Gipsy Moth reborn

Hard work, experience, and a lot of elbow grease—along with a passion for flight and a bit of serendipity—were the key ingredients that went into the meticulous restoration of a former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Gipsy Moth by two Regina men, Bob Meyer and Rem Walker. Like most faithful restorations, this one took a lot of zigs and zags from first view to first flight.

Meyer, a former model aircraft builder turned machine shop guru who specializes in rebuilding auto engines, first saw C-GZIE at an auction in Kenaston, Sask., in the early 1990s. It was advertised as a Piper Cub, but Meyer recognized its true identity, purchased it on the spot, and the metal fuselage was soon sitting in his shop near Lumsden, Sask. The problem was, what next?

Enter his good friend, Rem Walker, an experienced pilot who had restored another Gipsy Moth for the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw. Walker had also flown Tiger Moths when he first earned his pilot’s licence in Estevan on an Air Cadet Flying Scholarship (just a few years ago, now). Together, they decided that a restoration project was just what they needed, and the search for parts and pieces began.

Well-known Saskatchewan aviator and collector Harry Whereatt was able to supply two 90-horsepower Gipsy engines, and a third was found and purchased near Moose Jaw. The various parts and pieces came from collectors, auctions, hobbyists, and others. Many of the parts, such as turnbuckles, had to be manufactured in Bob’s shop.  

And, here is where serendipity stepped in. During an annual trip to an antique car swap meet in Chickasha, Okla., Meyer couldn’t believe his luck when there, sitting on a bench, was a carb for a Gipsy engine! He had tried to get one from another source, but the cost was around $2,000—so he asked the owner of the swap meet carb how much he wanted, and the answer was $20! Sold!

Brake shoes and linings, special adapters for a set of levers and cables, the addition of a tail wheel to replace the original skid, laminating new spars they manufactured from Sitka spruce sourced from an old school bus, adding a cylinder head temp gauge and an oil temp gauge…the work pressed on, slowly but surely.   

Finally, in 2005, C-GZIE took to the air on a beautiful, quiet afternoon from Norm Colhoun’s strip near Lumsden, with Walker at the controls. All went well, and after a few more check flights the passenger list began to grow. In the end, more than 70 very lucky people were able to experience the magic of flight in an open cockpit biplane—and the nostalgia of a golden era in flight—before the Gipsy Moth was moved back into Meyer’s hangar, to await the next milestone in a very colourful history.