Russian WW II plane built in Calgary
Flickr, De-mythology, Big Clash, Yakovlev. The name&the planes Add commentsI learned about Butch Foster, his friend Ron and their homebuilt project from a flight examiner who I flew a Transport Canada Instrument Rating test with.
It was in August, 2004, and since that time the project has been progressing in a more or less moderate pace, - people familiar with this kind of activity in ‘leisure aviation’ know what a special feature of any homebuilt is ‘the time to finish the project’. Oh, there’s tons of stories on this topic.
My first exciting rendezvous with Yak happened in September of 2004.
Yet it was hard to say from what I was seeing whether it was ‘Yak’, or whatever, but at least on the ‘design board’ I could easily recognize a familiar look of the plane.
It was so incredible to see all this stuff and people put together in a garage of one of the houses in South-West of Calgary: a chart of the legendary Russian WW II fighter, the elements of the project under construction, a former RCAF pilot, an oil industry engineer - and myself, a new immigrant from the country of the plane’s origin. All this was making a ‘near perfect’ CLASH!
(to be continued..)
May 29th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Great find. Isn’t it amazing how things come together sometimes?
May 29th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
oldDog,
Exactly,
I’m going to make a post about LADA cars, and how something about them is now going to be connected with the Canadian MAGNA.
Meanwhile, the Yak is coming, and Butch has made a ‘commitment’ for a ‘maiden’ flight to be done this year.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:48 pm
[…] (Click HERE, if you wanna see the ‘beginning of the series’) […]
November 18th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Nice to see you found a homebuilder/desinger/Yak builder.
Keep up the good works boys!
Len in Niagara
November 18th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Hi, Len,
Thank you for visiting. Butch and Ron are great ‘home built aircraft manufacturers’
, I’m enjoying the time with them.
Should drop by, and see what you guys doing in Niagara
Cheers,
S
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 pm
HELLO,
I HAVE 2 YAK-3 PROJECTS. I THINK THIS IS GREAT. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH BUTCH.
ED
February 24th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Ed,
yes, I’ll talk to Butch, and let him know about you looking for a contact. What kind of ‘Yak-3 projects’ you’re talking about? Authentic Yak replicas with ‘Allison’ engines?
Talk to you,
S
February 24th, 2009 at 12:41 am
HELLO,
IF YOU GO TO BARNSTORMERS AND SEARCH YAK-3. YOU WILL SEE THE PROJECTS, JUST SOLD ALL MY ALLISON ENGINES. I AM GETTING READY TO RETIRE IN FEW YEARS. LIVE AT AIRPARK IN WV. USA ( 2WV3) I AM A A&P AND IA AND FLY FOR US AIRWAYS.
I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO TALK WITH BUTCH. IF YOU COULD HAVE HIM EMAIL ME OR CALL.
THANK YOU,
ED
February 24th, 2009 at 5:00 am
Ed,
Have just seen your stuff on the BARNSTORMERS. Butch has been advised your wanted to talk to him, and you can call. The phone numbers must be in your e-mail box by now.
It must be a very quaint place, - at 2WV3, eh?
I’d be delighted if you sent a couple of pictures on my e-mail.
Nice to talk to you,
S
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:02 am
Would you be able to send me the video link where Butch is giving his best in the Russian language asking for a flight suit to wear when he flies the Yak-1. Your current link results in a “no longer available” response.
Just another note… you may want to include dates for your comments that would help chronologically. When you mentioned the maiden flight as being sometime this year, I was just wondering if that was 2008 or 2009.
By the way, this comment is being made on March 1, 2009.
Best regards,
Larry Stewart
Ottawa, Canada
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 am
Larry
thank you for stopping by. I’ll try my best to update and systematize these notes on the Yak-1 project by Butch and Ron.
As for the ‘maiden flight’.. Its has not occurred yet. I saw Butch recently, and he’s given another idea of when it might happen - this (2009) spring. They have had to fix a few snags, and present the aircraft for TC inspection. Thank you for your interest to the project and the blog, I’ll pass the word along to Butch that his work ’stirred some interest’
Keep in touch,
Sergey
P.S. A video you were probably referring to should be available, try THIS LINK please.
Regards.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Hi!
I’d like to be able to contact Butch Foster if he is one of my boyhood friends from Regina. The Butch I’m looking for is ex RCAF and his actual first name is Wayne.
Sincerely,
Ross Thompson
erosst@telus.net
November 30th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Hi, Ross,
Sorry, it took me too long to reply to this request of yours. I’ll let know Butch of it as soon as I can. Yes, you are right, his first name is Wayne.
Talk to you,
S