MIKE ROACH’S SOPWITH AVIATION COMPANY

THE CHILLIWACK ADVENTURE 2010

About 3 years ago Trevor Hewson and I started discussing the possibility of visiting the Chilliwack fly-in. This was as a result of us both building models from Ivan Pettigrew’s plans, his being the Sealand and mine the Catalina, and the fly-in has very strong links to Ivan.

 I had an additional link in that Frank (von) Jaerschky had built a superb model of my DH2 design and we had occasionally thought that meeting would be neat. At roughly the same time Trevor and I started contributing the RC Groups, and were very familiar with Luke Middleton’s “Ivan’s Models” website and the associated “Chilliwack fly-in” websites, started each year by Ron Dodd and featuring the impressive camera-work of Beverley from  “Team Tracon.”

Finally, I booked air tickets and car hire and made a Depron model that could be disassembled into a large carry-on box, and it was time to go!

First stop was Frank’s place in Comox, on Vancouver Island, where I stayed for 3 days in royal comfort. We didn’t see a bear, or Joni Mitchell, but every other whim was catered for by Frank, Leanne, Kaytlyn and Devin as well as being lovingly licked half to death by their Springer Spaniels and the bolder of their 2 cats. It was a great time.

On Thursday we travelled to Gibsons, to collect Sam and Beverley. Frank was feeling a little jaded, as he had stayed up till 11 pm pcking 9 models into his car. I didn’t believe it either, but the contents of his workshop somehow made it.

Most of my better photographs were taken between 7 and 9 pm - the light was just superb and the clouds, forests and mountains made a wonderful backdrop.

“Spot the aircraft” part 2

And this was our next stop - the Master’s workshop.  Ivan Pettigrew is something of a legend. Born and brought up in New Zealand, 10,000 hours plus as a full-size pilot, across Canada twice in a Taylorcraft, car trips from BC to Bolivia, flying in the Andes, an Instructor, then an Instructor of Instructors. Not to mention the orchestra, the choir, and the 25 model aircraft plans. He is also a highly skilled RC pilot and his displays with his 100” Solent, his even bigger Blackburn Beverley and his even more bigger Martin Mars are great fun to watch, even if you are holding your breath as he loops, rolls and stall turns these lightweight monsters.

Friday morning was drizzly, but at 0700 (they all get up very early in BC) we persuaded Frank he could fly the Twin Otter off the wet grass. Note the “keep the TX dry” stance. It worked well, of course, and I flew the little Scooper, then we heard that the rest were already in the air at the pond, so a 10 minute drive saw us arrive just in time to see all 4 Solents (one was a Sandringham, but hey...) in the air at once, doing skim and goes, one after the other. Really, an amazing sight.

This was my first view of the pond. It’s a flooded gravel pit, about 500m diameter, with trees fairly close on 3 sides. The access is down a 100m wide sloping grass strip with a fairly clear flight line, so as well as circling the pond, you can fly out high and come back in down the glide-path created by the strip. That’s when the sheer spectacle of seeing these big boats easing down to land is really dramatic.

Needless to say we all had a fly or two before heading back to the field. Thi was the pattern of our days and although the weather was not perfect, it was more than good enough to enjoy the flying and the countryside.

The flying field was still wet that day but saw plenty of action, but the best weather was reserved for the Sunday when most of the 60 or so modellers flew. Canadians are nothing if not enthusiastic, and I was woken up before 0600 every day by the sound of brushless motors spinning around. Some of us lived on the site, and one of us, Glen Peden, was up with the lark at 6 and didn’t stop flying his Nieuport until after 9 at night when it really was too dark to see the runway.

I took a 48” span Depron Bombardier CL-215 Scooper as my hand luggage. It took apart into 7 major components to fit in the largest carry-on box I could take. The staff at Air Canada were very helpful and my trip though security could not have been simpler. I found a couple of simple rules sufficed: tell as many people as possible what you are doing, and stick to their rules while you are doing it. All sharps go in the hold, your batteries in your hand baggage and the model in its box must be immediately accessible if anyone wants to have a look. The security lady at Heathrow said “What’s in this box then – let’s have a look.”   “It’s a model aeroplane” I said. “Oh, I’ve got one of those” she said. I knew I was home and dry!

The little Scooper flew well and we were rewarded on the Sunday by a fly-over of the real thing on a proving flight from ConAir at Abbotsford, where they are converting one of the piston-engined 215s to turboprop power: to a 215T in fact. We visited the airfield – just a few miles to the west – and got a fairly close look at the plane on the tarmac.

Trevor and Mary and I had a wonderful holiday and a superb time at Chilliwack. We were looked after as well as you could possibly hope, principally by Frank Jaerschky, his wife Lee Ann and their children and dogs and by Ivan Pettigrew and Rosella. Ivan took us on a couple of sight-seeing tours round the beautiful Fraser Valley area (the English Lake District, but huge), entertained us, let us fly his models, provided accommodation and from Rosella, a final picnic at Lake Chilliwack. We also met our on-line friends Sam and Beverly of Team Tracon, Luke and Sarah from Corvalis, Oregon, Glen Peden, Hal Norrish and many others, to whom very grateful thanks, all of you.

The Chilliwack fly-in takes place at the end of May and in August every year. As an excuse to take the family to Canada, it could not be bettered!

Links:

Fraser Valley RC Flyers: http://www.fvrcf.org/about.htm

Ivan Pettigrew plans: http://www.ivansplans.com/

Team Tracon photos: http://www.teamtracon.com/0001.html

RC Groups – search for

• Ivan Pettigrew Planes – build threads and videos
• Chilliwack 2010
• A Scooper for Chilliwack

“Scooper in the mist” by Beverly Hudson of Team Tracon

Goodbye - Glen Peden’s Nieuport from the Pat Trittle kit late on the last evening.

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