PUFA NEWSLETTER
November 20, 2003
Fred Glasbergen, President
Daryl Hegyi, Vice-President
Sandra Clark, 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
PUFA Website Version edited by Daryl Hegyi
Editorial Note
by Glenn Ursel
The attendance at the Ultralighters’ Reunion was a distinct letdown from
the initial one of last year. Last year we had around 100 people attend
the gala event while the number was down to about 20 people this year.
It points out to the fact that the organizers have to phone people to ensure
that they are aware of the event. Gary O’Brien and Alan Christensen
came from Vancouver Island to attend both the PUFA business meeting and the
Ultralighters’ Reunion. He brought us news that the Nanaimo Airport
is now charging ultralights a landing fee and Gary is now fighting the decision
with COPA assistance.
It’s been a quiet early winter lately. Earlier this fall, I went on
a great flight to Courtenay with Gordon Brogan to visit our mutual fellow
ultralighter friend, Ray Crottey who now lives there. It took us 3 hours
to fly there on Monday, September 29th via White Rock over Point Roberts and
then northwest to Porlier Pass between Galiano and Valdez Islands. We
briefly circled over Dave and Gail Ohara’s home on Thetis Island before proceeding
north to Dodd Narrows at the southern entrance to Nanaimo Harbour. It
took about 1 and 1/2 hours to reach this point. We then flew north to
Courtenay for another 11/2 hours against a slight headwind. The weather
was clear and sunny all the way with just a bit of low cloud over the White
Rock beaches on the way.
We flew back the next day, September 30th, with foggy conditions prevalent
all the way back. There was a strong tail wind from Courtenay down to
Nanaimo and we made it back to Nanaimo in only an hour this time. We
landed at Thetis Island this time and had a nice visit with Gail O’Hara as
Dave was busy taking a first aid course that day. Flying back through
Porlier Pass, we had to rely on Gordon’s compass to ensure that we were pointed
in the right direction because the fog obscured the mainland until we were
halfway across Georgia Strait. However, we had no problem crossing and
soon were flying past the White Rock beaches and onto the fRed Baron’s Intergalactic
Airfield where I landed to wash the salt off my airplane while Gordon carried
onto his home field east of Langley. We had made it back safe and sound
with another memorable flight stored away in our craniums!
Speaking of the fRed Baron, a number of us ultralighters attended a thanksgiving
dinner recently put on by Fred to celebrate his continuing recovery from the
serious motorcycle accident that he and Precy were involved in earlier this
summer. Fred is looking a little thin and walking with a cane at this
time but otherwise is looking remarkably well considering the horrendous injuries
he suffered from the accident.
Last December I mentioned that I had purchased a strobe light from Airflow.
It worked fine all year until October of this year when it suddenly quit on
a flight to King George Airpark from Glen Valley. I had recently installed
a volt meter so I discovered that my cheap so-called single phase regulator
was not properly doing its job. My 582 Rotax was charging the
12 volt system at 17 to 18 volts when the strobe quit so I was pretty sure
the regulator was the problem. I asked Fred Glasbergen if he had any
better regulators and he brought out a 3 phase regulator that does not require
a continuous load like the existing one I had. I bought that and installed
it and my charging system is now held down to 14.5 volts as it should be.
At Fred’s suggestion, I sent the strobe back to the company in Pennsylvania
and they were good enough to repair the strobe under the 1 year warranty.
The strobe is a SC 103 made by Kunztleman Electronics Inc.
For this issue of the PUFA Newsletter, I have a couple of stories sent to
me by Walter Klatt.
Echo Bay BC Adventure
Well, after daily phone calls from John Lovelace coordinating our excursion,
Friday morning finally arrived and with great anticipation, as well as a little
trepidation on my part, we all met at the Fort Langley Seabase. Our
destination was to be a remote fishing camp in the Seymour Inlet approximately
2 hours up the British Columbia coastline.
Pierre’s Bay Lodge, Echo Bay
The lodge we stayed at the previous year was called Windsong Sea Village
Resort at Echo Bay. This year it was Pierre's Bay Lodge also at Echo Bay,
basically just around the corner from where we were last year. The main lodge,
though, is not in the picture. These are just some cabins on the dock.
Main Cabin at Windsong Sea Village.
There was an entourage of eight float planes including two deHavilland Beavers
owned and operated by Jim O’Donnal from Pacific Eagle Aviation in Port McNeil.
A Cessna 185 owned by Wings Over Canada, and a Cessna 180 owned by John who
was along for the ride, a Rebel owned by Walter Klatt of Langley, BC, two
Super Rebels one owned by Keith Kinden of Libby, Montana, the other owned
by Bob Strate of Kamloops, BC. Last but not least the Moose, Murphy Aircraft’s
demonstrator.
Moose on Dock is at Windsong Sea Village, and is Murphy's
factory demonstrator. It was also along
this year.
After considerable load planning for center of gravity calculations (the
Moose had 500 lbs. of baggage, in addition to full fuel, Robin and myself….and
don’t expect me to reveal my weight) and a pilot briefing led by John Lovelace
who stressed safety as the main issue, we were ready for takeoff. It
was a beautiful day, blue skies and dead calm, we couldn’t have wished for
better weather. This was to be a fishing trip of a lifetime and the Coho Salmon
were congregating right where we were headed.
An hour and 50 minutes later we landed at our base camp, Windsong Sea Village
Resort of Echo Bay. There to greet us were Jim and his partner Michelle who
run the floating resort. Jim is also the owner of Pacific Eagle Aviation.
John Lovelace had warned the cabins were Spartan, so you can imagine to our
delight, that they were equipped with propane stoves, fridges and HOT showers!
Robin, Keith, Wilbur, Mike, Hans and I were to bunk in the main cabin with
the largest cooking/sitting area. Bob, Walter and Eric slept in the smallest
of the cabins, while John and his crew took the remaining cabin. John had
robbed our cabin of its generator, as they need to be able to recharge batteries
for the film shoot. (This of course rendered my hairdryer useless!)
We spent some time getting settled in and enjoying one another’s company
before settling into the working portion of our trip. Friday afternoon and
early evening (the lighting was perfect) were spent doing dockside interviews
with our customers and filming their aircraft performing on the water. Walter
Klatt’s Rebel is powered by a Lycoming 0-320 (150-hp) engine and is equipped
with Murphy’s 1800 series amphibious floats. Bob Strate’s Super rebel is powered
by a Lycoming 0-540 (260-hp) engine and has been mounted to CAPP 3000 straight
floats. Keith Kinden’s Super Rebel is also powered with a Lycoming 0-540
(250 hp) engine and his own 3500 amphibious floats manufactured by his company,
the Montana Float Co. The Moose has the M14P Russian radial power plant (360
hp) and our 3600 prototype straight floats.
Jim and Michelle had earlier caught a BIG salmon and after filming we were
all invited to a potluck barbecue. Michelle barbecued the salmon with a mixture
of soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. It was to die for and not a morsel remained!
Apparently any salmon you catch must be a minimum of 12 pounds or you have
to release them and believe me, a 12-pound fish is a pretty big fish!
Early Saturday morning John Lovelace and his pilot John flew out to make
arrangements for the fishing part of our trip. Upon their return another pilot
briefing was in order, the location was approximately 20 minutes flight time
from our base camp. We had to taxi approximately a mile which was almost like
going up a river which opened up to a beautiful secluded bay that had fish
jumping everywhere. John had arranged for us to have the use of 2 small
rowboats and it was a scramble to get in the boats and get our lines in the
water! John Lovelace caught a fish on his first cast, not quite big
enough so it was released. Robin took 3 casts and he had a keeper. An hour
or so later the boys in the boat traded off with the boys who were fishing
off the wharf. Walter who didn’t have a rod now borrowed John’s, however he
was unfamiliar as to how to operate. With a quick lesson and a short practice
cast of 12 feet he hooked into a 15 pounder. Needless to say his eyes were
as wide a saucers and his grin was ear to ear.
We had packed a picnic lunch and the caretakers (John) cabin provided hot
coffee. It was equipped with its own power plant (hydroelectric). Keith,
John (pilot) and Wilbur were in one of the boats when Wilbur hooked on to
the BIG ONE! The fish actually towed the boat across the bay with the three
of them in it! Unfortunately it was the big one that got away! By mid
afternoon we noticed the clouds starting to build and were able to tune into
the marine forecast, which called for lowering ceilings, fog, rain, and 30-40
kt winds. Obviously, the mood changed in a hurry! Everyone quickly packed
up, flew to Port McNeill for fuel and back to Echo Bay where we broke camp.
After a quick bite to eat, and hurried good-byes we were on our way back to
Fort Langley a day early. Everyone was disappointed our trip had to be cut
short, although living on the coast we were only too aware that if we didn’t
get out now, it could be days.
By Colleen Dyck
Echo Bay Adventure II
It’s Friday, Sept 12, 2003, and I am getting ready for my second trip out
to Echo Bay with the Wings Over Canada crew. Last year, about the same time
period, I had the privilege of joining a group of Murphy floatplanes for an
incredible experience of float flying and fishing on the west coast of British
Columbia. And now we are about to do it again. We all gathered at the Fort
Langley floatplane base around noon, and got our instructions from John Lovelace,
our Wings Over Canada host, about where to go. We will be flying to the same
general area, but staying at a different resort called Pierre’s Bay Lodge.
This year, I will be taking along a fellow Murphy Rebel owner, Julius, who
didn’t get his float installation completed in time for the trip.
My first priority was to offload some baggage in order to carry as much
fuel as possible for the trip. The factory Murphy Moose was stuffed to the
roof with baggage and a full passenger load with Darryl Murphy, his wife
Patty, and Robin and Colleen Dyck, so no luck there. I had a quick look at
John Lovelace’s Cessna 185 and Fort Langley’s 180, but they also looked overloaded
with camera crew and gear. Fortunately, Al Paxhia from Washington State with
his gorgeous Lycoming powered Moose, came up to join us, and with only one
passenger, graciously offered to carry some of our stuff.
Julius and I then headed back to the Langley airport, where I hangar my
150 hp Lycoming amphib Rebel, and we loaded her up. We still had a lot more
weight than I wanted, but after a slightly longer take-off, still managed
to climb out at a respectable 800 fpm. The first part of the trip took us
over the beautiful North Shore of Vancouver where we enjoyed a slight tail
wind. We then set our GPS for Echo Bay and headed northwest over the ocean
waters of Georgia Strait. Despite the weight, our cruise speed was still
an indicated 100 mph at 65 % power with my fuel monitor showing 7.5 US gallons
per hour. Not bad, I thought, and the airplane seemed to fly just as crisp
and normal, as when lightly loaded.
I have been over this route many times before, but the scenery with the
water, inlets and mountains never ceases to amaze me. It was a beautiful
day, with only a few clouds, and it was hard to imagine doing anything else
on such a perfect day. Soon though, our initial tailwind turned into a brisk
head wind. There were a few slight bumps, too, but after climbing to about
4000 feet, it smoothed out considerably. Two hours later, we touched down
at Pierre’s place, not long after the other larger, faster planes arrived,
and got ourselves docked right in front of the main lodge.
Walter Klatt’s Rebel at Pierre’s Bay Lodge
We spent the rest of the day enjoying the sunshine, and thinking ahead to
the next day when we would head out to the secret fishing hole. A couple of
the larger planes needed refueling, so I joined them for a quick trip to
Port McNeil. On the way down, I got to fly in the factory Moose, and Robin
let me take the stick for a while. It flew very nice and had a very natural
feel to it, but you sure knew it was a big plane when you banked and worked
the controls a bit, as compared to my little Rebel. On the way back, I was
with Al and his Lycoming powered Moose, and while this plane flew the same,
I was really surprised how smooth and vibration free it felt. It had a few
less horsepower than the radial powered factory Moose, but it still got off
the water very fast for such a big plane.
We finished off the day, with a great meal put on by Pierre, and got to
listen to some bush flying stories by the experienced pilots in the group
who used to fly commercially in this area. While today was sunny and calm,
this area is also well known for its storms, rain, and frequent low clouds
and fog.
We woke up the next day with lots of hope, but unfortunately the weather
did not cooperate. It looked flyable early on, and three planes headed out
to give it a try. I decided to stay back, as I remembered some of the more
scary stories from the night before. After a short while, two of them came
back, but we learned that the 3rd one made it to their destination. Of course,
these were the experienced old bush pilots in the Cessna 180.
So, we didn’t do much that day; just relaxed with some reading, and more
airplane talk and flying stories. Some people went out in Pierre’s boat to
catch some cod, which we would eat later that evening. The weather definitely
got worse as the day wore on, and I wondered how that plane was doing out
at the fishing spot. I thought for sure they would have to stay overnight
there, but late in the day, we heard the distant drone of an airplane, and
sure enough, it was the 180. I don’t know how they did it, but I was sure
glad I wasn’t with them. Anyway, talking afterwards, sounded like it was no
sweat for them, and we had a few more salmon to add to the evening meal.
The next day, Sunday, was definitely looking up. It stopped raining, and
the clouds were starting to break up. After a great breakfast again by Pierre,
we packed up our stuff and headed out. At least the ocean was calm, but there
was still plenty of low cloud and fog around. Most of our route was over water
following the inlets and bays, but there was a short stretch where we had
to climb at least a 1000 feet to get over some land. Julius did the navigating,
and I focused on the flying as we had to get pretty low a few times to keep
under the cloud and out of the fog. Eventually, though, I had to set it down
at the end of the inlet, as there was no way I was going to try to get over
that land portion in these conditions. Al, in his Moose, soon joined us on
the water, and we pondered our next move. There was a hole in the clouds
a few miles back, and he set out to see what it was like at higher altitudes.
We soon heard back on the radio that it was much better higher up, and Al
was able to get over to the next inlet with no problems. We quickly did the
same, and I was quite surprised how much better it looked from higher up.
There was still plenty of low cloud around, but at least there were lots of
openings with water below in case my engine quit. Nevertheless, not
taking any chances, I climbed a couple thousand feet extra just to be sure,
until we were over our destination. We then circled down and joined the rest
of the fleet at our fishing hole.The rest of the day was beautiful, as the
clouds cleared away, and there were plenty of fish again, just like last
year. This time, though, John also put us to work in front of the cameras,
catching some brood stock for the local hatchery. We never know what will
appear on the show, but I’m sure this will be part of it.
I was here last year, so for me this was old hat, but I still remember that
awesome feeling taxiing for the first time into this little bay where two
streams come together, and big salmon jumping everywhere. This year, we also
had a bear watching us from across the bay, no doubt wanting to join in on
the fishing.
Finally, it was time to leave and head back to Vancouver. Julius and I had
to take all of our baggage ourselves this time along with a full catch of
salmon. However, by this time, my fuel was getting low, so my load was not
too heavy. Good thing, too, as there was a pretty strong wind and waves outside
our bay where we had to take off. However, the wind only helped us get airborne
faster, and we were quickly up on the step and off the water without any real
pounding. We stopped in at Port McNeil to fuel up, and took off one last
time headed for home. Again, we had a nice wind, and lifted off the water
real quick despite the heavy load. It was a beautiful return trip with
a tail wind most of the way. As we crossed over the North Shore again, Julius
got some great photo shots of downtown Vancouver in the late afternoon sun
over on the south side of Burrard Inlet. We made it back early and had plenty
of time to splash down in fresh water to rinse off the salt water, and afterwards
give the plane a thorough washing back at Langley.
For me, this was another great flying adventure, and thanks to John Lovelace,
the Murphy gang, Pierre, and the other participants for making it all happen.
I learned a few more things about flying on this trip, and it was great to
be with some really experienced pilots, who knew how to fly this area, and
do it safely and with confidence. I also gained some new respect for my little
Rebel. It certainly handled the loads and winds like it belonged there. And
I will now count down the months to next year, when we can do this all over
again.
by Walter Klatt
