canadair CRJ-100/ER Boeing 727-225F,Boeing 727-225, Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-82(MD-82,87,80), Embraer ERJ-135.

I got a fairly quick tour around the storage facility and will be posting some photos from there on the media section of FG

.

It looks like a B-727 cockpit could come our way, courtesy of DHL, we will see what happens. One big problem is that the museum needs to raise funds for transportaton of the cockpit from AZ to British Columbia Canada. We will deal with that when we get the deal.

North American Museum of Flight Simulation, beta website

Starting a Museum, Second Blog, "North American Museum of Flight Simulation

2012-10-29T04:17:00Z

This is the second blog about starting a Museum, you can read the first post here:

Starting a Museum, "The North American Museum of Flight Simulation" Posted Thursday, Jul 26 2012

I found some people interested in this idea and called a founding meeting on July 15, 2012. We have five founding directors on the board and will add two more as we go along.

The name was registered as "North American Museum of Flight Simulation Society" and was incorporated as a BC Society in August. We then proceeded to file for Charitable status with the Canadian Revenue Agency. This is a 16 page application which took us 2 weeks to complete. it was submitted end of August and we now ( 2 months later) have a file number and another 2-3 months wait before something happens. We are happy with that and figure we would not have a file number if the initial wetting of our application had been negative.

The reason for this status is that we can issue tax deductible receipts (tax credits) to donators of money and in kind for what they donate to us. The "in kind" is for "fair market value" and that is where you have to watch that you(the museum) does not issue receipt over the fair market value.

We have an Aviation company in Calgary Alberta who will donate a cockpit section to the museum from a Beechcraft King Air 100, the condition for the donation is a receipt for $ xx.xxx.xx. Now we have to figure out if that is really a fair market price.

The Museum got an offer for two working full motion Airline simulators situated in Europe and had to turn it down because the logistics where simply too expensive for us.

We have got storage space for free in a hangar and are at the moment collecting information for possible donators that we will pursue when we have the tax status.

We have been talking to Vancouver International Airport and they are looking at providing us wth some free space in the airport where we can display and advertise for the Museum.

Membership in the Museum will be a flat $ 25.00 a year for each, no family, student and senior memberships at this stage.

We have started a small fundraiser "Give a Toonie, get a Toonie" and have had 2 donations so far to a value of $ 4.00
DNL..(do not laugh)... all beginnings are tough and eventually we will get more donations.

We are also raising money for the transportation of the Beech King 100 cockpit from Calgary to Vancouver. For more information visit our beta version Website

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If you know anybody who has any material that is associated with simulator training, please contact us at: info@flightsimulationmuseum.org

About Canadian Pacific Airlines

2012-10-23T17:51:00Z

In the early 1940s, Canadian Pacific purchased ten bush airlines in a short time span, finishing with the purchase of Canadian Airways in 1942, to form Canadian Pacific Air Lines. Early management were largely bush flying pioneers including president Grant McConachie, superintendent Punch Dickins and Wop May who would become a repair depot manager in Calgary.

In 1968, Canadian Pacific was rebranded as CP Air. The parent company, Canadian Pacific Railway, later renamed Canadian Pacific Limited, had decided to align the airline's name and logo design to that of its other subsidiaries, including CP Hotels, CP Ships, and CP Transport (CP Rail was spun off from the parent company later).

Battle with TCA, CP Air battled with the government owned Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) for international and transcontinental routes for much of its history. Despite early attempts to merge into one national carrier, CP Air continued to operate routes based on its previous bush flying heritage.

The federal government established limits on domestic market share and, through international agreements, limits on which countries CP Air could fly to. This barred CP Air from the traditional routes such as London and Paris and limited their access to major Canadian routes such as Vancouver-Toronto and Toronto-New York. CP was forced to develop other overseas routes.

The development of the great circle or polar route to the Far East from its Vancouver base would become one of the cornerstones of the airline. Grant McConachie managed to secure flights to Amsterdam, Australia, Hong Kong, and Shanghai which helped grow the airline's revenue from $3 million in 1942 to $61 million by 1964. Several of the key routes in the early days were as follows: Flights 1 & 2, flying Hong Kong - Tokyo - Vancouver - Edmonton - Winnipeg - Toronto - Montreal; Flight 301/302 Sydney - Nadi - Honolulu - Vancouver - Edmonton , and non-stop via the Polar Route to Amsterdam.

Other flights to Europe included Lisbon, Milan & Rome. Another was flights 401/402 Vancouver, Mexico City, Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires, and also Flights 501/502 Mexico City - Toronto - Santa Maria (Azores) - Lisbon - Madrid. Other routes duplicated parts of the above, but from the 1959 Intercontinental Timetable these appear to be the main routes, and show the inventiveness that Canadian Pacific Airlines needed to employ; and how they developed other overseas routes for Canada. The airline was flying DC-4s and DC-6s internationally in the 1950s, introducing turboprop Bristol Britannia Aircraft from 1958. DC-8s began to replace them from 1961, but the Britannias continued on routes that were unsuitable for the new jets well into the 1960s - for example on the route to New Zealand until Whenuapai closed to civil traffic in November 1965. Service to New Zealand resumed in 1985 along with non-stop flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong and in 1986 became the first North American airline to have a non-stop flight between North America and Mainland China with a weekly flight to Shanghai. New service to Beijing, Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil were added in 1987.

Although Canadian Pacific was not allowed scheduled routes to many European countries, they developed extensive charter flights (operated mainly in summertime) through the 1970s and 1980s to Britain, France, Germany and other European points which permitted them to make some access to these markets. Unusually for charter flights, they were listed in detail in their system timetables to show the full reach of the airline.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, many of the routes CP Air had pioneered such as Vancouver–Tokyo were now very lucrative and the previous distribution of routes was considered unfair. In 1979, the federal government eliminated the fixed market share of transcontinental flights for Air Canada (the successor to TCA). While this was a condition that was pressed by CP Air for a long time, it now scrambled to upgrade its fleet to expand on newly available routes such as new nonstop service from Vancouver to Hong Kong and Shanghai to go along with adding more flights to its then current routes like Amsterdam, Rome, Tokyo and Sydney, Australia to prepare for increased competition from Air Canada in its traditional territory. This required massive fleet renewal and an associated debt of $1 billion.

Scan of photo given to me when I flew the CP B-747-200 simulator at the CP Flight Center in Vancouver BC in 1987.

This debt load, the increased competition, and the economic downturn in Asia would all work against CP Air's future.

Having been renamed CP Air in 1968, the airline in 1986 reverted to its original name of Canadian Pacific Air Lines. The rebranding included replacing its trademark orange livery with a new navy blue color scheme and logo. This occurred shortly after the airline had taken over operations of Eastern Provincial Airways.

This new incarnation, however, would prove to be short-lived. Less than a year later, in 1987, Canadian Pacific Air Lines was sold along with Quebec's Nordair, to Calgary-based Pacific Western Airlines for $300 million. PWA would assume the airline's debt of $600 million. In April 1987, PWA announced that the new name of the merged airline would be Canadian Airlines International. In 2000, Canadian Airlines was taken over by and merged into Air Canada.

CP Air Boeing 737-200

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