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.

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.

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.

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.