RETURN TO THE AIR

Richard P. Perry, Flt.Lieut. (Retired)

This is the story of my return to flying after a break of 60 years.I have always loved flying and looked forward to the opportunity of repeating the experience before it was too late. The whole exercise started in the year 2001 with a gift from Alex Boome of a Father’s Day Certificate, good for an introductory flight at the Boundary Bay Airport.This flight stirred up that old love again and, shortly after, I contacted the Pacific Flying Club to determine whether I was still eligible.Once again, I took an introductory flight, this time with a young instructor, Monika Mayer, (23) and from that introductory flight, signed up to take the Transport Canada compulsory courses, in order to obtain a license.The requirements are quite stringent particularly as regards air safety and are a far cry from the conditions with which we were familiar during WW2.

The lessons were almost an exact parallel with those that I was subjected to at #2 EFTS at Harewood in New Zealand, back in 1942.The aircraft are Cessna 152’s in lieu of Tiger Moths but, in spite of the difference, I found that they had much the same characteristics as the Tigers and operated at much the same airspeeds.The difference, of course, is that landing is on a runway with a tricycle undercarriage rather than on grass with two wheels and a tailskid.

Progression was from Taxiing to Straight and Level Flight, Effect of Controls, Climbing and Descending, Takeoff and Landing, Steep Turns, Slow Flight, Stalls, Spins, Spirals, Sideslips and Circuits.The items that were missing were the aerobatic maneuvers that were part of the Tiger Moth training.Compulsory lessons were of two hours duration and included a briefing session as well as a flying session and minimum requirement was 17 hours of dual before going solo. I went Solo, again, in 2002.The flights were rigidly controlled from the Transport Canada Control Tower, a completely new experience as control during WW2 was by means of Aldis Lamp.A Transport Canada flight test and a multiple choice exam are required before the license is finally issued.

One of the requirements was that the I be medically fit and to that end, it was necessary that I be examined by a doctor certified by Transport Canada.This examination completed, I received a medical certificate good for only one year. (For the under 70’s the certificate is good for two years).

UPDATE 20/9/2011 I soloed, again, for the third time,and finished writing the Transport Canada Examinations in 2007.Flying is on-going whenever the weather is reasonable. I've just had my 88th birthday and I'm one of only four surviving members of 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron who are still piloting planes. The plane I am currently flying is the Cessna 172, a four place aircraft. A group of us from the Flying Club flew down to Reno, Nevada, September 2010 to watch the Air Races. I was the pilot in the plane I was flying and my passenger was the navigator. I entered another 13 hours of flying time in my Log Book. Altogether, including the war years I have over 1000 hours of flying time to date. A recent flight was to a Fly-In on Texada Island which netted another hours flying time. I attended the Memorial Service on July 12,2011, for one of the Club Instructors who was killed while flying up at Harrison Lake, 23 years old. Very sad. He was my navigator coming back from our flight to Reno. It would appear that the plane stalled and crashed into the mountainside. Last month I flew over to Victoria with Amar Shan, one of the Club Members, mainly as an exercise in Trafic Control around large airports, Vancouver International and Victoria International. For the record, Transport Canada has now decreed that, on the results of a Stress Test, I must give up any thoughts of renewing my Private Pilots License. However, the Club has decreed that I can continue to fly the Club planes from the left hand seat, as long as I have a Licensed person in the right hand seat. This is really no hardship as it is nice to have the company of another person and there are any number of the club Members who look forward to the opportunity of a free flight. I recently attended the Battle of Britain Day Memorial Service in Stanley Park as one of the Representatives of the Aircrew Association and was stationed on the saluting base for the March Past. Many deaths at the 2011 Reno Air Races due to the crash of a Mustang into the crowd of onlookers. I am looking forward to a trip to the Air Show at Oshcosh, Wisconsin