by George Farrington, Director, Advocacy & External Affairs
The following article is originally published in the July-August 2026 Summer Edition of the COPA Flight magazine.
Summer is synonymous with aviation. Across Canada, longer days and generally favourable weather encourage pilots to fly more often, whether that’s attending a COPA fly-in, taking cross-country family vacations, exploring remote destinations, or simply enjoying an evening flight after work. While summer often offers excellent flying opportunities, it also presents some of the greatest performance and operational challenges pilots face all year.
The old saying, “hot, high, and heavy,” has endured for good reason. Add wildfire smoke, turbulence, and pilot fatigue into the mix, and even experienced aviators can quickly find themselves operating with far smaller safety margins than expected.
Density Altitude: The Invisible Threat
Perhaps the most misunderstood hazard of summer flying is density altitude. Although the aircraft may be sitting on a runway only a few hundred feet above sea level, the atmosphere can behave as though the aircraft is departing from several thousand feet higher.
As temperature rises, air becomes less dense. The engine produces less power, the propeller becomes less efficient, and the wings generate less lift. The result is reduced acceleration, longer takeoff rolls, lower climb rates, and degraded overall aircraft performance.
Many Canadian pilots associate density altitude with mountain airports in British Columbia or Alberta, but it can become a significant factor almost anywhere in the country. A warm afternoon at an airport in Southern Ontario or the Prairies can produce density altitude conditions that dramatically exceed the airport’s published elevation.
The danger lies in familiarity. Pilots who routinely depart from the same airport may expect their aircraft to perform the way it always has, only to discover that on a hot summer day it accelerates sluggishly and struggles to climb after liftoff.
Hot and Heavy
Summer also tends to coincide with vacations and family trips, meaning aircraft are often loaded close to maximum gross weight. Full fuel, camping equipment, luggage, passengers, and survival gear all add weight, reducing performance even before the effects of heat are considered.
Weight and density altitude compound one another. An aircraft that performs adequately when lightly loaded on a cool spring morning may become marginal when fully loaded on a 30°C afternoon.
Before every departure, pilots should honestly calculate and verify their weight and balance conditions. It may be necessary to reduce the overall payload or passenger count to obtain the required takeoff and climb performance under a higher density altitude. A planned fuel stop may provide a significantly greater safety margin than departing overloaded. Similarly, delaying a flight until the cooler temperatures of early morning or late evening can substantially improve aircraft performance.
The performance charts in the Pilot Operating Handbook are there for a reason. They should never be viewed as conservative estimates—they represent expected performance under carefully controlled conditions. Grass runways, uneven surfaces, obstacles, or less-than-perfect pilot technique can all further reduce performance.
Smoke Doesn’t Just Reduce Visibility
In recent years, wildfire smoke has become an increasingly common feature of Canadian summers. While most pilots immediately consider visibility, smoke introduces several additional hazards that deserve equal attention.
Reduced visibility can make navigation more difficult, obscure terrain, and significantly reduce the time available to identify traffic or emergency landing areas. Haze can also create powerful visual illusions, making objects appear farther away than they really are.
Smoke can make it difficult to maintain visual reference to the horizon, particularly over water or sparsely populated terrain. Even when visibility remains legally acceptable, deteriorating visual cues can quickly increase pilot workload.
Wildfires also create localized weather phenomena. Strong convective activity, turbulence, smoke columns, and rapidly changing winds may exist well beyond the visible fire itself.
Equally important is monitoring current NOTAMs and airspace restrictions. Temporary flight restrictions established around wildfire operations exist to protect aerial firefighting aircraft and emergency personnel. Entering these areas can not only create a serious safety hazard but may also delay critical firefighting operations.
Turbulence and Thunderstorms
Warm summer afternoons frequently produce thermals and convective turbulence. Even on seemingly clear days, aircraft can encounter significant bumps, particularly over fields, rocky terrain, or urban areas.
Mechanical turbulence also increases as stronger summer winds interact with hills, ridges, buildings, and trees. Mountain flying introduces additional hazards including downdrafts, rotor activity, and rapidly changing weather.
Thunderstorms deserve particular respect. They can develop quickly, often producing severe turbulence, hail, heavy precipitation, strong gust fronts, and lightning well beyond the visible cloud. No aircraft, regardless of size, should attempt to fly through or beneath an active thunderstorm.
The Human Factor
Summer flying often involves longer cross-country trips, unfamiliar destinations, and busy schedules. It’s easy to become focused on reaching a fly-in or arriving before weather changes, allowing external pressures to influence decision-making.
Heat also affects pilots directly. Dehydration develops gradually, reducing concentration, reaction time, and decision-making long before obvious symptoms appear. Cockpits can become exceptionally warm while taxiing or waiting for departure, particularly in aircraft without effective ventilation.
Simple habits such as drinking plenty of water, taking regular breaks, eating properly, and avoiding unnecessary pressure to “press on” can significantly improve both comfort and safety.
Fly the Conditions, Not the Calendar
Summer remains one of the most enjoyable times to fly, but it demands respect. High temperatures and density altitudes, increased aircraft loading, smoke, turbulence, and pilot fatigue all reduce the margins available when something unexpected occurs.
Good airmanship means recognizing these risks before they become problems. Calculate density altitude, use aircraft performance charts honestly, keep weight under control, review current weather and wildfire information, and never hesitate to delay a departure if conditions warrant.
The destination will almost certainly still be there tomorrow. The goal is to ensure you are too.