27 August 2013

Ottawa Flying Club 55th Annual Fly Day Saturday 28 September 2013

From Ottawa Flying Club

It's that time of year again! Saturday 28 September 2013 the Ottawa Flying Club will once again host its Annual Fly Day event supporting The Rotary Club of Ottawa. Members of the public will be able to register the morning of the event to take a sightseeing tour of our beautiful city for $40 per person.

Pilots Needed!

We need you! Fly Day is a great opportunity to give back to the community by volunteering your time as a pilot. We are seeking as many pilots and 4 seat or larger aircraft as possible. A tax receipt will be provided to pilots for their fuel used during the event. For more details please contact Marc Desjardins

Volunteer opportunity!

The OFC is seeking energetic people to assist with multiple tasks during the day of the event including passenger escort and aircraft marshalling. At a minimum volunteers who will be airside require a student pilot's permit. We can still use volunteers for other non-airside tasks! For more detail please contact Julie Marion.

The OFC has been supporting the Rotary Club of Ottawa for more than thirty years through the annual Fly Day event. The Rotary Club is a not-for-profit international organization with a mission of assisting families with physically challenged kids by providing respite care services. Over the past 10 years the OFC has helped raise more than $85,000 through the Fly Day events with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the Rotary Club of Ottawa.

Fly Day is a fun and popular way for the community to learn about the Ottawa Flying Club while doing something great for a local charity. This year's proceeds will benefit the Ottawa Rotary Home, long known for offering short-term respite care to families who have children with disabilities and the Rotary Club of Ottawa.

Tour tickets are $40 for per person. The gates open at 0830 hrs and the first flight is at 0900 hrs.

Events (apart from the Flying) will include:

  • Ground Displays and Demonstrations
  • Colouring Contest for the Kids
  • Breakfast and Barbeque, and food services
  • from our excellent Lunch Pad CafĂ©
  • Information about learning to fly

For more information, please contact Margot Nichols of the Rotary Club of Ottawa at 613 860-1521.

Ottawa Flying Club Pilot Wins Webster

An Ottawa Flying Club pilot has won the 2013 Webster Memorial Trophy to be named the Top Amateur Pilot in Canada.

Takashi Hirose competed in the Webster finals held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, between 20-24 August and emerged the final winner in the hotly contested event.

15 August 2013

You are Invited to the 2013 Barnyard Fly-In

From Recreational Aircraft Association, Oshawa District



Barnyard Fly-In 2013
Hawkefield, Orono, Ontario
Sunday, 8 September 2013

This is an RAA-sanctioned event put on by the Oshawa chapter. Come out and enjoy with us the biggest and friendliest gathering of pilots and aviation enthusiasts in the Oshawa area. Join our friends and families to celebrate our 18th annual Hawkefield Barnyard fly-in. All types of aircraft included. Hawkefield is a very well-kept 3,300 ft grass strip situated just outside of Orono, ON, privately owned by Hannu and Karen Halminen.

Note the runway 18 threshold is displaced 300 feet to avoid parked aircraft Keep all circuits to the west, avoiding residential areas. The traffic advisory frequency is 122.775 MHz.

NORDO aircraft are to follow standard arrival procedures. Circuit height is 1600 feet ASL. Please keep safety as a first priority and comply with Transport Canada regulations.

  • Co-ordinates are N 44 00 W 78 39
  • Food Concession
  • Free corn on the cob
  • For more information, please contact James Morrison at 905-434-5638

14 August 2013

SmartPilot.ca, the single source web portal for safe flying is live!

Media Release

Canada’s single source web portal for all things related to flying safely is now live! This site is a one-stop source for information, interactive courses and videos, all focused on helping pilots stay fresh and current.

Best of all, use of the site is open and free to all. The website has information for all levels of pilots, from student to experienced aviator.

Through the financial support of the Government of Canada, under the Search and Rescue New Initiative Fund (SAR NIF), SmartPilot.ca has been several years in the making and encompasses a wide variety of aviation subjects.

Examples of the site content include airmanship, human factors, flight training, specialty aircraft (including float flying and ultralights), avionics, maintenance, weather, navigation, search and rescue and much more.

The project has been developed in co-operation with many leading sources and associations including Transport Canada, The Transportation Safety Board, Canadian Aviation Search and Rescue Association and a board of advisers of recognized aviation community leaders.

The content and site functionality was also the subject of rigourous focus group research over several sessions. According to project development leader Ted Rankine, "this is a well advanced site that allows access materials quickly from a single source. In the past accessing such material involved lots of search time on the web. We have eliminated that and bring everything within a click or two. We have sourced and posted materials that serve to inform, educate and encourage safe flying under all circumstances. Just the ability to do your Recency test on-line with us in a self-paced manner and get the certificate instantly is a step in helping pilots."

SmartPilot.ca will continue to be updated, with new articles, purpose-designed videos and courses added. Working with the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) and the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), SmartPilot.ca has made it easy for users to quickly find information, including the AOPA Safety Institute courses. Upcoming COPA projects are expected to be added, too. Similar co-operative relationships with other organizations will result in additional articles being made available through the SmartPilot.ca portal in the future.

As Rankine says, "SmartPilot.ca does not replace recognized training from an established flight education institution. It is, however, a great way for people to build their knowledge and keep up to date about flight safety matters and procedures. If just one life is saved by something that was taken in through our site, we have done our job."

For additional information or comment, please visit the website. SmartPilot.ca is also found on Facebook and Twitter.

External link

11 August 2013

Ottawa Flying Club Staffing News

By Bryce Hanna, General Manager, The Ottawa Flying Club

Effective 2 July 2013, I am pleased to announce the following appointments approved by Transport Canada on June 26:

  • Andrew Simpson, Chief Flight Instructor
  • Morgan Ross, Assistant Chief Flight Instructor
  • Charles Shaw, Assistant Chief Flight Instructor
  • John Porter, Manager, Development
  • Blair Spooner, Ground School Supervisor

Andrew Simpson is highly qualified in depth of experience, competence and credentials. In his previous position as Assistant Chief Flight Instructor, he has been a prime mover in developing, managing and improving our flight training operations as well being dedicated to achieving the highest level of quality in our programs. In his new capacity as CFI, Andrew will be in an even stronger position to lead improvements and innovations in OFC flight training.

Morgan Ross is an outstanding and exemplary senior flight instructor and, as Ground School Supervisor, has been instrumental in improving the quality of instruction in that area as well as attracting students to the courses and motivating them to continue and quickly begin flight training in parallel with their ground instruction. Morgan is in the process of finalizing and implementing an improved OFC Multi-IFR program and has been promoted to Assistant Chief Flight Instructor as he continues his work.

Charles Shaw has demonstrated a high level of dedication competence and maturity in becoming one of our senior instructors. Charles will be a key asset to Andrew in managing and improving our flight training and the flight training experience of our students.

John Porter is a pro-active champion and ambassador for the OFC with extensive experience and knowledge of both OFC operations and other key organizations in the aviation community. In his new capacity, John will be in a position to both build our profile in the industry and develop new business from organizations and groups that we presently do not reach. He also has the capability to work with and build relations with the regulatory bodies that affect our business and operations.

Blair Spooner, graduated from Algonquin College, became an instructor at the flying club last November. After assisting at the college through volunteering and peer tutoring of students for the ground-schools and administration roles at the club, he has taken the role of Ground-school Supervisor for the Flying Club. Through his charismatic attitude and drive for student success, he fit perfectly for the role of helping student pilots achieve their goal to become professional pilots.

Congratulations to John, Morgan, Andrew, Charles and Blair. Please give them your support as we progress in building the finest flying club and flight-training unit in Ontario.