Something new to play with. Click on the image to see.
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Back from Ottawa. Still smiling even though my Jeep wouldn’t start at the airport and it cost me $52 to get it going. Enough bitching. I had an incredible time at the CAHS meetings. I spent last night at dinner talking to an ex-RCAF Fairey Swordfish pilot who flew them in the mid 40′s. Fascinating individual with lots of stories. This afternoon,I loaded about 300 pictures up to my Flickr site. They’re all fairly low quality as I’ve decided I don’t really want to put my high resolution work up where everyone can steal it. I don’t mind people using them (they’re all covered under a Creative Commons license) but that doesn’t mean I need to make it easy. Really good ones will be loaded here after I finish post-processing. Anyway,if you want to see a bunch of photos of planes,you’ve got your choice of the Canadian Aviation Museum or Vintage Wings of Canada. Hope you enjoy them and if there’s one you’d like to see “cleaned up”and supersized,leave a comment.
You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face with a hammer. A visit to Vintage Wings of Canada in Gatienau Quebec and a chance to see their fantastic collection of vintage aircraft. A hot day,the smell of exhaust and the sound of magnificent engines. One of the stars is this Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XVI. Built in August 1945,she wears the markings of squadron 421 of the RCAF. (Nikon D80 f11 1/500 second)  Had a great evening last night at the Canadian Aviation Museum. We were treated to an empty museum and we even got a tour of the storage hanger. I didn’t shoot all 250 pictures –only 233. I’ve got lots of processing to do when I get back home but here’s a little teaser. RL-206 was the last Avro CF-105 "Arrow"and was still under construction when the project was scrapped and all aircraft ordered destroyed. Some enterprising Avro employees hid the nose section from the wrecking bar and it now sits as a sad tribute to this dark time for the Canadian aviation industry. The weather this morning is crappy. Guess I’ll attend the sessions instead of going downtown. Greetings from Ottawa,Canada’s Capital. Air Canada got me here briskly on one of their little Embraer E190′s and the 2008 Dodge Charger that Thrifty rented me finally found it’s way to the Chimo Hotel. It would have been a lot easier if they hadn’t closed the onramp to the highway. Unfortunately,my GPS doesn’t have a live update feature to warn you of construction. The Canadian Aircraft Historical Society meetings have started but nothing on the agenda excites me this afternoon so I’ll wait until our excursion to the National Aviation Museum gets underway in a couple of hours. 
I’m looking forward to seeing the collection of classics. They dropped a brochure in the welcome package and they certainly have a few I’m looking forward to seeing:
Another treat will be to see the largest remaining piece of an Avro CF-105 Arrow. The nose is the biggest thing to survive the wrecking ball. I’ve got enough digital cards for 250 pictures and I’ll probably run out before the night is over! Tomorrow morning,I plan on getting up beaucoup early to take drive downtown and walk around Parliament Hill and Sparks Street. It’s about 20 years since I’ve been back in Ottawa. The trusty suitcase has hardly had time to air out but it’s time to hit the road again. This time,however,it’s for fun –not business. I’m off to Ottawa Thursday morning to attend the Canadian Aviation Heritage Society annual general meetings. CAHS is the oldest and largest organization in the world dedicated to the celebration and documentation of Canada’s flying heritage. This year’s meetings have some really special events that I’m looking forward to attending. Thursday night,we’re off to the Canadian Aviation Museum for a BBQ and behind the scenes tour. Saturday,it’s on the bus to Vintage Wings of Canada in Gatineau Quebec to see the country’s largest collection of privately owned classic and warbird aircraft. We got a sneak peek at one of the aircraft when they flew their De Havilland Fox Moth into Downsview for the Wings and Wheels Festival.
It’s nice to be flying for fun for a change. There’s nothing like morning light. Just after dawn,golden light makes everything look better.
This is just an ordinary building on a sidestreet in Niagara-On-The-Lake near Niagara Falls Ontario. Back in 2005 we were there for meetings and I was up early (as usual) so I decided to take a walk around the area. The sun had just risen and the light was perfect. The photo was taken with my long gone Nikon E995 which was my first digital camera. It cost a fortune back then and I ended up giving it to a friend so his young daughter could learn photography. (Nikon E995 f4 5/1000 second) The Wings and Wheels Festival wrapped up and few hours ago and I’m dog tired. Over 40 hours in 4 days has me beat. It was a great show and I really got a lot of good shots.
Here we see two Canadian Armed Forces pilots doing what all pilots love to do –talk shop. On the left is the pilot of the CF-18 Hornet fighter. On the right,the commander of the CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance airplane. They were both here (along with many others) all weekend and were very friendly and easy-going. They’re all a credit to the forces and Canada. (Nikon D80 f3.2 1/160 second) Long,long day at the airport working on the Wings and Wheels set-up. I could hardly walk by the time I got home –I’m not used to being on my feet for 10 hours. But it was worth it just for the chance to see a Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 “Hornet”arrive.
The pilot was more than happy to do a series of high speed passes for the assembled media and volunteers. This is one serious airplane. (Nikon D80 f7.1 1/800 second)
No mention of the Toronto Aerospace Museum is complete without the Arrow. Our full-size replica of the Avro CF-105 is the most popular exhibit by far. Normally,the Arrow is cooped up in the restoration hanger but events like Wings and Wheels give us a chance to take her outside for a little fresh air. (Nikon D80 f10 1/400 second) | |||||
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