Page 12 - March2020

to Colin and Penny, part of our UK family, for their I received an email shortly after arriving in the UK.
continued friendship and support and hospitality.
for the opportunity to rub shoulders with spend time
with and even fly with some very prominent
personalities, Prince William, Princess Catherine and
Prince George, Lord and Lady Suffolk, Baron Michael
Woodley, Baron and Lady Boot, Sir Sterling Moss and the
Earl of March. DH Test Pilot Desmond Penrose, Veteran
Tom Payne.
to the hundreds of great aviation enthusiasts and
photographers we met from around the world at the
events we attended. Their appreciation and interest in
KDN is heart warming.
to all our family and friends who made the effort to visit
us and share in our adventure this summer. Kathy and Al,
Jenny and Mark, Charlie and Marj, Shane and Tammy,
Dennis and Debbie, Richard, Danny, Andy, Doug and
Ryan, Dave and family, Colin and Penny. Phil and Jackie,
Les and Ann, Bruce, Tom, Carolyn and the boys.
to Vanessa, for having the courage and sense of
adventure to trade homes with us for the summer. And
to Monique for being here for Abbey. You will always be
welcome in our home. We will never forget you.
KDN has had a long and interesting history of connecting
people and continues to do so. Here are a couple
examples of this:
While attending the Chipmunk 70th Anniversary at Old
Warden a small energetic lady named Anne Hughes
introduced herself. She informed me she was in the
process of managing the restoration of the Beagle Pup
prototype G-AVDF. This aircraft is a parallel to KDN, in
that it evolved into the Beagle Bulldog, which eventually
replaced the Chipmunk as the primary trainer in the UK.
We discovered a couple more serendipitous connections.
Anne met Ken Large at the event. Ken was in the process
of negotiating the purchase of KDN from us. Ken taught
Anne to fly many years before! And we learned we both
lived at Finmere! Anne had relocated to Finmere village
to live in close proximity to Turweston where the Pup is
being restored! Anne is a great example of an aviation
ambassador. She not only manages the Pup’s restoration
but volunteers many hours a week as a
researcher/historian, at the Imperial War Museum at
Duxford and also is heavily involved with youth aviation
initiatives and the Vintage Aircraft Assoc. Anne is an
example of the quality of people connected to KDN.
Glen Fricker wrote to ask if he could come see
KDN. His Dad was an aviation journalist in
the1950’s and had flown KDN on many occasions.
Glen arrived at Finmere with his Dad’s logbook
and showed me where his Dad and Mom had
flown together in KDN. According to the date,
Glen was also on board – yet unborn! A few
months later the logbook showed his Mom and
Dad flying again in KDN with +1. That was Glen at
age 3 months flying on his Mom’s lap! Glen went
on to a career in aviation and is currently 737
Captain and also flies the deHaviland Rapide,
Harvard and Hurricane at Duxford. After flying
together in KDN, he can now add his name again
in KDN ‘s logbook, over 50 years later. Pretty
special.
While researching KDN’s history, I wished that I
could have met Pat Fillingham. Pat did the original
test flights on the Chipmunk in Downsview. Flying
together, Pat and his wife Sonja won the 1953
Kings Cup Air race and had a long term, close
connection to KDN. I had a photo of them as a
young couple accepting the trophy. Their flying
together reminded me of Karen’s and my
relationship with KDN. Flying as a team, sharing
the adventure. At the Chipmunk 70th anniversary
Carol introduced us to Sonja! What a thrill it was
to meet her. I was even able to go flying with her
in KDN. We have been able to attend a couple
other events together over the summer and had
time to get to know each other and form a great
friendship. It is extraordinary how KDN has made
these kind of connections possible.
Karen and I with our partner James and family
Carolyn, Charles and William have been so lucky
to be part of KDN’s history. We did our best by her
and she treated us well in return, creating
opportunities that we could never dream possible.
It has been a privilege and I am humbled to have
been a part of it. Ken will continue to treat her
right and with Graham’s help she will fly into the
next decade and continue to make connections
while proudly representing Canada’s rich
aerospace heritage.
Thank you KDN. Until we meet again. David
The end