 Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five Page Six History Main Page  To a
"wheels
man"
it was
difficult to
know when
we actually
touched
down. |
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Story by Jack Meadows First Published in Aeroplane Monthly, March 1994 ...continued from page five Flying inland over the mountains, we always had a least one lake somewhere within easy gliding distance. Bill says that it is easy to know who is flying the other aircraft which use Pender Harbour regularly, as each pilot has his own special habits and techniques. He is called "Two-pass Thompson", and if ever he omits the first one, or goes round again for a third, there are phone calls asking what was wrong or who else was flying his aeroplanes. This time Bill was true to form; a pass over to check for hazards in the water, then a steep turn downwind for the final tight circuit. The view forward from the back seat is poor, so Bill uses a steep sideslip approach at 60 mph to touch down just beside a buoy and close inside the cliffs. I may have interested him in a Spitfire approach as an alternative. To a "wheels man" it was difficult to know when we actually touched down. Then the nose soon dropped and with no undercarriage rumble we were quickly quiet, almost still and turning in to the dock. Then came complete silence as the engine was stopped. Although we seemed a mile away from the dock, we drifted smoothly and accurately in to where Wilma was waiting for us. Even if she had not been there to fend off, we would have met the small polystyrene bumpers head-on so gently that we did not even risk the float's paintwork. Such skills are a completely new world to a landlubber. Winched in again on to its trestles, the N3N had the salt spray hosed off, the oil wiped from the front fuselage, the drip cans and tonneau covers fitted, and was pushed back into its shelter. Next morning I looked out anxiously to see it still there. Bill had even less concern about that than he did about a boat sinking overnight |
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