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February 17, 1999

Daryl Hegyi, 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 Daryl Hegyi

It was with great sadness that we heard the news of the passing of Terry Parsons last Thursday, the Fourth of February.  We express our deep-felt condolences to his wife, Marilyn, and their children and grandchildren.

Terry and Marilyn have been members of our club for many years, and have been actively involved in the club. They have been a big help organizing events such as the pancake breakfasts, and of course, hosting our Christmas parties.

Soon Marilyn will invite us to celebrate Terry's life. PUFA members are invited to contact Marilyn, or send messages via the PUFA email address at pufa@tvinet.com

This month, we are moving our meeting (again). This time, hopefully, for keeps. We are going to be meeting at Glenn Ursel's condo complex, in the rec-room. See the map for directions.

Last meeting, we voted on the bursary for new student ultralight pilots.  Quite unexpectedly, we had the first recipient, Murray Getty, a newly-licenced senior who was visiting the club and decided to join.  Perhaps the bursary was the deciding factor.

Our guest for this month's meeting will be Dave Fitzpatrick of Park Insurance.  He will be discussing aspects of aviation insurance.  This should be of interest to all our members.  And Fred Glasbergen will (finally) tell us about the "Wings over Canada" television series he is helping to film.  We hope to see you there!!

Editorial Note
by Glenn Ursel

Despite his age, I was somewhat shocked to learn of Terry Parsons death via an email note received from President Daryl Hegyi last week.  Terry succumbed to a pneumonia infection and would have been 81 years old this April 29th, 1999.  He is survived by his loving wife, Marilyn and their 3 children, 5 grandchildren and his sister, Phyllis.

I phoned Marilyn recently to offer my condolences and was somewhat relieved that she seems to be adjusting to her new circumstances despite her obvious deeply felt loss of her husband of 46 years.  As most of you know, Terry was a 1949 graduate of the Oregon University Faculty of Dentistry and had worked in dentistry for 30 years until he suffered a massive heart attack in the summer of 1979 and had to retire.  Since that time he had been a founding member of EAA (later to become RAA) and an active member of PUFA, helping to organize PUFA pancake breakfasts and, together with Marilyn, hosting many PUFA Christmas parties.

Due to his experience of working in a mortuary during his student years, Terry was not keen on funeral services and Marilyn is therefore planning on a wake for a Saturday within 2 to 3 weeks to celebrate his life among friends.  She advises that notice will be provided.  Marilyn has offered to help me write a profile of his life for a future PUFA newsletter and we look forward to that.

In this issue of the PUFA Newsletter,  we are profiling Bob McLellans  life which included early hobbies of model airplane design and opera singing, then later mountaineering recreational activities which led to a successful career in mechanical engineering.

March, 1999 Flying Events
Sunday,  March 7, 1999, 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

Jokes emailed by Mario LeBel

The Best Watch

A man had two identical watches.  Both were in need of repair.  One watch would lose 7.5 minutes a day as it ran slow.  The other watch did not run at all.  He decided that he would ask his computer which of the two watches would be the most economical to repair. He entered each watches defect and details.  The computer processed the information and responded with the following: "The watch that runs 7.5 minutes slow in a twenty four hour period will be accurate once every 127 years.  The watch that is stopped will be accurate twice every 24 hour period, requires no maintenance and therefore would be the most economical choice to repair."

Lawyers and Blonds

NOTICE: In order not to offend anyone and progress with my efforts to be "politically correct" and "politically sensitive", while maintaining a sense of humour, please substitute any reference to individuals or persons who represent specific groups in the following as "gimps".  Presented to you with the intention of brightening up your day.

A lawyer and a blonde woman are sitting next to each other on a long flight from LA to NY.  The lawyer leans over to her and asks if she would like to play a fun game.  The blonde is tired and just wants to take a nap, so she politely declines and rolls over to the window  to catch a few winks.

The lawyer persists, saying that the game is really easy and a lot of fun.  He explains how the game works: "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me, and visa-versa."  Again, she politely declines and tries to get some sleep.  The chauvinistic lawyer figures that, since his opponent is a blonde, he will easily win the match and makes another offer:

"Okay, how about this "If you don't know the answer you pay me only $5, but if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $50."  This catches the blonde's attention and, figuring that there will be no end to this torment unless she plays, she agrees to play the game.  The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The blonde doesn't say a word, reaches in to her purse, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.  Now, it's the blonde's turn.  She asks the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?"

The lawyer looks at her with a puzzled look.  He takes out his  laptop computer and searches all his references. He taps into the airphone with his modem and searches the Internet and even the Library of Congress. Frustrated, he sends e-mails to all his co-workers and friends he knows. All to no avail. After over an hour of searching for the answer, he finally gives up. He wakes the blonde and hands her $50.  The blonde politely takes the $50 and turns away to get back to sleep.

The lawyer, who is more than a little frustrated, wakes the blonde and asks, "Well, so what IS the answer?"  Again, without a word, the blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5, and goes back to sleep.

Satan in the Rain Forest

A curious fellow died one day and found himself waiting in a long line for judgment. As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the gates of heaven and others, though, were led over to Satan who threw them into a burning firepit. Every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss the soul to one side in a small pile.

After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the better of him. So he strolled over and tapped Satan on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, Prince of Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, but I couldn't help wondering why are you tossing those people aside instead of flinging them into the fires of hell with the others?"

"Ah," Satan said with a grin. "They're from Vancouver; they're too wet to burn."

Meet PUFA Member Bob McLellan

Bob McLellan was born in Vancouver and grew up in the Dunbar and Alma Street area, not very far from the gates of UBC.  During his formative years, Bob developed a keen interest in model airplane construction and became a prominent builder of them, winning the senior championship of BC at age 16.  He built his 6 foot wing spread gas model plane,  Figaro, at the age of 18 years.

While pursuing his interest in model airplane design and construction, Bob simultaneously developed an interest in singing classical music.  After graduating from Vancouver Technical High School, Bob went to UBC to study engineering.  Over the next five year period, he spent his summers working at several aircraft plants.

During his engineering studies at  UBC, Bob became interested in wire rope while taking a course in strength of materials.  Upon obtaining his degree in Mechanical Engineering, Bob designed the first rope tow at Grouse Mountain.  This project was a natural end result of his engineering studies combined with an avid interest in skiing and mountaineering activities as a member of the Varsity Outdoor Club and Alpine Club of Canada.

A few years after graduation from UBC, Bob married Jean and started a family which grew to include 5 children.  Bob and Jean are very proud of their kids,  the eldest being Roberta (mother of 3 children), then Bruce (Phd in Bear biology), Duncan (musician), Catherin (nightclub singer) and Ian (BC Parks Superintendent in the Cape Scott area of northern Vancouver Island).  During their childhood, the children learned about wilderness activities and skiing at Grouse Mountain and, later, at some of the emerging prominent ski resorts like Lake Louise and Jackson Hole.

During this period, Bob had a job teaching descriptive geometry and general engineering subjects at UBC.  During this period, Bob came in contact with a Swiss engineer, Constam, who was credited for inventing the T-Bar ski lift and who was a world authority on aerial tramways.  Bob became his Canadian representative and learned much about aerial tramways from him.

Following this Bob was hired on with the Morrison Knutson Company, the general contractor on the Kemano project at Kitimat which involved a large reversible tramway.  Bob says he was hired largely because of his early work with ski lifts on Grouse Mountain and his work with Constam.  During the Kemano project, Bob helped to design a new safety brake for aerial tramways and later joined the consulting firm of Dennis Critoph & Associates.

After participating in the design and construction of a variety of material and personnel lifts, Bob decided to form his own engineering company, Robert McLellan Company Ltd., which is still operating.  In rapid succession over the next few years, Bob designed the Dog Mountain Tramway adjacent to Highway 9 west of Hope, then a gondola lift at Lake Louise and several pipeline suspension bridges for West Coast Transmission and Inland Gas at widely dispersed
locations around the province.

While pursuing his musical interests, Bob studied with Nicholas Goldschmidt of the CBC Opera Company.  He performed in several operas including Gilbert and Sullivan productions at UBC and later grand operas at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver.  Bobs musical interests continued after this but on a lesser scale due to his career and family commitments.

Shortly after this, Bob designed the first chairlift at Tod Mountain north of Kamloops, now called Sun Peaks.  At the time, it was the longest and highest chairlift in the world.  About the same time, he designed the chairlift at Mount Seymour which is still in operation today.

Bob travelled to Europe to review the latest technology in aerial tramway construction and his musical interests as the Canadian engineer who sang operas paved the way for his making many friends and business contacts with European engineers, especially the German speaking community who often had similar musical interests.  His acceptance by the German, Austrian and Swiss engineers was also enhanced by his efforts at learning the German language.

When Bob returned to Canada, he was soon hired to design a 12,600 foot tramway with a vertical elevation of 4,130 feet at the Jackson Hole ski resort in Wyoming.     This was followed by his design of the Blue Chair at Whistler and other chairlifts at Lake Louise and Mount Baker.  Finally in the 1970s, due to the development of liability legislation that created onerous legal obligations for engineers, he decided to abandon tramway design for passenger carrying and concentrate on consulting for materials handling.

In the next few years, Bob participated in a wide variety of projects in far off places such as West Irian (Indonesia), Australia, Bhutan (north of India), India, Nepal and Columbia, South America.  One of his proudest achievements was the design, in joint venture with Buckland-Taylor Company, of an award winning suspension bridge across the Similkameen River at Princeton for a conveyor belt to transfer ore across the river.

In recent years, Bob worked on the gas pipeline project on Vancouver Island, designing bridges (also with kland-Taylor) to carry the pipeline over four river canyons from the Courtenay area to southern Vancouver Island.  One of his latest (1996) projects was the preparation of a report on an upgrading of the Table Mountain Rope Way in Capetown, South Africa.

In 1975, Bob joined the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) with the intent to design and build his own aircraft.  In 1988, Bob pursued his long time interest in aviation by getting into ultralighting.  That year he purchased a Fisher Super Koala in kit form which he worked on for a year and still has.  Then he bought another Super Koala, nearly completed, and finished it.  He took his introductory flight with Ken Buck in 1989 and commenced training on a dual Spectrum Beaver, obtaining his ultralight pilot licence in 1991.  He then trained on his Super Koala with Todd Fleury and
started flying his own plane which he continues with great pleasure to this day, keeping it hangared at King George Airpark.

During the 1970s, Bob inherited some land in the Darcy Lake area north of Pemberton where he built a log house over a five year period.  He promises to write us a story of his flight to Darcy that culminated in an encounter with the killer weeds upon landing.

Bob has flown in many areas locally and along the Coast, having participated in the Powell River fly in last summer and

frequent flights throughout the Lower Mainland with his flying buddies.  Bob is a frequent flyin visitor to the Pitt Meadows cafe where he indulges in his passion for won ton soup.  He also has flown over to the Nanaimo Airport where his daughter, Roberta, picks him up for a visit to his grandchildren.

Bob is also a past President of PUFA and  now admits to being a senior citizen, being substantially retired.  However, he is looking forward to many more flying adventures and I am sure that I speak for all who know him, that we offer this most distinguished member of the Pacific Ultralight Flying Association our very best wishes in this regard.

Glenn Ursel
February 7, 1999