By Skies Magazine | September 30, 2015 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 37 seconds.
Bjarni Tryggvason rolls Mike Smith’s Pitts Special. Eric Dumigan Photo
Bjarni Tryggvason, one of the original six Canadian astronauts, who flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1997 as a payload specialist, celebrated his 70th birthday by flying seven aerobatic flights in six aircraft.
While many would have retired by 70, Tryggvason is an academics instructor with the International Test Pilots School in London, Ont. and the chief operations officer at the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association in Tillsonburg, Ont.
On a sunny Sept. 20, family and friends gathered at Tillsonburg Airport (CYTB) to wish Tryggvason a happy birthday. His children, Mike and Lauren, helped organize the day that would see him make seven aerobatic flights, one for each decade.
Tryggvason, in the cockpit of the ITPS L-39 poses with his children, Mike and Lauren. Eric Dumigan Photo
The first flight of the day was in Larry Ernewein’s Bucker Jungmann, a true classic aerobatic aircraft. All flights were conducted over CYTB above 5,000 ft.
He then flew Bruce Bond’s Bellanca Super Decathlon, followed closely by a flight in Pete McLeod’s Red Bull Air Race Edge 540. After a quick lunch it was on to Mike Smith’s Pitts Special and an A2A photo shoot.
Next up was a two ship Harvard aerobatic flight with Scott McMaster and then a solo Harvard aerobatic routine. The seventh and final flight was in the International Test Pilots School Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross. The day was topped off with a birthday cake, complete with an edible space shuttle.
Tearing down the Tillsonburg runway in Pete McLeod’s Canadian Red Bull Air Race Edge 540. Eric Dumigan Photo
Tryggvason was born Sept. 21, 1945, in Reykjavik, Iceland. As part of the Canadian Space Agency he completed a captaincy check in the Tutor jet trainer and is an Airline Transport rated pilot with a love of aerobatics.
Growing up in Canada he attended schools in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. In 1972, he obtained a bachelor of applied science in engineering physics from the University of British Columbia and completed postgraduate work in engineering with specialization in applied mathematics and fluid dynamics at the University of Western Ontario.
Scott McMaster and Tryggvason perform a two-ship aerobatic flight in two Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association aircraft. Eric Dumigan Photo
As one of the first Canadian astronauts he trained as a backup payload specialist for STS-52 and was a payload specialist on board STS-85, which took off Aug. 7, 1997 and lasted 12 days.
He also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Iceland and has received the Order of the Falcon, an Icelandic medal of achievement.
Tryggvason also had the privilege of piloting a replica Silver Dart on the ice of Baddeck Bay for the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada and the British Empire on Feb. 22, 2009.
Tryggvason and Larry Ernewein taxi in after a short aerobatic flight in the classic trainer. Eric Dumigan Photo
