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| Fleet Model 80 Canuck on skis Photo by Nathalie Huard, January 2012 |
This page was last updated on Monday, 6 February 2012
Flight 8 News
Once again COPA Flight 8 members Michael Dixon and Nathalie Huard were at the Chateau Montebello, Quebec, on 4-5 February for one of the earliest flyins of the year.
Michael said of the event:
Saturday was a perfect winter day. Many Challengers were present as well as a few larger birds! Snow conditions were great and the Vintage Wings fly-by was much appreciated by the crowd.
Here is a selection of the photos Nathalie took of the fly-in:
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COPA Flight 8 members Michael Dixon and Nathalie Huard attended a small fly-in on the Ottawa River, early in January 2012.
This may qualify as the first fly-in of 2012!
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COPA Flight 8 members Michael Dixon and Nathalie Huard went to the 2011 Reno Air Races and it turned out to be a momentous occasion.
Michael commented:
2011 will be a year to remember. Started with the tornado at Sun n' Fun and ended with the crash at Reno...This was Nathalie’s first time at the races and after a full day of photography she had just commented how great the event was. We then witnessed the horrible crash. As you probably all know the races were cancelled. So we drove the rental to Tahoe lake, Trucky and Virginia city and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The races will be held this year and Nathalie and I will probably attend (just love those big radials!)
Here are some of the photos they took at Reno in 2011:
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| Partenair S45 Mystere lands at Lachute, 2004 |
As in 2010 the Canadian private civil aircraft fleet continued to expand in 2011, still recovering from the recession of 2008-10.
In 2008 the fleet grew at 3.2%, but by 2009 that rate had dropped to 2.2%. In 2010 it rebounded slightly to 2.3% and in 2011 the rate increased still further to 2.5%, but it still lags well behind the 3% plus seen though the middle 2000s, when economic times were better.
The recession and the very tenuous recovery we have seen has definitely slowed down the rate of aircraft purchases in Canada. As in recent years the fact that the fleet has continued to grow at all, and not shrink, is probably due to the continued high asking prices for used aircraft in Canada as the US dollar remained weak in 2011. Aircraft asking prices should have again decreased this past year as the Canadian dollar was at or near par against the US dollar, but Canadian asking prices remain consistently higher than US prices, encouraging cross-border aircraft shopping and acting as a Canadian fleet growth driver. The problem remains that many of those over-priced-and-not-selling-fast aircraft are also not being flown much, so while the Canadian civil fleet grows in size the amount of flying probably isn't changing a lot.
In 2011 the total Canadian civil fleet increased in size by 772, compared to 642 aircraft in 2010, 600 in 2009 and 803 aircraft in 2008. In 2011 the private fleet accounted for 85% of the growth seen, increasing by 674, while the commercial aircraft fleet increased by 94 aircraft, a substantial improvement over 2010's commercial fleet increase of only 29 aircraft.
The state fleet, those aircraft owned by the various levels of government in Canada, reversed its shrinking trend of recent years and grew by four aircraft, all of them helicopters.
For the past few years, certified aircraft have been leading the growth in private aircraft numbers for Canada. Fuelled by a low US dollar and high asking prices for aircraft in Canada, this makes US imports cheaper than buying domestically. The numbers increased in 2011 with 228 certified aircraft added, much more than 2010's total of 174. In 2011, certified aircraft was the category with the largest growth by a big margin over basic ultralights, the category with the next largest growth. In 2011, the new additions to the certified fleet were made up of 219 airplanes, three helicopters and six gliders.
Private certified aircraft accounted for 29% of the overall fleet growth in 2011. There were 15,934 private certified aircraft at the end of 2011, out a total of 27,727 total private aircraft registered.
For the last number of years BULAs have been the second quickest growing area of private aviation and this trend continued in 2011. The category increased by 161 and accounted for 24% of the private fleet growth. There were 5,436 BULAs registered at the end of 2011. Low cost seems to be driving the growth of this category.
Amateur-built aircraft were in the number three slot again in 2011, increasing by 137, up from an increase of 109 in 2010. In 2011 the aircraft added were made up of 131 airplanes, seven helicopters and one balloon. The number of gliders and gyroplanes decreased by one each. Amateur-builts made up 21% of the aircraft added to the overall fleet in 2010.
Amateur builts now number 3,881 in Canada and include a wide variety of aircraft, from fixed wing airplanes, helicopters, gliders, gyroplanes to balloons, airships and even one ornithopter.
In 2011 AULAs remained in fourth place for growth, increasing their numbers by only 28 airplanes, compared to an increase of 39 in 2010 and 42 in 2009. Their growth in numbers in 2011 made up 4% of the fleet increase and brought the total number of AULAs on the civil register to 1,149. By the category definition, all AULAs are powered fixed wing aircraft.
The AULA category was introduced in 1991 and therefore 2011 was its twentieth anniversary. The category has increased its numbers at an average of 57 aircraft per year and so can hardly be considered the success that was envisioned twenty years ago, when it was heralded as the answer that would bring many more people into recreational flying. As in the past three years the number of AULAs added was well below the average and seems to indicate that the category is slowly dying out, a trend mostly likely linked to the high price of new AULAs.
The O-M category added 27 aircraft in 2011, well down from the total of 36 added in 2010. By the end of 2011, there were 546 O-M aircraft on the registry, made up of 533 airplanes and 13 gliders.
This category has suffered from low numbers of aircraft being moved from the certified category ever since the American FAA announced that O-M aircraft will never be allowed to fly in US airspace or sold in the USA. Overall this category seems to be waning over time and transfers from the certified category will probably continue to decrease in future years.
As the economy recovered somewhat in 2011, the commercial aircraft fleet increased by 94 aircraft to bring it to 6,955. The numbers show an increase of 41 airplanes, 51 helicopters and two balloons. Almost all the commercial fleet growth was in twin-engined aircraft, with 86 added, versus just three singles and four four-engined aircraft. One three-engined aircraft left the fleet, probably another old Boeing 727 being retired.
At the end of 2011 the private fleet made up 79% of the aircraft in Canada, with the commercial fleet at 20% and the state fleet at 0.8%. These proportions have not changed since 2007.
Aircraft imports into Canada in 2011 numbered 861, up from 774 in 2010 and 673 in 2009, but still below the 968 imported in the pre-recession days of 2008. In 2011 667 aircraft were exported, giving a difference of 194 favouring imported aircraft over those exported.
Between December 2008 and June 2011 the number of licensed pilots in Canada with valid medicals fell by 1431, a decline of 2.3% in two and half years, for an annual rate of just under 1% per year. Compared to past years the number of pilots dropping out of flying is increasing recently. This is not unexpected as the pilot population ages and more pilots run into medical limitations, plus the economic situation may be preventing many retirees, as well as those out of work or under-employed, from flying.
As 2012 commences, many global factors are at play that have the potential to negatively impact aviation in Canada. These include the risk of a war in the Middle East, with the potential loss of oil shipments though the Straits of Hormuz, which would result in extremely high oil prices and probably oil and gasoline shortages in eastern Canada, at least for the duration.
Oil prices, which continued in 2011 around US$100 per barrel, mean high avgas prices, which makes flying expensive and reduces the number of people who fly, or at least who fly regularly. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that as fuel prices rise most aircraft owners are not so much quitting flying as just flying less and staying closer to home, all of which have safety implications.
Note: Data for this report was taken from the Transport Canada Civil Aircraft Register and reflects the difference between the number of aircraft registered in Canada on 31 December 2010 and 31 December 2011. These statistics reflect the net number of aircraft built and imported, minus the number destroyed, scrapped and exported. Just because an aircraft is registered in Canada does not mean it is being flown and therefore the number of registered aircraft should not be confused with the amount of flying activity.
COPA Flight 8 webmaster Adam Hunt attended the 2011 Carleton Place Fly-in held at the Carleton Place Aerodrome on 10 September 2011. The fly-in is an invitational event hosted by the Carleton Place Flying Club (COPA Flight 121) and focuses on ultralights, especially Quad City Challengers.
This year the weather was perfect, with temperatures reaching about 21°C, light winds and clear skies. The event brought in about 22 Challengers, including a rare (at least in Canada) single seat Challenger I. Many of the Challengers seem to be sporting "nose art" these days, in an informal competition to out-do each other. Most Challengers were on wheels, with a few equipped with amphibious floats. One Challenger arrived with wheel-skis on. I guess he can't wait for winter to arrive!
There were also an equal number of non-Challengers, including an unusual American Aerolights Falcon XP canard, two helicopters, a few amateur-builts and even some certified aircraft.
Because still photos don't quite capture the action at a fly-in Adam also put together a video of some of the highlights of the event.
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COPA Flight 8 Captain Mike Shaw attended the 2011 Stanley Fly-in held at the Stanley Airport. The fly-in is held every Labour Day weekend.
Mike sends this report on the event:
Kevin [Psutka] and I returned from Stanley last night, to beat the bad wx. I had a great time. Stayed at Ernie Mclean's place first night, his Scottsfield CCF9 was too soft for us to use, so we had to go to Fredericton. At Stanley Kevin and I shared a room in Windsor's Super 8 Motel. We flew with Ron and Carol Cook, often in formation. Kevin just loves formation stuff. He even let me try it, but he kept the throttle (to save the turbo). Could be stressful and tiring, but in calm air it seemed to work ok. Rob Erdos was there with Vintage Wing's Harvard.
Stanley was great. Lots of nice people and airplanes.
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Every July 1st the Rockcliffe Flying Club holds a fly-in breakfast to celebrate Canada Day in the nation's capital. In recent years the event has been lightly attended with only six fly-in aircraft showing up in both 2009 and 2010. This year the weather was perfect, warm and sunny with light winds and the fly-in did a bit better with about ten aircraft attending.
As in past years Adam Hunt and Ruth Merkis-Hunt attended the fly-in, cycling there from South Keys and shot some photos and a video.
• Video of the highlights of the 2011 Rockcliffe fly-in
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COPA Flight 8 Captain Mike Shaw attended the Wings and Wheels show that was held on 18 June 2011 at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum at Rockcliffe Airport. He reports:
By far the largest group of exhibitors were the Ford Mustang group, I think from Montreal. There were more wheels than wings in attendance. Not a big crowd but great day.
Mike took some great photos of the event, including Patrick Gilligan's RV-8, The Rockcliffe Flying Club's Super Decathlon that is used for tailwheel training and aerobatics and some interior and cockpit photos of the Canadair North Star that is undergoing restoration at the museum.
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COPA Flight 8 members Michael Dixon and Nathalie Huard landed on the Aylmer - Ottawa River Ice Strip just west of the Ottawa VOR, for Maurice Prud’Homme's Ski Fly-In on 20 February 2011. They report:
Mo pulled it off once again! Weather, ice, conditions, chilli and beans and lots of aviators made this a great event!
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COPA Flight 8 members Michael Dixon and Nathalie Huard were at the Sainte Anne du Lac Ski Fly-In on 20 February 2011. Nathalie reports:
This first event scheduled for Saturday 19th was postponed to Sunday due to weather. The event was held in a beautiful setting at the south end of Tapanee Lake, 89 nm north [of Ottawa]. Pilots had a warm welcome from organisers and villagers who had marked a 2000 foot ski runway and taxiway. A roaring exterior fire and friendly staff at the restaurant made this a successful event. Approximately 30 aircraft and 3 helicopters braved the cool air.
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On Sunday 20 February 2011 The Canada Aviation and Space Museum held a special viewing of their newly constructed facilities for their donors. The new facilities include a completely new entrance to the museum, featuring a Canadair CT-114 Tutor in 431 Squadron markings suspended from the ceiling of the new glass atrium, a 250-seat auditorium and two medium-sized classrooms. Part of the yet-to-be-unveiled work includes an expanded gift shop and cafe.
Flight 8 members Adam Hunt and Ruth Merkis-Hunt were on hand to get some photos of the construction. The newly constructed entrance is certainly an improvement over the previous one and will even free up some floor space for exhibits in the main museum building.
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COPA Flight 8 Members & Planes
Date & Time:
Wednesday 22 February 2012, 1930 hrs (7:30 pm for non-pilots)
Location:
Ottawa Flying Club Lounge
(map)
Topic:
Lockheed Martin's Prepar3d Simulation Program with John Nicol
See Upcoming events for more details
