By Steve Farnworth, COPA Flight 131, The Hawkesbury Flying Club
There was a fire last night at the Hawkesbury East Airport. The big hangar was completely destroyed. Thankfully no one was injured. The cause presently is unknown.
Our sympathy goes out to Michel and Natalie. They lost many irreplaceable personal things that were stored inside. Fortunately two aircraft normally stored in the hangar were in other hangars, but Michel lost his aircraft as well as many parts and tools and souvenirs.
By André Durocher
The 80 acre farm adjacent to the Pontiac Airpark, that was previously mentioned, has found a buyer and will be developed into an equestrian facility. Residential lots will be available for this project.
Ladies and gentlemen come and play!!
Next step: the golf course, hotel, restaurant and the spa!
There will be a golf tournament and dinner in memory of Tom Smith, former Captain of COPA Flight 132, Embrun. All proceeds from the event will go for liver cancer research.
The event will be held at the Anderson Links Golf and Country Club, 4175 Anderson Road, Gloucester, Ontario 613-822-9644 or 613-822-0337
The dinner is open to everyone, regardless of whether you play in the golf tournament or not.
Please contact Sharon Armstrong for further information or a donation at 613-913-0721
By André Durocher
We have been awaiting this news for a number of years, the Quyon ferry will now be operating twelve months a year! The boat will accommodate 90 tons of vehicles, including tractor-trailers and motor coaches, instead of the previous 10 ton limit.
The ferry will make car access from Pontiac Airpark on the north side of the Ottawa River to Kanata and Arnprior easy all year around!
The First Canadian Chapter of the 99s, the women pilots association is coming up in two week's time, on 16 June 2012. The rain date is 17 June 2012.
The event is open to anyone who flies.
Each Poker hand costs $5 or $20 for 5 hands. Hands can be sold to anyone. Pick up some for your friends.
Start at one of the designated airports and buy the hands. Draw the first card at the starting airport.
An aircraft may 'fly' as many hands as they wish. The person to whom the hand was sold does not have to fly in the aircraft to be eligible for a prize.
Fly in any sequence to four more of the designated airports (including the terminus).
At each airport give the hands to the attending 99 and then draw one card per hand. The 99 will randomly staple a card (in two places), to each of the hands, then will stamp and initial the card.
CARDS MAY NOT BE INTER-CHANGED BETWEEN HANDS.
Fly to the terminus airport by 2:30 p.m., draw the last card and hand in the poker hand for judging.
Judging will be according to standard Draw Poker. The judges’ decision is final.
The person who ‘flies’ a winning hand is responsible for picking up the prize at the terminus and delivering it to the owner of the winning hand.
The participating airports are:
by Lloyd Bunbury
I just found out this morning that the restaurant at the golf course in Morrisburg is under new management and that they will be open to serve breakfast seven days a week starting at 8am and will serve breakfast all day!
This is a big improvement over last year when they only opened on weekdays at 11am - and no breakfast to boot!
Perhaps you can put the word out that the runway is now open and breakfast is on the grill!
I love this airport and would like to drum up some support!
By Susan Begg
On behalf of the East Canada Section 99s I would like to extend an invitation to participate in some of our weekend activities 1 June and 2 June 2012, all happening at the Sheraton Hotel 150 Albert St. in downtown Ottawa.
For $60 you can join in Friday's afternoon Safety Seminar, Friday evening's Wine and cheese, receive an Delegate Insider Badge(D.I.B.) providing discounts to many restaurants and entertainment places in Ottawa the weekend of June 1-2/12. The 99s International President elect will be in attendance.
Saturday evening at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa will be a fabulous dinner with guest speakers Heather Fleck and her father Rob Fleck of Vintage Wings. Please see bios below.
Included with the $60 registration:
Friday 1 June 2012 - afternoon:
Safety Seminar by Kathy Fox from 14:30-16:00 at Canada's Air and Space Museum at CYRO. You can even park your aircraft at the Museum, then later, taxi over to the Rockcliffe Flying Club for weekend parking. Will focus on lessons learned from TSB accident investigations. Following the seminar, you can take a self-guided tour compliments of the Museum as they have waived the entrance fee for people registered at our conference.
Friday 1 June 2012 evening:
Wine and cheese reception and Meet and Greet. If you just wish to attend only the reception the cost is $10.
Saturday 2 June 2012:
Saturday you can take advantage of your D.I. badge for the day. Dinner in the evening on the Penthouse of the Sheraton at 150 Albert St. in Ottawa. Cost for dinner only is $45. For information about the guest speakers, please read below.
Great items for sale in a silent auction, a 50/50 draw and other surprises.
Saturday evening Guest Speakers Heather Fleck and Rob Fleck
Heather Fleck
Heather Fleck grew up in the world of aviation. Despite having a father whose profession and passion has always centered around airplanes, she never considered a career in the field until being faced with the big decision at the end of high school. Heather attended Seneca College in Toronto, obtaining a Commercial Multi-IFR, Integrated ATPL, and Applied Degree in Flight Technology. To help pay for beer (and school) she worked as a ramp rat and dispatcher at a local flight school, and taught Helicopter Groundschool. She also volunteered as a Big Sister.
Upon graduation, she was fortunate to be selected as part of a test group of students, who, for the first time in Canada, were taken directly from flight college and put into flying positions at a major airline. She moved to Calgary, AB, to fly for Jazz Air Ltd. as a First Officer on the Dash-8.
In their spare time, Heather, her father and brother, rebuilt a wrecked Challenger ultralight on amphibious floats, and spent many lovely summer evenings skimming the surface of the water in the golden light. They took on several gutsy adventures in this small craft, and were rewarded with many new experiences (and a few engine failures). They also flew the Challenger on skis.
After a year and a half of flying at Jazz, Heather decided to leave the airline world in order to indulge other interests. She went back to school and became a Holistic Nutritionist, taught yoga, worked as a carpenter’s assistant, and did some volunteer travel work.
Eventually, however, she found her way back into aviation, and is very excited to be part of the Vintage Wings team, working as the Assistant Chief Pilot.
Rob Fleck
Robert (Rob) Fleck has a long and extensive career in aviation, accumulating over 12,500 flying hours. He also has enjoyed a fruitful and diverse business career.
His aviation career began in 1976 upon enrolling in the Canadian Forces as a pilot. After graduating with primary pilot training in 1979 Rob’s first operational tour was at 421 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Baden-Sollingen, West Germany flying the CF-104 Star Fighter and T-33 Silver Star. He qualified as a NATO Mass Attach Lead and was responsible for the squadron weapons training and electronic warfare training. In 1983, Rob was selected as initial cadre to form 410 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron when it reformed as the CF-18 “Hornet” Operational Training Unit. He was responsible for Instructing in all disciplines of CF-18 operational flying and penned the official CF-18 “how to fly” manual and the Electronic Warfare (EW) reference manual. Rob also won the prestigious award as Canada’s first Canadian Forces CF-18 “Top Gun” winner.
After a successful 10-year career in the CF, Rob retired in 1986 and joined the business sector where he ran many successful companies including Gralen Communications, Capital Aviation Services, Ener-Genetics Ltd, Kanata Storage, Flight Exec, KnightHawk Air Express, Kelowna Pacific Railway and Execaire Ltd.
In 2000, while still engaged in business, Rob became an Air Canada pilot. He took a special leave of absence from Air Canada in 2004 to return to world-wide corporate charter flight operations and returned to Air Canada in 2005.
Again, in 2009, Rob took a second special leave of absence from Air Canada to run Vintage Wings of Canada, a public Charitable Organization responsible for acquiring, refurbishing and flying a unique collection of Canadian aircraft of historical importance. When not behind a desk, Rob flies Vintage Wings “Hawk One” a refurbished F-86 Sabre, as well as the P51D Mustang and North American Harvard.
Our April 2012 COPA Flight 8 meeting was a briefing by Rob Bishop, Senior Pilot Specialist at Nav Canada. The briefing was very complete but did raise some questions that couldn't be immediately addressed. Bishop was kind enough to note these questions and find the answers to them. Here is his report.
1. How can I tell on the IFR LO Enroute charts where Class E (controlled) airspace begins and ends?
Within the southern control area the solid green areas on the IFR LO Enroute charts represent Class G uncontrolled airspace from the surface to 18,000’, which becomes Class 'A' controlled airspace at 18,000' ASL and above. The checkered green areas represent Class G uncontrolled airspace from the surface to 12,500', which becomes Class 'B' controlled airspace above 12,500’ ASL.
On the LO Enroute charts Control zones are depicted with their class of airspace (except in areas represented by a terminal area chart).
In the white areas under airways and air routes, in most cases Class 'E' begins at 2,200' AGL with Class G below. However, there are instances where the floor of Class E begins at 700’ AGL. There is no way to tell on the charts where the Class 'E' at 700' AGL is located.
For any of the other areas in white, which represent control area extensions such as terminal airspace, there is no way to determine at what altitude Class 'E' airspace begins - or any other Class of low level airspace for that matter - without referring to a VNC or VTA chart. In other words, the IFR LO enroute charts only provide part of the total airspace picture.
In any case, the ATC controller knows the limits of controlled airspace for whatever sector they are responsible for and will notify the pilot in advance if their flight will be leaving controlled airspace.
In summary, the LO Enroute IFR charts only provide a limited amount of information on airspace class and dimensions. Pilots must refer to the VFR charts to get the complete airspace structure.
2. The NOTAM for the displaced threshold due to trees on RWY 04/22 at the Ottawa, Carp airport has been in place for years. Why?
Nav Canada Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) has no information on file regarding this NOTAM. It is possible it was submitted by the aerodrome operator via the London Flight Information Centre (FIC) and therefore was not tracked by AIS. In any case, AIS is asking the aerodrome operator if the runway data in the publications can be updated so the NOTAM can be removed.
3. The preferred IFR route from Ottawa to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is YOW VERGA ILIXU Arrival. The ILIXU Arrival requires me to be at 14,000' at the DUSUB waypoint, but this altitude is not practicable for unpressurized GA aircraft like my C172. How will ATC accommodate these types of aircraft? Should I file a different route instead?
The preferred routes listed in the CFS are not exhaustive and if they do not work for a particular pilot or aircraft then a route that is more acceptable should be filed. To discuss options for filing a route from Ottawa to the City Airport, a pilot could call the ACC at the number listed in the CFS under Toronto LBPIA - (905) 676-4590/4591/4592 or 888-217-1241.
4. How do I know what the MOCA is (lowest safe altitude I can descend to while maintaining appropriate obstacle clearance) when flying STARs or SIDs?
There is no way for a pilot to know what the safe obstacle clearance altitude is by reference to the SID or STAR chart only.
If the pilot cannot maintain the altitudes specified in the SID/STAR, then they would obviously notify ATC. The controller would then advise the pilot of the safe altitude in that area based on the Minimum Radar Vector Altitude (MVA), which provides 1,000' of obstacle/terrain clearance (2,000' in mountainous areas). Any descent below the MVA would be at the pilots ‘discretion’ and would require reference to a VNC or VTA chart to determine the actual elevation of terrain or obstacles.
5. The CYRs around Parliament Hill and the Prime Minister's residence are depicted with different diameters on the VTA chart compared to the VTPCs in the CFS. It is important pilots know exactly where the borders of this airspace are so it can be avoided. Which are the correct depictions?
When the VTPCs in the CFS reach a certain scale, it sometimes becomes impracticable to depict a small discrete portion of airspace such as the downtown Ottawa CYRs. In the case of the Ottawa/Gatineau and Ottawa International VTPCs the CYRs are depicted as solid black dots while on the Ottawa/Rockcliffe VTPC, due to its larger scale, they are depicted as their actual dimensions.
However, there are discrepancies in the size of the black solid dots between the Gatineau and International VTPCs. In addition, the circles depicting the CYRs on the Rockcliffe VTPC are much smaller than their actual dimensions and as compared to the depictions on the Ottawa VTA. It appears the depictions on the Ottawa VTA are correct.
To remedy the situation, AIS is investigating whether or not the scale criteria for depicting black solid dots instead of the actual CYR dimensions were properly applied with the Gatineau and International VTPCs. This includes determining what the standard size should be for the black dots. In addition, the dimensions of the CYRs on the Rockcliffe VTPC will be adjusted to their actual size and the depictions on the VTA will be verified also.
6. The RNAV routes from London to Maxville are almost a straight line but are full of minor jogs with waypoints. Why do the new RNAV routes have so many waypoints with minor deviations when the basic premise for RNAV routes is to allow more direct or straight line flights?
The RNAV routes require minimum distances from some airspace boundaries and other VHF and RNAV routes and this 'juggling' of spacing requirements in the complex airspace in southern Ontario resulted in many minor jogs and bends. In addition, depicting great circle RNAV routes on a two dimensional map and magnetic variation changes along a route contributed to deviations from a strait line. Although effort was made to keep the routes as straight as possible, meeting other requirements and standards has resulted in the numerous waypoints and crooked paths.
7. The link to the Nav Canada "ONBOARD" publication on the front page of the web site should be in a 'fixed' location and not in the 'rolling or flashing window'. This type of web feature does not represent 'best practices' in web design. It is antiquated and ineffective and makes it very difficult to find the desired publications.
This suggestion has been passed on to our IM personnel responsible for designing the web-site.
8. When I am on an IFR flight and using Flightplan.com I will get an update from them on changes to my clearance prior to receiving the change from ATC via the radio. If Flightplan.com can get this information from Nav Canada ATC, why can't Nav Canada provide it directly to us via the new internet flight planning system CFPS (Collaborative Flight Planning System) in the same manner that VFR flight plans can be updated 'live'. In addition, it would be beneficial if the pilot could know their expecting routing in advance as this would save workload for the pilot and controller, especially for unexpected clearances and given the current RNAV operating environment with strangely worded waypoints and complicated routes
Nav Canada provides the FAA with flight plan data and this is where Flightplan.com get their information.
The same two-way communication now available between CFPS and VFR pilots should be available to IFR pilots and their flight plans this summer.
Having the ability for IFR pilots to query ATC (via the Canadian Automated Air Traffic System - CAATS) for the likely route is a great idea and a definite improvement for Nav Canada and pilots alike. Nav Canada Operational System Requirements will explore this once two-way communication with CAATS is in place. Providing updates to pilots on the flight plans, etc using email, text or other means is on the list of CFPS activities.
The Hawkesbury Flying Club / COPA Flight 131 is hosting a free Safety Seminar Workshop on Saturday May 5th from 0930 to 1200 at the Hawkesbury East Airport. This seminar will be presented by Will Boles from the Transport Canada Safety Office and participants will be issued their bi-annual recency certification.
This is the only Transport Canada seminar being offered in the Ottawa Valley this spring. The seminar is open to everyone - membership in an aviation organization is not required.
Please bring your own folding chair as our club's supply is limited. Refreshments will be served. Fly in or drive in.
The Hawkesbury East Airport (CPG5) is located at 3435 County Road 17, East Hawkesbury, Ontario.
From the Ottawa Flying Club
The Ottawa Flying Club would like to invite you to an "Open House" on Saturday April 28th from 9:00 until 2:00 pm.
This is a great opportunity to view our facilities, aircraft and talk to our Flight Instructors. We can show you how to become either a Professional Pilot or a Recreational Pilot. The Ottawa Flying Club has been training pilots since 1928!
Come out and enjoy the Ottawa Flying Club at 20 Lindberg Private for:
Call 613-523-2142 or visit our website
See you at the "The Club"!
by The Vintage Wings Team |
| Dennis and JP like this version, Bill and Mike like the one below. |
By Cheryl Marek, COPA Flight 70, Oshawa
Keeping in mind that I am hardly an expert in Twitter, or anything else for that matter, I will write a little about how it works. In a nutshell, twitter account holders type messages (tweets) and send them via Twitter to their followers. And at the same time account holders follow tweets sent by others. I suspect most Twitter account holders read tweets of others rather than tweet much themselves. One can find twitter information via search engines like Google, Bing, etc., but it is really structured to benefit account holders. Accounts are free and as an account holder you can both follow what others are writing, and send messages (tweets) to your own followers. For example Flight 8 follows 44 other account holders and has 126 account holders following our tweets. That’s small potatoes compared to celebrities and others with thousands of followers. We haven’t gone viral, yet.
Twitter accounts start with the “@” symbol followed by some alphanumerics that are likely a word, e.g., @copaflt8. Most news organizations have twitter accounts and often tweet links to their stories, including CBC, CTV, CNN, NPR, etc. There are a number of Aviation organizations on twitter including, @eaaupdate, @chinaeaa, @AOPAonline@Aviation_daily, @aviationCanada, @aviationweek, @NTSBnews, @aviationsafety, @flyingmagazine@copaflt8, @buttonilfc, @copaflight10. As well, governments including cities to federal departments have twitter accounts.
Before getting into how one signs up for Twitter let’s look at a couple of tweets.
Here are two tweets, the first by COPA Flight 10 in Saskatoon and the second by COPA Flight 8 in Ottawa.
“Check new gallery page 4 pics of projects at Corman Air Park tour on Mar 13!http://www.copaflight10.org/ #pilot #flying#aviation #yxe #flight”
“Gary Black of Cirrus showing 2012 SR22 at Carp Friday afternoon and Saturday this week #cirrus bit.ly/GMrH7l bit.ly/GLEjLV”
They look a bit like a METAR or TAF, but don’t let that put you off. Flight 10 is really asking you to click on the link to their website (you know, a link is that part starting with the http:// ...) to see some photos taken at Corman Air Park. Tweets tend to be abbreviated because one has to get one’s message out within 140 characters. The words with “#” marks in front of them are called hashtags or tags. These allow users to search for other tweets on the tagged topic.
Flight 8 is advising followers that they can see Gary Black demo a Cirrus SR22 at Carp Airport. Clicking on “#cirrus” will allow one to find other tweets talking about Cirrus. The tweets listed could include tweets about any use of “cirrus”, such as credit cards systems, high clouds, or Cirrus aircraft. The part starting “bit.ly” are links that have been shortened by BitLy.com because the original link would eat up too many of the 140 characters available to the author. There are two links provided in Flight 8’s tweet. The first is to Flight 8’s Blog (one of the most interesting aviation blogs on the Internet) and the second is to Carp Airport’s website. Unfortunately you have to click on them to see where they go. they are not clickable in this posting because they lack the http:// part in front of the bit.ly part.
That’s just two tweets, but you can see that one need not be a computer scientist to understand them. Also, both of these tweets encourage you to click on a link thereby driving you to a website or other location, like Carp airport.
So who would see these tweets? Well any twitter user that is “following” either of these two COPA Flights. As mentioned, Twitter accounts are identified by the “@” sign as in “@copaflight10” and “@copaflt8”. As well anyone who searched for the hashtags (e.g., #pilot, #flight) within Twitter or Google could also see these tweets. Hashtags are used in a similar fashion in other social media such as Diaspora. Almost any human activity has someone who has a twitter account and tweets on the activity. If you interested in photography, teaching, quilting, boating, golf, you name it, there will likely be a twitter user tweeting on that topic. For example, much of the world first heard about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan via twitter. Some hashtags can be quite short and their topic not particularly obvious. This approach is used to narrow the search to the specific topic and is a technique to help folks find tweets on particular topics.
One can also send direct messages to twitter account holders. For example COPA Flights 8 and 10 have communicated directly via twitter, “both lamenting that COPA National has not joined twitter.” As well we are followers of each other’s tweets. So the folks in Saskatoon (Flight 10) know about activities and news from the National Capital area (Flight 8), such as landing fee increases at Ottawa’s international airport. And Flight 8 folks know that Saskatoon has some great photos and flying activities. We were both surprised that there are only three Flights on twitter. Buttonville Flying Club, also a COPA flight (44) is on twitter but has made only one tweet and has few followers in addition to Flights 8 and 10.
To sign up for a Twitter account point your browser at Twitter.com and follow the links under “New to Twitter?” Sign Up. It is really painless. Keep in mind that Twitter is a commercial company and they want to sell you to others via advertising. That said, I have not found an increase in spam or malware after a few months on Twitter. Once signed up you can use twitter’s search feature to find people, organizations, companies, topics, etc. of interest to you. When you find one of interest, you can follow it passively. That’s right you don’t need to tweet you can do what most of us do and just lurk.
You can also tweet as often as you feel the urge. I don’t know if volume or quality attracts followers. Flight 8’s tweets on topics like the closing and re-opening of restaurant at Peterborough have been commented on in Brantford and Rockcliffe. As well, Flight 8 tweeted information about activities at Lindsay Airport that was intern retweeted to followers of Brantford Flying Club.
Ottawa International Airport commented on a Flight 8 tweet in which we were expressing the opinion that the airport seemed to have an unwritten goal of driving private aircraft off the airport. To some extent tweets need to be pithy, a little outrageous, funny, interesting, informative and perhaps controversial to attract attention. It is a new way of writing for most of us. In an effort to seek a wider audience I have been tweeting photos I took of aircraft in the China Aviation Museum. I tweet photos of planes that will be of interest to North Americans, such as those that claim to have shot down US or other aircraft in Korea or elsewhere. I had expected some comments but none have been forthcoming.
Twitter does have a downside. For example, politicians feel the urge to express political opinions. That’s fine, but twitter also makes it easy for hot heads, the spiteful, the impolite, the belligerent, the caustic to send comments back to the politicians. The NDP’s Charlie Angus quit twitter over these types of issues. You can read his opinion at http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/charlie-angus/quit-twitter_b_1394617.html?ref=canada. All I can say is, “Charley, if the kitchen is too hot...”
Flight 8 has not had any such comments and I believe it is more likely to happen to those emphasizing political, and perhaps religious, points of view. Some believe the 140 character limit encourages these types of comments, but I don’t buy that argument. I believe the larger problem for many is sending tweets without thinking about what one has said and how it will be interpreted. The advice to wait until tomorrow so you can re-read your “nasty reply” to an email, applies equally to twitter. As well jokes are easily misinterpreted and taken seriously or personally when this is the farthest thing from the writers mind.
The 140 character limit can be difficult to work within. Books have been written on this topic, my favourite is Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little, by Christopher Johnson.
Finally, Twitter is fun, informative and current. One does not have to tweet to get value from Twitter. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of what I call “dead tweets”, ones that are dead ends and tell very little on a topic.
As part of of COPA's 60th Anniversary celebrations in 2012 Rick Carpenter of the COPA Flight 101 Lindsay (The Kawartha Lakes Flying Club) put together a video for the occasion!
International Pilot Academy, the new flying school located at Carp Airport, is all set to open its doors on Tuesday 10 April 2012, right after the Easter Weekend, according to reports. 
There are reports that Touch 'n Go Aviation Warehouse, Carp Airport's pilot supply shop has closed its doors. 
