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PUFA NEWSLETTER
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May 20, 1998
Beverley Lawrence, President
Tobias Kreisz, Vice-President
Mario LeBel, Treasurer
Debbie Major, Secretary
Mail to: Pacific Ultralight Flying Association
102-16071 82 Avenue
Surrey, B.C. V3S 2L6
PUFA Newsletter published by Glenn Ursel
From The President
by Beverley Lawrence
It's very difficult at a time like this to put pen to paper, so to speak, and comment on the accident involving an Airflow instructor and student. You will have read all the sensational reports in the newspapers, seen the footage the television reporters took with a hidden camera of a shocked Ultralight Flight Training operator who had expressed his desire not to be interviewed on camera and wonder, as ultralight pilots, about our own mortality.
The plane was seen to operate a wing over evolving into a spiral which of itself is not unsafe, if carried out properly, but the pilot for some reason pulled out of the dive too fast and exerted excessive forces on the plane and the wing collapsed. The plane then spiralled to the ground killing both occupants on impact. Materials Engineers from the Coroner’s office are inspecting the wreck at this time and a representative from Transport Canada is observing the inspection.
After all is said and done, we must remember that two young men died as a result of the crash. The pilot, Sebastien Bourque, answered an ad for flight instructors and started flying with Airflow in the fall of last year to build up the required hours and take the instructors’ course. He started instructing in January. Sebastien had a conventional pilot licence, a float endorsement, many hours of experience and an absolute joy of flying that made him declare that he would fly for free. He was a gentle, lovable young man and a natural pilot. He is deeply mourned by those who knew him at Airflow.
The student (Nigel Simpson) with him at the time of the accident had come in for a fifteen minute introductory flight which was nearing it's end; the plane was in sight of the airfield. I did not see this young man as I was not there at the time; all I know of him is his handwriting on the waiver he signed and yet he and Sebastien will forever be joined in my mind.
Editorial Note
by Glenn Ursel
Some of you may have seen the weekend BC TV news report showing a white Beaver ultralight with floats flying over the crash scene. I didn’t mean to add to Fred’s troubles by giving the media a lead in to the “noisy ultralights” but was merely climbing up out of Runway 25 to go back to my new home field at Glen Valley.
This accident has shocked all of us I think and it’s too soon perhaps to judge its cause which resulted in the death of Sebastien Bourque and his fan flight “student”, Nigel Simpson, but... those of us flying Beavers will no doubt have cause for renewed vigilance in the maintenance of our aircraft. Beverly Lawrence has asked me to advise you there will be a time to remember Sebastien Bourque and Nigel Simpson and share our memories at King George Airpark on Sunday, May 24th at 5.30 pm.
All Surrey Ultralighters are also encouraged to vote for Barbara Steele on May 23rd since she supports the rezoning of the King George Airpark. At the Council meeting on May 19th, many of the councillors recommended supporting approval of the application, but decided to table the motion for two weeks.
1998 Flying Events*
Saturday, and Sunday, June 6 - 7, 1998 (unconfirmed)
Nanaimo Flying Club-in Annual Fly-in Pancake breakfast
Flour bombing competition, spot landing, great prizes.
Camping and aircraft tie-down available. For more info, contact Club:
Garnet Mah @
(250) 246-2828 or Ken @ (250) 754-2865.
Sunday, June 7, 1998, 9:00 am to 11:15 am
Delta Airpark, RAA Chapter 85 monthly pancake breakfast
$3, 9:00 am to 11:15 am
Listen to the pre-recorded arrival procedures for Delta Heritage Airpark
phone 878-9050
Saturday, June 20
COPA Annual Meeting in Edmonton
Thursday to Monday, July 9-13
Arlington Airshow
Thetis Island Float Fly-in
Saturday and Sunday, August 8-9
Abbotsford Fly-in
Powell River Fly-in
September
Poker Run
St. Mary’s Lake Fly-in
*Information supplied by Gordon Denham and Fred Glasbergen
Flight to the Yukon in a Beaver Ultralight!
At the pancake breakfast Gordon Brogan was talking to me about a time when he had had to improvise a shelter from the wind for his plane with bales of hay. This reminded me of the time Fred and I flew a Beaver RX550 on amphibious floats from Surrey to the Yukon. The flight was quite an adventure for me as I had never been that far north before. On the first stop of the flight in Courtney, I walked into the restaurant freezing cold, having flown there in the back seat. I was wearing my snowmobile suit with heavy boots, gloves and scarf and passed the other customers sitting on the deck in the sunshine in their shorts and tee-shirts.
We reached Ocean falls that evening and were greeted with great interest by the local population. Quite an exciting event in their quiet lives. The next morning we were fortunate to enjoy beautiful sunshine in an area which boasts B.C's most heavy rainfall. The following day we stopped in Klemm Tu and I was fascinated to walk the board walk around the edge of the bay to the store and cafe and photograph seaweed being dried in the sunshine for edible use. However the wind came up and we were not able to leave.
The wind presented a problem in as much as we were tied to the dock on the water and the wind was coming at the untied wing. What to do? The wind was gusting quite strongly. Fred walked back to the store while I sat in the plane to give it some weight (no comments please), and he purchased a bucket which he filled with water and tied to the unprotected wing. The weight of the water in the bucket helped to keep the wing down while we waited for the wind to die down.
The rest of the flight had it's adventures also, but that's another story. Have you any stories of improvisation in your flying career that might interest the other readers? Call (or send them to) Glenn and he will write it up for you.
Beverly Lawrence
Email Correspondence on Microlight Flyers
Date/Time: 5/6/98 6:20 AM
Subject: Welcome to Surrey, B.C.
To Brian Milton & Keith Reynolds:
I am a member of the Pacific Ultralight Flying Association which is our local ultralight flying club in the Lower Mainland of B.C. At the last monthly meeting, the members agreed that we would like to host you here at the King George Airpark in Surrey. The airfield location is: Surrey CYVR, N49 05 W 122 50, Com 123.5
Email pufa or phone King George Airpark at (604) 596-7452
Glenn Ursel E-Mail: pufa@tvinet.ca
Date/Time: 5/7/98 6:10 AM
Subject: Welcome to Surrey, B.C. Canada
As President of the Pacific Ultralight Flying Association (PUFA), I would like to repeat Glenn Ursel's invitation to you to to stop over at the King George Airpark in Surrey, B.C. Canada, home of Airflow Ultralight Aviation Ltd. As an ultralight airfield, fuel and parts could be arranged for you, also accommodation and a warm welcome. Congratulations on your progress so far, a fantastic achievement and a wonderful adventure.
Beverly Lawrence E-Mail: airflow@direct.ca
President, Pacific Ultralight Flying Association
Date/Time: 5/13/98 10:49 AM
Subject: Hope to see GLOBAL in ALASKA soon.
I hope that every thing goes good on the crossing to AK. If your route is still coming up the Aleutian Chain your in for a real ride. The winds can be very rough and there are not too many places to land.
If able try going farther north than cross at the Bering Straits. Just an idea. Well good luck and we will see you in ALASKA.
Lanse Welsh E-Mail: UL10AKA@AOL.COM
President, Ultralight Flyers of Alaska
Microlight Pilot Progress Reports
May 14
Well the pilots are in the air once again. However, owing to the poor communications means available from Russia to the rest of the world and Brian's total ingnorance of anything technical that ain't attached to a plane, we have limited information.
We do know however, that the new flight plan has involved considerable changes from the original plan. The intended 5-day Aleutian Islands route has been blown out of the sky and replaced with a 10-day east-coast route which takes them to Ayan, Okhotsk and Magadan and then across to Markovo and Providenia before finally crossing the Bering Straits to Nome, Alaska.
By way of incident, we heard that after around two hours of flying into Russia a radio message warned them to turen back because they did not have permission to fly! They did the sensible thing (though fuming) and turned back. After about a further half-hour of back-tracking they received another radio message to say they did have permission after all. Isn't life strange?... Like a bee on glass the aircraft turned again and, by now, they should have landed.
That's all we have for now...hopefully there will be more tomorrow.
May 15
The pilots have learnt that they can't fly on through Russia - they are obviously disappointed but everyone is trying very hard to get them flying again.
May 16
Again grounded as the Ministry of Defence in Moscow don't seem to be very keen to let us through. Rest assured that all of us in the back room are contacting anybody and anything with a Russian name or number!
May 17
Day of rest for some..... but not wanted by our two pilots who are still stranded.
May 18
We have found a way to reach a high level Russian contact.... for obvious reasons we cannot say too much here now but will keep all of you posted as soon as we know the outcome.
We understand that both Keith and Brian have spent their time profitably sending postcards to all their lovers!
May 19
Still stuck in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with bureaucratic delays. Our poor pilots are trying to think of ways to entertain themselves until they receive word to continue to Russia.
It appears as though two Russian lovelies have taken a liking to our Keith and Brian. They were even kind enough to join them at a Ukranian restaurant for dinner last night. The perils faced by the global adventurer are never fully understood...
However, fear not the pilots' resolve to continue, as their determination to get back in the air will not be thwarted by the opportunity to settle down in Eastern Russia with a couple of young, beautiful admirers.
Meanwhile, Brian has been running up the 'phone bill and dominating the hotel's fax machine trying to get permission to fly away from these non-aviation related temptations. We can only hope that he gets the Russians before they get him!
About now, Brian will be glad he took the training for the priesthood which should be coming in a little handy... niet?