 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five Page Six History Main Page  He bought
the aircraft
and had
it trucked
the 2,500
miles
back to
Pender
Harbour
for a
12-year
rebuild. |
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Story by Jack Meadows First Published in Aeroplane Monthly, March 1994 ...continued from page one A few years ago Bill added a Cessna 180, and somewhere along the way he was part of an unsatisfactory syndicate home-building a Pietenpol Aircamper.  As well as flying and running his tug business (which involves long periods away from home), he devoted a great deal of time to the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation at Crescent Beach, near Vancouver, four hours south by road and ferry. As vice-president of the museum, Bill helped, with his tugs, in the underwater recovery of its Handley Page Hampden and Supermarine Stranraer. Later he searched unsuccessfully for the Stranraer's nose section, and made other far-ranging salvage trips by air and sea.Having sold most of his business, and describing himself as retired, Bill is as busy as ever. Currently he is converting one of the old tugs, built in 1924, to a yacht for long cruises. In addition, in one of the buildings scattered around his comfortable house on the cliff are the pieces of a Stearman he is rebuilding. Bill first saw an N3N while manning the museum's booth at the 1978 Abbotsford International Air Show. A year later Ed Zaleski, the museum's founder, telephoned from Philadelphia to say that one was for sale for $7,000. This was 4402, a Mark III built in 1942. He bought the aircraft and had it trucked the 2,500 miles back to Pender Harbour for a 12-year rebuild. The N3N's 1938 design was very well thought out. For example, the fuselage attachments for the wheel undercarriage use a ball and socket joint which allows the unit to come off cleanly in a crash. The wingtips are easily detachable, undoing by six screws, for replacement after groundloop damage. The whole of the port side and most of the underside of the fuselage paneling is also quickly removable, making maintenance especially easy. |
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