DH.83 at Duxford

[Jean Loup]

Scenery: ACG IWM Duxford from Airfield Construction Group (now defunct)
FS Time & Season: GMT 4:30:00 (Local 5:30:00) - Spring (April 27, 2016)
Aircraft: DH.83 Standard Oil from The Ford Tri-Motor Project (Gracias don Garry & don Edward)

The main reason I fly from Duxford is to enter formation with Ai Aircraft comparing performances, in this case with G-AKiF Dragon Rapide, at Dawn.
Control Tower & Spot Plane views, ready for take off:



My DH.83 rotates to fly before G-AKiF, but once both are in the air the Dragon Rapide is FASTER ("rapide" in french means FAST):




...& G-AKiF vanishes into dawn mist...

[Flacke]

Hi J_L, the founder of WARDAIR airlines Max Ward, started his northern flying service way back in the good old days using the DH-83 Fox Moth. Many years later he had a FOX MOTH restored to look like the one he flew in his youth. I knew the Cheif Engineer for Wardair and he invited me out to the hangar to get a good look at the Fox Moth. It was like new and they flew it at Airshows etc so people could see it in flight. I really liked the airplane and would love to have flown it, BUT, the passenger "Cabin" was pretty small and cramped and I would never have agreed to have even sat in it let alone ridden in it while airborne. Your photos reminded me of the great Fox Moth.

[Jean Loup]

Hi J_L, the founder of WARDAIR airlines Max Ward, started his northern flying service way back in the good old days using the DH-83 Fox Moth. Many years later he had a FOX MOTH restored to look like the one he flew in his youth. I knew the Cheif Engineer for Wardair and he invited me out to the hangar to get a good look at the Fox Moth. It was like new and they flew it at Airshows etc so people could see it in flight. I really liked the airplane and would love to have flown it, BUT, the passenger "Cabin" was pretty small and cramped and I would never have agreed to have even sat in it let alone ridden in it while airborne. Your photos reminded me of the great Fox Moth.

Hola Flacke, there are some active Fox Moths flying in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Wich one belongs to Wardair's Chief Engineer? And yes, cramping three passengers in that "Cabin" would feel like sardines!!

[Flacke]

Hola Jean. It was the "big Boss" Max Ward that owned the Fox Moth that I saw. I knew him and his Wife slightly but I knew His Chief Engineer much better . The airplane was CF-OJB and it is now hanging in the rafters at the "Canadian Aviation Museum" in Ottawa Ontario Canada.
Max also owned Fox Moth CF-DJC at one time as well. He may have owned others that I don't know about.

[Jean Loup]

Hola Jean. It was the "big Boss" Max Ward that owned the Fox Moth that I saw. I knew him and his Wife slightly but I knew His Chief Engineer much better . The airplane was CF-OJB and it is now hanging in the rafters at the "Canadian Aviation Museum" in Ottawa Ontario Canada.
Max also owned Fox Moth CF-DJC at one time as well. He may have owned others that I don't know about.

Hi Flacke, I found Max Ward's CF-DJC (oh well... googled it!! ) Did not know it was on floats:



BUT you have a TYPO: it's CF-DJB hanging at the "Canadian Aviation Museum" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ward_ ... e_Ward.jpg Comparing human & aircraft scale, one can see how small that passenger Cabin really was!!

[Jean Loup]

Googling more, I found CF-DJB as it is hanging TODAY at Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa: with floats atached! In the last flight photo with Marjorie & Max Ward, CF-DJB was on wheels no spats.


Hasta la Vista, Flacke

[Dave T]

Nice shots Jean, it looks like a tight squeeze for the passenger.

[Flacke]

Hello Jean, yes CF-DJC was his original Fox Moth. It was on floats and flew out of Yellowknife until a fatal crash.

It was not a Typo for me, it was bad memory after all these years. The WardAir Fox-Moth CF-DJB was the one that I saw in Edmonton shortly before Max sent it off to the Museum. I never ever saw it on floats, wheels only.

I think that what the Museum may have done was to put CF-DJB on floats to replicate CF-DJC which was Max Wards original airplane. It started the air service that evolved into WardAir. Since DJC was written off in the crash, they used DJB with floats to remind us of the original. It makes sense to me that they would want to do that.

Co-incidendently, the tail letters DJB represent the first names of myself, my youngest Son, and my eldest Son!

Another WardAir connection for me;
I flight-checked the WardAir Chief Pilot [he flew the Boeing 707 at that time and B-747 later] on the Piper PA-28 aircraft. I also got a flight with him in his Beech Staggerwing Biplane shortly after he bought it. We took off in formation with us in the lead in the Staggerwing, a Harvard[at-6] flown by my friend who was a B-737 Captain on the right, and my other friend in his P-51 Mustang on the left. We didn't stay in the "lead" very long. After takeoff they both peeled-off and we followed. A few minutes later the P-51 came up from behind us and flew a barrel-roll right in front of us. It was a beautiful sight that I remember like it was yesterday.
Those were the good old days of Aviation here at that time. Great fun, lots of flying and friendships.