HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-04-08, Page 28omrnunit
• Entertainment •Features
• Religlon •Farr lily • More
GODERICH SIGNAL STAR, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1987—PAGE lA
Bill 'Coulter(left ) anal Don Rosslright) sit in the cockpit of a Second World War Tiger Moth. small plane is a remote-controlled model built by -Art Lazet. The model is an exact replica
It took them ten years'to rt'stgre the plane whieh was.used to train air force pilots. The of the Tiger, Moth.
ger
Moth restore
World War 11 airplane has a rich history as basket case.
It took Bill Coulter and Don Ross 10 years
to completely restore a 1942 Tiger ' Moth
airplane and they dict it for something to do.
Tiger Moths, built by DeHaviland air-
craft, were used to train air force pilots.dur-
ing the Second World War. .Sky Harbour,. in
( loderich, Used 190 of these planes.
Coulter said there are only about 12 Tiger
Moths left , in North America in 'various
stages of repair.,
They're pretty rare and getting rarer
every day. There may be more planes in in-
dia but I don't know," said ('nulter•.
The two men worked part-time'to rebuild
the plane from 1978 until Dec. 80. How couch
did it cost? Coulter said it is impossible to
put a price tag on, their labour but as for
materials, some parts were scrounged from
old wrecks, sornea parts were donated and
some partsthey' simply rebuilt from
original plans',,
This particular plane, said Ross, has a
rich history of its own and they discovered it
as a "basket case" sitting at Toronto Island
Airport.
it was originally used in Moose .law, Sask.
as a trainer, during the war. After the war,
the plane was sold to the Oshawa Hying
('lub, where it had two private owners
before it was wrecked.
Sky. Harbour bought the plane. tis a wreck,
in 1953 and later sold it, in 19(35, to George
Neal, cheif test pilot for DeHaviland in
Toronto.
ire 1978 the plane was returned to Goderich
by a group of people, including IlOss and
Coulter, and they began to restore it.
The plane was taken to W.A.T. Martin in
Milton in 1978 for final assembly. It receiv-
ed its certificate of airworthiness and was
flown, for the first time since 1953. hack to
Goderich.
Coulter and Ross have no plans to enter
the plane in air shows, but people may see
the plane during a few fly -ins, said Coulter.
Coulter still flies and is a long time
member of Experarnental Aircraft Associa-
tion for home -built and sometimes home -
designed airplanes.
Tiger Moth, with a top speed of 90mph and
a stall speed of 40mph, is powered by a 145
hp Gypsy Major engine that was designed to
run on 73 octane gasoline. Its fully
aerobatics capable of loops, spins and rolls.,
•
BY
WILLIAM
THOMAS
Memories of
Mud a e an
shooting l
Lake Erie rarely freezes over into it
sheet of skateable ice. It has to happen
fast and requires consecutive days of
calm waters, something that doesn't du
justice to Erie's image as the shallow
savage.
Yet, a few weeks ago it did just that
and Sunset Bay was alive for the first
time all winter. When snow sets in along
the lake, it's like the warden of winter
goes cottage to cottage lacking
everybody in solitary until spring.
In summer the backyards of Sunset
Bay from Golf Course Road to the
Rathfon Inn become one long promenade
— a fine pedestrian tradition. In winter
however the lawns and lake merge into a
shoreline ice shield, a protective barrier
that holds back storms and people alike.
This past winter was too mild for the ice
barrier to take shape and in those eight
cold days last month, the opposite hap-
pened. The bay froie over fast and a four
or five inch thick, skating rink formed
fromrthe Rathfon Inn to Morgan's Point:
Suddenly there were signs of life. on
Sunset Bay that here -to -fore only spring;
could'bring.
Neighbours I hadn't seen since
September, were skating by the
backyard. On one patch, ice fishermen,
in snowmobile suits, huddled around
holes monitoring the motion of little red
and white bobbers:.'E)manother patch a
group of Mennonite children, the girls in
grey skirts and white bonnets, skated in
graceful circles.
And not far from the white -etched
circles of skating children and the auger -
drilled holes. of patient fishermen - we
played hockey.
Pickup pond hockey is all but a fecgot-
ten piece'of Canadiana, what with indoor
rinks and zambonies. • , •
Hockey. wasn't always meant to be
played by toothless millionaires, who
mouth words into the rinkside television
camera that turns the whole idea of sport
a deeper shade of blue. • '
When rubber boots were goalposts, the
port was. never more pure. Since the
rink knew no dimensions, the game was
ore wide open than a Soviet coach
could ever conceive. Today an NHL an-
nouncer will yell "He missed by a mile."
Batik in the days of hockey on the lake,
you did just that. Then it was a five
minute argument' of who would .go and
retrieve the puck -the guy that shot it or
he goalie that should have stopped it.
Pond hockey was vigorous, boisterous
nd played for the simple, love of the
=ame. It was the kind of hockey the
Toronto Maple Leafs should be playing; -
ut where nobody can see them.
For One long, sunny winter afternoon.-
verybody was somebody, either Keon or
eliveau or Richard. A kid with. a ..
aseball trapper was the startin.g
oaltender and anybody with shin pads
as a pansy'. The game was narrated by
htmever had the puck and all disputes
ere settled by the biggest gay involved.
In pond hockey goals were not so much
and to get as they were hard to get con-
irmed. When a'goal went undisputed it
as probably time to quit.
When I think of .pond hockey I think of
ud Lake and when I think of Mud Lake
think of Alan Creighton. I shot him '
here one day. ,
I hate hunting and whenever anybody ti
sks if I could take a gun and actually
hoot a living thing, I have to answer
ruthfully and say only Alan Creighton.
The boys of Dain City played hockey on -
earby Mud Lake, but before the ice
ormed it was a favourite' haunt of duck
unters. Alan and I were the best of
riends but of course that was before i
hot him.
It was my first time duck hunting and
d brought along my father's Smith &
eston air pistol. I don't remember ex-
ctly how it happened --- we were huddl-
d low and close tether in the blind, my
un discharged, a man shrieked bloody
urder and a flock of the finest look
allards you've ever seen took off never
o return to Mud Lake.
I'm afraid Alan took the whole thing
rather badly and hardly said a word to
e all the way home. My career as a
unter started off with a bang and ended
with the shrill cry of a man deep in pain, 1
would never hunt again. After all, once
you've shot a guy like Man Creighton,
everything else is sort of second hest.
Pond hockey does that kind of thing to
a man,•memories skip across the mind
like errant pucks across a clear -glass
lake. On a clear day skating on a clear
sheet of ice I can skate all the way to
Dain City and back.
Alan, if' you happen upon this column
what do you say we get nut the skates and
sticks next winter and rattle a few shots.
off the old rubber boots on Mud bake
some Sunday?
And Alan,I still feel badly about
shooting you. Why don't you get yourself
down to Dr. Thorne's clinic In Port' Col-
borne and we'll get that stug out of your
leg. Hell, I'll even pick up the tab.
yrs •�
, 47 Jj
The Spirit
Art Lazet display his model of a Second World War air force trainer, 1Figer Mrlth. The model
is exact to the smallest detail including seat belts, road maps and a fire extinguisher. It took
Lazet two years to complete the remote controlled plane and it has' won a trophy in Barrie
for best display aircraft. Lazet plans to take it to a competition in Toledo.
The Spirit of Sky Harbour lives on in model plane
Art l,azet admits he will he shaking the
first time he tries to fly his prize-winning ' 3
scale model of a 1943 Tiger Moth airplane.
The remote-controlled model is an exact
replica of the plane that was used to train
air force pilots; during the Second, World
War.
Lazet used a kit, which provided plans and
balsa wood, -to build the model, but the in-
trieate detail was all hand -made. '
It is complete to the smallest detail, said
i,azet. The cockpit contains a fire ex-
tinguisher, road maps and seatbelts for the
pilot.
To make the pilot, i,azet first made a
plasticine mold of a head. He then made a
plaster cast of the mold and layered liquid
rubber over the cast. The pilots head moves
by rernote control. In fact, the only thing on
the plane that does not work is the msturnent
panel,said Lazet, because the pilot can't see
them.
it was this attention to detail that won the
model a trophy for hest display airplane at a
competition in Barrie.
The model has yet to fly because l,azet
will take it to a scale airplane contest in
Toledo Ohio, later this month.
A chainsaw motor powers the model
which is made -of balsa wood, plywood, and
hardwood. The model is covered with a silk -
span cloth— mueh like a dress makers skirt
lining.
Rill Coulter and Don Ross recently com-
pleted the restoration of a 1942 Tiger Moth
and the s.iirnilarities between the model and
the actual airplane are striking. The
material used to cover the model is a lighter
form of the same cloth used on the plane.
Roth the model and the plane were painted
from the same can and the lettering and
detailing are identical.
The model cost Lazet $1,000 plus unlimited
time and patience. it's no wonder he will be
shaking the first time it flies.
I SIDE
Sports... Pg. 10-14
School news... Pg. 15-16
Entertainrent... P 4-5