GA ready to serve the community in Fort McMurray (AB).

You have all heard of the unfortunate devastating fires of Fort McMurray. A lot of action, a lot of coordination needed to help the evacuees and those left behind.  Many of us have contributed in any which way we could.  Meanwhile, a member of ours (along with another pilot and a Nav Canada controller), took on the task of getting the GA community together to support the emergency relief efforts that are ongoing for the residents.  Through the coordination of the local COPA Flight 176 of Edmonton and advice from our upcoming Director Bram Tilroe, our member Eldon Gjesdal and friends have gathered a list of 47 GA aircraft ready and standing by to assist, from BC, AB, MB and ON!  The help was offered to fly in medical supplies and other essential ones, fly first responders back for rest or up to CYMM for duties, help families get back to their home when perhaps their vehicle was destroyed, reunite loved ones or any other task.  GA can help and can be a vital part of the relief system!  The priority is still with the fire fighting assets fighting the forest fires, but the provincial coordination authorities are aware of our offer and our group of pilots is standing by.  Thank you Eldon, Christine and Richard.

COPA Office move – we need your help to decorate.

We have recently moved from the office we had been occupying for the last eight years, to 75 Albert St. in Ottawa. The move was done, the office is great, but the walls are bare.  Totally bare.  This is where I solicit your help and ask if you can send us aviation related ready-to-hang pictures (you, your plane, aerial photograph, etc.)  Send us your best and they will be exposed in the COPA office.  Please provide the details so we can give proper credit.  In return, we will send you a picture of your art hanging on the COPA office wall.

The new COPA Flight – coming up next.

This is the last COPA Flight in newsprint format. But as you will see the chronology of COPA’s written communication medium elsewhere in this edition, what goes around comes around. The July issue of COPA Flight will be a full colour magazine format (again), our first in collaboration with our partner Canadian Aviator Publishing (CAP).  Why change?  To save a whole lot of money and allocate the membership dues on mission-oriented services, not newspaper publishing.  And believe it or not, printing on newspaper costs almost double than printing a magazine.  When we switched from magazine to newsprint many years ago, it was to save on printing costs of those days.  How ironic.

As we move along, this outsourcing deal will leverage CAP’s experience of just-in-time aviation news delivery, improving your online experience on the website and complemented by a regular newsletter. Rest assured COPA Flight will be a different publication than the well-respected Canadian Aviator. It will still be the association’s magazine and COPA will maintain editorial control and content management.  COPA Flight will still be COPA Flight.  But in a better, revamped, more pertinent format with perhaps a few surprises once in a while.  You will like it as much as we are excited to see these changes.  But don’t just take my word for it, wait until you see it. Until next month, in a glossy colour magazine.