"Illusions" & GGC History

It is sometimes said that life is not a destination but rather a journey and that things usually come full circle. One of those things came around full circle in Lake Placid this past weekend.

The past 2 weekends have provided pretty good mountain flying conditions for those intrepid aviators for GGC, RVSS and MSC that wanted to get a jump on the wave camp fly week but nothing prepared me for the visitor we had at the end of the day Saturday. After being kicked around in mixed wave/thermals conditions for most of the afternoon the KLKP glider pilots were treated to some fine “18m span eye candy” with a visit of a 1938 snapshot of how to build an 18m span aircraft (well, 18m spread across two wings that is...). Jim Catalano dropped by in his “better than new” Fleet model 16 biplane (better known as a “Finch” to those of us in Canada). To new members of GGC your first reaction may be “cool” but where is Roger going with this…stay with me…

Back when Pendleton aerodrome was established as a home for #10 Elementary Flight Training School (EFTS) for the RCAF in 1942, the aircraft used for training where Tiger Moths and Fleet Model 16s (Fleet Finch). Kind of interesting now that GGC has started to make a pilgrimage to LP for a fall wave camp that one of the ghosts from RCAF and GGC history is lovingly cared for and flown by a local LP pilot.

For those Richard Bach fans, the Fleet Finch (powered by the famous Kinner B5 engine) is the type of aircraft that he flies in his book titled “Illusions”.

The photos say it all…

Cheers,
Roger