A Little History...

My first plane ride, as a kid, was in a yellow float-equipped de Havilland "Beaver" up in

DeHavilland "Beaver" Float Plane 

Temmagami, Ontario in the early 60's. Not yet a teenager, we had talked about this flight for a few days. My dad and I walked down the dock, climbed aboard, and took off just outside of town. Before long, we were landing on a stretch of Lake Temmagami. I had survived this first flight. I had soared above the Canadian Shield...over lakes, across rivers, above the pines and birches...and I had survived.

Climbing from the cockpit onto the dock, the knees still a bit wobbly and the stomach wildly rotating inside, I'm sure my eyes were as wide as the wing span of the Beaver. There had been a slight ripple on the water while taxiing. An increasing roar of the engine, the rush of the air, the sloshing of water on the pontoons, as we bounced along, was gradually diminished as we lifted from the surface and rose above the tree tops. The view was great...the trip, a memory for years to come.

Take-off...eh!

Camping at Finlayson Point across the lake a few miles away, you could hear the distinct sounds of their engines as more "seaplanes" lifted from or settled on those dark waters of that lake. The engines sounded similar as they idled then powered up but the outsides of these planes had various colour schemes.

Fifty years later, having rarely flown since then in small four seaters, it was time for another Beaver. In the past four years an increasing interest in Radio-Controlled (RC) flying meant it was time to consider the next purchase.

I had started with a trainer, E-flite's Apprentice 15e. I had wanted to stay with electric power source and this foam-built seemed like a good place to start. After completing a training program with the Niagara Region Model Flying Club Inc.(NRMFC), I was confirmed to have earned my "wings". It took a while...in fact the better part of two training seasons...for many reasons. The training involved Tuesday and Thursday evenings under the watchful eye of qualified instructors starting in late May and continuing until the first week of September. Inclement weather and high winds had cancelled some of these nights.

My personal schedule allowed mostly one night per week and, of course family vacation for three weeks mid-summer didn't help. I was under no illusion that it would take time...it is a skill with distinct hand-eye coordination. You put considerable pressure on yourself to do well...and avoid all the pitfalls that gravity could inflict. I didn't realize that a three week layoff meant your skills learning started all over again but improved rapidly thereafter. I learned that you really need to hone those skills regularly.

And throughout this time, patience reigned supreme. I was willing to wait and learn the skills but eager to move on my own to bigger and better things. It was a steep learning curve that requires repairs when you take chances or mother nature gives you that little extra puff of air or changes direction without your realization as you concentrate on your pre-landing preparation.

COMING UP NEXT:  Unexpected Windfall