Testing the limits of aviation with Gordon Price.
by Roger Klein // Video by Roger Klein
His red and white airplane swooped low over the water then climbed vertically before rolling and tumbling through a cloud of smoke that erupted from the aircraft’s exhaust.
It’s an extreme aerobatics maneuver called a “lomcevak,” and it’s one of many twists and turns that 80-year-old Gordon Price includes in his aerobatic routine.
The term lomcevak is Derived from a Czechoslovakian word, which roughly means a headache or hangover (like the spins), after you’ve had a few too many drinks. Despite the physical demands of aerobatics, Price continues to fly at airshows across the country.
“I keep looking for signs that I should stop, I mean memory lapses, making mistakes or stuff like that,” he says. “I’m pretty conscious of things like that and I haven’t seen anything yet but I’m thinking this can’t go on forever, so I’m starting to make plans but I just don’t know what future holds.”
When it comes to flying, Price admits he can’t get enough.
Canada Day performances on the Georgian Bay waterfront have become an annual tradition for Price. He plans to retire from aerobatics after a final cross country tour.
Price started his flying career in 1959 as an air cadet and later flew CF-104 starfighters as a nuclear strike pilot during the Cold War. Dozens of Canadian pilots were killed in CF-104 crashes; he says the jet was good at going fast but tricky at low altitudes.
“The 104 had such a high wing loading it just cut through the air, you wouldn’t get turbulence, you would get vibration—just a simple little vibration. Our target runs were done at 540 knots, which is over 600 miles an hour. At 100 feet you really knew that you were moving and that way I guess you could that a bit of a rush. But you are also really intent on not hitting the ground.”
After his time with the RCAF, Price joined Air Canada as a Captain and worked his way through their fleet of aircraft. The 747-400 was his favourite. He says the jumbo jet handled like a piper cub but had a dance floor on the upper deck.
“That was the pinnacle of commercial aviation because when they put on the seat belt sign to land everybody booed. You won’t find that now—everybody cheers”
Price represented Canada at three world aerobatic championships then took a break from flying until he discovered a prototype Yak-50 for sale in the US. It was an aircraft he had flown once before.
“I thought that I really needed to have a focus. I thought maybe the airplane would do it. I hadn’t flown in quite some time so I went out and I bought it and frankly it forced me into staying healthy and gave me a new focus on life. I’m so glad that I did it.”
After the airshow season wraps up, Price intends to keep the dream alive and visit the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida where he will take part in pilot training and fly in a vintage F-104.
