February2016 issuu

THE PATRICIANFebruary 2016

The Victoria Flying Club ~ Aviation Excellence Since 1946

VFC Challenge 2016:

GROUND SCHOOL SCHEDULES | CLUB NEWS | FIRST SOLOS | FEATURE ARTICLES

Experience Spectacular.Aviation destination info for Tofino - p. 9

Photo credit: Firat Ataman

1February 2016 www.flyvfc.com

“To promote flying and aviation in general, and to teach and train persons in the art and science of flying

and navigating and operating all manner of heavier-than-air aircraft.”

(Victoria Flying Club Incorporation Bylaws, 1946)

Board of Directors

President...................................Ramona Reynolds Email: [email protected]

Vice President...................................Howard PengSecretary......................................Colin WilliamsonTreasurer.............................................Rob ShemiltDirectors............................................. Steve Demy Vernon Fischer

Rolf HopkinsonGeneral Manager.................................Gerry MantsChief Flying Instructor.................... Graham Palmer

1852 Canso RoadSidney, BC V8L 5V5

[email protected]

Phone: 250-656-2833Fax: 250-655-0910

Editor: Katy [email protected]

In This Issue 3 VFC Achievements 5 Eerie Encounter Eleanor Eastick, VFC Member

8 Women in Aviation News 9 Getting There - Tofino

11 Ground School Schedule

12 VFC Challenge 2015 Final results

13 Mentoring Tracey Burns

14 COPA Quadrant Eleanor Eastick

THE PATRICIANMonthly Newsletter of The Victoria Flying Club - Aviation Excellence Since 1946

February 2016

The Patrician accepts unsolicited submissions.

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, with prior permission of the publisher or author. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the authors.

Find us online to get all the latest news!!

Aviation Excellence Since 1946 2 February 2016

VFC News

News from VFCThe Victoria Flying Club Annual General Meeting has been sched-uled for Thursday, March 3rd in the VFC pilot’s lounge. The meet-ing will begin, as it always does, at 6:00pm with wine and cheese. The business portion of the eve-ning gets under way at 7:00pm.

What Happens at the AGM?

The purpose of the Annual General Meeting is to provide an oppor-tunity for discussion and decision making amongst club members. As a not-for-profit organization, we are governed by an elected volun-teer Board of Directors. Three of the main functions of the AGM are to review prior year results, discuss plans for the current year, and also to establish the board of directors for the upcoming year.

Who is Eligible to Vote at the AGM?

While attendance at the AGM is open to all members, voting priv-iliges are extended to those with Sustaining Memberships and Life Memberships only. If you have been a member in good stand-ing of the Victoria Flying Club for 24 consecutive months, then you are eligible to apply to become a Sustaining or Life Member. Sus-taining Members and Life Mem-bers recieve a discount on aircraft rentals, fuel, etc. If you have been a member for 24 consecutive months, please pick up a Sustain-ing Member or Life Member ap-plication from the VFC office, and plan to attend the AGM.

How Can You Get Involved?

The Board of Directors consists of a group of Victoria Flying Club members who use their collective knowledge and skills to conduct

club business on behalf of all members. They are governed by a set of by-laws and make decisions regarding aircraft and equipment, facilities, staffing and various other areas of club business. Sustaining and Life Members are eligible to be nominated for a director position. Nomination forms are available at the VFC office and nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the AGM. Directors must be nominated by two other Sustaining or Life Members.

Being involved with the VFC Board of Directors is a great opportunity to contribute to the future of the Victoria Flying Club, and to the lo-cal aviation community.

For more information, please con-tact VFC Manager, Gerry Mants, at [email protected] or 250-656-2833.

Notice of Victoria Flying Club AGM - March 3 2016

Editor’s NoteI would like to extend a large thank you to Christie Hall for her years of commitment to the VFC commu-nity, with best wishes for her future successes. You will be missed! As of this month, Christie has passed the editorial baton of handling The Patrician on to me. I come to the Club with a different sort of aviation background.

For years, I worked with STR-SpeechTech Ltd, the Victorian company behind the broadcast software and ATIS voice you hear when you fly in and out of the Club (if you were at the Wing’s Banquet this year, you may even have shook hands with ‘The Voice’ himself!). I look forward to getting more in-volved in the flying side of aviation and to hearing your own experiences.

Katy Earl

February 2016 3 www.flyvfc.com

VFC Achievements

Ned Peach Instructor: Brett Stevens

Ranjit DeviInstructor: Brett Stevens

FIRST SOLOS

“Without disruption of air traffic, these fearless, forthright, indomitable and courageous individuals did venture into the

wild blue yonder in flying machines. Furthermore, these skillful individuals did safely land said flying machines at Victoria

International Airport, incurring no significant damage to self or machine, thus completing first solo flights.”

Constantine TrikeriotisInstructor: Sean Tyrell

Pragadesh SunderasanInstructor: Brady Tucker

4 February 2016Aviation Excellence Since 1946

VFC Achievements

New MembersAlexander TayBrandon HayChristopher GibbsDenise HowdenGary SorgeGriogair StewartIain McBrideIlke AltindisIsaac CraghttenJirawat DendandomeJoshua AllenJoshua MackeyPaul KroekerQizhao Chen

Ryan KuhnSahib SinghTyrone Sinclair

First SoloConstantine TrikeriotisNed PeachPragadesh SunderasanRanjit Devi

PPL Written ExamCem Uner

PPL Flight TestMitch Warren

CPL Flight TestLynn Flandera

CPL Flight TestAdan ThorntonGlen GolonkaStephanie Boucher

Night RatingElgin PennerEthan BugdenRon Ducharme

Seaplane Rating Gavin Rose

Group 1 IFR Ethan Bugden

VFC MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS

The Victoria Flying Club operates a charter service to a variety of destinations on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. VFC charter offers inexpensive, timely and direct transportation to places not serviced by other commercial carriers.

The charter service is an on-demand operation (no set schedules) and is operational in day VFR conditions. Please contact us for more information on destinations and costs.

For more information or to book a flightEmail: [email protected]

Call: 1-250-474-0213

VFC CHARTER SERVICE - BE THERE IN MINUTES!


VFC Member Contribution

Eerie EncounterEleanor Eastick, VFC Member

“Traffic, twelve o’clock opposite direction, type and altitude unknown. I’m not talking to him.”

Now there’s a radio transmission that’s enough to make any pilot sit up higher and take notice. We were eastbound from Victoria, 5500’, maybe ten miles offshore from the mainland when Vancouver Terminal contacted us with the unsettling alert. Needless to say, my passenger who was also a pilot, and I leaned forward in our seats, scanning the clear sky ahead for the traffic. We didn’t have a TCAS in our C172, but maybe that wouldn’t have helped in this case....

It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect VFR conditions, just the type of day, in fact, when most mid-air collisions take place. Pilots are relaxed, their eyes are generally at the default focus of two metres, sky-scanning becomes undisciplined and haphazard. After all, don’t we fly our little planes to unwind, to get away from the earthbound noise, traffic and troubles? Ah, complacency!

On top of that, for the relaxed VFR pilot in controlled en route airspace, there is an expectation of being looked after by someone hunched over a radar screen in a darkened room somewhere. Now Terminal had spotted a prime target and startled us out of our laid-back

lethargy. Was the conflicting traffic some careless aviator who’d strayed into the airspace, no clearance, off-frequency and without a Mode C? Or was it something more sinister?

Yoicks! I vaguely recalled reading that it takes a minimum of 12.5 seconds to initiate an avoidance manoeuvre...rapid calculation of two aircraft closing on one another at 120 KIAS times two! Eyeballs bugged out with serious sky-scanning, left, right, up, down. Dang! why is it so hard to see another aircraft in a big, seemingly empty sky!

Then, quite literally, out of the blue, there it was! Below and slightly to port.

“Did you see that thing?” I gasped to my passenger as I watched a bright sphere of light pass somewhere beneath our aircraft and vanish a short distance behind.

Yes, he had caught a glimpse of “the thing”. It was not another plane, it was not a stray weather balloon, it was not a boat on the water more than a mile below us. Was it a reflection off something? No. Whatever it was, it had shown up on radar.

There was only one conclusion: it was a UFO! Cue the creepy music!

Now that doesn’t mean to imply the traffic was a space ship - give me a break! I’m a big fan of 1950s sci-fi and I’d know an alien ship if I saw one - they’re shaped like saucers or cigars with rows of pulsating coloured portholes. No, the thing seen by myself and my passenger was an unidentified flying object, or UFO. This was a term coined by the USAF in 1953 and defined as “any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object.”

Well, that definition certainly applied to what we saw on that lazy summer day in the late 1990s. In this case, it was a very low-level UFO. Since I was over featureless water, there was nothing by which to judge its size or altitude other than to say it was below 5500’. It was maybe twenty feet below me, maybe 500 feet; its size? Maybe one foot across, maybe twelve feet. It was a sphere of steady white light without a really distinct edge, not a hard edge such as a weather balloon would have. It wasn’t spinning or pulsating. Okay - weird, what else can I say? But it was real because it was observed on radar, although the controller never came back with “traffic is now past you”. It


must have disappeared off his screen as suddenly as it vanished from my view.

It was all over in 15 seconds. I have puzzled about this off and on since that day, and I have concluded that the UFO may have been ball lightning, regarded by scientists as a relative of St. Elmo’s Fire, that unearthly glow that can come off ship masts and aeroplane wingtips. St. Elmo’s Fire has been observed throughout the ages and is a well-documented weather phenomenon.

But ball lightning - those eerie orbs in the sky - has been witnessed and recorded throughout history but only accredited as a genuine physical occurrence in the 1960s. Prior to that time, despite innumerable eye witness reports, ball lightning was considered a hoax at worst and the eye witnesses unreliable at best. In truth,

it does sound unlikely that a sphere of glowing matter could enter a room, bounce around as if looking for something and then quietly leave through a door or window. Ball lightning was so often described as doing just that. Now science admits it exists.

Today there are video files of naturally occurring ball lightning, the first recorded in 2012 in China. The ball captured on video travelled horizontally roughly 50 feet in two seconds before dissipating. Since then scientists have even been able to produce ball lightning in laboratories. Oh, goody! In fact, you can make your own ball lightning at home with a lit or recently extinguished match and a microwave. But don’t try it; it will wreck your nuker!

The science behind all this is quite beyond my meagre brain; it has something to do with plasma and ionization and

electromagnetic charges. I can only report what I have learned from my research and compare it with my pragmatic experience.

The facts are these: lightning shows up on radar, ball lightning is spherical, it has the brightness of a domestic lamp, it can last up to one minute, its intensity remains constant, it can move horizontally a few metres per second, it disappears suddenly without any noise. Ball lightning is generally associated with thunder storms, but not always.

During WWII, night fighter pilots in both the European and the Pacific theatre reported seeing balls of light moving around their aircraft, following them or flying in formation with them. They were never threatening. These phenomena were so common that they were given the name foo fighters. At the time, they were investigated seriously as possible secret weapons of the

VFC Member Contribution


Feature Article

enemy. But the enemy was also experiencing foo fighters, and in all likelihood investigating them as secret devices of the Allies.

It has been suggested that the foo fighters could have been light reflections from ice crystals in the air, or that they could simply have been retinal afterimages of flak bursts nearby. Neither explanation cuts it. The Robertson Panel, an American study group formed in the early 1950s, suggested that the foo fighters were electrostatic phenomena similar to St. Elmo’s Fire, but did not

use the term ball lightning. (Incidentally, that illustrious panel came into being to investigate the extraordinary number of sightings of UFOs around Washington, DC at that time and undoubtedly spawned the alien spaceship genre of really bad movies).

To date, there is no all-encompassing explanation of the foo fighters. Ball lightning comes the closest but even that falls short. Pilots are forever seeing UFOs, even photographing them from airliners at high flight levels; most are identified pretty

quickly, but there are a few unexplainable phenomena out there yet.

As for me, a low-level good-weather VFR rec pilot - did I observe ball lightning? I think so, unless, of course, it was a flying saucer from outer space. Cue the creepy music!


Women in Aviation

WOMEN IN AVIATIONVANCOUVER ISLAND CHAPTER

Stay tuned on Facebook for upcoming events as we get closer to Women in Aviation Week, March 7 - 13, 2016.

https://www.facebook.com/wia.vichapter

Photo Credits: Expert Infantry; Air Services Australia


Destinations

Getting There - TofinoAviation information for local destinations

www.flyvfc.com

GETTIN’ THEREaviation information for local destinationsDestination: Tofino (CYAZ)

Why Go?

There are books and websites full of reasons why you’d want to go to Tofino. The beaches are spectacular, the local area has a ton of attractions and the flight itself has some amazing scenery – mountains, lakes, islands, etc. All in all, the flight to Tofino is the quintessential West Coast aviation experience. Depending on conditions, rout-ing, etc. figure on about sixty to seventy-five minutes flight time each way. However, unless you go the long way around the coastline, this IS a mountain flight. If you’re flying Club air-craft you need to have taken the Mountain Flying Course to go to Tofino. Weather is also a fac-tor. Tofino is usually accessible in the summer but hit-and-miss during the winter.

From the airport it’s a good twenty minute walk to the beach, and about a ten minute walk to the golf course. To get to town you will need to call a taxi from the airport terminal building or have made other transporta-tion arrangements. Located in the airport terminal building is Orca Airlines as well as Budget

Rent-a-Car. The golf course has a restaurant that’s open during the summer but other than that if you want food you’ll need to head into town.

Getting There

There are basically three routes you can take to get to Tofino. They are:

• Victoria -> Lake Cowichan -> direct to Tofino.

• Victoria -> Lake Cowichan -> Nitinat Lake -> coastline to Tofino.

• Victoria -> Sooke -> coastline to Tofino.

The first option is the most direct route however be aware that between the end of Lake Cowichan and Barkley Sound you’ll encounter some pretty mountainous terrain. The sec-ond route takes a bit longer but is more scenic, taking you past a couple of lighthouses. The third route is the longest route, and it’s the only way to get to Tofino if you haven’t taken the Mountain Flying Course. Finally, no matter which route you take remember you’ll be cross-ing Barkley Sound so you’ll want to have sufficient altitude to reach shore if you need to.


Destinations

www.flyvfc.com

Once you’re over Lake Co-wichan or out over Sooke you’re out of controlled airspace and on your own. Don’t forget to monitor Pacific Radio on 126.7. You also have the option of climbing higher and requesting flight following from Vancouver Centre.

As you cross Barkley Sound you’ll be heading in the general direction of Ucluelet, probably a good time to start monitor-ing the Tofino frequency since on a nice day there can be a lot of traffic headed in and out of Tofino. Start your descent when you feel it’s safe to do so. You’ll make your initial call to Nanaimo Radio (DON’T call them “Tofino Radio”… they get rather grumpy) before reaching Florencia Bay. As you proceed inbound to Tofino airport watch for the areas that have altitude restrictions.

Local Knowledge

Flying into Tofino isn’t really complicated and you shouldn’t have much of a problem. How-ever, here are a few things to be aware of that you may not find written down:

• There’s a landing fee at Tofino which, at time or writing, is $15.

• Fuel is available by card lock / credit card at the main apron.

• The thresholds of Rwy 25 and Rwy 29 are close together and it’s really easy to get mixed up and land on the wrong runway.

Rwy 25 extends into the trees while Rwy 29 is close to the beach.

• If you’re landing on Rwy 16 it’s better to go around the hill that’s on the approach path as opposed to turning base inside the hill.

• Taxiway Foxtrot has a gravel covered ditch about halfway along. It is passable (or was at the time of this writing) but you do have to be careful if you choose to cross it.

• The quickest way to the beach is south-east along the terminal apron and taxiway Golf to the road, turn right and follow the road down to the main road. There’s a parking lot with beach access across the road. All in all, about a 15-20 minute walk.

• Check out the WWII vintage building that houses the weath-er station.

• You need to be aware of wildlife, particularly deer and bears. Bears often hang out in a small clearing off of taxi way G and occasionally can be seen in the infield between the run-ways. I’ve also heard of people having to go around because of animals on the runway so be on the lookout.

Weather

Tofino has a METAR and a TAF however you’ll also have to engage the Mark I eyeball. Weather at Tofino can change

almost instantly so you’ll want to keep a constant watch on that nearly permanent fog bank sitting off-shore. Because the weather can change while you’re in flight it’s a good idea to make use of Nanaimo Radio or Pacific Radio for up-to-date weather information while you’re enroute. Also, pay attention to fuel reserves and alternates when doing your flight plan. If you get to Tofino and can’t land your only viable alternates are usually Qualicum, Nanaimo or Victoria. Make sure you can get there. Port Alberni is often over-cast when Tofino is so you can’t always count on Port Alberni as an alternate.

Other local weather factors to be aware of include:

• There are no Weather Cams at Tofino but the ones at Am-phitrite Point and Estevan Point Lightstation can give you an idea of what Tofino will be like.

Important Links & Contacts

Tofino Airport: www.tofinoairport.com/index

Tourism Tofino: www.tourismtofino.com/activi-ties

Ucluelet Tourism: www.ucluelettourism.ca


VFC Ground School

SIGHTSEEING PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT TRAINING DISCOVERY FLIGHTS AIRCRAFT RENTAL

VICTORIA FLYING CLUB Leaders in Flight Training since 1946

#101 – 1852 CANSO ROAD NORTH SAANICH, B.C. V8L 5V5 PH: (250) 656-2833 www.flyvfc.com

2016 PRIVATE PILOT GROUND SCHOOL SCHEDULE Classes Monday and Wednesday from 19:00 – 22:00

DATE TOPIC INSTRUCTOR February 24th Canadian Aviation Regulations & Licencing BRETT

February 29th Canadian Aviation Regulations & Licencing BRETT

March 2nd Aerodynamics & Theory of Flight IAIN

March 7th Airframes & Engines DAVE

March 9th Systems & Flight Instruments DAVE

March 14th Human Factors & Pilot Decision Making BRETT

March 16th Meteorology SEAN

March 21st Meteorology SEAN

March 23rd Meteorology SEAN

March 28th No Class – Easter Monday n/a

March 30th Meteorology SEAN

April 4th Meteorology SEAN

April 6th Meteorology SEAN

April 11th Flight Operations COLIN

April 13th Flight Operations COLIN

April 18th Navigation BRENDAN



April 27th Radio & Electronic Theory BRADY

May 2nd ATC COLIN

May 4th Review COLIN

Ground School Course - $350 Ground School Kit - $275

CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE TO REGISTER FOR GROUND SCHOOL

TODAY.

ENQUIRE ABOUT OUR PROMOTIONAL OFFERS!


VFC Challenge

2015 VFC CHALLENGE

We enjoyed a fantastic year flying all over BC. Here are the last stats for the 2015 VFC Challenge (Dec. 28th): Current Standings:

Club Aircraft1 Kevin S (15)2 Peter H (13)3 Brett W (11)4 Colin W (11)5 BJ C (9)6 Ian B (9)7 Jessica J (8)

8 Brenda M (8)9 Ron J (8)10 Don D (8)11 Bill K (5)12 Rustom A (5)13 Silvia Z (4)14 Tom V (4)15 Jamie W (3)16 Andrew Y (3)17 Joey M (3)18 Cortland R (3)19 Doug N (3)20 Marna J (2)21 Duncan C (2)22 Crystal S (2)23 Scot E (2)

24 Callum E (2)25 Howard P (2)

Owner Aircraft1 Norman Y (31)2 Tom D (12)3 John L (9)4 Dave W (4)5 Simon C (2)

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

A big thank you to Doug Neal for keeping the online stats up.

For this issue I thought I’d cover the topic of mentoring since it is a process that involves communication and is relationship based. Two topics I’m asked about often. Loosely defined, mentorship refers to a personal, developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person supports a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. If you’ve been mentored and/or been a mentor then you will know that it involves so much more than this definition. If you’re currently in a mentoring relationship and have volunteered to be a mentor to someone, you will know that mentoring is truly an act of generosity and service, a gift that creates meaningful relationships that sometimes span longer than the life of the mentoring agreement. I’ve often heard people recall with fondness the incredible impact a mentor had on them.

If you’re currently a mentee then I’d like to take a minute to acknowledge your willingness to trust another human being with your ongoing development. One of the greatest gifts in being a coach is that we learn something about ourselves from each client we work with. Our clients trust us to address matters that other people will avoid. Such is the mentoring relationship. Trust, communication and relationship

are the building blocks of the mentoring relationship. In addition, mentoring creates the opportunity for you to learn about yourself through this unique relationship.

Quite often I am hired to support people to become better communicators and therefore improve their mentoring relationships. My first lesson in communication usually involves listening. In this age of technology, we are absorbing more information than ever before, we are so rushed we seldom really take time to listen, truly listen to the people around us. Do you know that coaches are trained to listen using multiple levels of listening? Did you know that there was more than one level?

My second lesson is to put your judgments, thoughts and interpretations on hold and DISCOVER. Get curious, who is that person over there? I don’t know about your little gremlin but I know my little gremlin works overtime, if left unchecked it will constantly finish sentences and add things onto the end of sentences. So tell your little gremlin shhhhhhhh and practice listening and being with people. What you might find will surprise you. Although we are all unique we are also very similar in our fundamental desires. This point was brought home to me several years

ago when I had the chance to train and lead a group of new coaches in Malaysia. Despite the difference in our cultures I quickly realized that they desired the same things in life that I did, to be happy, experience good health, to be understood and to love and be loved.

There is much more to a mentoring relationship including structure and a clearly defined plan. If you’d like more information on how to begin mentoring in your organization and/or business I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, I thought I’d share one of my favourite quotes that I think defines the very essence of mentoring.

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”- Benjamin Disraeli

MentoringTracey Burns, Executive Coaching and Consulting


Coaching


COPA Quadrant

Submitted by: Eleanor Eastick

The COPA Flight 6 Board consists of:

Flight Captain (President) Rob Shemilt

Co-Captain (Vice President) Allan Rempel

Navigator (Treasurer) Art Reitsma

The first meeting of Flight 6 for the New Year took place on January 5th and attracted abig turnout; twenty-two people came to learn about winter aircraft maintenance and cold weather flying. The AV presentation by Flight Captain Rob Shemilt was followed by an animated discussion with good input from the owners of planes.

The next meeting will take place on February 2nd - Groundhog Day - don’t forget it! The evening’s topic is not yet confirmed, but come along anyway to the VFC Lounge at 7 PM for some good hangar-flying and ??? It’s a chance to keep in touch with fellow members and pilots. We always have fun when we get together.

March will feature a talk by an airline pilot who flies the long-haul routes overseas - this will be a meeting not to be missed! Plans for spring meetings will deal with flying into the US and getting a grip on their ever-tightening procedures, and talks about the summer fun-flyouts to come.

You don’t need to be a COPA member to attend the meetings. For further information,

contact [email protected].

VFC smile cards Pick up your smile card today at the VFC office, and 5% of your grocery purchase will go towards creating scholarships and awards for VFC members. Thank-you Thrifty Foods!

711 A Broughton Street(street level, by Victoria Public Library)

Victoria BC V8W 1E2

19 www.flyvfc.comFebruary 2016

Dream. Discover. Experience. Explore.Take the first step at VFC!Call us today to get started! 250-656-2833

www.flyvfc.com

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