CAHS Prince Edward Island Chapter Newsletter

CAHS Prince Edward Island "Carl F. Burke, MBE" Chapter

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Again, I would like to thank the members for the large attendance at our March meeting. I would like to thank our Secretary, Errol Laughlin, and Lowell Huestis for volunteering to do up the history on the Old Summerside Airport. Andy Anderson is doing a splendid job on the Upton Airport and must be commended on all the leg work he is putting into the project. Thanks Andy.

Again, I ask each member to bring a prospective member to our meeting which will be held at the Corbett Lounge in Summerside on June 7/03 at 2:00 PM.

If anyone has a speaker in mind that they would like to hear, please let us know at our next meeting.

The CAHS 2003 Annual Convention is being held in Halifax on June 5th to June 8th/03. It’s a super chance for anyone to attend the Convention seeing that it is in our backyard. I will be attending on the June 5th & 6th but I will be home on the 7th for our next meeting.

Our Guest Speaker for the June 7th meeting will be Mr. Bert Hunter, a Lancaster Bomber pilot during W.W.II on Coastal Patrol.
At our March meeting as you all know we had Mr. Bob Johnson who spoke about his miraculous escape after being shot down 125-150 miles behind Japanese Lines in Burma while doing reconnaissance during W.W.II. His Speech was recorded on tape and transcribed to paper for our records. Anyone wanting a copy, just ask.

ENGINE
DH Gypsy Major 130 HP
4 Cylinder in-line
Air Cooled
Wing Span
23 feet 4 inches
Length
23 feet 11 inches
Height
8 feet 9 inches
Weight
1770 pounds
Ceiling
17,000 feet
Range
300 miles
Speed
109 MPH

Descendant from an established lineage of “moths”, the Tiger Moth probably introduced more aircrew to flying than any other trainer. Developed from the 1924 DH 51, 1925 DH 60G Cirrus Moth and the 1928 Gypsy Moth, the prototype DH 60T first flew October 29, 1931.

Modifications from the 60G were an inverted Gypsy II engine and a 19 degree sweepback of the mainplanes. This became the 60T Moth. The “T” originally meant “Trainer” but, due to the aircraft’s performance, this soon changed to “Tiger”. An increase in dihedral of the lower wing (for greater ground clearance) created the DH 82A Tiger Moth I. In 1933, the installation of a Gypsy Major engine of 130 HP resulted in the DH 82A Tiger Moth II. This aircraft also had a plywood turtledeck covering, rather than the previous fabric. Built by de Havailland in the UK, this venerable aircraft was eventually constructed in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More than 5,000 were in use in the UK, approximately 4,000 during W.W.II. In excess of 1,500 saw service in Canada where they were the mainstay at the 18 EFTS’s in the four Training Command Establishments under the BCATP. Over 1,100 of these aircraft were operated in Australia.

RCAF Auxiliary Squadrons 110, 111, 119, and 120 used the DH 82A Tiger Moth II commencing in 1938, in some cases replacing the DH 60 Gypsy Moth then in use. In 111 Army Cooperation and 120 Auxiliary, the two types operated together until 1940 when these squadrons disbanded and reformed as 111 (F) squadron with Kittyhawks and 120(BR)with Hudson aircraft.

Flying training started for RCAF. personnel with a stint at one of the Initial Training Schools (ITS) then on to a designated

Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) where they were introduced to the Tiger Moth or the Fleet Finch. Subsequent courses might include the Stearman (3 schools only) or the Fairchild Cornell (the only monoplane trainer at that time).

Tiger Moths were praised for their ability to “take a licking and keep on ticking” for inept students. One personal observation of this was a “landing” some twenty plus feet above the runway.
Mind you, the bird required some rigging adjustments after contacting terra firma, but that was minor. My initial association with the Tiger was at #2 EFTS, Fort William, Ontario as a civilian ground crew - refuelling, starting, assisting aircrew and/or students, moving aircraft on the ground etc., etc.
As an aside, one unusual incentive for the abinitio airframe driver at #2 was the flight line of Hurricanes, being constructed at the Canadian Car and Foundry at Fort William, Ontario. These were replaced by Curtiss-Wright SB2-C and SBW-5 “Helldiver” aircraft when Hurricane production ceased, but that is another story.

“Gas on, brakes on, throttle set, switches off”. This was the starting prompt for the Tiger. Repeated by the Instructor/Student together with the appropriate actions. A firm grip on the Propeller --- “CONTACT” --- the response was a hearty swing of the Prop. Happily, most times, the Gypsy came to life, so you retreated to the leading edge to await “ Pull the chocks”. Should the unthinkable occur it became, “Switches off” response---
“Propeller back to swinging position” --- “Contact” --- and try again. If worse came to worse (usually in the winter) it required --- “Switches off, Throttle wide” ---Response --- then “Tickle” the engine (Round ring, reached through a strategically placed hole in the cowling ---Pull until gas dribbled out). Next, back-off the engine by what you consider an appropriate number of pull-throughs of the Prop (backwards), then back to --- “Switches off, Throttle set” --- and so on until the engine is running. Actually, the winter gave an added hazard. If the aircraft was one that had been converted to skis the nose was too high to swing the Prop from the front. This meant placing one foot on top of the ski pylon and taking a hearty grip on the cabane strut to keep from falling forward into the Prop on starting and swing the beast with your left hand. Winter and with a ski equipped moth meant that the brakes, not the most effective at the best of

The listed airspeed for the Gypsy Moth, as I recall, probably attained only in a shallow dive, was in the mid 90’s MPH. One day, I saw a moth take-off, climb to about 1,000 feet, fly backwards across the airfield, and then power up to land on the airfield, without changing heading.

The Moth was quite a safe airplane. During my stay at #2 EFTS we had thirty-five “incidents”, but, as a testament to the Tiger Moth there were only four fatalities. One of those was a crash and burn right on the airfield.

Fully aerobatic, the moth was put through spins, loops, rolls vertical reverses, and on occasion, totally unintended and un-named attitudes were added to the repertoire. Inverted flight was possible only for short duration’s due to a gravity feed fuel supply. Aerobatics were a definite no-no during night flying as the battery for the lights was floor mounted in the front cockpit just ahead of the control column.

The “Moth-Erschmidt” engaged in many friendly battles in the solo flying area as students honed their skills. “Meet you over Kakabeka” was often heard in the ready room. One student inadvertently “bounced” the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) who, fortunately, did not get his number.

As I mentioned, probably more aircrew were introduced to flying in the Tiger Moth than any other aircraft. Not just pilots, since many who “washed” out of pilot training went on to become Navigators, Bomb-Aimers, Observers, Engineers Or Gunners. But, for most their air experience began on the Moth.

After W.W.II, many Moths were sold to individuals and flying clubs. For the latter I can attest to CFBSY at Sydney and CFCLV and CFCLW at Regina.

Highlights of the Moth aircraft include winning the 1958 King's Cup race with a handicapped corrected time. Until the PITTS and ZLINS arrived, the Tiger was the most popular aerobatics aircraft. Many have appeared in movies as SE5’s, Fokker D VII’s

and been variously disguised as other types. I can recall seeing a Moth airborne as late as 1979, 48 years after its inception. The last one I remember on PEI was Father John Mac Gillivary’s in Summerside.

Ron Prizeman had the last word on the Tiger Moth. With a family of four and only two seats he decided to widen the fuselage at the cockpit section. Thus was born the THRUXTON JACKAROO, a four place fully enclosed cabin Tiger Moth. (Author: Andy Anderson of the PEI Carl Burke Chapter)

There will be a Reunion of former RCAF Station / CF Base Summerside personnel, including military, civilian and dependents to celebrate the memories we enjoyed on Prince Edward Island from 1941 to 1991. Contact the Reunion Committee at the following addresses:

Web site; www.slemonpark.com with link to 2003 Reunion
E-MAIL; 2003reunion@slemonpark.com
Mail; RCAF / CFB Summerside Reunion, PO Box 90, Slemon Park, PE C0B 2A0
Registration forms are available on the Web Site and via e-mail or post
Let us know soonest if you are likely to attend so that we may plan the events!

Many thanks to all those who contribute to the CARL BURKE NEWSLETTER. A Special thanks to Andy Anderson who contributes freely of his time and his wealth of information of Canadian vintage aircraft and his extensive personal library of photographs, newspaper clippings and sketches of aviation pioneering in Canada. His Tiger Moth article and sketches in this newsletter are greatly appreciated.