Even if it is legal, would you?
Cool flight none-the-less.
http://www.prrecordgazette.com/ArticleD ... ?e=1438802
The weather rules the skies.
And nobody now knows that better than the two-man crew of the Mercy Flight Re-enactment.
Flight captain Tom Hinderks and his navigator, Curtis Peters, completed the Edmonton to Peace River leg of the journey last Tuesday, flying into the Peace River Airport to a crowd of cheering spectators. After the aircraft finally came to a halt in front of the Northern Air airplane hanger, the two crawled out of the open-top biplane, with signs of fatigue from the weather visibly showing.
“The flight has been a bit of a bear. On take off out of the City Center Airport in Edmonton, our air speed indicator failed,” Hinderks said. “So that’s like trying to drive a car without a speedometer.
“It wasn’t that big of deal in terms of safety, but it’s really difficult to fly without.”
The long-awaited flight was truly governed by Mother Nature, initially scheduled for the beginning of January but postponed numerous times because of the weather, whether it was the freezing temperatures or the thick snowfall. It seemed even when they managed to find a clear sky, the weather still played a part.
The crew made three stops before landing in Peace River just as the sun began to set; first at Westlock, then Slave Lake and finally High Prairie.
“About 50 miles out of Slave Lake, we got into really heavy mechanical turbulence and that comes from the wind coming off of the lake and hitting the hills and the valleys and it kicks it up,” Hinderks said. “It’s just like spraying water against a brick so it was really rough.
“The turbulence coming off the end off the runway was so bad that it kicked us up to a 75 degree angle, it really caught us off guard and at 500 feet, you really don’t need that. The wind was also very high – it was about 35 km/h down the runway so it made for an interesting [landing] with no air speed indicator and nasty turbulence throwing us around.”
As Hinderks and Peters continued to share stories about their journey, members of the community almost seemed to grow more wide-eyed as they heard about the conditions of the flight. Hearing firsthand from the two aviators about their journey helped to put the historic Mercy Flight carried out by Vic Horner and “Wop” May into perspective.
In 1929, Horner and May travelled north through Peace River to Fort Vermillion to deliver critically needed medical supplies for a diphtheria outbreak. The two carried 23 pounds of anti-toxin in an open-topped Avro bi-plane in the freezing winter conditions of Northern Alberta.
While Peters and Hinderks have received a heroes’ welcome along each leg of the journey, Peters said it’s not justified.
“Some of the other reporters asked what it was like to be a hero and I had to laugh and say, I’m a wanna-be, Wop was a hero,” he said. “Looking at what he did on a regular basis … he saw it needed to be done so he did it and that was that. We have satellite navigation and electric vests and thermal underwear and stuff like that, and we’re suffering, but guys like Wop May and Vic Horner just did because it needed to be done, period.
“Those guys were heroes and being a part of this trip has given me even more respect for them because as we’re trying to retrace their footsteps I realize exactly how feeble it is of me to [try to] fill their shoes.”
While the plane Curtis and Hinderks flew, the Spirit of Edmonton Blue Baron, was based on the 1929 model, Curtis explained the modern additions to the plane and the new technology was almost a hindrance.
“A major difference is it has a brand new engine,” he explained. “It’s only 80 to 90 hours old, but that’s been one of our biggest problems. The old engines were designed to hang out in the open and the cold and this one isn’t. A lot of the modern technology has actually been very detrimental.
“We put on our electric socks because it was going to be – 25 C and it took just 12 minutes for the batteries to freeze, and electric socks without working batteries are much worse than not having socks at all.
“So, even today with the modern avionics and modern radios, we were still relying on hand signals. Even with the technology, we’re still going back to what’s proven and what works.”
After the two left the reception, it seems the weather’s toll was too big and the leg from Peace River to Fort Vermillion had to be completed in a different fashion. Peters flew an enclosed modern aircraft and Hinderks drove. The Blue Baron remains in Peace River and Hinderks plans to complete the leg in open-cockpit bi-plane once he regains his health.
Most likely, the takeoff, cruise and landing speeds are so close together that unless you are falling rapidly from the sky (stalled), you are going the right speed!!!! 
Also in an aircraft of this type, IFR approaches will NEVER happen, so exact airspeeds on the approach do not matter, if you start coming down to fast, more throttle to reduce descent rate, lower the nose for more speed. You will also know well in advance if you are close to the stall so you can correct with lots of time.
