Being in front of ‘the gate’ was frustrating with all these wonderful vintage Rhinebeck Aerodrome aircraft looking back at me. One of the pilots and co-owners of this Fleet Finch 16B was gracious enough to take me thru the gate and over to his aircraft. The pilots here are historians and as he told me about the planes history, I had the same moment of wonderment as a young RCAF pilot would have as he moved from the earth to take his place in the sparse instrumentation.
I imaged his vision was razor sharp and fully focused on these dials and gauges which were his intellectual connection with the aircraft’s hi-tech monitor system. He learned that the engine was 125 HP, and was very rugged and reliable, boy how fascinating his first flight must have been, as he climbed into this cockpit seventy years ago…
