ADS-B Out for Canada, DC-3 Stories

April 2019 - If you've been following the proposals for ADS-B Out in Canada, you will know that it's probably time to start looking around for the best solution for your aircraft. "Best" in most cases includes price assuming the functionality, simplicity, and quality are there. Right now, it looks like the wingtip-mounted nav light replacement might be a good option. If anyone in our readership has done this on an amateur-built aircraft, we'd love to hear from you. If you never fly above 12,500 feet, the ADS-B Out mandate will not occur before 2023 at the earliest, but one fly in the ointment is that Nav Canada is also proposing antenna diversity or antennas mounted above and below the aircraft. One wonders if the wingtip-mounted approach would satisfy both requirements.

We have an excellent article this month submitted by Mike Davenport regarding his experience travelling to Vanderhoof, British Columbia, on a DC-3. Coincidentally we announce that Mikey McBryan of Ice Pilots NWT fame is hoping to restore a DC-3 to flying condition and bring it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year. Do you have a favourite DC-3 story or a story about your experience with an unusual aircraft? Let us know. We'd love to publish your story in a future issue.

Mike Davenport's article about his business flight experiences reminded me of a unique story of my own. While waiting at the gate for the short 737 flight from Montreal to Toronto, I heard my name called out and presented myself. They said "Ian Brown?" and I replied, "Yes, that’s me." They said "You’ve been upgraded!" They took my boarding pass, tore it up, and handed me a boarding pass for business class. I took my seat, and when the last passenger had boarded they quickly closed the door and backed off the gate. That last passenger stood at the door for a while and talked with the flight attendant. To my surprise, the flight attendant came over to me and said, "Sir, you’re in someone else’s seat." I said, "No, here’s my boarding pass." It turns out that another passenger with the same name had been in the airline lounge and had been given an upgraded boarding pass for the same seat. What to do? We’d backed off the gate, and the flight was completely full. After several minutes of consternation they asked me if I’d mind awfully flying in the jump seat with the pilot and co-pilot. Trying to hide my delight, I said something like, "Well yes, I suppose that would be okay." Of course, once I got sat in the jump seat and the flight was under way, both the pilot and co-pilot were keen to talk about flying, and I explained that I was a hobby pilot and had built an RV-9A, and pretty soon we were landing in Toronto. What a neat experience it was to see the threshold lights of the runway as we approached the Americas' second busiest international airport. Of course, if that happened today we'd have had to get a tug back to the gate, and I would have been late home that day or the other Ian Brown would have been!

We hope you enjoy the articles in this issue. If you have any input, we’d love to have your comments, which you can send by clicking the Contact Us button at the top of this page. Don't forget to check out the EAA Webinars. There are always some great content to learn from.

Until next month!