72 Years Young

Vintage airplane buffs will have no trouble recognizing this as a de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth, designed in the 1930's and used as a trainer by the Royal Air Force and air forces in many other countries.

I learned about the history of this particular aircraft from an article in the Bellingham Herald a few years ago. It was built in Canada in 1941 for the Royal Canadian Air Force. When it was retired from service in 1982 it was bought by a local pilot, Bob, who flew it home from Cold Lake, Alberta and renovated it.

I contacted Bob when I saw the article in the paper and expressed an interest in seeing the airplane. He said I would be welcome, but I didn’t follow up on it until a few months ago, when he told me he had sold it. I was very glad when he said it was still in the area and he gave me the phone number of the current owner, Rick.

I visited Rick at his home out in the county this afternoon. He has a hangar to house this beauty and two other airplanes, and his own private airstrip. He was a very gracious host. We talked at length about airplanes and places we’d visited, and he posed for a photo wearing original equipment goggles and leather helmet that came with the airplane. I forgot to ask him to wear the (also original) silk scarf in the baggage compartment behind the rear cockpit.

I was going to use that photo for my blip, but I had a major iPhoto disaster, and it seems to have been lost. Luckily, I’d put most of the photos on my Flickrstream, and was able to download this one.

Edited Wednesday 30th October

I recovered the photo of Rick. Note the low-tech intercom system he's holding and wearing.