@ undersized vehicleyour jacket sounds very posh tho
I wonder if British Columbia is still smoky?
@ undersized vehicleyour jacket sounds very posh tho
11th June 2026
I sleep well, do my NYT word puzzles, and then ablute and prepare for the day ahead. I'm kitted up and out of the door before 08:00, heading downtown, following Hey, Audi's guidance (which, it has to be said, feels like a beta version of an AI GPS
)...
She does (eventually) get me to Oeb - I'd not realised until I did a search this morning that they were a chain...
This branch is considerably bigger than the one in Kelowna...
...but shares the same menu. I decide to go with what I know, and order the Threesome, with extra sausages...
The delightful Lul, whose family hails from Eritrea, brings me...
...a fantastic spread, along with a strong cup of coffee...
I have to run - I'm due at the wharf at 09:30...
I turn up at the Prince of Whales
office, and I'm ushered onto the boat, where I'm met by Amber - who hails from Essex, but whose parents immigrated to Kamloops in 2014...
All the passengers get a safety brief, then the boat sets off...
Once clear of the harbour, the captain turns the wick up, and the boat achieves an impressive speed. My iPhone delays letting me open my camera, as it thinks I'm driving...
Out of interest, I open up Waze and check our speed...
It's a cloudless day, so I slather myself in SPF50 - it's easy to burn in these conditions - especially with the reflected glare from the water...
Today will be an exercise in taking a thousand pictures, and then deleting 990+ of them...
About 30 minutes in, the captain throttles back, and we loiter as a pod of orcas appears to our right...
I initially start by using the little Lumix camera, which I have brought principally for taking pictures whilst driving (very much as I used to when riding). It is a conventionally ergonomic camera which lends itself to this use.
...but - after we have followed the pod for a while and the captain powers-up and takes us to another location, I spend some time in the cabin and have a look at the results. They're not good...
...so, out comes my iPhone (which I keep a death grip on
) - it is a vastly superior camera in every respect...
Most of my pics are like this - a snap of somewhere that an Orca had been...
It occurs to me that, whilst I'm trying to get a decent picture, below the surface, some poor harbour seal is likely being torn apart...
It's a glorious day...
We start heading ack to Victoria, and I think the trip is done, before we come to a sudden idle, as a couple of humpback whales are about to cross our path...
Beautiful...
They move away, with the occasional plume of spray, and the captain turns for home...
As we approach Victoria, one of the many seaplanes that operate from here is getting airborne. It gives me an idea...
These ridiculously cute water taxis ply their trade around the harbour - honestly, they look like they should be in a Bugs Bunny cartoon...
Soon we're back on dry land, and I make my way back to the Audi...
I drive back to the hotel, where I find Cheryl has managed to get me extended by a further two nights
I pop out to buy some fruit in a supermarket that is so organic, I expect the fruit had to agree to be picked...
...they had these cool, coil-shaped bike racks...
I get back to my room, upload a million pics, and start writing.
More later...
I sleep well, do my NYT word puzzles, and then ablute and prepare for the day ahead. I'm kitted up and out of the door before 08:00, heading downtown, following Hey, Audi's guidance (which, it has to be said, feels like a beta version of an AI GPS
She does (eventually) get me to Oeb - I'd not realised until I did a search this morning that they were a chain...
This branch is considerably bigger than the one in Kelowna...
...but shares the same menu. I decide to go with what I know, and order the Threesome, with extra sausages...
The delightful Lul, whose family hails from Eritrea, brings me...
...a fantastic spread, along with a strong cup of coffee...
I have to run - I'm due at the wharf at 09:30...
I turn up at the Prince of Whales
All the passengers get a safety brief, then the boat sets off...
Once clear of the harbour, the captain turns the wick up, and the boat achieves an impressive speed. My iPhone delays letting me open my camera, as it thinks I'm driving...
Out of interest, I open up Waze and check our speed...
It's a cloudless day, so I slather myself in SPF50 - it's easy to burn in these conditions - especially with the reflected glare from the water...
Today will be an exercise in taking a thousand pictures, and then deleting 990+ of them...
About 30 minutes in, the captain throttles back, and we loiter as a pod of orcas appears to our right...
I initially start by using the little Lumix camera, which I have brought principally for taking pictures whilst driving (very much as I used to when riding). It is a conventionally ergonomic camera which lends itself to this use.
...but - after we have followed the pod for a while and the captain powers-up and takes us to another location, I spend some time in the cabin and have a look at the results. They're not good...
...so, out comes my iPhone (which I keep a death grip on
Most of my pics are like this - a snap of somewhere that an Orca had been...
It occurs to me that, whilst I'm trying to get a decent picture, below the surface, some poor harbour seal is likely being torn apart...
It's a glorious day...
We start heading ack to Victoria, and I think the trip is done, before we come to a sudden idle, as a couple of humpback whales are about to cross our path...
Beautiful...
They move away, with the occasional plume of spray, and the captain turns for home...
As we approach Victoria, one of the many seaplanes that operate from here is getting airborne. It gives me an idea...
These ridiculously cute water taxis ply their trade around the harbour - honestly, they look like they should be in a Bugs Bunny cartoon...
Soon we're back on dry land, and I make my way back to the Audi...
I drive back to the hotel, where I find Cheryl has managed to get me extended by a further two nights
I pop out to buy some fruit in a supermarket that is so organic, I expect the fruit had to agree to be picked...
...they had these cool, coil-shaped bike racks...
I get back to my room, upload a million pics, and start writing.
More later...
The photos and narration are wonderful and inspiring. Keep it coming please.
can we get a picture of False Creek from the north side looking south ? where there is a little inlet , right at the end.
or from the actual place , looks like it has all been landscaped ?
it used to be a dockyard / loading/unloading bay.
or from the actual place , looks like it has all been landscaped ?
it used to be a dockyard / loading/unloading bay.
11th June 2026 - (Cont)
Having published my initial write up, I have some lunch/dinner and then get back into the Audi and head back to the same car park I used this morning. I paid for all-day parking, and I intend to use it...
This car owner...
...doesn't seem shy about expressing themselves...
I park, and take the short walk to the Victoria sea-plane base...
...which has a bar overlooking it...
I check in at the terminal...
...and, after providing my photo-ID, get given a laminated boarding pass and directed to the Departure Lounge...
From where we are soon collected by our pilot, Zoly (short for Zoltán)...
...who leads us out to our Turbine Otter...
...where we get a safety brief...
...played on an iPad that Zoly slides into a slot on the bulkhead...
...before checking for questions, and then starting the engine...
I'm seated directly behind Zoly, with this fan, which comes on as soon as the engine starts, producing nearly as much noise as the big fan at the front...
We taxi out of the marina area - it's a calm day with beautiful weather - around 24°C...
We are airborne quickly, with the rumbling from the floats suddenly disappearing as the wings take the weight, Zoly 'unsticking' the left float first, then rolling slightly left to unstick the right one...
Regular readers will know that I have a huge weakness for floatplanes. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong generation, and that I should have flown Pan-Am Clippers across the Pacific...
We will be flying at around 2000' for most of this evening's 20-minute sightseeing flight...
...which suits me fine. I've flown a lot in small aircraft - actually holding a PPL for a few years in the 1980s - and the experience of this type of flying has never lost its appeal...
It's a wholly different experience to the sterile, corporate business of airline travel - you are flying for the joy of the event, watching from aloft the teeming business of a city going about its daily life...
My fellow passengers seem as rapt by it as I am...
Zoly puts the aircraft into a 60° AOB to the left above this collection of pleasure boats, as he starts to navigate back to the harbour...
New housing development...
I always feel privileged to fly like this. Most people don't experience this type of flying - or perhaps I'm just different in enjoying it as I do...
All too soon, we are returning to the harbour...
...after a smooth 'landing', Zoly taxis back to the floating dock...
Look at that bridge!
We disembark, and I make my way back to the Audi...
In the car park, I spot this car...
...from the company who own the car park. Whilst on the boat earlier, I'd noticed that the car park ticket I'd bought...
...had the wrong licence plate number on it - it should be A227SH, not A2227SH. I'd obviously entered it in error. I checked with the chap, he called it up and corrected it, so I shouldn't be receiving unwelcome charges on my credit card from Avis...
I drive back to the hotel...
What a great day...
Having published my initial write up, I have some lunch/dinner and then get back into the Audi and head back to the same car park I used this morning. I paid for all-day parking, and I intend to use it...
This car owner...
...doesn't seem shy about expressing themselves...
I park, and take the short walk to the Victoria sea-plane base...
...which has a bar overlooking it...
I check in at the terminal...
...and, after providing my photo-ID, get given a laminated boarding pass and directed to the Departure Lounge...
From where we are soon collected by our pilot, Zoly (short for Zoltán)...
...who leads us out to our Turbine Otter...
...where we get a safety brief...
...played on an iPad that Zoly slides into a slot on the bulkhead...
...before checking for questions, and then starting the engine...
I'm seated directly behind Zoly, with this fan, which comes on as soon as the engine starts, producing nearly as much noise as the big fan at the front...
We taxi out of the marina area - it's a calm day with beautiful weather - around 24°C...
We are airborne quickly, with the rumbling from the floats suddenly disappearing as the wings take the weight, Zoly 'unsticking' the left float first, then rolling slightly left to unstick the right one...
Regular readers will know that I have a huge weakness for floatplanes. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong generation, and that I should have flown Pan-Am Clippers across the Pacific...
We will be flying at around 2000' for most of this evening's 20-minute sightseeing flight...
...which suits me fine. I've flown a lot in small aircraft - actually holding a PPL for a few years in the 1980s - and the experience of this type of flying has never lost its appeal...
It's a wholly different experience to the sterile, corporate business of airline travel - you are flying for the joy of the event, watching from aloft the teeming business of a city going about its daily life...
My fellow passengers seem as rapt by it as I am...
Zoly puts the aircraft into a 60° AOB to the left above this collection of pleasure boats, as he starts to navigate back to the harbour...
New housing development...
I always feel privileged to fly like this. Most people don't experience this type of flying - or perhaps I'm just different in enjoying it as I do...
All too soon, we are returning to the harbour...
...after a smooth 'landing', Zoly taxis back to the floating dock...
Look at that bridge!
We disembark, and I make my way back to the Audi...
In the car park, I spot this car...
...from the company who own the car park. Whilst on the boat earlier, I'd noticed that the car park ticket I'd bought...
...had the wrong licence plate number on it - it should be A227SH, not A2227SH. I'd obviously entered it in error. I checked with the chap, he called it up and corrected it, so I shouldn't be receiving unwelcome charges on my credit card from Avis...
I drive back to the hotel...
What a great day...
Perhaps you could translate that into something I can understand, as I'm not a native of Vancouver Island?
flying on small stuff is fun (but sickening - me anyway)
atrs and whatever logan air use
did the cessna thing from queenstown to milford rather than face either the bus or ride the bike in like you did
dont regret it for a minute and when i returned to south island in 24 considered doing it again without the boat trip i liked it that much but wasnt that far across
what odd stuff is next mr mike?
atrs and whatever logan air use
did the cessna thing from queenstown to milford rather than face either the bus or ride the bike in like you did
dont regret it for a minute and when i returned to south island in 24 considered doing it again without the boat trip i liked it that much
but wasnt that far acrosswhat odd stuff is next mr mike?
False Creek , south of the Queen Elisabeth stadium ? ( just west of the Omnimax ? cinema )
Nope - none the wiser...
12th June 2026
I sleep really well, and eventually get out of bed around 07:30 to shower and get dressed.
I'm approaching the end of my fortnight in Canada alarmingly quickly.
Having had a 100% tourist day yesterday, I decide to extend that for another few hours.
I have some fruit for breakfast whilst I write up the second part of yesterday's journal, then set off in the Audi, heading north to...
...the British Columbia Aviation Museum.
If you're not interested in aeroplanes, you may wish to find some other distraction (time to put the kettle on, Jane)
Situated at Victoria's International Airport, it has one unique selling point, to a flying-boat enthusiast like me...
Namely, this enormous Martin "Hawaii Mars" flying boat...
I arrive at almost exactly midday, which happily coincides with one of the guided tours being conducted by one of the curators/guides, Ken...
Built at the end of WWII, it was originally intended as a troop and cargo transport, but more recently was converted to becoming a water-bomber, fighting forest fires. It is a pure flying boat, not an amphibian - the wheels are part of a beaching dolly which allows it to be drawn out of the water onto dry land for maintenance purposes...
The silver coloured ducts you can see are, when lowered, how it scoops 10 tons of water into an internal tank from the water source it is using - this takes about 30 seconds.
The rectangular hatches surrounding the scoops are opened when the aircraft is over the fire, to release the water.
It had a flight crew of four: two pilots and two engineers; with one engineer being responsible for the four huge radial engines, and the other wholly dealing with the water collection and delivery systems.
Ken (right) takes us inside, where we can see the large oblong tank, that holds the 10 tons of water it has scooped up...
...and the agricultural solenoids and actuators fitted upon its conversion to its water-bombing role...
There's a spare scoop displayed near the tank. Although this had a flight crew of four, it had a huge maintenance crew, and - being designed and built in the 1940s, was extremely maintenance intensive...
You can see virtually every internal aspect of the aircraft's construction - including the hydraulic rams (in this pic) which allowed the crew to move the massive rudder...
It's a triple-deck aircraft - and the second deck seems surprisingly small...
There are pics showing it as a troop transport, and as a medevac aircraft - it was used to ferry wounded troops home during the Korean War...
You can look forward, to the space beneath the cockpit (which is on the top deck)...
...and into the wings. To allow the carriage of 10 tons of water, some of the wing fuel tanks were removed, but it still had an endurance of four hours when fire-fighting...
Unfortunately, there's no access to the cockpit. It's reached by a door on the outside of the aircraft - which would be accessed by boat when it was operational. This museum is funded by donations, and - among their priorities - is a set of ramps to allow access to the flight deck. Next time, maybe...
The Cessna displayed alongside the Mars...
...is the one used to scout out routes for the tanker to take, and guide the tanker crew in. In an odd mirror of history, the same model of Cessna was used by the USAF in Vietnam by airborne Forward Air Controllers (FACs) to mark targets for bombers...
Ken tells us that the method used by the Mars (ie dropping water directly onto fires) is now outdated, and leads us to the Convair CV580 parked next door...
It is "armed" with a belly tank loaded with a fire-suppressant - a sort of slurry that is pumped into the tank on the ground and then - critically - dropped around the fire, rather than on to it, to prevent the fire spreading further and letting firefighters on the ground tackle the blaze...
Next in line is an A26 Invader - a very capable light bomber which - remarkably - served that role in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, before being relegated to firebombing duties in the autumn of its life...
Grumman Tracker cold-war anti-submarine aircraft, from Canada's last carrier, HMCS Bonaventure...
Finally, in this line-up, is this oddity. Starting life as a Beech 18 Expeditor - a twin tailed, radial engined tail dragger...
(Library pic)
...it was converted to a twin-turbo, tricycle undercarriage twin with an extended nose and a single tail fin, and renamed the PAC Arrow Westwind Four...
I thank Ken for his time and an excellent guided tour, then make my way into the two hangars that house the rest of the exhibits...
There are some great aircraft here, like this beautiful 70-year-old Stinson 9E...
...the nose of a DH Vampire undergoing restoration...
CF104 Starfighter - always a crowd pleaser...
The platform they have put up to allow you to view the cockpit...
...also allows you a glimpse into the Lancaster alongside it...
The entire aircraft is being restored, with the fuselage and wings currently residing in the restoration hangar next door - which is off limits to visitors...
CT-33 Silver Star - a licence-built Lockheed T-33 advanced trainer...
They have a Bristol Blenheim...
...and a Harvard - one of my happiest aviation memories is of spending an hour in none of these, doing aerobatics over Stonehenge on a glorious summer's day when I was a 16-year-old air cadet - the canopies were pulled back - magical...
This is quite interesting (well, it is to me, and if you're still reading, possibly to you)...
At first glance, I thought this little amphibian was a Republic Seabee, but it turns out to be Trident TR-1 Trigull, an aircraft meant to improve on the Seabee's design. Alas, it never went into production, and only three were built...
It's time to go back to the hotel. I buy some things from the gift shop - I like to support these endeavours.
After a farewell to the Anson on the way out...
...I get Hey, Audi to lay in a course for the hotel...
Just before my exit, it seems someone has had an incident of some sort...
I drop into the wholefoods store I used yesterday and get a horribly healthy salad to eat, then get to the hotel and start uploading pics.
Good day...
Memorial to Lt Robert Hampton Gray VC...
I sleep really well, and eventually get out of bed around 07:30 to shower and get dressed.
I'm approaching the end of my fortnight in Canada alarmingly quickly.
Having had a 100% tourist day yesterday, I decide to extend that for another few hours
.I have some fruit for breakfast whilst I write up the second part of yesterday's journal, then set off in the Audi, heading north to...
...the British Columbia Aviation Museum.
If you're not interested in aeroplanes, you may wish to find some other distraction (time to put the kettle on, Jane
)Situated at Victoria's International Airport, it has one unique selling point, to a flying-boat enthusiast like me...
Namely, this enormous Martin "Hawaii Mars" flying boat...
I arrive at almost exactly midday, which happily coincides with one of the guided tours being conducted by one of the curators/guides, Ken...
Built at the end of WWII, it was originally intended as a troop and cargo transport, but more recently was converted to becoming a water-bomber, fighting forest fires. It is a pure flying boat, not an amphibian - the wheels are part of a beaching dolly which allows it to be drawn out of the water onto dry land for maintenance purposes...
The silver coloured ducts you can see are, when lowered, how it scoops 10 tons of water into an internal tank from the water source it is using - this takes about 30 seconds.
The rectangular hatches surrounding the scoops are opened when the aircraft is over the fire, to release the water.
It had a flight crew of four: two pilots and two engineers; with one engineer being responsible for the four huge radial engines, and the other wholly dealing with the water collection and delivery systems.
Ken (right) takes us inside, where we can see the large oblong tank, that holds the 10 tons of water it has scooped up...
...and the agricultural solenoids and actuators fitted upon its conversion to its water-bombing role...
There's a spare scoop displayed near the tank. Although this had a flight crew of four, it had a huge maintenance crew, and - being designed and built in the 1940s, was extremely maintenance intensive...
You can see virtually every internal aspect of the aircraft's construction - including the hydraulic rams (in this pic) which allowed the crew to move the massive rudder...
It's a triple-deck aircraft
- and the second deck seems surprisingly small...
There are pics showing it as a troop transport, and as a medevac aircraft - it was used to ferry wounded troops home during the Korean War...
You can look forward, to the space beneath the cockpit (which is on the top deck)...
...and into the wings. To allow the carriage of 10 tons of water, some of the wing fuel tanks were removed, but it still had an endurance of four hours when fire-fighting...
Unfortunately, there's no access to the cockpit. It's reached by a door on the outside of the aircraft - which would be accessed by boat when it was operational. This museum is funded by donations, and - among their priorities - is a set of ramps to allow access to the flight deck. Next time, maybe...
The Cessna displayed alongside the Mars...
...is the one used to scout out routes for the tanker to take, and guide the tanker crew in. In an odd mirror of history, the same model of Cessna was used by the USAF in Vietnam by airborne Forward Air Controllers (FACs) to mark targets for bombers...
Ken tells us that the method used by the Mars (ie dropping water directly onto fires) is now outdated, and leads us to the Convair CV580 parked next door...
It is "armed" with a belly tank loaded with a fire-suppressant - a sort of slurry that is pumped into the tank on the ground and then - critically - dropped around the fire, rather than on to it, to prevent the fire spreading further and letting firefighters on the ground tackle the blaze...
Next in line is an A26 Invader - a very capable light bomber which - remarkably - served that role in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, before being relegated to firebombing duties in the autumn of its life...
Grumman Tracker cold-war anti-submarine aircraft, from Canada's last carrier, HMCS Bonaventure...
Finally, in this line-up, is this oddity. Starting life as a Beech 18 Expeditor - a twin tailed, radial engined tail dragger...
(Library pic)
...it was converted to a twin-turbo, tricycle undercarriage twin with an extended nose and a single tail fin, and renamed the PAC Arrow Westwind Four...
I thank Ken for his time and an excellent guided tour, then make my way into the two hangars that house the rest of the exhibits...
There are some great aircraft here, like this beautiful 70-year-old Stinson 9E...
...the nose of a DH Vampire undergoing restoration...
CF104 Starfighter - always a crowd pleaser...
The platform they have put up to allow you to view the cockpit...
...also allows you a glimpse into the Lancaster alongside it...
The entire aircraft is being restored, with the fuselage and wings currently residing in the restoration hangar next door - which is off limits to visitors...
CT-33 Silver Star - a licence-built Lockheed T-33 advanced trainer...
They have a Bristol Blenheim...
...and a Harvard - one of my happiest aviation memories is of spending an hour in none of these, doing aerobatics over Stonehenge on a glorious summer's day when I was a 16-year-old air cadet - the canopies were pulled back - magical...
This is quite interesting (well, it is to me, and if you're still reading, possibly to you
)...
At first glance, I thought this little amphibian was a Republic Seabee, but it turns out to be Trident TR-1 Trigull, an aircraft meant to improve on the Seabee's design. Alas, it never went into production, and only three were built...
It's time to go back to the hotel. I buy some things from the gift shop - I like to support these endeavours.
After a farewell to the Anson on the way out...
...I get Hey, Audi to lay in a course for the hotel...
Just before my exit, it seems someone has had an incident of some sort...
I drop into the wholefoods store I used yesterday and get a horribly healthy salad to eat, then get to the hotel and start uploading pics.
Good day...
Memorial to Lt Robert Hampton Gray VC...
Last edited:
Fabulous!!!12th June 2026
I sleep really well, and eventually get out of bed around 07:30 to shower and get dressed.
I'm approaching the end of my fortnight in Canada alarmingly quickly.
Having had a 100% tourist day yesterday, I decide to extend that for another few hours
I have some fruit for breakfast whilst I write up the second part of yesterday's journal, then set off in the Audi, heading north to...
...the British Columbia Aviation Museum.
If you're not interested in aeroplanes, you may wish to find some other distraction (time to put the kettle on, Jane
Situated at Victoria's International Airport, it has one unique selling point, to a flying-boat enthusiast like me...
Namely, this enormous Martin "Hawaii Mars" flying boat...
I arrive at almost exactly midday, which happily coincides with one of the guided tours being conducted by one of the curators/guides, Ken...
Built at the end of WWII, it was originally intended as a troop and cargo transport, but more recently was converted to becoming a water-bomber, fighting forest fires. It is a pure flying boat, not an amphibian - the wheels are part of a beaching dolly which allows it to be drawn out of the water onto dry land for maintenance purposes...
The silver coloured ducts you can see are, when lowered, how it scoops 10 tons of water into an internal tank from the water source it is using - this takes about 30 seconds.
The rectangular hatches surrounding the scoops are opened when the aircraft is over the fire, to release the water.
It had a flight crew of four: two pilots and two engineers; with one engineer being responsible for the four huge radial engines, and the other wholly dealing with the water collection and delivery systems.
Ken (right) takes us inside, where we can see the large oblong tank, that holds the 10 tons of water it has scooped up...
...and the agricultural solenoids and actuators fitted upon its conversion to its water-bombing role...
There's a spare scoop displayed near the tank. Although this had a flight crew of four, it had a huge maintenance crew, and - being designed and built in the 1940s, was extremely maintenance intensive...
You can see virtually every internal aspect of the aircraft's construction - including the hydraulic rams (in this pic) which allowed the crew to move the massive rudder...
It's a triple-deck aircraft
There are pics showing it as a troop transport, and as a medevac aircraft - it was used to ferry wounded troops home during the Korean War...
You can look forward, to the space beneath the cockpit (which is on the top deck)...
...and into the wings. To allow the carriage of 10 tons of water, some of the wing fuel tanks were removed, but it still had an endurance of four hours when fire-fighting...
Unfortunately, there's no access to the cockpit. It's reached by a door on the outside of the aircraft - which would be accessed by boat when it was operational. This museum is funded by donations, and - among their priorities - is a set of ramps to allow access to the flight deck. Next time, maybe...
The Cessna displayed alongside the Mars...
...is the one used to scout out routes for the tanker to take, and guide the tanker crew in. In an odd mirror of history, the same model of Cessna was used by the USAF in Vietnam by airborne Forward Air Controllers (FACs) to mark targets for bombers...
Ken tells us that the method used by the Mars (ie dropping water directly onto fires) is now outdated, and leads us to the Convair CV580 parked next door...
It is "armed" with a belly tank loaded with a fire-suppressant - a sort of slurry that is pumped into the tank on the ground and then - critically - dropped around the fire, rather than on to it, to prevent the fire spreading further and letting firefighters on the ground tackle the blaze...
Next in line is an A26 Invader - a very capable light bomber which - remarkably - served that role in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, before being relegated to firebombing duties in the autumn of its life...
Grumman Tracker cold-war anti-submarine aircraft, from Canada's last carrier, HMCS Bonaventure...
Finally, in this line-up, is this oddity. Starting life as a Beech 18 Expeditor - a twin tailed, radial engined tail dragger...
(Library pic)
...it was converted to a twin-turbo, tricycle undercarriage twin with an extended nose and a single tail fin, and renamed the PAC Arrow Westwind Four...
I thank Ken for his time and an excellent guided tour, then make my way into the two hangars that house the rest of the exhibits...
There are some great aircraft here, like this beautiful 70-year-old Stinson 9E...
...the nose of a DH Vampire undergoing restoration...
CF104 Starfighter - always a crowd pleaser...
The platform they have put up to allow you to view the cockpit...
...also allows you a glimpse into the Lancaster alongside it...
The entire aircraft is being restored, with the fuselage and wings currently residing in the restoration hangar next door - which is off limits to visitors...
CT-33 Silver Star - a licence-built Lockheed T-33 advanced trainer...
They have a Bristol Blenheim...
...and a Harvard - one of my happiest aviation memories is of spending an hour in none of these, doing aerobatics over Stonehenge on a glorious summer's day when I was a 16-year-old air cadet - the canopies were pulled back - magical...
This is quite interesting (well, it is to me, and if you're still reading, possibly to you
At first glance, I thought this little amphibian was a Republic Seabee, but it turns out to be Trident TR-1 Trigull, an aircraft meant to improve on the Seabee's design. Alas, it never went into production, and only three were built...
It's time to go back to the hotel. I buy some things from the gift shop - I like to support these endeavours.
After a farewell to the Anson on the way out...
...I get Hey, Audi to lay in a course for the hotel...
Just before my exit, it seems someone has had an incident of some sort...
I drop into the wholefoods store I used yesterday and get a horribly healthy salad to eat, then get to the hotel and start uploading pics.
Good day...
Memorial to Lt Robert Hampton Gray VC...
If I could have chosen my era I would have flown Stratocruisers !
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