Through The Mist Darkly

All day long they’d been saying that the first Airbus A380 to land in Toronto would be coming in from the East to land on runway 24L.  I just happened to be outside the office when I noticed that the wind had shifted.  Grabbing the camera I was lucky enough to get a few shots as Emirates flight UAE241 came in on approach to 6L.

To all the thousands of photographers who were left scrambling at the change of runway, all I can say is HA HA!

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(note: not the plane in question)

So Adam Leon, 31, is charged with stealing a Cessna 172 from a flight school in Thunder Bay Ontario and leading authorities, including a pair of F16 fighters on a merry chase before finally landing 6 1/2 hours and 783 miles later outside a little town in Missouri.

A strange story for sure but what I’m wondering is how did he fly so far for so long.  I don’t have the POH (Pilot’s Operating Handbook) for the C172R that I’m taking flying lessons on with me but those figures seem a tad on the high side.  So I decided to do some Googling to see what I could come up with.

First let’s look at the distance.  For flight purposes, we always work in nautical miles while the 783 would be “normal” miles.  We calculate that out to be:

783 miles = 680 nautical miles

Now it’s off to the POH.  I don’t know what model of Cessna Mr. Leon was flying or whether or not it had extended tanks.  Calculating range and endurance is based on so many factors – fuel load, pressure altitude, throttle settings, winds aloft……… that you can’t just pull a number out of your ass but let’s take a look at a “typical” entry from the book.

Some reports had him flying at 14,000 feet which is crazy unless the aircraft is equipped with oxygen so let’s use the 12,500 figures.  If he ran at 2200 RPM then he could keep it in the air for 6 1/2 hours as reported but his range is less than 550 nautical miles, about 130 short of the reporting distance.  So, we have to assume that he either had a larger fuel capacity or one hell of a tail wind or the news services have it all wrong (no voting!!).

The unfortunate thing here is that this will probably lead to stricter controls over general aviation, especially for those of us who fly fairly close to the US-Canada border.

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I’ll go out on a limb and say we’re seeing the end of Winter 2008-2009.  10C and brilliant sunshine.  A great day to grab the camera and go planespotting near Pearson International Airport.

A beautiful PIA (Pakistani International Airlines) Boeing 777-200/LR glides in for a landing. Magnificent in the serenity of the approach.  This is one quiet airplane.

Air Jamaica G6-JAF (Airbus 320-214) bringing folks home from somewhere just a bit warmer than Toronto.

Probably the strangest of the bunch.  Although it wears the name CanJet complete with Maple Leaf in the C, this Boeing 737-800 actually carries a German registration D-AHFT.

It was nice to have the big camera in my hand again and feel the sun on my face.  It’s time to come out of hibernation.

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Not much to do on a dreary Sunday afternoon so I took a picture of a wall.  Actually it’s part of one wall in my home office.  Shows how much of an aviation nut I really am.

Clockwise from top:

A picture of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 series 20 that was given to employees in celebration of its first visit to Toronto in September 1972.  Back then the plant was officially called “Douglas Aircraft Company of Canada Ltd” and was located at the Northeast corner of the land now owned by GTAA (Pearson International Airport).  The buildings, which were torn down a few years ago, were also once home to Victory Aircraft (Lancasters were built there) and Avro (home of the Arrow).

Western Airlines promotional poster from 1961.  Western Airlines (1925-1986) started off carrying mail and died when purchased by Delta.  In between they flew all the aircraft shown on the poster – from a Douglas M-2 biplane to the Boeing 720B.  The tag line is interesting “From Biplane to Fanjet, 22 Aircraft Types Have Carried the Colors of Western Airlines, America’s Pioneer Airline”  An eBay find.

Opening the TSX.  A recent addition to the wall.

Autographed picture of CF-18.  One of my photos that I had autographed by the pilot who flew it in for Wings & Wheels 2008.  “Cherry” was a great young man, very professional and friendly.  And he likes to fly the Hornet low and fast!  The shot was taken as he ran one of his runway “checks”.  Since you can’t fly acrobatics over Toronto, Cherry announced that he was a little heavy on fuel and was running a series of runway checks to look for debris or obstructions before landing.  Very low, very fast, very loud. Along with his signature it reads “Keep the blue side up” and I’ve tried to keep that in mind during my flight training.

Nearly every wall, cabinet and piece of floor has something aviation related.  Every piece tells a story.

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Just over 4 hours until we depart Zurich for the 9 hour flight back to Toronto.  Another crummy night’s sleep but today I don’t care.  Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed again. 

I’m really upset that I’m missing the big press event at the museum today.  We finally unveil the new name – Canadian Air & Space Museum – and kick off our celebrations of the Centennial of Canadian Flight.  I hope that the place is packed and everything runs smoothly. 

Time to get ready to go.  Grab a quick shower.  Finish the packing.  Grab the shuttle bus to the airport.  Buy the chocolate (I can’t leave Switzerland until I buy chocolate). Check in at Zurich is always a pain as they never seem to have enough people on the desks.  Air Canada farms out their passenger services to an outside company and I’ve never been terribly impressed with their customer service skills.  Once I endure that it’s a quick trip through passport control (why, oh why can’t Canadian Customs be so efficient) and the 2 minute train ride with the mooing cows and yodelers.  If you’ve ever been through Zurich airport you know what I’m talking about.

Seat 21K today.  On a Boeing 767-300ER this puts me squarely over the wing.  Smoothest seat on the plane.  Catch a few catnaps, watch a movie or read a book and then I’ll be home.  Home.  What a wonderful word.

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A hardy “well done” to the Swiss International Airlines pilot who decided to tell off a security screener yesterday.  From the Sun 

When asked by the screener to remove his shoes and belt, he dropped his pants, exposed himself and asked “Do you want to search THIS?”

It has always amazed me why flight crews have to put up with the silly and humiliating procedures that the passengers endure.  Who cares if they’re carrying a small knife or a big bottle of Coke.  About 30 minutes after they get through security they’ll have their hands on the controls and they could essentially do anything they wanted.  Sure, they might have to fight off their partner should they feel the urge to reenact 9/11 but, come on, we trust these men and women with our lives.  Is it too much to ask that we show them a little respect?

The downside of this is that the flight had to be cancelled and 37 passengers waiting to board at London’s City Airport were forced to wait 2 hours.  All I can add is that the pilot sure had a lot of balls (or at least that’s what the eyewitnesses said).

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Each year, the Canadian Armed Forces paints one of their CF-18 Hornets to appear in public events.  This year’s beauty commemorates the Centennial of Flight.

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Too many great images are coming out after the Fight 1549.  Here’s the latest to tickle my funnybone.

I’ll move on to other things now.

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It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about the Toronto Aerospace Museum.  I’m spending a lot of time there and some big things are happening – some I can talk about right now and others that will have to wait.

I’m honoured to have been chosen as Chairman of the Wings and Wheels Heritage Festival committee.  Wings and Wheels is our largest public event and we’re hard at work planning for the 4th year.  Mark your calendars for May 22-24 and come on out to see me at Downsview Park in Toronto.

As the name suggests, the festival is comprised of two main components.  Wings covers anything that flies, or used to fly.  Military, civilian and general aviation is always well represented.  Last year, the Canadian Forces joined us with a CF-18 Hornet, a CP-140A Arcturus, a Tutor trainer in Snowbird colours and a helicopter. 

Vintage Wings of Canada brought down their Waco Taperwing and Bombardier brought over a few of their planes.

On the Wheels side, we had a nice collection of custom and classic cars from local clubs as well as some military vehicles and vintage motorcycles.  I think this picture really captures the theme of Wings and Wheels.  In 2009 we’re really going to try to play up this side more.

Of course, one of the stars is always our Arrow.  The only full-size replica of the famous CF-105 fighter.  It’s the most spectacular piece in the museum’s collection and is always a crowd pleaser.  Everyone is amazed at the size and the quality that shows the thousands of dedicated volunteer hours that went into its construction.

We’ve already got some incredible aircraft coming but I’ll hold off on making any announcements until we’re ready to officially release the news.

There’s other museum news coming that I’m not at liberty to disclose at this time.  Suffice it to say that we’ll be moving in new directions that can only enhance our reputation as one of the finest aerospace museums in North America.  Stay tuned.

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Watch part 2 of “21st Century Jet” (Part 1 available here)

Thanks again Jon!

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Another flying lesson this morning.  Despite dire warnings of an approaching storm, my instructor decided that we could go up.  Today’s flight was to practice slow flight and then start getting into stall recovery.  I’ve been nervous about this part of the training but off we went.

A crappy picture of my weekend office.  The Cessna C172R is a cramped area and you’re really up close and personal with your instruments which is a good thing because they can save your life.  The six instruments in front (called the Six Pack) give you all the information you need to make sure you’re flying straight and level.

People always say that the view must be fantastic.  Not so much.  There’s not a whole lot of visibility forward as the windscreen is so high.  The magnetic compass sits front and centre and you’re usually looking through the spinning prop.  In slow flight you can actually get hypnotized by the blades and have to force your focus past them.  Here I’m sitting in the airplane waiting for Steve to show up.  The wind was just starting to gust up and the little Cessna was bouncing around quite a bit.

We finally got off the ground.  It was a good takeoff and I got to practice my crosswind procedures.  We headed north until we were over the Shelburne wind farm which is part of practice area – not many houses below if you decided to do something stupid.

Spent about an hour in slow flight.  This involves pitching the plane’s nose up as you reduce power.  The trick is to do this while making sure that you don’t lose or gain significant altitude.  It’s an important part of the exam and we kept at it until I finally started to get it right.

So here we are at about 4,000 feet when we notice that the storm front is coming in a lot faster than predicted.  Figuring that we still had some time, Steve stalled the airplane a couple of times so I could get a feel for it.  What a hoot!  Cut the power to idle and start pitching the nose up until the speed falls to 44 knots which is flaps up stall speed in the Cessna.  The stall horn starts blaring and it sounds like an angry mosquito in your ear.  Just like clockwork, the plane loses lift and you start to drop – straight down.  Steve immediately drops the nose to start air flowing over the wings and brings the power back on.  The first time felt like being on a roller coaster as it crests the top of a rise.  My stomach was somewhere behind my ears and just wanted to get out and walk.  The second one, now that I knew what was coming, was a whole lot of fun.  Steve makes it look easy and my turn comes next Sunday.

By now the ceiling had dropped so low and the visibility so crummy that Steve had to handle the ride back to the airport.  With the headwind, we actually got the airplane to stand still.  He was trying to make it go backwards but we didn’t have any more time to mess around.

A bumpy approach and a textbook crosswind landing and we were back on the ground.  I taxied up to the pumps and we had to chock the wheels as even with the brakes on the light little C172R was still moving forward.  I think we made it back just in time.

All in all, one of the best days I’ve had in the air.

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Jon Ostrower is, by far, the best and most respected aviation blogger writing today.  In just over a year he’s become the go to guy for breaking news.  His site is one of the first I check every day. 

Jon started putting videos up on what he calls “Movie Monday”.  Today’s selection is the first of a five part documentary released in 1996 called the 21st Century Jet.  It follows the design, manufacture and flight of the Boeing 777.  As Jon writes:

This is one of the single most valuable public historical tools for understanding Boeing, its recent history and its philosophy on innovation and risk. From a personal prospective, this documentary served as a model for my coverage of the 787 program that you see here. Embedded inside this movie are important lessons for the 787 program, as well as the context for understanding the global design and supply chain.

Each section is just under an hour but very much worth your time whether you have a love for aviation or a desire to understand how large projects work.  Personally, both aspects appeal to me – one as a hobby, the other being what I do for a living.

Grab a beverage, sit back and enjoy!

21st Century Jet – Part I(click to open in new window)

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Yesterday, I spent a most enjoyable day helping to celebrate the 90th birthday of Mr. George Neal.  I wrote about Mr. Neal a couple of weeks ago and his contribution to Canadian aviation and it was great to see so many people come out to a party at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.

Greetings from the Premier of Ontario, Prime Minister of Canada and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (on behalf of the Queen) were given.  A cake was presented and a general good time was had by all.

I spent a few hours helping set things up and one of my tasks was to work on a Powerpoint presentation that played throughout the festivities.  Made up of pictures of Mr. Neal and his aircraft, it also contained transcripts of emails from wellwishers from all around the world.  Most poignant were those from ex-military pilots who credited the de Havilland Caribou with saving their lives in Vietnam. 

de Havilland Canada built the DHC-4 Caribou for the US Army where it was designated as the CV-2.  With the remarkable STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capabilities developed for the Beaver and Otter, the DHC-4 was ideally suited for operations in jungle conditions where “runways” were hastily hacked out of the fast-growing vegetation. George Neal was the test pilot for the prototype and production models and the pilots credit him with demonstrating the incredible properties that convinced the Army to purchase more than 170 airframes.

A live auction was held for the chance to go flying with George in his vintage Chipmunk.  I seriously considering getting myself an early Christmas present but the bidding for this once in a lifetime opportunity quickly outstripped my budget.

The chance to celebrate a living legend does not come very often.  It was an honour to be a part of this happy occasion. 

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Anyone who’s spent even a second here know’s I’m airplane crazy.  Need more proof.  I look at a snow covered hotel roof across the street from my office and I see 2 aircraft flying in formation.

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I dropped into the Toronto Aerospace Museum today just to see what was going on and to see if any projects had been planned for me while I’ve been travelling.  Luckily, I brought my camera.

Today we took possession of a 1956 de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth that has been purchased from George Neal, a member of the museum.

Mr. Neal (middle) flew his airplane in for the handover and it was truly a special and bittersweet day.  Here, he poses with Claude Sherwood (museum CEO, left) and Paul Cabot (curator). The Moth may never fly again as it’s scheduled to go on permanent display.  Mr. Neal, at the tender age of 90, sold the aircraft to finance a project where he’s building a Hawker Fury.  He’s a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame (inducted in 1995) and holds the distinction of being one of the first Canadian pilots to be qualified to fly the RCAF Vampire, our first jet fighter.  Neal’s testing and demonstrations of aircraft such as the Beaver, the Otter, and the Caribou, allowed them to be successful around the world . He retired in 1983 as Director of Flight Operations of de Havilland Canada.

The day was superb, the winds were light and George performed a perfect landing in a perfect example of this rare airplane.

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I loved this picture as soon as I saw it in the viewfinder.  Vintage Wings of Canada’s WACO Taperwing watching the sun come up in the hanger at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.  One of the best parts of being a volunteer there is the chance to roam around before the public shows up.

I’m honoured that Vintage Wings of Canada saw fit to include this their online article “Eye of the Beholder”.

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Just spent the last week in Switzerland for yet another training session.  When is my company going to learn that trying to train me is like trying to train a rock?  Actually, as these things go it was a productive week.

Flew with Air Canada last Saturday night stuck in cramped economy and then had to hop a train for a one hour trip to the town of Einsiedln which is famous for it’s Benedictine monastery.  Which, of course, means bells – lots of bells – all night long bells.

The monastery has two bell towers and they’re not quite synchronized so at certain times of the day and night you’re subjected to duelling bells.

Yesterday, it was off to the airport at 4am Toronto time and then  to Montreal on a Swiss Airlines A330 which is configured like the worst low-cost charter plane.  The idiot in front of me decided to slam their seat back without warning which caused a glass of red wine, that I was trying to enjoy, to spill all over my jeans and coat.  Lovely stain patterns that I had to put up with for the rest of the day.  We arrived in Montreal at 3:30 and an hour later it was home to Toronto on an A320 that felt positively palatial in comparison.

So now it’s Saturday morning and I have 48 hours to rest and get ready for a flight to Hartford Connecticut for 4 more days of training (they’re not getting it). 

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So you’ve got yourself a lovely little seaplane.  The industry loves it!  Sales are about to boom.

One little problem.  D-ICKS???  Is that the best registration number you could get?  I know it’s a German plane (hence the D for Deutchland) and it probably doesn’t raise any eyebrows over there but it certainly does cause a little Beavis and Butthead giggle from this side of the Atlantic.

It’s a Dornier Seastar.

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Forget about the captioning from some wag over at FARK, the picture is supposedly legit.  Passengers on a CRJ flying from Guilin in the south of China, to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province were asked to lend a hand when the airplane had mechanical trouble before it could reach the gate.

I fully expect to learn that this was a stunt or hoax picture but it gave me a good laugh after a brutal week at work.

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