Slowly taxiing, Barry Pendrak turns onto the runway in his backyard and increases the throttle to take off.
Within seconds, he’s banking left over treetops northwest of Athabasca and gaining speed.
Seconds later, that speed turns into altitude in a loop-the-loop. As he pulls the plane upside down, the trees are now above him. It feels like he’s pulling upwards of four Gs — or four times the pull of gravity.
Aug. 14 was just a regular practice day, Pendrak said, getting ready for the upcoming Edmonton Airshow. After landing, he said he would be practicing near his house every day the week before the show.
“You get rusty fast,” he said. “Even this one here just now, my verticals were way off. Most people won’t notice it, but I do.”
Born in Westlock and now living southeast of Hondo, Barry Pendrak, 65, has been flying for about 40 years. Starting out with commercial flying and waterbombing through the north in his 30s, he now continues to dazzle crowds with Hammerheads and Humpty Bumps around western Canada.
Around the region
Pendrak said he has flown at the Hawg Flatts Bike Rally and the Smith fall fair. He also said he took his plane down to the Jewell family jambouree.
Pendrak also flew at the Athabasca Fly-In Barbecue July 21, while his son Marty brought in his Nanchang-CJ6.
“It’s a flying family,” said Norm De Wet, Athabasca airport administrator and fly-in barbecue organizer, noting that the Pendrak family and All Pro Truck & Trailer were “phenomenal” sponsors of the event. “They’ve been around for a long time.”
Pendrak said the season is relatively short in the north, and he will do about eight to 10 shows this year.
“Those small shows, they’re as much fun — or more — than the big shows,” he said.
Pendrak hops into his Staudacher S-300 — the only one in Canada — for a practice round at his private airstrip just northwest of Athabasca near Hondo Aug. 14.
Pendrak practices aerobatics in two aircraft on his property — a Staudacher S-300 and a Steen Skybolt.
The Skybolt is made from wood, steel and fabric.
“These were designed by in the early 1970s by a high school shop teacher, and it was a school project,” he said. “You build completely from scratch. You’ve got to build all the wing ribs, the spar, the all the steel and tubing — all it is is plans that you buy.”
Edmonton Airshow
Villeneuve Airport, Aug. 18. Thousands of people sit on the side of the runway for the Edmonton Airshow, eating french fries and hot dogs and quenching their thirst with lemonade.
The faint scent of smoke lingers in the air, but the sun no longer hides behind it.
Winds in the sky are at about 25 knots — or 25 nautical miles per hour —with gusts up to 35 knots.
Despite these conditions that kept some performers away, Barry Pendrak took to the sky in his Skybolt.
Sue Heuman who was working with communications at the Edmonton Airshow said they were thrilled to have local performers in the show.
“We have a couple every year, and I think that they bring a certain knowledge of the area to the performance,” she said. “And I know that the local crowds really love it when they find out that someone is local.”
She said she thinks it gives local aviation a boost, as well.
“I think it’s inspirational to kids who may want to take up aviation as a career,” she said.
As for Barry?
“Barry’s amazing. He’s absolutely amazing,” Heuman said. “His performance is really thrilling, and we’re so excited that he decided to join us.”
Pendrak stands by his Skybolt at the Edmonton Airshow Aug. 18 before performing.
Skills and chills
Pendrak speaks about his experiences flying with a calm, easy tone, whether he is explaining different kinds of tricks or tight situations he has found himself in.
“You’re watching lots of stuff,” he said. “It’s energy management. If you’re low and slow, you have no energy left. If you’re fast and low, you have energy. You can do something. If you’re high and slow, then you have energy.”
One of those tight situations came about as Pendrak was helping a friend in Hinton, who had recovered and rebuilt a Skybolt like the one Pendrak flies. Pendrak said he was the only person nearby who was current on the machine and could get insurance, and he agreed to give it its first test flights.
He said after one easy flight with a few circles, he returned to the airstrip and picked up the plane’s owner. His friend took the controls and did a low pass, and they started to climb, the fuel pump gave out.
“We were just west of the town of Hinton, over the highway,” he said. “There’s nothing there by rock, the highway, and the river. I only had a few seconds to decide what to do.”
He said he was desperate enough to consider the train tracks, which disappeared into a tunnel in the mountains. He said the highway was unsuitable due to traffic and sign posts. He said the place he chose was a 700-foot gravel bar in the river. “I made a shot for that and I hit it,” he said. “It was a perfect landing, eh? But it had rocks this big on it. Went bouncing over the rocks, and off of the end of the gravel bar, and into the river upside down.”
Pendrak said he — who can’t swim — and his friend managed to get out of the plane, and the water was chest high. They dragged the airplane to shore.
“So away we went up the river bank, and that almost killed me,” he said with a laugh.
“There was still ice on the doggone river,” he added.
Into the sunset?
Pendrak said he said he likes the challenge of aerobatics, but it is a lot of work.
“Even these and the air shows get to be such a burden,” he said.
He said he does not have a retirement date in mind, but he’s definitely not at risk of becoming a “Sunday pilot.”
“They just want to sit in the airplane, fly from one spot to the next, and then come home — hopefully. They don’t like to challenge themselves at all,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for the aerobatics, I probably wouldn’t even be flying anymore,” he said. “It’s just not challenging.”
– With files from Bryan Taylor
