When members of the South Island aviation community heard that a 100-year-old former Spitfire pilot wanted to fly again, they jumped in to help.
As a result, George Brewster stepped into the passenger seat of a 1963 Cessna 180 float plane on Quamichan Lake in Duncan for a 30-minute tour on Saturday.
Brewster brought along his close friend Iain Brown, a teenager with whom he had bonded over their shared appreciation for poetry, aviation and Scotland.
“He’s 18. I’m 100. We’re close friends,” he said. “It was a wonderful, wonderful day.”
Brewster met Brown — a Scottish immigrant who moved to Vancouver Island six years ago — at church last year. Their friendship grew after they collaborated on Duncan’s most recent Robbie Burns Day celebration. They now hang out regularly, often meeting at the Doghouse restaurant in town.
Dyke Noel, who piloted the plane free of charge, said he was happy to take the two friends and Brown’s mother out for a ride. “Anyone who likes to go flying, we like to help them out.”
John Howroyd, a Duncan resident who hosted the flight, said Brewster is a pillar of the local community and a regular sight at air cadet and Remembrance Day events.
“He’s very enthusiastic about helping young people find their way,” he said.
Brewster was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, to an aviation family of Scottish heritage. His father and his uncle both flew fighter planes in the First World War.
When the Second World War broke out, he became a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 416 Squadron, which flew out of Scotland for a time.
“We couldn’t stand idly by while innocent people were being bombed out of their home,” he said.
Members of the 416 were tasked with defending Britain and would eventually assist in offensive operations such as the Dieppe Raid and fly sorties over Normandy, Arnhem, and the Rhine, according to the Air Force Association of Canada.
Though the P-51 Mustang was a bit faster and had more range, the Spitfire was Brewster’s favourite aircraft. “I can’t imagine a nicer airplane to fly,” he said. “I would throw an airplane around like you wouldn’t believe.”
Modern planes are less nimble, he said.
After the war, Brewster lived in the north with the Inuit, worked as a rancher raising Angus cattle in the town of Tofield, near Edmonton, Alta., and then make his way out west “to do a little fishing,” he said.
Brown called Brewster a “go-getter” and an inspiring figure in his life. “He’s got his head screwed on right.”
As for Brewster, he said the younger man gives him another perspective on life.
“He has an inquisitive mind,” he said. “I enjoy his company.”
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