Aircraft give people big history lesson
Flying a 1944 Boeing Stearman military aircraft was the last thing I ever expected to do.
But the invitation was there from pilot Kevin Maher at the annual Western Warbirds festival at Oliver airport last weekend.
Maher, from Cowichan Bay, was getting antsy on the ground, waiting to take someone up in the Second World War trainer owned by Trevor Skillen.
“It’s preserving history. I’m a curator of a one-exhibit museum,” Maher said with a smile.
I was asked if I wanted an “aerobatic” tour of Oliver, which would mean I would have to be strapped in tighter than usual. But I kindly declined, opting for the standard tour minus the loops and rolls.
“This (plane) is very visceral. You can feel it, you can smell it . . . it was designed to teach the good cadets how to fly and weed out the bad ones.”
Compared to the Stearman, flying a large airliner like the Boeing 777 (Maher’s day job) is “very civilized,” he said.
Maher has been flying aircraft for 32 years.
It all started when the family car broke down beside a crop duster airport. He was only a youngster but remembered that’s what he wanted to do – fly airplanes. In fact, that was his first job – spraying crops in southern Alberta.
Before that, Maher used to ride his bicycle to the local airport for flying lessons.
“I was too young to drive, but I could learn to fly an airplane,” he laughed, recalling that he was insured to fly a crop duster, but not the company vehicle.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
