COPA President and CEO Kevin Psutka recently shot a short video about flying into the airport at Morrisburg, Ontario that is well worth watching.
The nice asphalt runway at Morrisburg is the pilot's entry to a good restaurant, a fly-in golf course and Upper Canada Village, a living museum. This all adds up to a great destination aerodrome for a day flight.
By Brian Russell, ABC FlyIn - Lancaster Aero Club, COPA Flight 190
Hello All,
Summer is officially here and I hope all of you are enjoying the great flying weather. I have bumped into some of you at the local breakfasts and hope to see more of you in the near future at local events.
Many things have happened at the Lancaster Airpark (CLA6) in recent months. The most significant I think is the forming of our flying club, The Lancaster Aero Club and the partnership with COPA. We are now COPA Flight 190 and the ABC Fly In or the International Fly In as it is referred to by some people will now be held under the COPA banner. The website will be changing over the coming weeks (Thank You Ken !) and you should keep an eye on it to see the changes as they unfold.
Plans are well under-way for the second annual ABC/International Fly In which will take place on 15, 16 & 17 August 2014.
The date has been changed to let people get back from Oshkosh and to avoid competing with other events in the area.
This year we will be holding all of the festivities in the late Hank Smulders hanger thanks to the generosity of Kalayla Leighland. We are hoping it will be a lot cooler and we promise to keep the BBQ far enough away so that you don’t have to deal with the smoke! (although you have to admit it kept the mosquitoes away)
The format has also changed slightly; the Friday BBQ will start earlier to allow those who wish to fly in to have time to join us and still fly home before the witching hour.
Saturday (lunch will be available) we will have Smart Pilot on site giving seminars as well as CASARA enlightening us on what best to do in times of trouble. We are also hoping that SAR will join us but our delightful and ever supportive Federal government has curtailed some of SAR’s activities and flying time so we are keeping our fingers crossed.
We are also hoping that Dave Curry from “One Soldier One Person” will be joining us. Dave is planning on flying around the world in a Socata Trinidad TB-20 to raise money for our veterans. Once again we know how well the Feds are taking care of those who have and continue to fight for our freedom.
Saturday night will be an on-site home cooked meal, bonfire and aviation related conversation.
Sunday will find us in Morrisburg at the golf club for breakfast and everyone heading home from there.
As usual under the wing camping will be available and we are working with the Nav Centre in Summerstown to give us a preferred rate for those who prefer not to sleep under the stars.
We have decided this year to keep it simple with one facility for all. It makes the transport much more user friendly and cost efficient. The B&B last year was great but running the van in 2 different directions was not quite so great.
The exact schedule will be sent out within the next 10 days.
We hope this year the weather allows more members of the Bellanca Champion Club to join us and it would be great to see some “N” registrations on the field.
Please spread the word and plan to join us. You are welcome to stay from Friday afternoon on or join us at any time during the event that is convenient to you. As usual all makes, models, types & variations are welcome, the more the merrier.
Fly Low, Fly Slow and most importantly, have fun!
Come and learn about who we are, enjoy good food and view many light aircraft!
Here are the details:
Questions? Please contact Ken Potter at (613)-791-6267 or kjpotter@sympatico.ca.
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The Iroquois Flying Club will be having it's annual Fly-In Breakfast on Sunday 20 July 2014.
Here are the details:
by Alan Hepburn, Captain, COPA Flight 178, Pembroke
The new Canada Flight Supplement (CFS) is just out. You will see from the illustration that they have finally gotten around to doing something about the ATF/MF overlap with Petawawa - they have agreed to split the difference. The dividing line is just north of the Petawawa River. So in the circuit at Pembroke (CYTA), there is no longer a need to call on 126.4 Mhz. But if you go west up the river, you still have to call.
This new procedure is NOTAMed, but unless they change the VNC format, you will never see the area limits on that chart.
If you look really closely at the map, you will see that floor of CYR 541 (the restricted area over Deep River) has been raised to 3,000', so the guys at Deep River will no longer be grounded when 541 is active. So far, I have not found a NOTAM that talks about this.
Enterprise Airlines in Oshawa (CYOO) is celebrating spring by offering 100LL fuel for $1.70 per litre!
This special offer will last just until the end of the month of April.
From Vintage Wings
Vintage Wings invites you, your aircraft and your friends to come to our first ever, but not the last, Fly-In Breakfast on Saturday 24 May 2014. Check out a ramp full of aircraft and share a traditional rib-sticking breakfast of pilot food (includes free gluten!), some hangar talk and a tour of the Vintage Wings facility and the Michael Potter Collection of Vintage Aircraft.
Details:
The Canadian Aviation Historical Society will hold their 51st National Convention and Annual General Meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan from 4-7 June 2014.
Hosted by the society's Regina chapter, the conference entitled Canada's Aviation History: the View from the West will be held at the Travelodge Hotel and Conference Centre in Regina at 4177 Albert St.
With an exciting array of guest speakers, great food and good company, not to mention a tour of the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw, this is one event you don't want to miss! Visit our website to see the tentative schedule.
Registration forms can be downloaded from the CAHS website.
From: Patrick Gilligan, Vice President, Operations, Canadian Owners and Pilots Association
Nav Canada will be undertaking an aeronautical study to review the structure and classification of the Montreal terminal control area.
As the provider of civil air navigation services, Nav Canada regularly reviews its services to ensure that they match the requirements of aircraft operators. The study will involve consultation with customers and other stakeholders. A hazard and risk analysis will be conducted on any proposed changes.
Consultation on this proposal will be conducted during the spring of 2014. Persons wishing to be identified as stakeholders, wanting to obtain further information or interested in commenting on this study are invited to notify the study team leader:
Yan Tremblay
Nav Canada Centre de contrôle régional de Montréal
1750 Chemin St-François
Dorval QC H9P 2P6
Telephone: (514) 633-3892
Fax: (514) 633-3371
email
Aviation Egress Systems and underwater escape instructor Bryan Webster are coming back to Ottawa to conduct escape training here in Canada's capital.
Webster won the TC Aviation Safety Award in 2007 for his training courses.
The program will consist of an e-learning ground school you can do at home in advance, followed by a half-day in-pool session of underwater egress training.
The program is suitable for both pilots and passengers and will be held on 17 or 18 June 2014.
By Doug Martin, EAA 657164
The Forestry and Fire Fighting divisions of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) will invest $12.2 million in a move of their headquarters to the Haliburton/Stanhope Airport. As well as constructing a new building, they will be moving two helicopters and two Twin Otters, which have already been based at Stanhope for the last 12 years.
Seasonal firefighting staff will number around 50. The development also will include 20 new 42-foot enclosed T-hangars with electricity supply and washrooms nearby. There will be four blocks of five hangars each. The taxiway layout will be expanded and a high-speed optical fibre network will be installed for the anticipated business park.
The Algonquin Highlands township will install a webcam for security as well as marketing. Interested parties will be able to watch progress on the construction through this online camera.
Existing hangar tenants will be unable to access the hangars during early August, but they will have the option of using tiedowns during this period at no cost. The brand-new hangars will cost the tenants $2,500 a year and they will be finished in white on both walls and floor. They have been designed to accommodate possible future installation of solar panels. Each hangar will be equipped with a 2,000-pound winch attached to the back wall for pulling an aircraft into the hangar, and each will have both interior and exterior metal cladding and insulation.
The township's work of clearing the land, building roadways, taxiways and hangars is expected to be completed late this summer, allowing the MNR to begin construction. Anticipated move-in date for the MNR is sometime in 2015.
The legendary Swordfish was one of the most unique and significant aircraft of the Second World War.
This fabric covered bi-plane – which looked like an obsolete throwback to another era – was used in some of the war’s most significant engagements: Taranto, Bismarck and the Channel Dash. Lesser known, but no less important, was the role of the Swordfish protecting conveys, under tremendously difficult conditions. Throughout the war, Swordfish crews distinguished themselves with unmatched bravery in the face of great adversity.
Cdr Terry Goddard, DSC, CD is a Canadian who served with the Royal Navy. In May 1941, as a 21-year-old, this Toronto native found himself in a Swordfish, attacking the German battleship Bismarck (which was the world’s largest and most powerful warship). This is an incredible story of one young Canadian’s courage and dedicated service – in the legendary Swordfish.Everyone is welcome.
from The Rockcliffe Flying Club
For the second consecutive year, the Rockcliffe Flying Club in collaboration with the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Ninety-Nines (the international organization of women pilots) will participate in Women of Aviation Worldwide Week from 3-9 March 2014.
This event started in Canada as a grass roots effort to recognize the 100th anniversary of the first woman to obtain a pilot's licence. It has grown significantly in the past few years and now events are held throughout Canada, the US and in many other countries. Last year, the first year RFC participated, we flew over 150 enthusiastic girls and women and won the title of First Runner Up as the most Female Friendly Flight Training Centre in the World!
This year, amongst other activities, we plan to hold a Fly Day on Saturday 8 March 2014 to introduce young girls and women who have never flown in a light aircraft to the joys of aviation. This year's theme is to celebrate 100 years since the first woman learned aerobatics.
Girls Fly Day Volunteers Needed
We need to fill these shifts just in case Saturday is weathered out.
Please RSVP Brenda if you would like to sign-up for one or more of the above shifts.
There will be a meeting for the volunteer pilots and all other volunteers on 6 March 2014 at 1900 hrs.
Thank you for your support!
I represent private flyers on CYOW’s Noise Management Committee. The Committee was to have had a meeting today to summarize Noise complaints from 2013 and to outline how the resurfacing of runway 14-32 will impact noise this summer.
With only runways 07-25 and 04-22 active from May until September one would expect communities east or west of the airport to show some interest in how they might be impacted and what measures the Airport and flyers will take to mitigate potential noise on them. Well I am wrong! In fact, none of the community representatives indicated they wanted to attend the meeting and it was cancelled. (Only the airport authority, COPA Flight 8 and Nav Canada indicated they would attend the meeting.)
Aircraft movements dropped to 125,269 over 2013. That’s down from a high of 134,632 in 2011. In 2013 for every 1000 movements there were .61 complaints. The complaints per 1000 movements has ranged from a low of .42 in 2009 to a high of .61 in 2011 and 2013 with an average of .52 per 1000 movements.
Surprisingly, Cessna as a type generate more complaints than most other airliners, military airplanes and helicopters. The airport reports they had 76 complaints in 2013. There were 24 complaints about Cessnas in 2013 versus 8 for B737, 5 for B767, 1 for Airbus. Most complaints come from the South-West (17), North- West (27) and North-East (21) of the airport. All Cessnas are grouped together so one does not know if we are talking about Citations or C150s, but I suspect the Cessnas are predominately C150s and C172s used in flight training. As in the past it is light aircraft doing circuits and transiting to the practice area that stimulate many complaints. It is my understanding that the airport and the flight training operators have agreed to flight paths that mitigate noise complaints but it appears the pilots are not getting the message. Are we our own worst enemies?
It is expected that Runway 14-32 will be closed from mid-May to late-September. This will clearly concentrate aircraft movements on flight paths associated with runway 07-25 and potentially increase noise on its approach and departure paths, and on downwind and base legs over Manotick, Orleans and Barrhaven. Surprisingly these communities felt no need to attend the noise meeting. The Airport Authority is doing its best to be a good neighbour. One must wonder about how its neighbours are reacting?
The Airport Authority will advise local media and city politicians when the runway will close. When they resurfaced 07-25 in 2012 the change in flight patterns immediately stimulated more noise complaints. This seems likely this time too.
I am confident we Private flyers will do our part mitigate our noise impacts on our neighbours, friends and families.
Don’t hesitate to comment on any postings on this blog.
By Marcel Pinon, Manager, Level of Service and Aeronautical Studies, Nav Canada
It has just come to my attention that DND is planning to conduct a low power GPS jamming exercise at Petawawa, ON 6 March 2014.
A NOTAM will be issued that GNSS navigation might be affected on March 6, 2014, between 0900-1600 EDT (1300-2000 UTC).
The terrain will definitely play a role to the extent of the affected, we assume that the intermittent loss of signal may be experienced within the entire cylinder centered at N45°59'4.8” W77°20'40” with a radius of 25 NM up to 39,000 ft. AGL.
The news came this week that the Cessna will not sell any more model 162 Skycatchers. The 162's official webpage was taken down. The 80 unsold aircraft in inventory will be held for parts for the existing fleet, which currently stands at 275 aircraft. That tally includes the 80, meaning that there are 195 in the flying fleet.
After the most recent news the demise of the 162 was no surprise. In fact, for people who followed the story from the start, most will wonder how the aircraft stayed in production for as long as it did, from December 2009 to December 2013.
The 162 had a tortured development from the start. Its design phase saw the Rotax 912ULS engine that would have ensured a good payload replaced with the Continental O-200D, which put it over weight and gave it higher fuel consumption. The aircraft not only lacked full-fuel payload, but it lacked the ability to carry taller pilots and people who could easily get into a Cessna 150 couldn't fit in the diminutive 162 cockpit. The cockpit actually has room for the seats to be moved back, they just didn't do it, presumably for C of G reasons. There were two prototype crashes, both during spin testing that required design changes, some of the changes involved post-production modifications to the early production examples. Then there was the highly unpopular decision to have the aircraft built in China with final assembly in Kansas.
The initial price was supposed to be under US$100,000, but it quickly rose to its final mark of US$149,000. Cessna has not said, but my guess is, with all the trans-Pacific freight and two assembly lines to produce each aircraft, that they were still losing money on each one built. Why else quit making them? It is amazing that companies like Zenair can build and sell a comparable aircraft, the Zenair 650 LSA, for US$129,900 and presumably make money doing it. Big companies with tons of experience building and selling aircraft, like Cessna, should be able to do it more efficiently and for less. They had 1,200 orders for this plane, after all and that has to produce some economies of scale. Companies like Zenair are essentially building to order on an individual basis, but then perhaps "cottage industry" scale is the cheapest way to build small planes.
Then there was the much maligned choice of names, Skycatcher, sometimes written as "SkyCatcher". The choice of the marketing department, it did sound like it would fly formation with famous Cessna names like Skyhawk, Skylane and Skywagon, but it didn't. It started out snickeringly as "Skysnatcher" (or worse) and then, after the first two prototype accidents, as "Skycrasher". Perhaps they should have held a competition and let the buyers choose a name for it?
There were so many missteps in the short history of this little aircraft it is hard to believe that the development was carried out by the company that has produced more light aircraft than any other company in history.
Ironically I hope Cessna decides to sell the rights to the 162, because I think if the price was right that someone would actually buy it. I think with a bit of redesign work to lighten the airframe up, fit a lighter and more efficient engine, like the new Rotax 912 iS with its direct fuel injection and electronic engine management unit, which would allow carrying less fuel and more people for the same speed and range, as well as fix the ergonomics, you could have a real winner in a 162B model. Just name it something better, like "Sparrowhawk".
Moe's Fly-in on the Ottawa River is coming up soon!
Here are the details:
by Kevin Psutka
President and CEO, Canadian Owners And Pilots Association
I attended a conference yesterday at which Transport Canada (TC) officials explained their rationale for wanting to proceed with amending the Aeronautics Act and regulations to require consultation on all aerodrome creation and construction. There were many representatives of Associations plus other individuals who attended by telephone and TC reported that 15 written responses were received. I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to make your concerns known. I believe we got TC's attention to the enormity of this issue because by the end of the meeting TC agreed to review the way forward.
Industry representatives did a great job of highlighting the need for a focus group to thoroughly investigate the implications of this issue but we need to drive this point home as TC considers the way forward. TC said that "only" 15 responses have been received and they want more input. I realize that many of the submissions were from organizations that represent thousands of people but TC views 15 responses as relatively low.
TC has extended the comment period until 14 February to provide comment and I ask everyone to fan this message out to your contacts and encourage them to review my article on the subject and then provide input to CARRAC@tc.gc.ca before 14 February 2014.
TC admitted yesterday that the collective discussion that the conference had value and brought some points forward that they had not seen or missed in the written submissions. Now is the time to drive the point home that a focus group is needed. Please fan this message out to your contacts and if you have not yet provided comments, please do so.
Hebb Russell of the Eastern Ontario Pilots Assoc (EOPA) is trying to contact all previous participants in their charity curling bonspiel.
Due to people changing their email addresses the association has lost contact with many past particiapnts, so if you curled with them before and haven't had an invitation to this year's bonspeil then please write to Hebb at eopa.email@gmail.com to be added to their email list.
The Kars Winter Ski Fly-in is coming up soon! The event is organized by RAA Ottawa-Rideau Chapter 4928.
Chapter president Victor Thompson notes: "The Winter Ski Fly-in as usual will be a pot luck affair and the group will be accepting donations for the meal. The Kars Air Park is not plowed but aircraft equipped with skis in the past have landed and all have had a great time. Hoping for mild weather and blue skies!"
