Spectators rolling their eyes skyward may think they’ve been transported back to the 1940s when Bud Granley takes to the air. However, his T-6 Harvard single engine aircraft is all about what crowds want to see at a modern airshow like Skyfest – Quesnel’s International Airshow, Aug. 3 – 4.
The vintage plane launches its performance with a snaproll on take off and continues to amaze through a 2,200-foot climb and many other outstanding moves.
Bud isn’t alone in his performance, bringing in his son Ross who is just one of several of Bud’s offspring who have careers in the sky. In fact his family history is littered with pilots.
The Granley team’s aircrafts includes a Fouga Jet, a two-seater jet-powered trainer aircraft which allows these skilled pilots to create stunning rolling performance.
But possibly the most visually arresting performance is the father and son in Yak-55s, which are single-seat, aerobatic Russian aircrafts. Sychronization, take-off rolls, tumbles and turns, flips and loops wow spectators from takeoff to landing.
Bud admitted his love of flying began at the age of nine, after seeing his father land a Tiger Moth biplane at his uncle’s farm. Together with his two brothers, Bud joined his father in a flying career which included time in the Royal Canadian Air Force both as a pilot and instructor on his beloved T-6 Harvard. Using this aircraft, Bud began his career in air shows through demonstrations of the T-6 for the air force. He flew for United Airlines until retiring in 1997. Of his six children, three served in the Canadian Armed Forces; two flew with the Snowbird aerobatic team and are now airline pilots.
His son and team partner Ross was a pilot with Canadian Armed Forces and also a Snowbird pilot, a fighter pilot as well as a flight instructor. Transitioning to civilian life, Ross and his family joined Bud in Washington state where he is also a United Airlines pilot.
One of his ongoing passions is performing with his father and entertaining flying enthusiasts.
Skyfest – Quesnel’s International Airshow is scheduled for Aug. 3 – 4.
Tickets for Skyfest 2013, Aug. 3 – 4 are online advance, adult day pass $15, weekend $25; youth day pass, $4, weekend $7; family (two adults and four youth) day pass $40, weekend $65; hard stock advance, available for sale throughout Quesnel, adult day pass $15, weekend $25; youth day pass $4; family day pass $40; at the gate, adult day pass $20; youth day pass, $5; family day pass $50. Tickets available at Circle ‘S’ Western Wear and Tourist Info Centre.
For those wishing to camp, three nights camping (Friday to Monday), two-day family show admission is $135.
For information visit www.quenselskyfest.ca.
