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September 22, 2000

Daryl Hegyi, President
Jeff Rochon, Vice-President
Glenn Ursel, Treasurer & Acting 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

Well,  Summer's finally over, and the fall flying season is finally upon us.  It's been somewhat of a good summer, and sunny days actually happened on my days off (the few and far between).  The highlights of this summer were the Arlington and Abbotsford Airshows.  Unfortunately, the Powell River Flyin was cancelled this year.  Hopefully, they will resume next year.  There were a few small flyins and such.  The one I remember was Fulford Harbour Appreciation Days.  Throw in a few trips to Hatzic Lake, Browning Harbour, Chilliwack (for those $50.00 pies) , and Sechelt.  Soon I will have more confidence to travel further afield.

Of course, between work, family obligations, and personal flying, I have been neglecting my responsibilities as President.   I hadn't been able to organize a speaker for the Sepember meeting.  However, by Wednesday, there will be something to keep your interest.  Remember that next November, elections will be held for all the executive positions.  My terms as president are up and I won't be running for next year, so you should be thinking about who should be banging the gavel.

The other thing I would like to mention is the web page.  We had struck a committee to look into it, but guess what? we didn't meet at all this summer.  That will change. As you might have heard, Fred Glasbergen had an accident in his SeaRey last August.  We are thankful that, although he was badly hurt, he has been out of the hospital for a while and is hobbling around quite well.  Our best wishes go for his recovery.

Editorial Note

by  Glenn  Ursel

It has been a rather momentous summer for me.  First I motorcycled to Inuvik via the Hart, Alaska, Klondike and Dempster Highways.  Visited Skagway on the way back and went home via the Stewart/Cassiar Highway to Kitwanga and east through Smithers, etc.

Then my wife and I drove to Alberta instead of me flying my Spectrum Beaver like I should have when I had the one window of clear, calm weather for the whole summer.  I took my floats off this summer in anticipation of flying to Lacombe, Alberta via the Howse Pass that I flew through earlier this year.

When I got back to Surrey, I found several emails announcing that a former colleague (Ken Ingram) at work of whom we all admired and respected, had succumbed to a haemorrhagic stroke (he died a week later).  Right on the heels of that news, Fred Glasbergen crashed his personal SeaRey and sustained a very bad gash in his forehead as well as breaking his right leg in three places.  Since one of the wing struts came loose on takeoff, I think we can all agree that Fred was very lucky to have survived this incident and we are happy that he did!  Then, if all this were not enough bad news, there was the sad case of the hang glider crash at Fort Langley which happened after the instructor released the tow rope on takeoff when he realized his student was having a heart attack  The student died on impact and the instructor died on the way to the hospital from the results of an cerebral aneurism.

Not all bad news, however.  In this issue of the PUFA Newsletter, I have a profile of Fred Baron.  Also, not to be outdone by the Red Baron, I have my own little story of friends in high places.   Fred Baron put on his annual picnic extravaganza for his friends, including a few of us ultralighters on July 30th this year and it was well attended.

October, 2000 Flying Events
Sunday, October 1st, 2000, 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

Meet PUFA Member Fred Baron

Fred Baron was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on January 21st, 1938.  His father was George Frederick Baron who came from Northern Ireland at the age of 12 years.  George Baron married Aileen Duplessis who is a cousin of the former premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis.  Before Fred was born to them, the couple had two previous children, Jack, born in 1932 and Lois, born in 1934.  Freds surname was originally spelled with two rs as Barron but he now spells it with one r.

The family moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1943 when Fred was 5 years old.  His father was employed as a radio operator for a fish camp north of Edmonton and later as a radio operator for Trans Canada Airlines during this period and Fred remembers being introduced to aviation by listening to his father telling him of the early great Canadian aviators of the period - people like Wilford (Wop) May, Grant McConachie and Punch Dickens.  He recalls his father telling him that Lieutenant Wilford May, flying a Sopwith Camel was being pursued by the great German fighter pilot, Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) in his Fokker Albatros when the leader of the Canadian group, Captain Roy Brown, also flying a Sopwith Camel, shot the Baron down.

Fred had difficulty learning in elementary school and only went as far as the eighth grade.  It was not until Fred was many years older that he found out the reason was he has dyslexia.

Fred started amateur wrestling at the Western Gym on Hastings Street in 1958 at the age of 20.  He became a professional wrestler and worked for 20 years throughout the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii as well as tours in Japan.  His peak wrestling weight was 245 to 250 lbs.

Later in his wrestling career, he slimmed down to 200 lbs. and became a deep sea diver working for Can Dive Services in North Vancouver as one of their first employees.  Fred became a member of Local 2404 of the Pile Drivers and Divers Union.  To become a member of this union, Fred says you had to be a qualified construction diver, hard hat diver, scuba diver, familar with deep sea oil rigs and able to dive to 1,000 feet below sea level breathing a mixture of helium and oxygen.

Fred did oxy helium diving for deep sea oil rigs in St. Johns, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia as well as areas off Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlottes on the west coast of British Columbia.  Freds diving career ended in 1985 when Fred was 47.

During his diving years, Fred started investing in real estate and he currently owns eight mini warehouses, two houses, two townhouses, a small building in Gas Town and two condominium apartments in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  He also owned a building in Kitsilano which contained an English pub.  Fred says he bought the building for $68,000 and sold it 2 years ago for $1,000,000!  These successes amply illustrate what a person can accomplish in spite of a handicap and limited education.

Fred started flying in 1981, first in a 6 hp Lazair, then a Spectrum Beaver RS 550 on floats and later still a Zenair 701 which Fred sold to James Sheremeta a couple of years ago.  He currently owns a Murphy Renegade which was largely built by Don Simmons, a Captain of a Canadian Airlines Boeing 737 before he died in a crash of a one of a kind home built at the Boundary Bay Airport on June 5th, 1997.  After Dons tragic death, Fred purchased the plane from Dons widow and had the construction completed.

Fred now has 2,500 hours of flying to his credit and is a life member (the longest member lso) of the Pacific Ultralight Flying Association (PUFA) and the Recreational Aircraft Association (RAA) and a member of  the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA).  Since 1983 Fred has regularly hosted fly-ins at his airfield, the Intergalactic Aerodrome which is located north of Eighth Avenue and on the east side of 176 Street in Surrey.

Besides his flying activities and the management of his real estate investments, Fred frequently finds time to write stories of his ultralight flying events and friends.  Faithful readers will remember Freds classic stories: Helping Hand, published in the PUFA Newsletter in February of 1996; The Vanishing Airfields in March of 1996; A Good Day and Flying Buddy in May of 1996; The Early Years, My Friend & His Ultralight and An Evening Flight in October of 1996; Mother and Hooked in November, 1996; My Instructor in March of 1997; Old Timers Memories in May of 1999; Hitchhikers in February of 2000 and A Summer Flight in March of 2000.  Fred also submitted two articles, Friends in High Places and The Swains Appreciation Party, which were published here in January of 2000.  Buddies was published in the April issue of the PUFA Newsletter while Murphys and an article entitled Participation were published in the May issue.

Fred is now a slim 190 lbs. in very good shape for his 62 years and spends his summers at his Intergalactic Aerodrome and divides his winters between Cabo San Lucas and Hawaii or the Caribbean.  I am sure you will agree that Fred can be justly proud of his many accomplishments and we honour him as one of our most gifted members of the Pacific Ultralight Flying Association and wish him many more years of flying and writing.

Glenn Ursel
April, 2000

Flight to Hong Kong

About 10 am one Saturday morning not so long ago (April 15th), I received a telephone call from my second cousin, Hugh Forbes.  Hugh casually asked me if I was doing anything and I said no.  He then asked me if I would like to go to Hong Kong as his guest.  I said Sure!

Hugh is a Captain of the Canadian Airlines Boeing 747s and has been flying commercial airliners since 1962 (now the most senior 747 pilot in Canada) when he joined Canadian Pacific Airlines.  He is considering retirement so he has been taking a few guests on recent flights as a farewell gesture to his flying career.

Hugh asked me if I could get over to his place in Richmond by 11:15 am since we had to be at the airport by 11:45 am in order for me to get through the ticketing process and on the plane for the 12:30 pm scheduled takeoff.  I said no problem.

We got to the airport on time and I was a little anxious as there was quite a line up but I managed to squeak through on time and Hugh came to escort me through the customs and we boarded the plane, going straight to the cockpit.  There I met his copilots, Phil Tweten and Henning Pedersen.  Phil was the first officer for the trip with Henning as backup first officer.  On these long overseas trips, the pilots spell each other off on two hour shifts.

There were two seats behind the pilot and co-pilot chairs and Henning and I took these as Hugh and Henning readied the plane for the takeoff.  Henning ran some nautical information off the planes computer which showed the flight route and check points for calling in the planes position.  He then used this information to program the planes auto pilot for the flight to Hong Kong.

I looked over the dash of the jet and noted that the planes registration was C-GMWW.  Looking around the myriad dials and digital readouts I also noted that there was 349,900 lbs of fuel on board and that the total weight of the plane was 860,000 lbs.  Hugh said there were 380 out of a maximum of 424 passengers and that the maximum takeoff weight was 870,000 lbs.  The distance we were to fly to Hong Kong was 6,014 miles.

Soon we were ready for takeoff and the plane was pushed back from Apron 6 of the terminal building and then Hugh taxied the plane out to Runway 26L via Taxi ways J, H and D.  Henning explained to me that Hugh uses a wheel on the wall of the cockpit to his left to steer the plane while taxing.  I asked him what the maximum taxi speed was and he said about 25 knots in a straight direction because the tires and brakes would quickly overheat if the plane was taxied any faster due to the great weight of the plane.  On any curves, though, the speed must be reduced to about 10 knots or less due to the tremendous momentum and pressure on the wheel bearings in a turn.

Reaching the start of Runway 26L, we were delayed shortly and then Hugh got clearance and we taxied onto the runway and he shoved all four throttles forward smoothly.  Hugh later told me that the takeoff speeds are segregated as follows V1 (decision speed) is 156 knots, VR (rotate speed) is 171 knots and V2 (minimum speed airborne) is 180 knots.  As the behemoth lumbered down 26L, I noticed that we didnt have all that much runway left when the plane finally rotated and left the ground behind.  But Henning assured me that was a normal takeoff and that he had seen less runway when the plane was loaded heavier on a hot day.  Hugh later told me that a 5% reduction in thrust was used because the plane was 10,000 lbs under maximum takeoff weight and we were at sea level with cool air at time of takeoff.

As soon as the plane was off the ground and climbing, Hugh switched the auto pilot on and the computer took over flying the plane.  We climbed out over the Strait of Georgia and banked to the right to fly in a north west direction for Anchorage, Alaska.  Hugh said this route was usually selected to avoid the west to east jet streams that you encounter by going a more southerly route.

It was a fairly clear day and we were able to see portions of Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands and Alaska  between banks of clouds as we flew along at 35,000 feet ASL.

Henning gave me a brief explanation of the instrument panel.  The Captains side of the panel was identical to the Co-pilots to ensure redundancy in the planes operating system.  There was a digital readout of the planes indicated airspeed and simultaneous ground  speed. There was an EGT readout for the jet engines on the right and a GPS map to the left which showed the planes progress by a triangle.  Henning said that there were three separate guidance systems - an inertial reference (IRS) system, a omnirange (VOR) navigation system and the GPS system .

About 7 hours into the flight, we entered Russian airspace and I noticed that Henning started calling the planes position more frequently.  Henning explained to me that the Russians insisted on the frequent reporting despite that fact that todays technology in identifying aircraft by electronic means would seem to make this unnecessary.

There was another peculiarity encountered in the flight.  When we reached the Chinese border, we were ordered to climb from 35,000 feet to 35, 600 feet for some strange reason.

After 12 hours of flight, we arrived at Hong Kong and entered a rather convoluted flight pattern around the west and south areas of the city which was done for scheduling flights for landing purposes.  The airport we were to land at was the new one built several years ago on an artificial island to replace the old one where the planes had to land on a path that descended between the citys adjacent apartment buildings.

Our landing weight after burning off 260,000 lbs of fuel in the 12 hour flight was 600,000 lbs.  Hugh used 25 degrees of flap and came in over the threshold of the airports runway at 160 knots.

While it was 1:30 am, Sunday, April 16th at home in Vancouver, it was only 4:30 pm on Saturday, April 15th in Hong Kong.  After deplaning, we accompanied the crew of the plane to downtown Kowloon (mainland portion of Hongkong) on a bus.  We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel which is just across the street (Nathan Road) from the famous Peninsula Hotel that I had heard about in many films and books.

The hotel always had a Humphrey Bogart air of foreign intrique for me and I told Hugh I would like to have a beer at the hotel.  Hugh told me it was very expensive to drink at the Peninsula and tried to discourage me but I insisted that we at least go in and look around.  We did visit the hotel and my impression was of it was that it was  similar to one of our Canadian Pacific Railway hotels in that the lobby was very ornate in its decoration and the furniture was very plush.  There was a large bar/restaurant in the main entrance lobby and it was unfortunately full of guests so I didnt get to have my beer at the Peninsula after all.  Its probably just as well anyway since I had a pint of beer at the Sheraton the next day and I was astounded to get a bill of $57.20 HK which according to the rate of exchange on $200 HK that I bought for $38.91 CAN worked out to about $11.13 CAN for my pint!

We visited a street shopping area for tourists hit the sack about 11:30 pm Hongkong time which meant that I had been awake about 24 hours!  The next morning, we walked down to the waterfront and took several pictures.

The downtown was very interesting with its bustle of humanity and vehicles but I couldnt say that it was particularly beautiful especially with the seemingly ever present pall of smog that hung over the city.  After snapping a couple of pictures of the downtown harbour skyline, we boarded a ferry which appeared to be very old and crossed the harbour to Hong Kong Island.

After getting off the ferry, Hugh took a picture of me in  the downtown area of Hong Kong Island which has these unique double decker street cars in addition to the more common double decker buses.

Then Hugh bought tickets for a ride up to the peak of the island on a cable car system that dates back to the 1890s.

Next we boarded a double decker bus and rode to the south side of Hong Kong Island.  I was very impressed with the beauty of the island and the beaches on this side of the island and noted that it was a very favourable contrast with the downtown smog of Kowloon.

All to soon, we had to be back at the Sheraton to catch the bus back to the airport and our departure for home.  This time our route took a more southerly route back to Vancouver to utilize the jet stream to advantage.  Our return flight was only 11 hours and we arrived back at about 2:30 pm on Monday, April 17th.

It had been a great adventure for me that I will never forget but just another routine flight for Cousin Hugh.

Glenn Ursel
May 15, 2000