The world lost a great man yesterday; famed polish-Canadian pilot Janzus Zurakowski.
Born in Ryzawka, Poland in 1914; Jan joined the Polish Air Force in 1934. When Poland fell in WWII; he fled to Britian and joined the RAF; flying Hurricanes, and was creditied with 3 kills during the Battle of Britain.
After the war; he became a test pilot and became involved with test-flying the early jets; including the Vampire, Javelin and Meteor.
In 1952; he emigrated to Canada to join Avro Aircraft in Malton as chief test pilot. There; he became the first man in Canada to break the sound barrier, in a CF-100.
In 1958; he was given the project that made him famous: maiden flight (and subsequent testing) of the Arrow; Avro's phenomenal supersonic interceptor. When that magnificent aircraft was scrapped for political reasons; Avro and Orenda (which built the plane's Iriquois engine) went with it - most of their engineers and workers heading south to work on America's fledgeling space program.
Jan never flew professionally again after the Arrow; according to him; he'd flown the best. He retired to Renfrew County and started a tourist business.
He passed away yesterday; at the age of 89.
He was quite a guy; one I'm proud to have talked with on several occasions. He looked half his age. The thing that really got me whenever I met him was his eyes - sharp; hard, brilliantly clear even at his age; they just burned into you. I remember asking him once about a particular airshow manoeuver he used to perform; the Zurakowski Dyna-Loop.
He did it in a Gloster Meteor; the only pilot and aircraft that could do it. It was a pitch-up to 90 degrees; followed by a wing-over-wing loop through the Z axis - an incredible manoeuver. Anyway; I asked him about it - everything I've ever learned about flying from 16 years in the cockpit says it ought to be impossible.
"Vell, it vas ferry easy;" he said. "All you did was to pull the aircraft up to ninety degrees, keeping full power. Very important - cannot be ninety-one or eighty-nine. Den; when your airspeed reaches sixty, you shut off one engine."
Geez - he called that easy.
Anyway; his death is a loss to the aviation world; but not sad day - he had a great name and a rich life - I'm happy to have known him.
Thanks.
