Anyone currently flying for warplane heritage in YHM?

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:16 am

Just wondering if anyone is currently a pilot for CWHM...just looking into some of the specifics in regards to flying for them.

Thanks,
John

pianodude · Post by **pianodude** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:30 am

i lost all respect for that place after one of their harvard drivers proceeded to eat the end off the cherokee i was in(with a student!) in '89

steelrain27 · Post by **steelrain27** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:06 am

My instructor told me about that story...of course he tells me that the very plane we are about to do spins in is the plane that had its wing replaced because of that incident lol and lets just say that plane also has some interesting stall characteristics now lol

Phlyer · Post by **Phlyer** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:51 am

Apparently you have to pay for all your training and all your flights - not cheap.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:16 am

Apparently you have to pay for all your training and all your flights - not cheap.

Depends on what you are doing and flying.

I was paid to fly one of their birds, and I'm not cheap to hire.

C-FABH · Post by **C-FABH** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:47 am

Cat Driver wrote:Depends on what you are doing and flying.

I was paid to fly one of their birds, and I'm not cheap to hire.

I'd like to think they have experienced professionals flying their aircraft -- if they want to protect their investment at all. I'm not sure if Art still flies the Canso, so they'd certainly need someone!

Kinda reminds me of the Russell Group -- he will hire some of the real pro's from Europe simply to keep his investments flying in great shape.

mcrit · Post by **mcrit** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:13 pm

Might want to try the Great War Flying Museum in Brampton. Great bunch of guys, fun airplanes, won't break the budget.

Lost in Saigon · Post by **Lost in Saigon** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:27 pm

I think someone

needs to make

their avatar

a little smaller

Greg87 · Post by **Greg87** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:47 pm

C-FABH wrote:I'm not sure if Art still flies the Canso, so they'd certainly need someone!

Art flew his last flight in the PBY last year. The pilots at the museum are all very professional with a great deal of flying experience. It does take a lot of money to move onwards and upwards, but if you love the planes it is well worth it. How many other places can you fly these aircraft? They are great guys, and if you have the time and money, you want to talk to a gentleman named Dave Rohrer, the CEO and Chief Pilot. The email address is ceo@warplane.com. You won't meet a nicer (or busier) person. Considering how many volunteers are there, it is impressive that he knows almost everyone by name. Side note, he is also retired from the RCAF and Transport Canada. In order to fly the a/c there you have to have a fair amount of flying time, including a lot of taildragger time. After they let you start flying you will have to "Sponsor" an aircraft, an anual donation, I believe somewhere in the range of $700 for the Chipmunk. After sponsoring the aircraft, you may fly it when ever you want (with certain exceptions, ie: weather, maintainance, aircraft allready at airshow or burried). Changes are taking place (for the better) and there will be more flying, so it can't hurt to get in there. If you get on the Harvard and/or Stearman, you can fly the Legends flights, which you are not paying for fuel or sponsorship. They will only take highly qualified pilots, for obvious reasons. These a/c are priceless, the people running the museum (now) truly care about the planes and their history, and will not let just anyone fly. If you are truly interested in the history of the a/c and passionate about them, the museum is looking for you! By the way, you also need to be a member of the museum to fly them ($100 annualy). This may all seem like a lot of money, but the maintainance to keep these planes in the air, and to keep the museum open, and the insurance etc etc, is not cheap, and the museum does NOT survive off money from the government, they survive off of donations and members. It is truly a great organization to get into, whether flying, ground crew, maintainance. The people are great, the planes are nice to see, and even if you are not a pilot, if you spend enough time there you will get to go flying. I have been there 8.5 years and gone up in the Harvard, Stearman, B-25, Chipmunk *3, Beech 18 many times, Canso and the DC-3. Eventually I will fly with them. Any more info, feel free to ask me.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:07 pm

Greg87:

That quote was not me.

I last flew there somewhere around 1999 or 2000 I think it was and have no idea who Art is...

No big deal just wanted to clear that up.

P.S. :

It's been so long since I heard someone call the PBY a Canso I have to stop for a second and place it.

FL410 · Post by **FL410** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:42 pm

pianodude wrote:i lost all respect for that place after one of their harvard drivers proceeded to eat the end off the cherokee i was in(with a student!) in '89

Exact same thing almost happened to me a few years ago as well.

Greg87 · Post by **Greg87** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:24 pm

Sorry about that Cat Driver... I don't know how that happened, I just clicked the quote button... Seems even us youngens have trouble figuring out all this computer stuff! I'll fix that up!

golden hawk · Post by **golden hawk** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:43 pm

Lost in Saigon wrote:I think someone

needs to make

their avatar

a little smaller

If an avatar has to be big, this is the one. Great airplane.

steelrain27 · Post by **steelrain27** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:37 pm

sorry about the avatar it is suppose to be a lot smaller lol i'm working on fixing it lol

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:39 am

Great airplane.

Yeah, but you can't do a push in it. If I owned one, I'd seriously look at what I would have to do, to retrofit inverted fuel and oil systems.

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:57 am

If I owned one, I'd seriously look at what I would have to do, to retrofit inverted fuel and oil systems.

...guess you'll never have to worry about it

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:17 am

This is probably heresy, but .... I've flown the TF-51D down
in Kissimmee, and while it was certainly slippery and noisy
enough to drive the neighbours completely nuts, it really
wasn't the most fun to fly aerobatics in - that skinny wing
really bled off energy as you increased the G anywhere
near to fun levels.

And, I worried about breaking the crankshaft with the
gyroscopic precession of the heavy metal 4-blade
prop - when was the last time you saw someone
tumble a P-51?

IMHO there are a LOT more fun aircraft to fly, than the
antique stuff. Try flying say an Extra 300 or Zivko or
MX2 or Sukhoi - they are all so much more capable, and
so much less of a maintenance pig, and cost so much less
than a "warbird".

A friend of mine, Todd, just paid usd1.4$M for a P-51D,
which is an awful lot of coin for what you get, IMHO.

I dunno, you pay almost a million and a half bucks for
a "fighter" aircraft, I'd want to at least be able to 1/2
roll it inverted on takeoff and do a 4G negative push
to the vertical at the end of the runway.

From both engineering and pilot standpoint, the antiques
fail a very basic cost/benefit analysis. Which is not surprising,
considering that they were built 60 years ago, and designed
to last a maximum of 6 months.

But you don't have to believe me - get some aerobatic
experience in a wide variety of types, and see for
yourself.

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:13 am

I agree with you on the fun factor of aerobatics Hedley but for some people, they like the nostagia of owning a famous piece of fighter plane history.

I personally would prefer a Sukhoi. They look cool, sound cool, beltch smoke and can do anything.

But, I guess to each their own and 2 thumbs up to the guys who invest tons of $$$ into keeping old, rare planes in the air.

Hey, if I had 10 million bucks laying around, I guess I might pick up a P-51. Just to wake up the neighbors on a Sunday morning!

Greg87 · Post by **Greg87** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:05 pm

It's all a matter of personal opinion. I would much rather own/fly a vintage a/c than a high performance. Hedley; where's he keeping the P-51? I love that plane, a friend of mine did the same thing, going down to Florida to fly Crazy Horse. I flew in Spam Can at Chino. I absolutely love Mike Potter's P-51 in RCAF markings. My favourite are the A,B or C models, but I like the D too! My (almost) realistic dream plane is a 1940's J-3 cub, I'd take that over a Pitts any day. Just my opinion.

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:17 pm

Todd lives in Key West; he used to have a Sea Fury (now THAT'S a warbird) which he sold. He has a T-28, which I think he's trying to sell, and he has a "Wirraway" (?) T-6 which is clip-wing and a geared engine. Todd bought the P-51D, Freddy will likely race it at Reno (he raced the Sea Fury, got an 8th in Unlimited Gold his first time, which is unheard of for a rookie).

Todd also has a very rare Stearman airmail:

and a bunch of other stuff, like a rare taperwing Waco.

I was teaching him how to land the Pitts S-2C over christmas in Key West.

It's all a matter of taste - everyone should do what fills their boots.

Personally, I'd rather fly them than fix them, which is what you're going to spend a LOT of time doing, if you fly antiques.

The other thing is that a "fighter" should do aerobatics.

Owning and flying a fighter but not doing aerobatics is more
than a bit like being married to a supermodel, and never taking
off her clothes.

Dunno why you'd do that.