Tag: aircraft

Luke Penner just returned from Las Vegas after competing in the World Advanced Aerobatic Championship with Team Canada. He was the top-scoring Canadian pilot at the competition and Team Canada ranked 4^th overall, the best placement they’ve ever earned. The aircraft he flew, an Extra 330SC, will be on display at the Royal Aviation Museum until April 2024.

When he flew in yesterday to deliver his plane, we asked him about what it was like to compete at that level and what his future plans are.

RAM: Describe the experience of competing in the World Advanced Aerobatic Championship.

LUKE: Challenging, rewarding, and inspiring.

[Aerobatic pilots] do this sport because it’s hard, so it was challenging but in all the best ways. It makes you want to be better. You learn your weaknesses and get better. It’s a sport that weeds out ego very quickly.

Rewarding because the whole team aspect was really cool. [My teammates] were people I’ve flown against for years but the team dynamic changes things. There’s sharing of information and camaraderie. I have a bond with these guys that I’m going to have forever. I think we did a good job representing the country. There were about 15 countries there and each one had a tent and everyone always came to the Canadian tent. It was the place to be.

Knowing that a lot of the contestants were among the top 10 best pilots in the world, seeing what they’re doing, talking to them, learning their training strategies and seeing that they’re so welcoming was inspiring. People weren’t secretive. We just wanted to see each other do their best.

It’s also inspiring because everyone who’s there worked really hard to be there. The contest director opened up the competition at the opening ceremonies saying, “Everyone here is a winner,” because just to get here is very hard. The people in this sport, we’re the tip of the spear of the tiny number of people that do this sport.

For perspective, it’s estimated that in the United States there are 300,000 pilots. Of those, there are 4,000 members of the International Aerobatic Club. Of those 4,000, 250 regularly compete and only eight were on the (US) team.

RAM: Now that you’re targeting the Unlimited category, the highest level, can you explain what the different is between that and the Advanced category?

LUKE: In the lower categories like Sportsman or Intermediate you’d have a base figure, we call it a p-loop, because it’s in the shape of a ‘p.’ So imagine the airplane pulling up, straight vertical and then it goes up vertical and then you pull off that line and then you pull all the way around and do ¾ of a loop and then finish horizontally. That’s the base figure. If you move up in the categories you take the same base figure but you add stuff to it. You add rotational elements, different types of rolls, things like that. In Advanced, you would do something like: pull up to vertical, ¼ roll, a second ¼ roll, pull off the top and then maybe a full roll at the top of that loop, pull down and then all the way through. In Unlimited, you take the same figure and add way more stuff. For instance, you might pull vertical, do a ¼ roll, an opposite ½ roll, a whole roll over the top, then a snap roll at the top, go all the way down, then a ¼ roll, and finish with a 1 ¾ roll opposite. And that’s just one figure.

In addition to being more loaded with elements, there are numerous new figures that you do not do in Advanced. The main one being negative snap rolls.

RAM: What’s so different about these?

LUKE: They’re violent, they hurt, and they’re really hard.

RAM: Have you ever done one?

LUKE: I did 10 yesterday. That’s what the rest of my life is now.

I’ve dabbled in Unlimited for the last two years to get a taste for it. I’ve done a lot of the catalogue already but doing it within the confines of a sequence is a different thing. That will take lots of training in the spring. First competition is in June (in Iowa).

RAM: What do you do to train over the winter?

LUKE: The mental part is really important. Human beings were not designed to be upside down, so developing instincts so that when I’m up there I know what to do. Obviously, you rehearse it on the ground, but for instance, right now, the most complex rotational element I would do would be a maneuver called an inverted spin. So it’s the same thing [as a spin] but you do it upside down. When you are inverted, the movements of yaw and roll oppose each other. What that means is, if I’m upside down—this is what I do when I’m at home (Luke bends over so that his head is nearly between his legs). I walk like this because that’s what it looks like in the cockpit. I need to know which foot is it, or which direction the stick needs to move to achieve what I want to achieve. So, if I want to do a rolling turn, where the airplane rolls and turns in the opposite direction, if the airplane’s upside down and I want to do a ninety-degree turn, I’m turning one way but rolling the other way. I need to know which foot to use because it’s different when you’re upside down and it’s different whether you start upright or inverted. That kind of stuff is even more complicated in Unlimited.  I need to know, instinctually, if I’m rotating inverted this way and then the rotational element that follows is reversed, I need to know what that means. It’s going to be a lot of programming myself so that when I get up there it’s instinctual. That’s what I did when I jumped up to Advanced. It was a lot of walking around the house with my head between my legs trying to think, “Okay, if I was here and I wanted to go that way, which foot is it gonna be?” Everything sounds easy when you’re sitting here right doing 1 g and zero knots but when you’re up there and you’re hanging by the straps and you have about one second to do the right thing, it comes down to instincts. So that’s just lots of rehearsing. That’s one blessing with Manitoba winters—I have a lot of time to think about this. Probably too much, but still, I’ll take that time.

And time at that gym. That’s big. Mainly upper body strength. This year I focussed on my shoulders a lot so that my neck was strengthened. Doing this stuff, you can really, really hurt yourself, the neck in particular. You’re doing rotational motion on g-loading and if you move your neck in a certain way—I found out the hard way last year—there’s a certain way to move your neck to reduce possibility of injury. Knowing how to move the head, no diagonal, just side-to-side and up and down. Knowing that I never hurt myself this year, even though I was flying my new plane which is much more violent. Last year I was down for two weeks. I couldn’t fly these (aerobatic) planes because I hurt myself so badly.

RAM: Is there anything else you’re going to do to prepare?

LUKE: (Laughs) I’m thinking of getting an inversion table so that I can hang upside down while I [run the sequences in my head]. No joke.

To learn more about Luke’s path to becoming a top-ranked aerobatic pilot, check out this post.

Be sure to stop by and see Luke’s Extra 330SC this winter!

This past weekend’s Academy Awards got us thinking that a lot of the aircraft in our museum are award-worthy. So we created our own set of award winners based on some of the famous Oscar categories!

Best Performance: The CF-104 Starfighter

A fan favourite for visitors, the CF-104 Starfighter is one of the most iconic and best-performing Canadian-manufactured military aircraft of all time.

Its Orenda J79-OEL-7 engine was capable of 15,800 pounds of thrust with the afterburner. It was an aircraft built for a nuclear strike, as it could slice through low-level turbulence. To this day, the Starfighter is the fastest RCAF aircraft of all time, setting many altitude and speed records. It is one of the few aircraft in history to have held three world records simultaneously for speed, time to climb, and altitude.

It’s definitely got us seeing stars.

Best Original Score: The Stinson Reliant

We’ve become very *reliant* on hearing this aircraft buzz the hangar floor every hour on the hour.

The Stinson is one of six suspended aircraft in our museum and if you’ve ever been here at the top of the hour, you’ll hear it fly overhead. Or, that’s what it sounds like, thanks to the realistic audio effect designed by PSB Integration.

If aircraft could speak, Stinson SR-8CM, CF-AZV, would recount memories spanning almost three decades that involve numerous owners, operators, maintenance staff, and places it has visited. The stories are many. Originally purchased in 1936 by Canadian Airways, this workhorse of a bush plane was registered to Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1942.

Over the years, many destinations familiar to those who flew the northland appeared in the journey log: Flin Flon, Lingman Lake, Lac du Bonnet, Ilford, Churchill, Maguse River, Gold Pines, Bending Lake, Fort Reliance, and Fort Smith, to name just a few.

Best Costume Design: The Douglas A-26B Invader

The Douglas A-26B Invader is, without a doubt, the most visually interesting aircraft in our collection. For 15 years, owner/pilot Ross Robinson flew in airshows, which explains its unique livery costume.

Introduced by Douglas Aircraft in 1943, the A-26 Invader was designed as a light bomber and ground-attack aircraft. A fast and agile aircraft, the A-26 could carry up to 2,700 kilograms of bombs or be fitted with 6-8 .50 calibre M2 machine guns in the nose and rockets under the wings for ground attack.

Though it never flew with the RCAF, the Invader displays the air force logo and tail number 098, a nod to the “Trail of 98” in Yukon Territory. Back in the 1970s, this aircraft operated as Invader 7 out of Air Spray’s base in Whitehorse, YT and pilots who flew her requested a name befitting her time there. The reference to the Trail of 98 was chosen for its significance during the Klondike gold rush of 1898. The aircraft also bears the Manitoba flag and markers to commemorate the F-86 Sabre of the 439 Fighter Squadron.

Best Visual Effects: The Ghost of Charron Lake

Our hats go off to Reich+Petch, Kubik Maltbie, EOS Lightmedia, Centric Productions, Country Workhouse, and PSB Integration for their outstanding work on our signature exhibit, The Ghost of Charron Lake.

From the ghostly underwater setting of the display to the moving audio-visual components, watching the story of this aircraft, the Fokker Standard Universal (G-CAJD), told through a video produced by Centric Productions is a must-see for any visitor.

In short, during a supply run in 1931, its crew had to make a landing on a frozen lake to wait out a winter storm. As the pilot, Stuart McRorie, came to a stop, the nose of the plane broke through the ice. McRorie and his flight engineer, “Slim” Forrest made it out safely and were eventually rescued.

As the ice was breaking up the next spring, the rest of the plane sank below the surface and floated to the bottom of the lake. A 30-year search for The Ghost came to a triumphant close in July of 2005 when divers finally located the aircraft.

For years, what remained of the aircraft sat in storage while plans were made to display it in our new museum. We’re delighted to finally share the story of this aircraft with visitors.

Best International Feature: Junkers Ju 52/1m

When the German-made Canadian Airways Limited Junkers Ju 52/1m, registered CF-ARM, arrived in Canada it was not only the largest airplane in the country but the largest single-engine aircraft in all of North America.

With a single engine, the “Flying Boxcar,” as it became known in Canada, was light enough to land on enormous specially designed pontoons.

With its capacity of nearly 8,000 lbs, CF-ARM regularly carried oversized loads, including mining equipment and cattle, from the company’s Brandon Avenue Air Base on the banks of Winnipeg’s Red River.

Best Production Design: Norway House Gallery

We’d be remiss if we didn’t include our Norway House gallery in this list. The immersive way in which it explains this community’s integral role in opening up the north is a delightful addition to our museum.

Located 465 kilometres (280 miles) north of Winnipeg on the banks of the Nelson River, Norway House has long been an important transportation hub. In the 1920s, bush planes began carrying passengers, mail, and other cargo in the region, driving the rapid expansion of trade, exploration, and government services across northern Manitoba. Today, Manitoba’s “Gateway to the North” is home to nearly 8,000 residents of Cree, Métis, and other diverse backgrounds – a testament to the enormous impact of aviation on communities throughout the province.

Featured in this gallery is the Fairchild 71C, CF-AKT and stories of notable aviation figures like Tom Lamb, Lorna deBlicquy, and Tommy York.

And that’s a wrap on our 2023 Aviation Academy Awards!