For the March meeting, Colin Tyrell will be describing his 15 year adventure rstoring a 1-1 scale Harvard. The story begins below.
So… you want to restore a Harvard: The SAGA of 20304 – by C.R. Tyrell
It all started in June 2006 when my brother Greg, who at the time was involved with the
the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, (CHAA), found and went to see a Harvard in
a barn in Dunnville, Ontario.
Whatever arrangements he made, resulted in two things, or rather three things…. the
purchase of a MkIV Harvard, the conning of my Dad to fund the purchase, and the
promise to the previous owner’s family that the aircraft will fly again. My Dad, Stan, was
on board with the purchase as he was a veteran of the RCAF and flew Harvards as a
training aircraft, as so many did in the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan) during the Second World War.
Greg looked forward to fixing up this aircraft, and taking Dad for a ride. I thought it was an interesting project and I offered my assistance to my brother to help in any way I could. Although I know nothing about restoring or fixing aircraft, I’ve restored a number of British sports cars, so I have some of the “right stuff” to do aircraft restoration.
Fast forward to 2008. Greg got diagnosed with Cancer in August and passed away
shortly there after, and Dad had to be cared for in a Long-term Care Facility. The
Harvard now registered with a Civilian number has become CF-BZT. “Bravo Zulu
Tango”. Through my dad’s estate, and my brother’s estate, the plane was donated, with
conditions, to CHAA, for restoration. With no other family member involved with
this legacy, this is where I made my entrance. The plane was delivered to Tillsonburg
Municipal Airport, the home of CHAA, where it still resides.
The project of restoration got started in the early part of 2009 and was to be completed
in 3-4 years. Yeah, sure! I am coming into the eleventh year of restoration, and the plane is starting to look like a plane again. If all goes well, BZT will take to the air once again before the end of this year’s flying season.
It’s been a long haul, with a lot of support along the way!
Highlights of the January 23rd Meeting. – Derived from the draft minutes.
Present: 49 members (sufficient for a quorum).
The meeting was opened at 7:00 pm. Mike Block acted as Chair and Vic Wells acted as Secretary.
A Quorum was confirmed, notice of the meeting had been circulated to members, and minutes of the January 24, 2019 AGM were approved.
Meeting Format: Mike explained that there would be two meetings tonight. After the business of Club was reviewed, the meeting would be adjourned, a new Board of Directors either elected or acclaimed and the meeting would be resumed to introduce the new Board and complete the required business.
The Minutes of the Club meeting held on November 26, 2019 were approved as circulated on motion made and carried.
New Member: New member Greg Gallo was introduced and welcomed.
Treasurer’s Report: Membership: 129 members paid up. Trevor expects membership to reach approximately 160.
On Motion made and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 7.20 pm. to facilitate the election of 2020 Board and Executive members.
Mike called for nominations from the floor for Directors for 2020. Ian Brown and Gord Magill were nominated and both accepted the nomination. When no further nominations from the floor were forthcoming, a motion was made and carried to close the nomination process.
Mike then announced that an election would not be necessary as the required number of Directors and Executive members had been acclaimed.
The AGM resumed at 7.30
Mike continued as Chair and congratulated the new Board members. He then introduced the new Board as follows:
President – Mike Block; Past President – not filled as Dwayne Baldwin had been elected Vice President; Vice President – Dwayne Baldwin; Treasurer – Trevor Brum; Secretary – Vic Wells.
Directors at Large: Ashley Armstrong, Tom Gwinnett, Peter Krautter, Don Irvine, Geoff Norman, John Januszczak, Ian Brown and Gord Magill.
President’s remarks:
New Board: Mike congratulated the new Executive and Board members. Three Directors from the 2019 Board did not stand for election for 2020 – Tim Bidwell (Wings Committee), Bill Ayre (Vice President) and Doug Matthews (Safety Chairman). Mike thanked each of these members for their efforts in 2019.
Mike also thanked Doug Edwards for his efforts as field Manager of Bayview. He noted that Ken Sisler and Ross Gosling have agreed to co-manage the field in the future.
Mike also mentioned that the club would need a volunteers to manage both the Wings programme and the safety portfolio. He confirmed he would follow up with the Board.
Bronte Field: No further news at this time, as we wait for further direction from MAAC. Tom continues to discuss with Roy Rymer and will follow up. At present, we will be able to fly at Bronte in 2020.
2020 Budget: The 2020 budget which had been reviewed by the previous Board was presented. On motion made and carried the 2020 Budget was approved.
On request, each member of the Board introduced themselves, outlined their responsibilities and their history with the Club. Also Mike reviewed the history of the Club’s Long Term Vision project and explained that Ashley had agreed to Chair the Committee. He confirmed that further reports would be provided.
Next Meeting: February 27, 2020. Mike mentioned that the May meeting would be held on May 21 and not May 28.
On Motion made, seconded and approved, the meeting was terminated at 7.50 pm
Frost Fly 2020
About 20 intrepid souls ventured out into the icy blasts to celebrate our annual fun fly. Truth be known, while it was certainly blasting, it wasn’t too icy. As a result most of the planes were left in the car, while we huddled in the hut knocking back hot chili, greasy donuts and endless cups of coffee and hot chocolate, courtesy of Ashley.
However for the few who ventured out from time to time, aerial entertainment was provided by Trevor Blum, bundled up in fur hat, for coat, fur mukluks and, for all I know, fur knickers. He flew a Bushmaster masterfully, making it do things that defied laws of aerodynamics. One stunt, which I witnessed, was true STOL. The thing was seen to take off after less than six inches of ground roll. (When Ashley saw this, he decided to disband the runway committee as superfluous!). The plane hovered, almost flew backwards in the wind, and gyrated all over the place. Not to be outdone, Don Larkin got his Bell chopper out to show what true hovering looked like. Additional entertainment was provided by Brian Harrington, with his F4 EDF and Ian Brown, with a Luftwaffe flying wing. Despite the weather, a very good time was had by all. Special thanks to Ashley, for providing the coffee, donuts and chili.
Foamy Repair:
Ted Pritlove has posted an article on how he repairs his foamy EDF jets.
See the Members page.
New membership form posted. Available here.
Please note fee increased by $20 as motioned and passed with majority vote by the membership at February 2019 General Meeting
Warbirds 2019 event at Bayview was a great success! The weather was fantastic! hot and dry. We had to deal with some heavy winds on Saturday gusting almost 50 km an hour! But the flying went on to the delight of all the spectators. Sunday was the perfect day for Flying! Trevor Brum flew his 1/3 scale Stearman and his Alpha jet. What a great show he put on! I must say that all of the pilots at our club we’re flying at their best, Peter Foto, Tim Bidwell, to mention a few. We also had a few pilots from other clubs, Mississauga, and the Niagara region. The prize for best in show went to Brian Harrington for his beautiful Lysander, and he did a wonderful job of flying it to scale. I also want to thank Barry and Bob for running our barbeque and planning all food, drinks and ice purchasing leading up to the weekend they did a great job.We should all thank the members and volunteers who helped plan and execute Warbirds over the bay! Months and weeks before the event, members were cleaning barbeques checking equipment and getting ready for this event. Tony Madage and I arrived at Bayview field Friday morning before the event to find this great group cutting the grass setting up PA systems and making sure everything was going to run smooth for the weekend. Tim Bidwell, Ian Brown, Scott McGregor, Peter Foto, Tony Madage, Ashley Armstrong, Barry Parkinson, Bob Fowler, Geoff Norm and many more! It was a job well done by all! I hope we can do this event again in 2020 and make it even better.
Warbird 2019 Photos
Moving Sale:
Norm Harris is moving and needs to downsize.
See the Members page buy and sell section for a list of items.
The May Issue of Skywords avaiable here
You have to see this:
Maidenfest May 4th
About a dozen fliers and another dozen BRCM members braved the miserable weather on May 7 – cold, damp, and grey – to participate in Maidenfest, an opportunity to display the fruits of a winter’s labour. The diversity was amazing. Ashley Armstrong brought out his astonishing Me323 transport, powered by 6 nitro engines. Assembly took longer that than the build time of an average ARF. It didn’t fly, but the fact he got all 6 engines going is a cause for celebration. Trevor Blum dazzled us with his turbo F-16 at high speed.
Air Cadets Model Airplane Course
Starting in January, BRCM members — Ashley Armstrong, Doug Edwards and Geoff Norman — began a model airplane course with the Dundas 737 Squadron air cadets. About 15 cadets joined the course. The goal is to get cadets more involved in model aviation. Ashley is teaching them about construction, using basic Sig rubber-powered balsa and tissue planes. Doug is coaching them on R/C simulators. Geoff does a bit of both. We have also purchased two indoor planes. (Super Cub) to fly in the Community Centre and two outdoor trainers (Sig Kadet). Once the weather improves, we will be getting some of the cadets out to Bayfield for dual instruction. The initiative is supported by a $5000 grant from the Dougher Foundation, administered by the Hamilton Community Foundation.