Good afternoon yancovitch...and a wet afternoon it is...
To answer your first question, No I did not know Vern and I don't think I ever met him.
He was probably on the Argus when I was on the Douglas DC3s and Canso's.
I knew a few of the Argus Crews but I was never on the Argus, although I would have loved to have flown the Argus and the Yukon!
Yes Yan I am an Old Retired Rocking Chair Flying Geezer who is a Decade Plus several years past seventy-three (73)...
The Old Girl and I are almost the same age, I a year older and a whole lot smarter...

And that is what I tell the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and I am sticking to it even if the Old Girl makes me stand in the corner of my wee little shed down in the underground parking garage...
