Hey people,
here I sit, sunburned, tired, but happy as clown. What a day we've had. I
didn't really want to go to the Kars, Ontario, car show, as I don't like shows
in general. I went to keep Wilf company and because the show was held on an
air field. Now, this part interested me as I love flying, and would love to
fly gliders, my big dream.
Had a nice drive to this itzy bitzy little town of 50- some homes and the tiny
airport.
When we got there, only about 15 -20 cars were lined up for the show, many of
them American oldies, a few modern sports cars, a few motor bikes, nothing
special at all.
I talked to some people driving Austin Healeys, Sunbeams, and even a very nice
Tiger, sporting a Ford V8 engine. We were invited, by someone we don't know,
to a British breakfast in Ottawa.....I did my duty as the editor of the
'Overdrive', taking pictures and interviewing people, representing the Ottawa
Triumph club. All in all a nice experience.
We then walked out to the airfield.........wow, wow, wow.............lots of
little planes, Cessna's ultra light, kit planes, many gliders...........oh I
wanted a ride.......................Then, we spotted the air craft of
multimillionaire Michael Potter, part owner of Cognos, the high tech company.
Apparently, he owns several air crafts and employs a corporate air plan
mechanic who flies his air crafts...........M. Potter had his 'Beechcraft
stagger wing' at this show, all restored, 7 500 hours of resto work.
Well....... I got to talk to the mechanic...............
What do I find out???? M.Potter owns a Spitfire air craft!!!!!!!! And, it's at
the Upland air field, the military base in Ottawa..............Not only this,
people were waiting for the word that this air craft may be on it's way to
this iddy bitty air strip in Kars................I couldn't help it to let the
nice man know that I ALSO own a Spitfire!!!!! His eyes lit up in surprise, but
I had to admit that my Spit sported the words "Triumph" on the boot lid. This
man had a great sense of humour. Down to earth guy, my kind of person.
I asked him when/if the Spitfire air craft would arrive, would he let me
drive up and park beside the plane for some pictures. He thought this was a
marvellous idea. He even came over for another chat and to check out my Spit
"Firefly". So, we waited in anticipation. Sadly, we found out, the fly-in was
cancelled. The Air craft had just been painted and wasn't ready in time. But,
the nice man assured me that this air craft would be in certain shows in the
future and his offer of a picture would stand as a rain check.........
So, this was a close call, exiting to the point of nerve wrecking. I'm going
to take the man up on his offer, should the chance ever come up.
The moral of the story, when you don't expect great things of an insignificant
event, sometimes life surprises you in the most unexpected ways.
Liv
Happy spitting..............
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