ROAR of the Harvard Canada’S Grassroots Organization Devoted to Keeping ‘Em Flying!!! /Canadianharvards @Cdnharvards September 2017
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ROAR of the Harvard Canada’s grassroots organization devoted to keeping ‘em flying!!! www.harvards.com /canadianharvards @CdnHarvards September 2017 Bill Long flies WPK one final time “I never thought I would be doing this 63 years later,” he said. But Bill Long did just that! The long-time CHAA member and former chief pilot first climbed into Harvard 20242 WPK in 1954 as a 17-year old student pilot in the RCAF at Claresholm, Alberta. During CHAA’s August 5th Fly Day, Bill took one last shot at flying the yellow bird that he first became acquainted with more than half a century ago. With Chief Pilot Scott McMaster in the back seat, Bill took to the skies for one ceremonial circuit before making a perfect three-point landing on the grass. That was followed by an “accidental” engagement of the smoke oil switch as he spun the Harvard around to position it in front of the hangar before an adoring crowd of applauding onlookers. Why the final flight? Bill says it’s simply getting too hard to get in and out of the aircraft with a parachute on. Following his RCAF career, which he detailed in a wonderful presentation at a CHAA Member’s Briefing earlier this year, Bill flew commercially for Wardair and Canadian, plus he did some work for an outfit called Region Air in Singapore. He was supposed to be looking after one or maybe two Airbus 310s on lease to Air Vietnam based in Saigon. But he ended up flying a B767-300 leased from Royal Brunei from Saigon and overseeing two A320s in Taiwan, two more in Muscat, Oman and a Dash 8 in Singapore. The simulators were in Johannesburg, South Africa, Doha in Qatar and Toronto for the Dash 8. He says he “filled every page in the passport in eighteen months.” Bill was also a simulator and aircraft trainer for a short-lived outfit called VistaJet in Toronto. Although he retired in 1996, he was still working “part time” training pilots on flight simulators for Air Canada until two years ago. After marking his 63-year love affair with WPK, Bill was interviewed by Heather Rivers, a local newspaper reporter. Her story can be seen here: http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2017/08/07/bill-long- flew-the-same-harvard-63-years-ago-as-17-year-old-learning-how- to-be-a-pilot . With the interview complete, CHAA’s Terry Scott pulled out a bottle of fine single malt scotch in order to toast Bill’s special day. (Photos courtesy of Gus Corujo.) CHAA Board and Committee Chairs Position Incumbent Phone Email Director – Bjarni Tryggvason (519) 851-7881 [email protected] President/Chairman Director - Vice-President Director - Treasurer Poul Hansen (647) 932-3483 [email protected] Director – Secretary Terry Scott (905) 220-4012 [email protected] Director - C Ops O Bjarni Tryggvason (519) 851-7881 [email protected] Director - C Tech O Shane Clayton (519) 320-1854 [email protected] Director/Bookkeeper Mel Blundell (519) 512-2082* [email protected] Director Michael Lawrence (519) 873-0343 [email protected] Director John Follows [email protected] Director Robert Henderson* (519) 409-0244* [email protected] Publisher “The Roar” Terry Scott/Pat Hanna Archives, Museum & Scrap Shane Clayton (519) 320-1854 [email protected] Book Chairman Harvard Happenings Sandra Sparkes (519) 390-1000 [email protected] Air Displays Coordinator Melanie Burden (416) 521-5330 [email protected] Flight Experience William McDowell (289) 441-6757 [email protected] Coordinators Stephen Smith (519) 536-1633 [email protected] Public Relations Terry Scott (905) 220-4012 [email protected] Chief Pilot Scott McMaster (905) 865-0331 [email protected] Aircraft Recovery Team Walther Irie (519) 425-4449 [email protected] Finance Committee Torben Haarbye (519) 679-1733 [email protected] Service Crew Chief Shawn Wylie (519) 702-9055 [email protected] Stores Pat Hanna (519) 212-6021 [email protected] Annual Fundraising Banquet Pat Hanna (519) 212-6021 [email protected] Harvard Hawks Vacant Membership Patti Smith* (226) 228-0351* [email protected] Restorations Ron Jay (519) 582-2103 [email protected] (*New) CHAA CALENDAR Sept. 9 @ 10 a.m. CHAA Board Meeting Sept. 10 @ TBD Brampton Great War Museum Fly-In Sept. 16 @ 10 a.m. CHAA Member’s Briefing – Everyone invited! Sept. 16 @ 10 a.m. Tiger Boys Fly-In Sept. 30 @ 4 p.m. CHAA Volunteer Appreciation BBQ (***RSVP by Sept. 15) Oct. 15 @ 1:30 p.m. Ohsweken Flypasts Oct. 21 @ 10 a.m. CHAA Member’s Briefing – Everyone invited! Nov. 5 @ 11 a.m. Tom Hawkins’ Memorial Flypasts @ Shedden Nov. 5 @ 2 p.m. Elmira Remembrance Day Flypasts Nov. 11 @ 11 a.m. Remembrance Day Flypasts in Toronto A Day at CHAA in video Aug. 5, 2017 To the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association: My name is Bill Knetsch and I had the pleasure and opportunity to fly in both the Harvard and Tiger Moth over the last two weekends. The experience is something I will never forget, not only for the sheer exhilaration, beauty and power, but also for a deeply personal reason. I would like to share with you why this means so much to me on a personal note. I was born in Holland just 10 short years after the Second World War ended. As a child growing up, the Canadians were revered as heroes. The stories of my parents and family trying to survive 5 years of brutal occupation are many. I will always remember these incredible stories and to this day do not take our lives we have today for granted. One story my parents told me many times is when the Canadians liberated Holland. My mother was suffering from starvation and if the Canadians did not come in to liberate this country she would not have survived another six months. What the Canadians did when we were liberated is fly bombers over the city. Not to open up the bomb hatch to drop bombs, but they dropped breads on the starving population below. My Mother always said, “I have never tasted a pastry as wonderful as those loaves of breads that came falling from the sky”. We owe our lives to those young men and women that sacrificed everything for us. Shortly after the war, many Dutch citizens immigrated to Canada to start a new life in this incredible country. My parents came later in 1966 - they had the opportunity to immigrate to New Zealand, Australia or the USA. One of the biggest reasons they decided to live in Canada is because the Canadians liberated Holland. I am so thankful they choose this country. In this little video I wear a “ Dutch “ cap in memory of my family back in Holland that suffered so much and the incredible bravery of those men and women who laid down their lives for us all. Thank you all for keeping the memory alive. Sincerely yours, Bill Knetsch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wqcXG2X_m4 (Eds note: Bill also put together a beautiful slide show of his day at CHAA. He has also posted it to Youtube. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYQ92Ar7eyY&feature=youtu.be ) The ROAR of the Harvard is published quarterly and is a benefit of membership in the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. Submissions are welcome. Please send them to Terry Scott at [email protected] or mail them to CHAA. The next issue will be published Dec. 1, 2017. CHAA contact information: Phone (519) 842-9922 Email: [email protected] P.O. Box #175 Tillsonburg, ON N4G 4H5 Harvard Down – Thankful for no injuries All of us at CHAA are thankful that neither our pilot, nor passenger, was seriously injured when Harvard 20436 C-FWLH went off the runway and flipped during the 10th annual Wings & Wheels event at the Owen Sound Billy Bishop Regional Airport. President Bjarni Tryggvason, who also serves as our Chief Operations Officer, has addressed the event in an earlier edition of our Harvard Happenings monthly email blast. It happened mid-afternoon on Sunday, July 9th. The following morning, a dedicated team of volunteers had made the journey from Tillsonburg, Woodstock, Burlington and points beyond to aid in the recovery of WLH and eventually bring her back home. Under the guidance of CTechO Shane Clayton, a crane was brought in to lift the tail and put her back on her three legs. From there, she was loaded onto a trailer and stored in a secure hangar. The following weekend, the wings were removed and WLH made the return trip home to Tillsonburg. Her future has yet to be determined. Thank you, again, to all who helped in her recovery. New Membership Chair A sincere thank you is being sent to Tracy Reddy who filled the position of CHAA’s Membership Chair from February 2015 to July 2017. As of August 2017, Patricia (Patti) Smith [email protected] is our new Membership Chair. We thank her for taking on this responsibility and ask all members to support Patti in her efforts to keep CHAA membership files up to date. She can be reached at [email protected] or at (226) 228-0351. VIMY FLIGHT visits CHAA CHAA was delighted to host an open house on July 17 & 18 featuring a cross-country commemorative warplane tour known as VIMY FLIGHT - a team of dedicated volunteer pilots and ground support that had the honour of performing a commemorative bi-plane fly-past over the Vimy Ridge Memorial in Vimy, France this past April 9. The team is now bringing Vimy home with its Birth of A Nation Tour spanning the country from coast to coast, engaging with communities to honour our Canadian heroes of the past 100 years and to celebrate Canada’s 150th year of nationhood.