1928-2005 Hamilton Flying club

Pilot_adam · Post by **Pilot_adam** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:30 am

It is very unfortunate that hamilton flight club in shutting down after nearly 80 years of operation.....
I got the the news from my instructor last night ,The board of directors have decided to close the club and sell the aircrafts,it is so sad to see them going out of business after all these years,they were very honest and experinced people they did not have the attitude problem that you see in alot of FTUs...
I guess i will have to find another school close by to complete my training and my best option will be Peninsulair...
Any comment about the school and any advice will be appreciated...
I am only worried about switching from flying the C-152 to the Pipers...
Cheers
Adam

Yoyoma · Post by **Yoyoma** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:55 am

How many hours do you have? Pipers are great, what kind do they fly?

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:15 pm

I heard they were push over the financial edge by a demented madman line guy who demolished everything in sight .... can't remember his name, though, he's not a very memorable fellow

Isn't PenisAir the place Garth Wallace (or is it Brooks?) wrote about in his magum opus Derry Air?

Pilot_adam · Post by **Pilot_adam** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:44 pm

Thanks for the quick response...
i only have 10 hours under my belt so i hope i will get along with the pipers quickly,they have Cherokees and warriors i believe ...
About the club,i heared they were not going through a big financial problems yet and some members of the board of directors came up with a new business plan but since there is no qualified person(from their point of view) to fill the position of Director of Fly the board voted 7 to 2 to close the club....
The job demanded 24/7 attention and not much of a pay ,,the current flying dirctor retired after 70 years in aviation and close to 30,000 hours,he was an ex WW2 pilot and served the industry for years...
Anyhow i guess i will be flying with Peninsulair i have heared that they are nice people and got well maintained a/c..
Cheers
Adam

wha happen · Post by **wha happen** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:49 pm

with ten hours, the conversion to piper should not be a problem.

Wasn't Me · Post by **Wasn't Me** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:36 pm

Reg Spence was a great guy. Marched to his own beat and never took s$$t from anybody. great school, well run, to bad the club couldn't move some where else.

TTail · Post by **TTail** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:41 pm

Pilot_adam wrote:It is very unfortunate that hamilton flight club in shutting down after nearly 80 years of operation.....

Geez, what the heck is going on in Canada?!?! This shouldn't be happening to establishments such as these. The loss of an old club environment is detrimental when you compare all the types of aviation enthusiasts that are out there whether it be the casual flyer, or the full time flight instructor seeking a career.

PA31 Driver · Post by **PA31 Driver** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:12 pm

Yes it it a sad day for the club, it's been around for ever. But I think it was a sader day, the day they leveled the orginal building a few months ago..........

It will be missed

LostinRotation · Post by **LostinRotation** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:53 pm

Apparently a few guys got together and formulated a business plan. The board looked it over for about 15 mins on tues evening and tanked the deal. Word is Michael Ing bought the building, took over Mr.Spence's lease and is now constructing a new hanger. Too bad I couldn't see the look on Ron's face when he heard the news of his new neigbour.

And not to forget, good luck to all of you that have been displaced by this event.

-=0=LIR=0=-

LostinRotation · Post by **LostinRotation** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:56 pm

PA31 driver wrote:But I think it was a sader day, the day they leveled the orginal building a few months ago..........

It will be missed

I still remember when I used to do security there as an air cadet for the warplane heritage. Back when aviation was still simple for me and I would eat my lunch under the wing of the lancaster or the corsair.

-=0=LIR=0=-

p.s. sorry for the double post

TTail · Post by **TTail** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:06 pm

That's ok.

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:18 am

wha happen wrote:with ten hours, the conversion to piper should not be a problem.

Just out of curiosity...should it be a problem at 100 hrs?....1000 hrs?

I don't get it.

just curious · Post by **just curious** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:37 am

For plain jane flight instruction the Spences were hard to beat. Never chased contracts, schemes just rented hangar space to people they knew, and taught flying.

Penninsula next door has had some notorious characters (including me about the time Garth Wallace wrote his book about us ramp rats

). quality of instruction has stayed steady over the years. They too stuck to what they knew best.

Cherokees are one of the most stable training airplanes on the planet. YTE, if it's still there, in particular.

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 7:41 am

just curious wrote: Cherokees are one of the most stable training airplanes on the planet. YTE, if it's still there, in particular.

My favourite too...but its gone forever. Since been replaced with another cherokee...you just can't beat that overhead trim

hazatude · Post by **hazatude** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 3:17 pm

Derry Air is a good read.

Some of the characters in the book still work there.

RIP HFC

just curious · Post by **just curious** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:45 pm

. R, and Gene were the original protagonists. I was just a witness, never a subject. Although, if the Samourai Line crew raincoat is still there, and they still say "Linecrew to the flightdesk" in a really whiney nasal tome of voice, that might kinda be my fault

1928-2005 Hamilton Flying club

1928-2005 Hamilton Flying club

Re: 1928-2005 Hamilton Flying club