On September 8, fly into Manitou airport (KG5) for breakfast during the 17^th Annual Pembina Valley Honey, Garlic & Maple Syrup Festival, held between the hours of 08:00 and 10:00. The Manitou Flying Club (MFC), which is affiliated with nearby Morden Flying Club – Flight 145, will be providing transportation to and from the airport, located 65 nm southwest of Winnipeg in the municipality of Pembina. The first eight pilots eat free, compliments of the MFC. There will be prize draws as well.

Admission to this unique festival is free, so you don’t want to miss it. Anyone looking for more information about the fly-in can contact Richard Brown at 204-246-2302 or Ron Bamford at bamfordron@gmail.com. For information on the festival itself, contact evelynlea@icloud.com, or click here.

Home to ‘Beefalo Burgers’, sweet corn and other farm-fresh, organic produce, George Weller again extends an invitation to the flying community to join him for his eighth annual fly-in at the Stanstead/Weller airport (TQ2), located 70 nm southeast of Montreal.

For $15, you can eat as much as you like from the produce Weller grows on his property. With a 2600-foot grass strip, there’s plenty of room to accommodate even turboprops, which have attended in the past. Weller advises that he has removed the trees east of the runway last year.

A unique feature of Weller’s aerodrome/farm is his u-pick farm. In addition to the corn, you can find several varieties of tomatoes, yellow potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, melons, tomatillos, fennel, peppers and more. “Come any time,” says Weller. “Just pick the produce, check the price chart, weigh your stuff and leave the money in a container in the new garden shed. It is by the garden entrance gate, all just off the runway to the east about 200 feet.”

Click here for more details.

Photo courtesy of Jean-Pierre Bonin

The Brampton Flying Club (BFC), a corporate member of COPA, is unique in Canada in that it owns the airport it is situated on. Founded in 1946 as a not-for-profit corporation, the club purchased over 91 hectares (266 acres) of land over the years, has built two runways on it (15/33 and 08/26) and continues to operate the airport to this day. It also owns and operates the Brampton Flight Centre, a pilot training facility, with 24 aircraft and both Red Bird and Frasca flight simulators. BFC also owns an on-airport restaurant.

The club boasts approximately 1000 members, with over 70 employees. Of the 162 hangars on the field, 75 percent are privately owned. Around 200 private aircraft are based at NC3.

The BFC is hosting its Annual Airport Day on September 9 at the Brampton-Caledon airport (NC3). Admission is $5 per person, or $20 for a family pass, with all proceeds going to support The Great War Flying Museum located on the airport grounds. Sight-seeing flights will be available, as will Red Bird simulator flights and a host of other activities designed to keep everyone entertained.

Upgrades to the instrument landing system (ILS) at Kelowna airport (YLW) have begun this week. Technological advances have progressed to the point where the entire system is being replaced.

Kelowna is one of several airports across the country to see ILS improvements in cost-sharing agreements with Nav Canada. Simultaneous to the ILS upgrades is improved runway approach lighting (RAL) to assist aircraft arriving from the south in low-visibility situations. The systems are being positioned to accommodate extension. Work is expected to last until the end of September 2018.

Flights could be diverted during the project, especially when visibility is low or during system outages. “We are working closely with Nav Canada and the airlines to ensure the outage period is as short as possible,” says airport director Sam Samaddar.

Upper Valley Aviation (UVA) founder Ken Smith has put his name in the ring for councillor in Chilliwack’s October civic election. UVA is a long-time tenant at Chilliwack airport (YCW), located 80 kms east of Vancouver in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. The airport has been in the news in recent years as the scene of difficulties between tenants and the private management company, Magnum Management, who holds the head lease. The then owners of the Chilliwack Airport Coffee Shop, originators of the iconic ‘I Fly For Pie’ logo due to their wildly popular fruit pies, reopened in nearby Langley airport (YLY) after being unable to come to terms with Magnum. That alienated much of the local and regional GA community.

After recently announcing his candidature, Smith says he’s always been “a passionate person with strong opinions.” Quoted in local media, Smith goes on to say that he’s concerned about Public Private Partnerships (PPP) that have been a “detriment of the city.” He goes on to say that Chilliwack’s municipal leadership has become “stagnant and resistant to change.”

A Chilliwack native and pilot, Smith founded his company in 1982, specializing in parts sales, aircraft sales, salvage and storage. The early 1990s saw his company expand into aircraft maintenance and painting service and, in 2002, avionics, interior and structural services were added.

Photo by WireLizard

Yakima, Washington-based aircraft manufacturer CubCrafters, makers of airplanes inspired by the venerable Piper Cub series, announced this week that Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) has granted certification to its latest model, the 180-hp XCub. Deliveries to Canada of both its land and seaplane versions can begin immediately.

The XCub was granted FAA certification in 2016, and last April obtained European certification.  Japanese certification was also obtained this week.

“XCub is finding an ever-larger audience in international markets,” said Brad Damm, CubCrafters’ vice president of sales and marketing. “The increasing list of approvals for the XCub from international aviation authorities is an important part of our plan to expand the market reach of the CubCrafters product line. With delivery commitments for new XCubs now on five of seven continents, there is worldwide interest in the utility, safety and best-in-class STOL performance that our aircraft offer.”

Added CubCrafters’ president Pat Horgan, “These approvals of the XCub Type Certificate are proof of exceptional effort and cooperation between TCCA, JCAB, FAA, and CubCrafters.”

In addition to fully-certified airplanes, CubCrafters also offers models in the LSA and kit-built categories.

Click here for more information on the XCub.