Page 9 - December 2018
P. 9
“Thousands of volumes have been written about
aviation, but we do not automatically have thousands of
true and special friends in their authors. That rare writer
who comes alive on a page does it by giving of himself,
by writing of meanings, and not just of fact or of things
that have happened to him. The writers of flight who
have done this are usually found together in a special
section on private bookshelves.” — Richard Bach
ADVENTURES WITH G-AKDN -
CHAPTER 9
We met a living legend. George Neal was the original
test pilot of KDN, while he was de Havilland Canada’s
Chief Pilot. George was retired and living near the
original Downsview factory where KDN was built. He
was keeping himself busy building a full size replica
of a Hawker Hart Biplane in a small second house on
his property. He was also still flying his own personal
Chipmunk as well as his Hornet Moth.
We contacted George to discuss specific features
and details about Chipmunks and KDN specifically.
He was very generous with his time and deep
knowledge of the airplane. He spent hours visiting
with us on the phone as well as at his home. This
was to become one of the best features of KDN. It
was the vehicle that opened so many doors for us.
We have been able to meet so many very interesting
people and visit many interesting places that we
could ever dream of doing had it not been for KDN.
The circle of friends we developed circled the globe.
Through George we met the fine people at the
Twigg & Company Chartered Bombardier Aircraft factory that stands on the same
Professional Accountants site as the original de Havilland Canada factory. We
650 Regency Center also met many nice people at the museum that was
333 - 25th Street East in the actual building where KDN was built. There is
Saskatoon, SK S7K 0L4 a photo of the factory floor showing a very early
Main Number 306-244-0808 airframe under construction. We were able to visit
Fax 306-244-0004 and stand on the exact spot where KDN came to life.
Email: twigg.ca@sasktel.net The work continued on KDN through the winter.
With the fuselage and metal parts cleaned and
inspected we started the process of recovering the
wings, ailerons, flaps, rudder and elevator with
fabric.
