Leaving A Contrail
Leaving A Contrail (formerly self-published as Air Force Blue) is now published by General Store Publishing House and covers 33 years of my life as a pilot in the Canadian Air Force. There were interesting periods, including a tour with 412 Squadron in Ottawa when I flew as Queen Elizabeth's pilot and also flew such luminaries as the Queen Mother, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Margaret, and various governors-general. I also spent two years as a military attaché in Prague when Czechoslovakia was a communist state, and amongst other things, was detained and held by their security police. Service with the Canadian Air Force was special because of the opportunity to work with the truly dedicated members the Air Force attracted. It was all part of an exciting career and I want to share these experiences with you.
218 pages
ISBN 0-9737390-1-0
Introduction
This is my story of service as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. I was barely 19 when I joined, and stayed for more than three decades. Thirty-three years is a long time to devote to one profession, yet long-term commitments were in vogue in my day. In general, I enjoyed the profession of flying and the companionship of pilots. Yet the air force I retired from was not the air force I joined. That, too, is part of the story.
Some will ask why I chose to put all this on paper. I felt compelled to do so for several reasons. Most importantly, I wanted to record these memories for my family and, particularly, my grandchildren to read through, to think about, to compare with their own experiences and to pass on to their future families. I wanted to give what I did not get, a sense of ancestral history to provide ancestral roots, and a standard to measure against.
I also want to present the general reader with the experiences of a pilot in the Canadian air force. To make this worthwhile, the telling of the story must be interesting and colourful, and must impart the excitement, the humour and the passion I felt during my service. I also want the reader to know that the rank and file were truly committed to serving Canada loyally and well, in peacetime as well as in the event of action. We were proud of our uniform and honoured the flag. We cringed when our political masters said foolish things or committed foolish acts, yet could not speak out because we were muzzled by our oath. We were held together by our training, our esprit de corps and our respect for one another.
I am also hopeful that the experiences and perspectives will prove of interest to fellow service members who have their own experiences and perspectives against which to evaluate mine. They will be critical readers, perhaps taking issue with my positions, or my assessments of events and developments. I look forward to initiating discussion and exchanges, and encourage them to put their experiences and perspectives on paper. After all, there are unsettled and unsettling issues that need to be brought forward and discussed with all Canadians, as our security must be a fundamental right. Therefore those who volunteer to assure it must provide us with effective and principled results.
Review - by Vic Johnson, Editor of Airforce Magazine
The author is Col Michael Zrymiak, OMM, CD (Ret), a Saskatchewan farm boy come air force pilot, staff officer and commander who spent 32 years at a variety of locations including 17 years in Ottawa. This book sums up an interesting and rewarding career which included a tour with 412 "VIP" Squadron in Ottawa flying royalty and senior politicians around the world. He also spent two tours in Europe, first in Lahr, Germany and later as military attaché in Prague, and finally, command of CFB Edmonton.
The author expresses many closely-held opinions on the DND HQ hierarchy, enforced bilingualism, the effect of "human rights" on Canada's military and other controversial subjects based on his many years at the "Head Shed" in Ottawa.
This book is written in a breezy, easy-to-read style and flows from one posting to the next.
Excerpt - Flying the Silver Star jet trainer
As the lesson plans progressed and the first solo came and went, the thrill of flying the T-33 intensified. I marvelled at its aerobatic capability and, in particular, the rolling manoeuvres. All that was necessary was to move the control column ever so slightly in either direction and it rolled easily and quickly compared to the Harvard trainer, which required much more control column pressure as well as a smoothly coordinated input of rudder to counteract the propeller forces. Looping aerobatics were also easily performed and vertical eights and rolls off the top were not a problem.
But for extra-super fun nothing beat finding a towering cumulus and flying around and over the billowing formation of cloud, staying fifty or so feet above the surface and pulling a lot of Gs, continuously turning to avoid going into cloud. Doing this at four to five hundred miles an hour with not a care in the world, except to be on the lookout for anyone else using your cloud, was a special way to relax from the repetition of practicing normal aerobatics and stalls and spins.
Excerpt - Solo aerobatics in a Harvard aircraft at a Portage air show in 1958
One of my special memories while instructing in Moose Jaw was being asked to develop a low-level aerobatic routine for an annual air show at Portage La Prairie. Most instructors prided themselves on their aerobatic skills and I was no exception. We loved our aerobatics and occasionally tried illegal low-level rolls for the thrill of the sensation. To be given permission to officially set up a routine also meant that I could practise to my heart’s content, which I did over the relief airfield at Buttress, and elsewhere if Buttress was busy with circuit work.
My show began with a high-speed low pass during which I pulled up slightly and did a quick roll over the show point, then dropped the nose and dove down to build up speed to complete the first part of a Cuban eight, which is half a loop with a rollout after the Harvard has finished the inverted part of the manoeuvre and its nose dropped through the horizon.
Coming back at the show area with a lot of speed, I performed an eight-point roll, keeping the nose of the aircraft fixed on the horizon. This was a difficult aerobatic manoeuvre with the Harvard, as it required a lot of variable rudder input to hold the nose steady and it bled off the speed in spite of the high RPM and manifold pressure settings. Normally, at altitude, aerobatics were performed at 2,000 RPM and 28 inches of manifold pressure; however, to maintain extra power, I used 2,300 RPM and up to 36 inches.
After the roll, I brought the aircraft up into a 70-degree climb, pulled back some power and, when the speed bled off to 70 knots, performed a stall turn with the rudder, which forced the nose to drop sideways and to come back at the airfield accelerating with full power on and ready for the next manoeuvre.
This started as a high-speed tight turn with full power and sufficient Gs to keep the aircraft on its wingtip throughout, bleeding down a little flap to accentuate the turn and avoid a stall. Usually, the aircraft shuddered a few times indicating that the stall was close. At the end of one complete turn over the field, the gear and flap were lowered and a slow-speed, dirty turn performed, with full power on. The aircraft was then cleaned up and another positioning stall turn performed with power, to come back at the field and do a barrel roll. After the barrel roll, I left the immediate area to gain some height to develop speed for a full Cuban eight manoeuvre over the show centre, followed by another climb for height.
The final manoeuvre was a maximum speed dive with a tight pull-up in front of the crowd, rolling off the top and pulling up into a vertical roll then looping into another inverted position and allowing the nose to mush down at almost zero speed. Once the nose fell through the horizon and into a dive, the Harvard was rolled straight down resulting in a Cuban eight exit. That way, I could not be accused of completing a loop even though the manoeuvre, an almost-completed vertical eight, was much harder to perform.
At this point, I would request landing permission, dive at the button of the runway, pull up in a tight turn to the left to about 500 feet in a fighter break, lowering gear and flap as I completed the very tight circuit. Coming over the end of the runway, still in the last part of the turn, I would try to plant a smooth three-point landing in front of the crowd. The routine lasted about 15 minutes including the landing and clearing the runway. At the end, as I unstrapped and climbed out of the cockpit, I would be completely drenched in sweat from the G forces and the concentration.