Through my work with the Canadian Museum of Flight I’ve met a number of great people including my very good friend, Bill Findlay. To call this man a friend is putting it mildly, he’s also a mentor who’s always been happy to show guidance, share his experiences and knowledge as I work my way towards becoming a pilot myself and hopefully joining the Museum as one of their pilots. It’s through my friendship with Bill that I was able to attend my first of now many Fly Days at Heritage Flight Museum in Bellingham, WA. Heritage Flight Museum, or HFM as we call it, was established in 1996 by the Anders Family. Fly Day occurs every 3rd Saturday of the month and features flights by some of their beautiful aircraft, which are flown mostly by two very talented pilots, brothers Greg and Alan Anders. Up to the time of this blog I’ve now been lucky enough to attend 4 Fly Days at HFM and each time from the back seat of Bill’s Harvard MK IV. The day will usually start with a morning departure from Langley to
Bellingham after flight plans filed the day before through the eAPIS which is done entirely online and part of US Homeland Security. Flying to Bellingham International (KBLI) only takes about 12 minutes from Langley Regional (CYNJ). You’re almost literally going from saying goodbye to Langley to picking up Bellingham’s ATIS without pause in between. Having HFM so close to home makes it so easy for us to visit them regardless of whether you’re going by air or by car. When you land, you head immediately to the Customs box and go through the paces...usually a brief process all things considered and especially if you’re used to sitting through long lineups in your car. HFM’s hospitality is instant as no sooner are you out of the Customs office when you see Hal Beatty pulling up to your airplane with the tug and a tow bar to get you down the large ramp area to the Museum. Most times you’ll see the usual cast from HFM like Kate, JR, Erika, Jeff, Greg and Alan along with local pilots like Craig Nelson and Mark Kandianis, both of whom also own North American SNJ’s and often participate in Fly Day.