Small planes to fly from coast to coast to mark centennial of flight in Canada
Published Saturday July 18th, 2009
DELTA, B.C. - Brian Vasseur of Calgary will be getting close to his father over the next 11 days. Very close.
The two will be wedged into the cockpit of Vasseur's Zenair 250, a tiny, single-engine home-built plane that they'll be flying across the country to mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada.
More than 80 planes took off from airports around Vancouver on Friday morning, part of the Century Flight organized by Vancouver TV producer John Lovelace.
Some 127 planes are registered to make the trip to Sydney, N.S., not far from Baddeck, where Douglas McCurdy coaxed the Silver Dart into the air on Feb. 23, 1909.
"My dad had an airplane and used to take me all over," said Vasseur as he did a pre-flight check of the Zenair at Boundary Bay Airport, about 25 kilometres south of Vancouver.
"We've been to Winnipeg, we've been to Inuvik (NWT), we've been to Moose Jaw (Sask.), so this is my chance to return the favour for him."
The Zenair, which can cruise at 210 kilometres an hour, is not much longer than a mid-sized SUV and its cramped cockpit would make a Mazda Miata look roomy.
"There's not much room to move," Vasseur admitted. "Every two hours there's a need to get out because you can't even squirm in this airplane."
Like Vasseur, most Century Flight participants are in small planes that will hopscotch across the country. The official stops begin with Calgary on Friday, followed by Brandon, Man., Marathon and Brampton, Ont., Sherbrooke, Que., and Fredericton.
The group, numbering 300 people including passengers, is to end up in Sydney on July 28. Most will drive down to Baddeck because the village has only a grass air strip.
"We're trying to do something that truly recognizes aviation on a national level by bringing the whole country together as we stop in each of the eight different areas," said Lovelace as a vintage, Canadian-built de Havilland Beaver took off behind him.
For the participants, this cross-country flight is a personal adventure.
"I'd planned to do that some time and this seemed the perfect opportunity to do it," said Tony Bates of Vancouver, who partnered with more experienced co-pilot Ernie Naesgaard of Bowen Island, B.C.
"I was a little nervous about doing it, never flown across the Rockies before, never mind anywhere else in Canada. So this seemed to be a good way to get some help and make the trip."
For the pair, this is a true cross-Canada flight. They flew in Thursday from Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
"We're going to end up in St. John's if all goes well, depending on the weather and the mechanics," said Bates as they checked over their 1974 Cessna 172.
Not everyone had a smooth departure.
As the Mockfords readied their plane, a couple of teenagers sat beside a nearby aircraft, waiting for their father, the pilot.
He'd forgotten the plane's keys at home, an hour's drive away.
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