Close Calls
Oh What a Century
Close Calls is a column detailing the “close call” experiences of fellow pilots. Determining a close call can be quite subjective but for our purposes here a close call will be any situation where a pilot suddenly finds themselves in a potentially dangerous situation quite unexpectedly. Personally, I describe a close call as “closer than I’d prefer.” I invite you to contact me at CloseCalls@PCAS.ca or 1-888-PCAS-123 (GTA: 416-225-9266) to anonymously share your stories. I will collect the details and prepare the article for Close Calls. The experience shared and lessons learned will be of benefit to all readers. Confidentiality will be assured and I will not use your name or aircraft ident without your permission.
It’s coming up to the time when 100 years ago J.A. McCurdy mounted the now legendary Silver Dart and embarked upon the very first flight ever to take place in Canada. It was on February 23, 1909 on the property of inventor Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Of course, several years earlier on December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright made history in Kitty Hawk, NC when THE first flight occurred opening the era of powered flight.
The past 100 years (or 106 for our American cousins) have seen some previously unimaginable achievements. As incredible as flight itself is, we’ve since broken the sound barrier, been to the moon, and are arguably within a generation of some form of commercial space travel. Generally, flight is somewhat less mystical on the whole now as it was even 30 or 40 years ago since today flying is as much a contemporary norm as is driving a car. This sentiment relates mostly, however, to commercial travel as we, the relative few who take command of the flight controls in GA aircraft, know that sitting in seat 26B of an A320 is nothing at all like sitting in the left seat of a C172! But whether you fly the bigs, buzz around in something smaller, aspire to do either, or simply fashion yourself an enthusiast, 100 years of flight will without a doubt mean something very special to you.
Across the country there will be numerous festivities planned throughout 2009 to celebrate a century of flight in Canada – some large and some small. This includes dedicated portions of major annual events such as the COPA Convention from July 17th to 19th in Calgary and EAA’s AirVenture from July 27th to August 2nd at Oshkosh. Both events will commemorate the Canadian Centennial and between these two aviation celebrations will be other parties from coast to coast in places like Boundary Bay, Winnipeg, Brampton, Gatineau, Fredericton, and Baddeck itself. Acclaimed television pilot John Lovelace will be flying across the country in his Piper Navajo attending both the COPA Convention and AirVenture and many other specially selected venues in between The plan is to get 100 pilots to accompany him (your writer included) and judging from the early response the number could be easily double that! The whole thing is being billed as a 12-day celebration and it will be filmed for a television special airing across North America late in 2009.
One of the goals is to have the 100 aircraft (or more) from various official launch points take part in some or all of the historic coast-to-coast journey, making stops at other venues until our arrival at Baddeck for the grand closing ceremonies. Participants will be welcomed as celebrities at each of the official venues. At one venue alone organizers are estimating several thousand spectators! Community members, pilots, and enthusiasts of all ages will be invited to join in on the many celebrations that will be planned. Moreover, the “Century Flight” is working jointly with several other 100th Anniversary teams to maximize public awareness and help make each event just as big and successful as it can be. You are all invited to take part. If any of you know John or have worked with him before you will know everyone usually has a fun and relaxed time on his adventures. So everyone is welcomed – whether you’d like to join the Flight, attend a local celebration, contribute to the national effort, or watch the broadcast when it airs next year. Details for the adventure, known as “John Lovelace’s Century Flight,” and the related production can be found at www.JohnLovelace.com. The registrar is Dave Fitzpatrick and he can be reached at dave@parkaviation.ca. For venue and promotional enquiries you can reach me at Anthony@PCAS.ca. Fly safe(r).
Anthony Nalli is Venue Coordinator for the Century Flight, Director of Canadian Development, G.A. Collision Avoidance and President of SciDac Corporation/PCAS.ca. PCAS.ca. CloseCalls@PCAS.ca, 1-888-PCAS-123 (416-225-9266), www.PCAS.ca To join the A ‘John Lovelace’s Century Flight’ group, visit www.facebook.com.