1000aircraftphotos.com |
|
Jacques Trempe: I don't remember the reason why I got interested in planes. It must have been around 1953, when I was 12 years of age. My friend and I started by writing to aircraft companies like Boeing, Grumman etc. to ask for photographs. To our surprise, all the companies sent tremendous photos of the airplanes they built. Then we bought airplane magazines and were eagerly waiting each month for the new ones to arrive. We also bought some books, like the classic Green & Pollinger series. |
|
In June 1956, I got special permission from the Aero Club to begin my pilot course. I was only 15 and one had to be 16 to fly solo. So, I familiarised myself with the help of an instructor and logged a few hours before I was able to fly solo in July 1957 aboard a Cessna 140 registered CF-EJT. |
|
At the time, all was very simple. The flying was learned by "flying" with instructors that, most often, spoke very few words. The theory was learned mostly by sitting in the Club lounge and listening to others. The planes had no radio. We had to look at the tower for a green light to take off. When approaching to land, a green light was a go and a red one was the signal to overshoot and clear the way. Sometimes the controller did not see us approach and no lights were to be seen. The rule was then to land anyway. |
|
What would be today starting an enquiry by the NTSB was, at the time, fixed by a good scolding between the parties involved. In retrospect, I feel lucky to be still alive. Once, I took off on a very low left wing fuel tank, so the engine quit at 200 feet after take off. The instructor switched tank and the motor started again just before crashing on a motel roof. I was reminded in the terms you can all guess, not to skip my pre-flight test from then on. Another time, just after landing, I saw a T-33 jet landing on my tail. I had to get my airplane out of the runway very quickly so that meant going into the grass covering a field of mud. It took 3 hours to get the airplane out of there. But this time, the scolding was for the controller and the jet pilot. |
|
"Like a bird, see our earth from above, control a flying machine, hear its engine noise, be the master of this machine. A dream common to all !" |
Guy Allard, March 21, 1954, with Piper PA-16 CF-GNN
|
During my training, I piloted planes on skis, floats and wheels, guided by an experienced, devoted and patient instructor named Pierre Rivest. After obtaining my flying license, I continued to take on experience on other type of planes, heavier and more complex. Other techniques were learned from other pilots who enjoyed communicating their experience and know-how. I am grateful to two of them, out of many others, Bert Olmsted and Leo Lejeune from Nordair in Roberval, QC whom took on their free time to fly with me and also to many mechanics that gave me valuable advice. Family needs becoming more urgent, I had to stop flying in the mid-1960s. A transfer to Labrador for 7 years of work was the end of my flying career. But in my heart and spirit, the taste for aviation is there forever!" |
|
