The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MADE IN CANADA Tel: 519-208-8200597 King Street, North, WATERLOO, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 3 CITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE CITY NEWSCITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE By Bill Jackson For the Chronicle Short on time and still decked out in a camouflaged flight suit, Ramona Ostrander was gassing up her car, en route to a home inspection, when a man asked if it was her T-55 Vampire that frequent- ly � ies overhead. Ostrander, a local realtor, is also an aviation enthusiast who volunteers with the Waterloo Warbirds. And though she hadn't intended to pose as a walking billboard, a marketing push might be warranted. Those affiliated with the Warbirds, a local business offering flight experiences in Cold War-era military jets, say it's one of the best-kept secrets around. Located inside the Region of Waterloo Inter- national Airport's Hanger 51, formerly a Black- Berry base for business trips, the Waterloo War- birds has operated here since 2014. "To get the experience of grabbing the control stick and � ying a jet -- where else can you do that?" said David Kreutzkamp, sales and mar- keting manager with the airport's Flightline Ser- vices, a main sponsor of the volunteer-run orga- nization. Kreutzkamp has worked with the Warbirds for the past decade, an operation which grew from a collection of privately-owned jets that were flying out of the Jet Aircraft Museum in London. "While the name is new to the public, the sta� and aircraft are not," according to the website. � e � rst aircraft, a Canadair CT-133, was pur- chased from the Government of Canada back in 2007 at a time when there were no T-33s in Canada flying privately -- a process that took several years. While the original grey paint was historically accurate, a new paint scheme gave birth to the Mako Shark in 2011, based on the commemo- rative "Silver Shark" T-33 flown by the VU32 squadron in 1992. � e Mako Shark began to operate under loan to the Jet Aircraft Museum in London and several new additions were added to the � eet, including a DH-115 de Havilland Vampire that operated in the Swiss Air Force until the early 1990s. When the Jet Aircraft Museum decided to change its mandate of � ying loan aircraft in 2014, aircraft sponsors decided to continue their � nan- cial support and focus the program on pure � y- ing, to ensure that the aircraft continued to � y for the public, and Waterloo Warbirds was born. The featured planes -- now including two T-33s, an L-29 Viper, T-55 Vampire and the Mig- 15 named Natasha -- are privately owned and loaned to the organization that manages, oper- ates and maintains them. "� at's the way it's most e� ective," Kreutz- kamp said. "The owners will tell you without such an organization of at least 10 -- and we're now 20 volunteers -- you can't effectively or safely operate these airplanes. You need a team. "You need people that are doing the Trans- port Canada handling of paperwork, you need team members that are marketing, selling and raising the pro� le, and you need team members who are maintaining and helping operate the aircraft on the days we � y, with all the ground equipment that's required." Other than the aircraft maintenance engi- neers who provide certi� ed inspections, no one with the Warbirds receives a paycheque, and business is mostly a break-even venture. � e overarching mandate is preserving and telling the stories of the planes, as well as the servicemen and women who � ew them. But the main reason people come to � y them is the rush. Nowhere else in Ontario, or Canada for that matter, can people experience the G-force of a post-Second World War fighter jet, flying at speeds of up to 650 km/h and at altitudes of up to 12,000 feet."We have the most active, most vis- ible and the largest organization tied to operating vintage jets in Canada," Kreutzkamp said. People can fly in a Lancaster bomber in Mount Hope or go to Tillsonburg to experience a Harvard trainer -- both carry a lot of history and nostalgia. But the di� erence between that experience and what the Warbirds o� er is akin to going for a Sunday cruise or driving a Formula-1 race car, Ostrander said. "� e G-force, speed and aero- batic elements you just can't experience in other planes," she said. "It's a fast-paced, relatively intense flight experience," added Kreutzkamp, who said the Warbirds don't get bogged down in too many other areas of aviation. Some customers are pilots themselves and most come with at least some knowledge or interest in the industry. "But we're a thrill," he conceded. � e Warbirds essentially o� er the Top Gun experience, less the cockiness of Tom Cruise. "We can get Maverick in the backseat and because of the conversation that goes on between that passenger and the pilot during the flight, they're going to experience the level of thrill that they want," Ostrander explained, add- ing the majority of � ights, priced between $1,000 and $2,500, are purchased as gifts. Similar to a student-driver, even those with limited experience can take control of the plane for a portion of the � ight and cater it to their lik- ing with the help of the pilot. Continued on page 14 Waterloo Warbirds give people with the need for speed the thrill of their lives in � ghter jets Welcome to Top Gun SUBMITTED PHOTO Some recent � iers at Waterloo Warbirds get set for takeoff.