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| Britten Norman BN.2B-21 Islander at Ottawa International Airport 7 November 2009 |
This page was last updated on Saturday, 14 November 2009
Flight 8 News
Flight 8 Captain Mike Shaw has long taken umbrage with the wording of the Transport Canada AIM, particularly on what it has to say about circuit joining procedures, which he has described as "sloppy work ... that really bugs me". He previously outlined his objections in a Flight 8 blog post.
Mike Shaw has now taken his disagreement with what the AIM says on this issue one step higher and has a letter on the subject printed in ASL 4/2009.
It looks like he has Transport Canada's attention on the subject, as ASL editor Paul Marquis replied: "Thank you for writing to us. Your comments are appreciated and will be considered in an upcoming revision of the TC AIM. —Ed."
This is a follow up to a previous Flight 8 home page story.
Following the in-flight break up of a Zenair CH601XL over Arkansas on 6 November 2009, both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Experimental Aircraft Association have come out in favour of grounding Zodiac CH601XL and CH650 aircraft currently flying until a Safety Directive/Safety Alert from the manufacturer is complied with. Both AMD Aircraft and Zenith Aircraft, manufacturers of the completed and kit aircraft respectively, endorse these recommendations.
The issue stems from the US NTSB investigation of seven in-flight structural failures of this aircraft type. The FAA investigation showed that a combination of stick force characteristics, airspeed calibration, structural stability, wing structure and flutter issues can all add up to compromise safety.
All Canadian flight crew licences, permits and medical certificates in the current individual paper format will expire very soon.
Airline Transport Pilot and Commercial Pilot licences have already been replaced with the new licence booklet format licence. Current Private Pilots licences will expire on Dec. 31, 2009. So if you haven’t applied for the new format licences, do so today or you won't be flying in 2010!
For complete information read the COPA PDF article on the subject (18 KB download)
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| The Ottawa Flying Club's new Beechcraft 76 Duchess C-FDMO |
The Ottawa Flying Club's general manager Mark Champagne announced on 2 November 2009 that the club has purchased a second Beechcraft 76 Duchess to be used for twin-engine training.
The new Duchess, C-FDMO, is a 1976 model. Champagne indicates that the aircraft has a beautiful paint scheme and is well equipped, including an avionics stack with a Garmin 430 GPS.
C-FDMO was recently imported into Canada and has been registered to the club since 2 October 2009 where it has undergone its import inspection and other work. With its paperwork now complete it should be on the flying club's flightline ready for its first revenue flight on Monday 9 November 2009.
Champagne added:
With the addition of this twin we should have fewer booking delays so if you are thinking about your Multi or Multi IFR now is a great time to start the rating.
Transport Canada has just released their newest version of the Aeronautical Information Manual on 22 October 2009.
The AIM replaced the old Transport Canada AIP a number of years ago. The AIP was a paper publication, with amendments issued six, and later four, times a year. That meant to keep it up to date you had to spend hours inserting new pages and removing old pages. On top of that the old AIP wasn't well indexed either, making it hard to find information.
The new PDF format AIM is a great improvement: no amendments to do, just download a new copy every six months. The new electronic publication is easy to search for information in, too.
Download The TC AIM TP 14371 for free (36.8 MB download) or just read it in sections on the TC website.
Due to popular demand VIP Pilot Centre has decided to produce the AIM as a paper book, since Transport Canada only makes it available in electronic format. The VIP paper AIM is available starting with the October 2009 edition, for $19.95. Order from VIP.
Touch 'n Go Aviation Warehouse celebrated its grand opening at Carp Airport on 26 September 2009.
On a quiet Tuesday afternoon in October I made to trip out to Carp to have a look at the new facility and see what they have to offer.
It is impossible to miss the new store as it is extraordinarily well sign posted. From the moment you get to the airport a string of signs takes you to the Touch 'n Go hangar. The hangar itself has a huge sign announcing that you have arrived.
This hangar has a long history, having been an aircraft storage facility and more recently a maintenance operation. Touch 'n Go owner Chad Wilton purchased the hangar and turned the ground side into the new store. This involved removing the old office cubicle that was there and building a whole new interior for Touch 'n Go. The new space is large and bright. The new north face windows add some much-needed light and a customer door from the ground side parking lot completes the shop. Even the access road has been carefully graded and is no longer the sea of potholes joined by a bit of gravel it once was.
Inside Touch 'n Go I was greeted by Chris Sikma who mans the front counter. The store's space is filled with a huge selection of clothing, including the predictable Remove Before Flight shirts, plus Touch 'n Go's own logo wearables. The store also carries an assortment of maps, ground school manuals, fuel testers, aircraft cleaning supplies and aviation oil. They carry a selection of Garmin GPS sets, ICOM radios, ASA flight computers, Sporty's radios and David Clark headsets. Touch 'n Go is also the Canadian distributor for the innovative Clarity Aloft lightweight headset. Sikma explained that as the product line expands they will carry an increasing selection of pilot elementary maintenance items, such as spark plugs.
A lounge area at the back of the store encourages visitors to linger a while and perhaps swap some flying stories. Touch 'n Go also offers aircraft storage in that portion of the hangar that isn't used for the shop. Above the Touch 'n Go shop work continues creating a second floor that may become the home for a flight school in the future.
Sikma indicates that since the grand opening, business has been steadily increasing and he is confident that Touch 'n Go Aviation Warehouse is here to stay at Carp Airport.
Touch 'n Go's hours are:
Click to enlarge
Effective 22 October 2009 the airspace in Southern Ontario will be changing. There will be more controlled airspace, especially in the most southern parts of the province.
The changes create a new 2500' ASL floor for Class "E" in low level airspace, transitioning to 3500' ASL floor further north. All previously uncontrolled airspace between 12,500' ASL and 18,000' ASL will now be Class "B" airspace.
Nav Canada says that these changes are required to "reduce some procedural limitations on instrument flight rules (IFR) operations and enable expanded use of more efficient RNAV direct routings in this low level airspace."
The presence of more controlled airspace closer to the ground will impact VFR operations, mostly by imposing higher weather limits on the VFR traffic operating in the new Class "E" airspace created. VFR weather limits are:
For more details on the weather limits for VFR flight, please see the Transport Canada AIM - VFR Weather Minima
For the complete story on the airspace changes, please read the Southern Ontario Airspace Change AIC (96 KB download)
In most years scheduling an outdoor event for the end the August is a fairly safe bet in the Ottawa area, but, with the realities of climate change, there are seemingly no safe bets any more.
Rockcliffe Airport's Classic Air Rallye had one day washed out in 2006 when Sunday August 27th brought 5.2 mm of rain. That was repeated in 2009, when a large low pressure system moved in for the event's end of August weekend.
Environment Canada forecast that Ottawa would receive 15-25 mm of rain on Saturday 29 August 2009, but the city actually got an amazing 37.2 mm. Sunday's weather was not as bad, with the retreating low pressure system trailing a trough though the area, but the city did see a number of showers in the afternoon and evening, keeping a lot of people at home.
The Air Rallye wasn't the only event to suffer from the wet weather on this last weekend in 2009, with a number of other parades and festivals running in the city, but it is especially sad to see the rain beating down after all the efforts put into organizing the Air Rallye by FlightWorks and their hard-working volunteers.
Mike Shaw made it to the 2009 edition of the Orillia/Lake St John fly-in, held over the weekend of 22 and 23 of August.
The gathering also included a get-together of the Seaway Chapter of the Short Wing Piper Club that attracted a collection of Tri-Pacers, Vagabonds and other short-wings.
The weather was not great and in fact the airport was still recovering from the previous Thursday's severe thunderstorm that damaged hangars, although thankfully no aircraft.
Read Mike's report and have a look at some of the photos he brought home in our Orillia/Lake St John fly-in photo gallery.
Not a lot these days! While other fields, like software, have enormous amounts of stuff at no cost to entice new people to get into the hobby, aviation remains pretty expensive.
Flight 8 blogger, Adam Hunt has found three aviation things for free, including:
For complete details read the Flight 8 Blog. Why not add your own list of free aviation things you have found, too?
A number of members of COPA Flight 8 Ottawa made it out to the COPA Convention held between 17-19 July at Springbank Airport, west of Calgary, Alberta. Amongst those attending from Ottawa were Flight 8 Captain Mike Shaw and his wife, Gail.
The convention was well-attended and the weather was good throughout. John Lovelace brought his cross-country one hundred airplane tour to the event, which certainly boosted attendance!
Mike Shaw sent a complete report and photos of many of the aircraft, as well as highlights of the weekend.
Read his report and see the photos in our Convention 2009 gallery.
The Rockcliffe Flying Club traditionally holds a fly-in breakfast on Canada Day each year and 2009 was no exception.
Unfortunately a few early morning rain showers, associated with a persistent cold low over eastern Ontario seemed to dissuade many pilots and only six aircraft made it to the event.
Adam and Ruth were there and took some photos of the activity and even got to meet the two new four-legged staff members at the club. There was some flying activity as the Waco UPF and Robinson R44 were hopping rides from the museum side of the airport.
Have a look at their photo gallery for the details.
Since the United States Air Force GPS satellite navigation system became operational in April 1995 most pilots have come to rely on it to get them to their destination.
In general the GPS system has proven reliable and there have been very few signal loss problems that would cause pilots to doubt that using it is a good idea. But that could be changing in 2010.
The US government has indicated that many of the satellites are old and need replacing very soon. Of course there is a replacement program, but the USAF, who run the system, are over budget and almost three years behind schedule.
What does this means for Canadian pilots?
Read the whole story and leave your own comments on the COPA Flight 8 Blog.
Just coming out of an "extreme makeover" the Canada Aviation Museum at Rockcliffe is set to expand next.
Stephen Quick, the Associate Director-General of the museum, explains:
"Aviation is embedded in the fabric of the Canadian experience, but currently we look like a hangar for aircraft rather than a museum. The purpose of this expansion is to show to the visitor to Ottawa that we are really a museum. When you come into the museum, it will have what we call a 'wow factor'. You begin your experience as you enter the door."
The $7 million expansion will add 2,600 square metres, 18 per cent more space, with construction starting in May 2009 and finishing in the fall of 2010.
The construction will include new:
These sort of good public works are exactly what is needed in this recession to get the country working and improve public infrastructure, like our national aviation museum, at the same time.
→ Home
COPA Flight 8 Members & Planes
Date & Time:
Wednesday 25 November 2009 1930 hrs (7:30 pm for non-pilots)
Location:
Ottawa Flying Club Lounge
(map)
Topic:
Transportation Safety Board of Canada with Yves Jolicoeur
See Upcoming events for more details
Orillia/Lake St John Fly-in 2009
Canada Day Fly-in at Rockcliffe 2009
Moe's Ottawa River Ski Fly-in 2009
COPA Flight 8 Members & Planes
