Dreams do come true
Doc Paynter’s glider finally takes off – 43 years in the making.
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Updated: October 21, 2009 3:16 PM
They say it takes a village to raise a child but the story in this case is that it took two villages: Hope and Salt Spring Island to raise an airplane.
Doc Paynter bought the plans for a Fauvel AV 361 glider in 1966 and started on a project which would span 43 years. He moved to Hope in 1969 to teach Industrial Ed because of the airport and the glider club and it was here that he started to glue together the ribs for the wing.
During the next several years many things interfered, he built a sailboat and three houses, raised two kids, moved a couple of times, and continued to live a full life but the glider project never died.
After retiring and moving to Salt Spring Island in 1995 he began in earnest to complete his dream of finishing the glider. The project was monumental. He had to smuggle the glue from the USA when Canada took it off the market, he used a return trip from Mexico in a van to bring home sheets of very thin plywood that would have cost huge dollars had they have been sent from San Diego. He found several craftsmen on Salt Spring who could help manufacture the parts, the fittings and help make everything work smoothly. People who could use a welder, metal lathe, had expertise in radio installation, knew about fiberglass, special paint, some to help work out the physics of weight, balance and center of gravity.
The project grew and grew as he quietly and methodically worked on each aspect. He had the inspector come, redid things that weren’t correct, bought special fabric that had to be fitted, glued and heated until it shrunk into shape.
Many times the project seemed to be never ending but finally last summer it had its final inspection, was moved out of the garage, had it’s registration number painted on but still the tweaking went on.
Paynter upgraded his gliding license and began the slow process of trying to get his plane finally in the air. Wires had to be tightened, parts adjusted and readjusted, a trailer had to be built and the list seemed never ending.
Finally after 43 years in the making he connected with a young pilot Shawn Braiden, talked to several friends who lent their time, energy and support and transported the small one seater glider with a 42-foot wing span weighing only 330 pounds up to the Hope airport. Here the summer of 2009 dragged on as the tweaking, more fiddling and more frustration mounted until finally this past weekend he connected it to a car and Shawn gave it its first test flight. All the club members looked on and hoped for the best. Then after a few test runs it was connected to the tow plane and pulled up to 4,000 feet.
The young pilot spent 1.5 hours flying around the mountains near Hope spinning, dipping, diving using the thermals and basically having the time of his life. Doc was quivering with excitement. There were just a few friends on the ground watching but many of those who have been interested and involved for the past 43 years would have loved to see this little plane fly. They were not there but Doc would like to thank all those people who have been part of this process and have helped him on his journey, those from Hope and those from Salt Spring Island. Maybe next spring when the flying season starts again the two villages that helped get this plane in the air will see him fly.
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