COPA Flight #35
Captain: Harry Wiebe
Hwiebe@mts.net
(204) 489-0011

2011 Fall Update

As summer is waning and the leaves are changing colours we can look back and say that 2011 was a much better summer than 2010. The rain stayed away for most of the summer and the temperatures were more like summer temperatures than early spring temperatures.

Our events are practically cast in stone so the Flight practically runs itself under the guidance of Shawn Wolk and Harry Wiebe with the generous support of the rest of the COPA Flight 35 members.

The year always starts with the Rust Remover in late January or early February followed by the BBQ at the 99er’s Poker Derby. In June we change hats and run an EAA Young Eagles day. We remember that flying for fun is what we do and to encourage the sport of aviation and the future careers in aviation are a positive result of our actions regardless of what hat we are wearing. The Springfield Flying Club’s annual BBQ happens the 3rd Sunday in August that is the Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year and is supported by Flight 35 and its members by supplying prizes for the silent auction. The annual Peace Gardens fly-out was a bust for those flying out of Winnipeg as encountered low ceilings 70 miles southwest of Winnipeg. This is the area of the Manitoba escarpment where there is a gradual rise in elevation. Four planes from Winnipeg were in the air and all turned back. Those coming from Brandon and west as well as those from Minot were able to make it. We will try again next year.

The highlight of the year had to be the annual COPA for Kids free event. This year we flew a total of 83 kids. What a day! The weather was perfect and the kids and the volunteers alike matched the enthusiasm. Our thanks go out to all the organizations, parents, guardians and all the volunteers who made the event so successful. We look forward to doing this event all over again next year.

At the end of the day COPA Flight 35 presented a cheque for $200 to COPA National for the Freedom-to-Fly fund. This is our mandate. As local flights we do our best to help the mother organization keep the flying fire burning by lobbying industry and government that general aviation is here to stay.

Keep watching the Lyncrest website for the 2006 Aviation Events Calendar at: www.lyncrest.org/sfcfltcalendar.html.

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