Saturday brunch

For some time we had been planning to get together with my friend and colleague from my flying days, John Thorne and today was the day. John and I worker for a Kitchener corporation and we were the pilots for the company airplane, a King Air B-100. John and his wife Karen brought their new baby girl Melody. Laura, Philippe and our new grandson Sebastien also came and so did our friends Art and Jane Penner.

We had a great time talking about the "good old days" of flying the King Air. Art was hired to fill in co-pilot duties when one of us could not go so we had quite a lot to catch up on.

Of course the two newborns were the center of attention. Sebastien and Melody pretty well stole the show and we took tons of pictures. Somewhere in the middle of it all we managed to cook up a heap of pancakes, bacon and eggs and we all enjoyed a great time together.

Click here for a link to a photo album of this get together

Hand operation update

Yesterday I went to the hand clinic for a follow-up, there the therapist fitted me with a splint and gave me some exercises to do. I didn't quite realize that I have to wear this splint 24-7 for 3 months to be removed only for exercises at least 5 times per day. In addition they recommended that it be worn at night for up to one year.

On an up note I was told that the incision looked very good and that my range of motion on the affected finger was better than normal. I will be going back to see the doctor early next week and the the stitches will be taken out in early December.


While this is turning out to be a bit more involved than I have anticipated I am very happy with the result as I can now straighten the affected finger. (LH ring finger) I am sure that it will be well worth the effort in the end.

Transmitter Stick Mode!

I have been told that 4 out of the top 5 at the recent Pattern (F3A) World Championship in Argentina used Mode I stick configuration on their transmitters. This gives me reason to promote my Mode III stick set-up which I have been using for many years. Futaba makes this Mode available in most of their transmitters but they call it "Mode IIII".

Lets begin with an explanation of the 3 main stick configuration in use today.
The most popular and widely used stick configuration is Mode II. On this mode we have throttle & rudder on LH stick , aileron & elev on RH stick.

Mode I is a carry over from the old reed days and here we have rudder & elev. on the LH stick with throttle & aileron on the RH stick. Mode III is the reverse of Mode I with throttle & aileron on the left, rudder & elev. on the right.

Now I can hear the arguments already and I would agree that a good case could be made for learning to fly on the stick mode that is most popular in your area.
For general sport flying for you to learn to fly on mode II may well be the best way for you to begin. But if you have any ambitions of flying aerobatics competitively then Mode I or Mode III is definitely the way to go.

Here is why, I will use Mode III for my explanation as this is the one I use but the same principles applies to Mode I.

On Mode III aileron control is placed on your left hand along with throttle. Now imagine doing a slow roll, all you have to do is lean the stick slightly to the left or right to establish the roll rate and all the co-ordination is done with rudder and elevator on your right hand. Being right handed would be some benefit here.

This ability to co-ordinate all the corrective inputs with the right hand applies to all rolling maneuvers incl. rolling loops and rolling circles as well giving this pilot a great advantage over the one having to use two sticks to accomplice the same thing.

Quite some years ago as a result of my influence two already accompliced pattern fliers in Canada switched from Mode II to Mode III and they both went on to win the Canadian Nationals, one of them shared the podium with myself and one other team member when we won the team world championship in Australia in 1991.

I would also point out that Gernot Bruckman of Austria who won the free style at the recent Tucson Shootout is flying mode III so there is a lot of evidence in support of this set-up.

Now I don't want to give anyone the idea that switching stick modes will somehow make you a winner. Flying aaerobatics is all about practice, set up and reducing pilot workload. I strongly believe that mode III reduces pilot workload and that Mode III is the best option for a person who is right handed where Mode I would be best suited for a left handed person.

Hand operation.

No I did not stick my hand in a spinning model airplane propeller.
I did, however, require a small procedure done to the ring finger on my left hand correcting what is called "Dupuytren contracture".

Here is an explanation from the internet.

What is a Dupuytren contracture?

Dupuytren contracture is a localized formation of scar tissue beneath the skin of the palm of the hand. The scarring accumulates in a tissue (fascia) that normally covers the tendons that pull the fingers to grip. As Dupuytren contracture progresses, more of the fascia becomes thickened and shortened. Dimpling and puckering of the skin over the area eventually occurs.

Visit to Toronto

Our visit to Toronto this afternoon included a trip to Tim Horton's for lunch with Laura, Philippe and little Sebastien. After lunch we went for a stroll out the Leslie St. Spit, it was a cool fall day here with some sun but a beautiful afternoon for a walk on the Toronto waterfront.


Bestefar (Danish for grandfather) is pretty proud of his new grandson. Click on the link to the right to see a short video.