The days speed by, until they become a blur.  Maybe it's because we are so busy, but it seems Labor Day comes and goes, and then Thanksgiving, which, one day, is "coming up", and then is gone in a flash, only to be followed by Christmas - on the horizon one minute, and ever so quickly in the rear view mirror. Frightening!  The pages of our lives.  We can report we are well and as busy as ever.

This year marked the 50th Anniversary since my graduation from college.  Yikes!  I've missed all the reunions to date, and can report that I kept my record intact.

    An Engineer - and now I are one.

It also marked the 50th Anniversary of my going to work at Boeing.

    The #3 727 in Flight Test - I'm still working on 727s!

And yet another milestone was our 45th Anniversary.  In past years, we celebrated our major Anniversaries by returning to the small Mission in Soledad, California, where we were married.  We returned for our 25th, 30th and 40th.  See my description of our 40th here.  The five years since Number 40 have just flown by and so, as we returned once again, it felt like yesterday.  Next big one - well, I shudder to think about it.

    July 29, 1970

Unlike our previous visits, when we drove, this time we climbed in our airplane and flew down.  Instead of 19 hours fighting the semi's over two days on I-5, we made the trip in 6 hours with a stop in Medford, Oregon.  My airplane isn't very fast, but, it turns out, is a lot faster than a car!  And, quite relaxing with great scenic views.

Heading south towards Medford July 27 - the view over the nose and the map on my instrument panel

We had a nice tailwind - both ways!  Here we are cruising near Portland at 9500 ft.

We're making 130 kts ground speed = 150 mph

Over Western Oregon starting our descent into Medford

After refueling in Medford and having lunch, we passed Mt. Shasta

   
Crossing drought-parched Lake Shasta  --  and then crossing the San Joaquin River Delta

   
Descending into the California golden hills and Live Oaks --  our destination - Hollister Airport (CVH)
The airplane gets about 40% better gas mileage than any of my cars.
  And the flying distance is way less than the driving distance (775 sm vs 1033 sm = 75%.)
If you figure we skipped two nights in motels coming and going, traveling by light plane is quite economical.

We made our usual Mission visitations - starting with San Juan Bautista

Then -  Carmel

   
It was amazing how fast that little airplane allowed us to be sightseeing 1000 miles away in just a few hours!

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And then, on July 29th - our 45th - we returned to our little Mission in Soledad



   
Visiting again with Norma Rianda - our hostess on our wedding day.  We took her to lunch at a favorite place.

   
Returning home, we again stopped in Medford - the ramp temperature was 111 degrees F.


Fire season had started and we had to dodge a number of fires.

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Visits


In May, we had another great visit by Anne and Percy Cullen from Grande Prairie, Alberta
They really like this place, and we're really glad they do, because we always have a great visit.

   
During their visit, one of our resident does gave birth to twins - right there beneath our living room windows.

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My RV-12

My airplane has become my main method of commuting to my Museum work.
In the Fall, I passed 500 flights in a little over 2 years; and she now has about 370 hours flight time.
I've flown it into about 70 different airports.

I've also done some test flying for Vans, the manufacturer; and a lot of test flying with new electronics for Dynon - the locally-based avionics manufacturer.  I've made about 75 test flights for them testing new gear.

In February, after a lot of planning, I made a record high altitude flight to determine the Service Ceiling for the airplane..  This number had only been "estimated" by the manufacturer (at 12,000 ft.)  To accomplish this, I rigged up an oxygen supply and flew over Mt. Rainier, reaching 16,214 ft.  The whole story can be found here.

   

I was invited to give a talk about this flight in April to the Annual Convention of SETP
Society of Experimental Test Pilots

And, of course, our "more mundane" NW flying - to the San Juan Islands and Eastern Washington

   
Our magic carpet at Roche Harbor on San Juan Island - a two day trip made in 20 minutes.

Vans Aircraft - manufacturer of my airplane kit - wrote up some of the exploits with my airplane, with lots of pictures.
You can read and see the writeup on their webpage here.

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Museum of Flight

I'm a very active Volunteer at the Museum, managing numerous major projects for them.
This year, the MOF celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
I don't know if any others qualify, but I've been around for all 50!  Seniority Number One.
Which merely proves, if you live long enough, you can become an Elder Statesman without even trying.

I've collected quite a few big airplanes for the Museum, and they've been sitting out in the NW rain, literally rotting.
Well - after a lot of hard work and fund-raising, the MOF began the process of putting almost all of them under cover.
Ground was broken in April for a giant new building to be known as the Aviation Pavilion.
   
The airplanes on site had to be temporarily moved while the new building was constructed.  Story here.
Two airplanes were subsequently moved into the partial building because they were so large, the building had to be built around them.


That story here.

My Connie was moved to the Berm in front of the Museum entrance where she looks drop-dead gorgeous (of course!)
This fulfilled a 35 year old dream of mine.  She looks so good there, she may stay permanently.

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My biggest job for the Museum this year was to get the Number One 727 ready to fly, after sitting outside for 25 years at Paine Field in Everett.  After lots of negotiating, that lasted for years and years, the Museum Board agreed to let me fly the airplane down to Boeing Field.  That task has filled all my waking hours for many months.

Donated engines were received from FedEx.

   

The airplane was repainted over the summer.


The Before and After
   

We are receiving a lot of P.R.



The goal is to the fly the airplane one last time about February 2016.  It will then be moved into the new building in April to be ready for the building's grand opening in July.  July 2016 will be Boeing's 100th Birthday and this opening will be part of a really big shindig planned to mark the occasion.  Full story here.

To be honest, I am actually trying to fly another long sitting 727 - this one at Boeing Field.  That airplane has been sitting for "only" 12 or 13 years, and I'm trying to fly it to an aviation museum in Kansas City.  You can see it here.
I'm also working on the Museum's B-52 and also the Connie.

This Fall and early Winter has been stormy with lots of wind and rain (and snow in the mountains.)  We had ten major power outages in just a two week span and our neighbors lost many big trees; but our damage has been minimal.  Our new generator has certainly been getting a workout.

A Few Flying Pictures

I love flying and I love photography.  I combine the two by taking many thousands of pictures while we are flying (and quite a few back on the ground.)  Here are just a few to allow you to see why I like to fly.






   

   















and..... finally..... a great sunset picture from this summer



  

    Peace..........

Bob and Dot

 

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2015 Passings

Dave Robinson 9 Dec 2014

Dave was a retired Air Canada 747 pilot who flew Connies early in his airline career.  We met in 2009 when he came to Rome, NY to visit and celebrate the restoration of Trans-Canada Super G Constellation CF-TGE, along with his lifelong pilot friend Jay Fancott.  It was Jay who contacted me with the sad news.  Dave donated his TCA Connie model and airplane Ops Manuals to me (and the eventually MOF).  That model had sat proudly on his desk at home in Montreal for 50 years, and it now sits on mine.  I knew parting with it was emotional for Dave and I think of him every time I look at it.  (Obit below.)

   

Rachel Gallant 15 Feb 2015

Dot's cousin and close friend Rachel died suddenly following an aneurysm at home in Moncton, NB.  Rachel came and visited with us in March 2010.  Dot drove with her from Moncton to the Magdalen Islands during her last visit home 2 years ago.  We also visited with her at her place in 2003.  She was about 78.

 Bruce Sutherland   9 Apr 2015

Bruce was an old close friend and co-worker, and one of the finest people I have ever known.  He was a career Boeing engineer who retired to Whidbey Island.  After he contracted ALS, he and wife Shirley moved back to the Seattle area to be near medical treatments.  Here we are during our last visit in his new house.  He was 80.

 Dot's friend Wally Terbec - 94  2 Jun 2015

Wally was a dancing group member back in Dot's Monroe dancing activities and stayed a friend.  She visited us here in Hansville back when we moved in.

  Dick Taylor   3 Oct 2015

Dick was a former boss at Boeing, a long time colleague and a long time friend.  He was a Boeing engineer, test pilot, manager and executive.  I was honored by his family by being asked to speak at his memorial service.  I created a web page devoted to some of his history.  It can be found here.

 Marie-Anna Cormier  8 Oct 2015

Dot's sister Marie-Anna passed in October in the Magdalen Islands.  She was 92.  Here Dot was visiting with her for her 90th Birthday two years ago.

ROBINSON, James David - Obit

Suddenly and unexpectedly on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 in his 81st year. David is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ann (n. Standish) and their daughter Heather (Shawnigan Lake, BC) as well as many wonderful nieces, nephews, cousins and sister-in-law, Pat Hale (Duncan, BC). He was predeceased by his parents Fred and Edythe and his brother Jim (Dolly). David had an illustrious career as a pilot, flight instructor and negotiator with Air Canada for 39 years and five months and had enjoyed many years of post-retirement instruction with Flight Safety. His early years with the RCAF (401 Squadron) were very special to him and he honoured those friends and colleagues dearly. David was a proud Montrealer all his life but also enjoyed wintering in Sarasota, Florida. He was a regular at the West Island Club and enjoyed volunteering at the Veterans' Hospital in Ste Anne-de-Bellevue as well as coffee with 'the boys' on Thursdays. Family will receive condolences on Sunday, December 14, 2014 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mount Royal Funeral Complex 1297 chemin de la Foret, Outremont QC H2V2P9 (514) 279-6540. A Funeral Service will be held on Monday, December 15 at 2 p.m. in the chapel of the complex. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the West Island Palliative Care, the Canadian Cancer Society or St John's Anglican Church in Cobble Hill, BC.

Wind to thy wings!

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Bruce Porter Sutherland
Obituary


Bruce Porter Sutherland, age 80, of Seattle passed away on April 9, 2015. He was born on May 2, 1934 in Wenatchee. Bruce received his aeronautical engineering degree from the University of Washington in 1957. He married Shirley Toepke in 1958, and they raised their four children while living in Redmond. Bruce enjoyed a 37-year career with Boeing, retiring in 1994. He began his engineering career as Flight Test Engineer on the "Dash 80" (prototype of the 707 and KC-135) and KC-135 tanker. He went on to work in accident investigation and product development. Bruce was instrumental in the design of the 757. His last job was in management, working on the 777. With prodding, you could get him to talk about what it was like to be in the Engineer's seat in the prototype for the Boeing 707 for aeronautical tests including low speed take-offs, rolls, and stalls. He was more comfortable, however, joking and teasing with neighbors, family and friends. His quick mind saw that words have many meanings, he proved there was nothing that couldn't be seen from a new, often comical perspective. He loved to help and serve others, but most of all he loved his family and friends. Bruce and Shirley spent their retirement years living in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. Bruce is survived by his wife, Shirley; his daughters, Lori O'Brien (Tim) and Joan Burke (Michael); his sons, Robert Sutherland (Edith) and William Sutherland (Konnie Landis, deceased); his sister, Lael Sutherland; and grandchildren, Kaitlin and Connor O'Brien, Andrew, Julia and Ian Burke, and Esther and Elizabeth Sutherland. A gathering to celebrate and remember his life is planned for June 13, 2015 in the Seattle area.

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