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The crosswinds over the runway at 12 Wing Shearwater were gusting, making Allan Snowie's last landing in his Canada-wide tour his most difficult. After, as he and his support team parked his replica Nieuport XI in the Shearwater Aviation Museum, Snowie’s face showed relief, satisfaction and a touch of sad nostalgia that is common when a long trip ends. “It has been quite the experience,” Snowie said, a little choked up. After months of planning, many hours in the sky and more than 30 stops at airfields across the country, Snowie completed his cross-country trip which began mid-June in Nanaimo, BC.
While the primary objective of the trip was to fly his replica coast to coast, there were several other causes which this former Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) pilot sought to accomplish, among them, delivering the nomination papers for Col Redford Henry Mulock to the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. Col Mulock was Canada's highest ranking airman of the First World War, Canada's first flying ace and also the first RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) pilot to claim five victories attacking aeroplanes, submarines and zeppelins.
Other reasons were to celebrate 100 years of powered flight in Canada; to promote aviation museums across the country; to promote Abbeyfield, a non-profit organisation that provides housing and caring to seniors; and simply to see the country. “I had been a commercial pilot for Air Canada for more than 30 years,” said Snowie “and after viewing Canada from 30,000 feet, I wanted to see the country from below 3,000 feet.”
His plane, christened Abbey, is a seven-eigths scale replica of the Nieuport XI, a single seat fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage and widely used in WW1. “The plane is a seven-eighths scale but I am a nine-eighths pilot.” acknowledged Snowie who wedged himself into the cockpit for the 40-plus hours of flying time it took to cross the country.
Built in Oregon, the plane is equipped with a regular Volkswagen car engine that can fly the loaded 750 lbs plane at 70 mph “with a strong tailwind” and has a maximum operational ceiling of 7,500 feet. However, Snowie generally flew the plane at about 1,500 ft for his voyage because “the engine didn't perform very well at higher altitudes. Volkswagen didn't make this engine to climb mountains.” he admitted. His Nieuport XI has a 13.5 US gallon fuel capacity which is good for about four hours of flying time. “But I only have a two-hour bladder,” he laughed.
Snowie added a mock-up of a Lewis machine gun to the top wing. It was made of a spray-painted pool cue cut in half and sections of brass piping, mimicking the rounds held in the drum magazine.
The summer weather, complete with tornados in Ontario and hurricanes in the Atlantic provinces, proved to be the most challenging obstacle to maintaining his itinerary. “I was constantly making weather checks,” said Snowie. “Aviation is basically risk management, so some days I shouldn't have gone up but did and other days I was drinking a beer, looking up at clear blue skies wondering ‘Why didn't I go up?’”
Critical to his mission was his support team, mainly his equally dedicated wife, Cynthia, who drove a truck with a trailer carrying parts, tools, a spare propeller and wheel. “It turns out I didn't need them, but if I hadn't brought them, then I surely would have needed them,” said Snowie.
Snowie has written a book about the Canadians who flew in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. It will be published in 2010, the Centennial of the Canadian Navy. His aircraft will be on display at the Shearwater Aviation Museum until October 2009 when he will disassemble it and drive it back to the West Coast.
Allan Snowie CD is a former RCN pilot who flew from HMCS Bonaventure and was stationed at Shearwater from 1966 to 1970 and at 412 Squadron in Ottawa from 1970 to 72.
Previous books are titled Bloody Buron: the Regimental History of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada; and, The Bonnie: Canada's Last Aircraft Carrier.
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