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.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). See Web Page for latest news.

UPDATE 27/12/2008 I finished writing the Transport Canada Examinations in 2007, and 2008/9 has been a year of flying whenever the weather was reasonable. This is my 86th birthday and on this date, only five? surviving members of 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron are still piloting planes. The plane I am currently flying is the Cessna 172, a four place aircraft.