Over 50 flyers
and friends and 24 airplanes attended the annual Northern Lake Amphibian
Pilots Fly In and safety Seminar at Killarney Mountain Lodge, Killarney,
Ontario. Killarney is a unique and beautiful town on the North Channel
of Lake Huron. The town has a paved runway within walking distance of
the Lodge. Most folks, however, used the perfect access to the water
and just splashed down right in front of the Lodge and taxied up to the
spacious lawn.
I reside in
Thunder Bay, ON and several years the weather has prevented us from
attending as I am VFR only. My wife and I decided to drive to ensure
our attending the event this year. It is a fifteen hour drive around
the northern shore of Lake Superior. I can fly there in three hours. I
could have TAXIED from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie as Lake Superior
was like a sheet of glass. A rare site. The good news is that it
stayed like that throughout the whole weekend.
Morning sessions
found the pilots attending forums on safety, maintenance and general
piloting skills. COPA president, Kevin Psutka addressed us on advocacy
issues and told us that COPA will be working much closer with SPA and
AOPA. Personally I was elated to hear this as we need all the numbers
strength and information we can get to keep our skies and waterways open
to seaplanes.
The afternoons
were spent splashing around the many beautiful lakes around Killarney.
The ramp itself is a huge bald rock of the Precambrian shield. You just
drop your gear and taxi up on to the lawn at the lodge.
The flying
companions were not left to their own entertainment. There was a
watercolour lesson, craft sessions to make wine glass identifiers and
lotions and potions as well as a time for book discussion.
Evenings were
filled with events as well. On Thursday evening, Beth Bennett and Chris
Harmon shared their experiences flying in this year’s Governor General
Air Rally. Friday, after dinner we were treated to a session on
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction therapy. Dr. Knipping is a
captivating speaker and everyone came away with some new thoughts on
stress reduction. Saturday has been traditionally, the fundraising
auction. Michelle LaPointe, our auctioneer kept us laughing for almost
three hours. Proceeds from the auction are divided up with portions
going to SPA and COPA as well as a small donation to the local airport
as it no longer has federal funding.
If you have
never attended this fly-in, you are missing out on one of the season’s
greatest get-togethers so make your plans to attend Sept. 9 to 12, 2010.
Bill Gillespie
Canadian Field Director - SPA
Thunder Bay, Ontario |