Geoff has been test flying a vintage 1957 Champion 7EC airplane from CYVG this winter. 

Geoff has some history with this particular aircraft. 
The Champ C-FKBR had been owned by a relative,  who generously allowed Geoff to build some coveted “tailwheel time”  early in his career.  This valuable time in Geoff’s logbook helped him land his first northern,  bush flying job in the spring of 1987. 

The last time he flew the aircraft was on his 21^st birthday. 

The aircraft was then sold to another local Pilot,  Jim Mead,  who restored and flew the airplane for several years.  After building another airplane,  Mead parked and carefully stored the airplane in 1994. 

When Jim learned about Geoff’s history with C-FKBR,  Jim made it possible for him to purchase the airplane in the fall of 2021. 

After extensive inspection the Champ was ready for the initial test flight in September 2023.  Several small adjustments later the Champ is flying as it did when it was new. 

Geoff reports that he hasn’t had this much fun flying something in a long time,  a return to real “grass roots flying” 

Watch for the little cream and red airplane flying in the CYVG area this spring!