On this beautiful Saturday morning, Vintage Wings had the pleasure of taking up three generations of Symonds in our Yellow Wings aircraft: Nev Symonds, former RCAF fighter pilot, his son-in-law Stephan, and grandson Keeghan, an Air Cadet, who has big dreams of flying himself one day.
The crew (from L to R) : John Aitken and Keeghan were in Cornell, Ulrich Bollinger and Nev went flying in the Harvard, and Steph and Peter Ashwood-Smith commanded the TigerMoth. Not shown: Rob Fleck and Heather Fleck, in the RV8, as photo chase plane.
After briefing the formation flight, a formation run-up was performed on the ramp before taxiing for take-off on runway 27. As is always the case with tailwheel aircraft, they look like drunkards while taxiing, weaving all over the runway so as to compensate for the lack of forward visibility.
Light wind, no cloud, fairly smooth air – who could ask for a better day? After the photo shoot, the aircraft split apart for some independent manoeuvring before returning to base.
Asked what his favourite part of the ride was, young Keeghan replied, “When I got to take the stick.” Pilot John Aitken reported that Keeghan was a natural. Ah yes, folks, another one has been caught by the aviation bug.......
After helping to clean the bugs off the aircraft and push them all safely inside the hangar, the Symonds departed with huge grins all around and a day they will never forget – what a treat to be able to experience the magic of flight with three generations of your family. We look forward to seeing you around the hangar again soon!
All photos HF.
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