polished and gleaming. They live in a 15,000 sq. ft. heated and spotless hangar that Bob built about three years ago. He usually buys the aircraft
already restored, but there have been a few found in raw shape that needed hours and hours of tender loving care to bring them back to their original glory. Many of Bob’s friends are
professional pilots. Some are among the best aerobatic pilots in the country. Some are retired Air Canada captains. Some just love planes and like being involved in whatever way they can. They all volunteer to keep the planes in perfect working order and appearance. The planes are fl own regularly.
(The jet fi ghters aren’t taken up as often as the others because it costs about $1,000 for an hour of fuel; but still, they get their time in the sky.) The red helicopter is up in the
air every day because Bob fl ies it to work and back. He has his own “backyard” airstrip at his home between Portland and Smiths Falls. He calls it The Red Neck Air Force. He doesn’t just go out and buy
airplanes. He spends long hours researching them. He never buys anything sight unseen. And the aircraft has to have its
paperwork in order. “Airplanes, like people,
have a history,” he says. “If the documentation isn’t exactly right they’re not worth anything and shouldn’t be fl own.” His planes have
www.bounder.ca www.bellscornersbia.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 67
every single piece of paper from the time they were built, often right back to the 30s and 40s. He’s a stickler for safety. He says it’s his number one criteria. Despite his relatively short fl ying
career (he’s 51 now), he’s a rare bird in that he’s qualifi ed to fl y fi ghter jets, aerobatic airplanes and helicopters. His “bug” for fl ying actually
started when he was a child helping his father build airplanes in his garage. “I always wanted to fl y,” he says,
“but I was too busy with sports, school and then business.” The owner of Cordking of
Canada (fi rewood processors) among other businesses, he’s still busy. But it’s the planes that keep him focused and stress-free. Up in the air there are no cell
phones, no business people, no one to bother him. “This is a happy place to be,” he
says. “After a busy day it’s nice to get to somewhere where it’s quiet, pull out an aircraft and go fl ying.”
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