Places to Fly: Sherbrooke

COPA Flight 37 is again organizing the annual fly-in event “Les Faucheurs de Marguerites du Québec” (the Daisy Reapers of Quebec) to be held at Sherbrooke airport (CYSC). This year marks its 25th anniversary. The event takes place from June 28 to 30.

Awards in various categories are given for outstanding examples of workmanship in home-built aircraft and aircraft restoration. The contest begins Saturday morning (June 29), with winners announced the following week.

For more information, see their website.

2019 Members’ Choice Airport Restaurant Contest

by Lauren Nagel

The 2019 Members’ Choice Airport Restaurant Contest is now upon us, and with a twist. This year, members will again be rewarded for visiting the participating restaurants with the chance to win a free COPA hat. Print and bring the airport restaurant BINGO board and collect stamps from the participating restaurants. Once you get a full line, send in your card to Lauren Nagel (and don’t forget to yell BINGO!). The staff at the restaurants will be expecting you.

Steps:

  1. Print the BINGO board for your area using the PDF documents below.
  2. Visit restaurants on the board and collect stamps from the staff.
  3. Vote for your favourite restaurants here.
  4. Once you have visited a full line of restaurants, send a photo of your stamped BINGO card to Lauren Nagel to receive your free COPA hat.
East Canada BINGO Board
Western Canada BINGO Board

St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Que., To Get New Aerodrome

by Jonathan Beauchesne, COPA Director for Quebec

Designed to relocate the operations of Mascouche Airport (CSK3), closed on November 15, 2016, this aerodrome will meet a need for another general aviation facility in the Montreal area. In addition, the aerodrome will once again provide a home base for COPA Flight 71, which was once one of the most active in the country.

In accordance with the Canadian Aviation Regulations, proponents are currently consulting with interested parties.

We call on COPA members to affirm their support for this vital aerodrome for the development of general aviation. Your comments will be part of the report that will be provided to Transport Canada in August by the aerodrome proponents.

We invite you to leave your comments here.

Airport Roof Shingles Damage Yukon Plane

The Yukon Government (YG) is named as the defendant in a lawsuit launched by COPA member Alexander Lansfield, the owner of an amateur-built Pacer Colt replica (specifically, an Airmax Super Colt) that was damaged when shingles blew off an airport building and shredded the airplane’s fabric skin.

Lansfield told eFlight that he had parked his airplane at a tie-down spot near Haines Junction’s airport terminal building (CYHT), and that on March 18, 2019, strong winds blew in from Kluane Park. Shingles from the terminal building roof became detached and were blown onto his airplane.

“The aircraft was unflyable,” Lansfield told eFlight. In addition to torn fabric, there was extensive cosmetic damage as well. Lansfield estimates the damage to amount to $25,000.

When Lansfield first registered his claim, the YG, operator of the airport, dispatched a claims adjuster who immediately suggested that winds were an ‘act of God’, resulting in the YG denying the claim. Lansfield urged them to reconsider, citing knowledge and experience he gained in building maintenance and statistics on local wind patterns, but to no avail. This has led Lansfield to launch his lawsuit.

The terminal building roof at Haines Junction has yet to be repaired. In the meantime, Lansfield has relocated his plane to a non-YG-owned tie-down spot at Whitehorse airport (CYXY).

The YG has until July 2 to respond.

Kelowna Airport Site of New Centre of Excellence

KF Aerospace, formerly known as Kelowna Flightcraft, has announced plans to build a centre of excellence (CoE) on the east side of Kelowna airport (CYLW). The $25 million CoE will consist of an exhibition hall and a conference centre, building on the legacy of KF Aerospace founder Barry Lapointe, OBC. Additional facilities in the 4645 m2 structure will include a museum, a cafeteria and classrooms.

Lapointe, recently inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, built his company over the past 50 years into one of the largest aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Canada.

KF Aerospace is Kelowna’s largest private sector employer, with over 750 employees. The company also has bases in Vancouver, Portage la Prairie in Manitoba and Hamilton, Ontario. Other than the maintenance and engineering division, the company also operates an international scheduled and charter cargo division, an aircraft leasing division and is a supplier of pilot training to the RCAF.

“KF Aerospace has a long and proud history as a leader in the aviation industry in Canada,” Kelowna Airport Director Sam Samaddar told eFlight. “This spectacular new facility in Kelowna will not only celebrate the rich aviation history of the Okanagan but will work with education facilities to ensure that we continue to innovate by providing hands-on, technology-driven education and solutions for the demand of aerospace jobs in the future.”

Construction is planned to begin early in 2019 with a completion date in 2022.

Pilatus PC-24 Receives Canadian Type Certificate

A new aircraft type will take to the skies in Canada as Transport Canada issued a type certificate for the Pilatus PC-24 business jet. The type certificate was issued to the Swiss company on Thursday, June 27 but as yet the first operator is unnamed.

Building on the reputation of its sibling, the PC-12, the PC-24 also boasts both short- and rough-field capabilities. It is the first business jet certified for use on dirt/gravel runways. Versatile, it comes complete with a cargo door.

The PA-24 is powered by two Williams FJ44-4A engines. Balanced field length (take-off distance) is only 2,930 feet, even on rough-field conditions, and the maximum range with four passengers is 2000 nm (with NBAA IFR reserves). The maximum cruise altitude is 45,000 feet.

Certified for single-pilot operation, the passenger capacity is 11 plus the pilot. Pilatus is also promoting the air ambulance version of the PA-24, citing its short- and rough-field capabilities and its standard cargo door as ideal attributes.

See PDFs below for the TC Type Certificate and the Pilatus PA-24 brochure.

TCDS-A-275-Iss-1-Pilatus-PC-24
Pilatus-Aircraft-Ltd-PC-24-Factsheet

Satellite Tracker Credited For Rescue

A Belgian ferry pilot credits his personal satellite tracker for the speedy search and rescue effort that allowed him to fly himself back to Newfoundland and Labrador just six weeks after crashing on a remote mountain. Sam Rutherford and co-pilot Alan Simpson, the new owner of the Piper Mirage they were flying,  were on the second leg of their transatlantic delivery flight  May 1 when an issue with their navigation software led to them hitting the side of a mountain near Makkovik in eastern Labrador. Simpson survived the crash and subsequent rescue but died later. Rutherford, a former Belgian military pilot, was seriously hurt but remained conscious and was able to activate his satellite tracker to supplement the personal locator beacon he also carried. The ELT also triggered but the satellite tracker became an invaluable lifeline. “The big difference with this is that within an hour, and hour and a half, I was getting messages back from my wife,” he told the CBC.

Rescuers used data from the satellite tracker to quickly pinpoint the crash site but a blizzard prevented them from reaching it. Rutherford and Simpson, who never regained consciousness, spent a miserable seven hours on the mountainside before the volunteer rescue group from Makkovik bundled them onto snowmobiles for the three-hour trek to town. With the satellite device, which allows two-way text messaging, Rutherford was kept apprised of search efforts and he was able to provide weather updates.  “From a morale point of view that was a total game-changer,” he said. Rutherford flew a similar aircraft back to Makkovik in early June bringing beer to those who saved him. He also flew over the crash site and snapped photos of the wreck.

Air Race Classic Concludes In Welland

The first of 51 teams of female pilots taking part in Air Race Challenge have landed at Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport in Pelham, Ontario. The airport is the terminus for the race, which ends Friday. A major event will be held at the airport on Saturday. Most of the two-woman crews are expected to be on hand for the event, which will include a plaque dedicated to Rungeling, who was known as “The Flying Housewife” when she was a participant in air races in the 1970s. There is one Canadian team in this year’s race made up of Asti Livingstone, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Susan Begg, of Ottawa, flying in Begg’s Mooney M20J.

More than a third of the participants in the race, which has been held 43 times since the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, which became known as the Powder Puff Derby are all-female teams from U.S. university aviation degree programs. Amelia Earhart was among the participants in that race. This year’s race started in Tennessee and looped through the South before heading north through the Midwest before crossing into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie with another stop in North Bay before ending at the finish line in Welland.

COPA LIFT Gala

For one night only, the COPA LIFT gala brings together the Who’s Who of Canadian Aviation. Join Don Bell, the Co-Founder of WestJet and the Canadian Astronaut who spent 166 days in space, Chris Hadfield. See his invitation video here.

Together, Don and Chris will help make this a memorable evening in Calgary, AB. On October 3rd, 2019 enjoy a 5-course meal at this black-tie event where you’ll hear stories of their lives in aviation and socialize with fellow enthusiasts.

The LIFT gala is here to support general aviation in Canada and all proceeds from the event help fund its growth by providing education, support and opportunities across the country. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle for 2 tickets for any WestJet destination in the world (including Hawaii or London). Spots are very limited, so register today by going to www.copaliftgala.ca!