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Rocket down in Alberta

Flying Canuck

Well Known Member
Patron
I sure hate to have to post this. This month has yet another crash, sadly fatal x2. Reports are of a Harmon Rocket down this afternoon southwest of Edmonton, Alberta (near Thorsby). It appears to be one of the several Rockets based out of Rocky Mountain House.

Link to CTV news
 
I sure hate to have to post this. This month has yet another crash, sadly fatal x2. Reports are of a Harmon Rocket down this afternoon southwest of Edmonton, Alberta (near Thorsby). It appears to be one of the several Rockets based out of Rocky Mountain House.

Link to CTV news

Sad news indeed. Condolences to the families involved.
 
Oh that's tragic -(
Everytime a plane like the Vans type machines goes in and there's a fatality a little peice of me cries -(
RIP
 
Rocket

Amazing friend and talented pilot. A frequent visitor to our airport. Part of Team Rocket airshows.

Will be missed for sure
 
Ken Fowler was a very well known pilot, both locally and throughout the Harmon Rocket and airshow communities. He was a founding part of multiple airshow acts including Team Rocket as well as one that paired his Rocket with his son Kyle's Long-eze. He was also the airport manager at CYRM, Rocky Mountain House until recently.

I don't know Ken personally but I had the opportunity to meet him once when he presented at our local Flying Club. His presentation was on a 97 stop Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour that he led in 2017 that saw mini airshows across the vast Canadian North.

This one is hitting the Alberta aviation community hard, I don't think there are many here who didn't at least know of him. Tailwinds and blue skies Ken.
 
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That wasn't a fun series of phone calls yesterday, that's for sure. It's hit some members of the family especially hard because this is the second death (in the family) in as many months.
 
I couldn't believe it when I heard the news, the blood just drained from my face. I don't think there was a more experienced Rocket pilot than Ken anywhere. He's done countless airshows all over North America including the night shows.

He was a fine man in every respect as is his son Kyle who is an SDS client and does the unique aerobatic shows in his Long-Ez. Ken and Kyle both had aerobatics as part of their DNA. Kyle, if you're reading this- sorry, I don't even know what to say. Ken will be so missed by so many people.

Ugh... hits the Alberta RV/Rocket community hard as Flying Canuck said.

My first meeting with Ken was in the air over Rocky Mountain House in my RV, maybe 2004/2005. He was practicing aerobatics nearby, heard us call up and asked if he could formate on us. He was up beside us in a flash at a safe distance (my safe which is pretty far) and we had a bit of a conversation over the radio. He then peeled off and I thought that was all pretty cool.

I met Ken in person only once but almost every Rocket and RV guy here knew of Ken. A legend around these parts, doing what most of us mere mortals only dream of.
 
Oh man. That’s terrible.

I only ever met Ken a few times, but although I never got to know him very well, one of those meetings had a major impact on my life.

In the few years just before and just after I graduated from college, before I could afford flight training (let alone think about owning or building an airplane), I did a lot of airshow photography and writing for aviation magazines and websites. It was in that context that I got to talk with Ken Fowler and Eric Hansen a few times, when they and I were at the same airshow.

(Some assorted pictures from Sonoma, Arlington, and Abbotsford over the years...)

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One of those times, in 2007, Ken offered to take me up for a ride during the media day / practice day, the day before the airshow. This was my first ride in an “RV” (yeah, a Rocket, but y’know, close enough…). Think back to your first ride in an RV (even if it was in the back seat), to the first time you experienced the “RV grin”. As I’m sure you can imagine, I basically fell in love with the airplane.

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(Image above by Nathan Havercroft)

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Four years later, less than a year after I became a private pilot, I bought an RV. After I graduated from grad school, I bought another one. I have since been checked out to rent a third and to borrow a fourth. (I’ll build one someday…). As you know, RVs aren't just special because they're ridiculously fun, it’s also because Van’s offers terrific support, and because there is this amazing community of builders and owners.

Here is a photo from 2012, of me thanking Ken for introducing me (five years earlier) to our favorite series of airplanes:

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In February of this year (before COVID really hit), I put in my two-weeks notice at Boeing and accepted a job offer at Van’s. I’m having tons of fun here… and I still credit Ken for opening the door for me into this exceptional community and these super fun little airplanes.

I'm glad that Ken's son Kyle will carry on his dad's traditions of flying airshows in an experimental homebuilt. Hopefully you guys saw the recent Flight Chops episode, and this cool stunt just a couple days ago...

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Anyways, thank you Ken for intruducing me to the RV universe. It really did make a huge impact in my life, and I'll never forget it.
 
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I had the pleasure of getting to know Ken a few months ago when he needed hangar space for a few days on a weather-delayed ferry flight. Just a great guy and a fantastic pilot. This will be felt by an awful lot of people.
 
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