We’ve done some exciting aviation volunteering over the past 6 months! We volunteer with the following aviation-based groups:
COPA (Canadian Owners and Pilots Association) Flight 177 – Exeter
Summer spent the winter and spring on the planning committee for a COPA for Kids event at our local grass airfield, CSX7. On the day of the event Flight 177 (Exeter) had 11 participating aircraft and we flew 141 local kids (15 of them flew in C-FPAP), for many it was their first time in a small plane and flying off a grass runway! Our famliy also actively participates in many COPA fundraisers and events and Summer is currently the Secretary for Flight 177. COPA Flight 177, near Exeter, holds a number of fly-in/drive-in events in the warmer months that are open to the public.
The Canadian Wings of Rescue (formerly Pilots and Paws Canada)
The Canadian Wings of Rescue links volunteer pilots with both wildlife and pet rescue organizations. In the spring we received an urgent request to fly 3 young Boreal owlets, who had been in a nest in a tree that had been cut down, from Cochrane down to St. Catherine’s for rehabilitation at The Owl Foundation. We had planned to fly to Timmins to get the owls but with deteriorating weather in that area we decided to land in Sudbury and the owls were driven there to meet us. We then dropped them off at St. Catherine’s airport, where a volunteer from the Owl Foundation met us and picked up the owls. On our way home from St. Catherine’s we detoured for a sightseeing flight over Niagara Falls!
In September the 3 owls were ready for release so we flew to St. Catherine’s to pick them up and took them all the way to Cochrane, with fuel stops in Midland and Earlton – a friendly and interesting airport near New Liskard that we hadn’t landed at before. We had hoped to be able to participate in the owls’ sunset release, but with poor weather forecast for the following morning in the Cochrane area we decided to get as far south as North Bay for the night and the forecast for the following day looked nice and clear from North Bay all the way home. An article about the flight and a video of the owls’ release can be seen on The Owl Foundation’s Facebook page, dated September 22nd and 23rd, 2017.
The 99s Inc. – International Women Pilots Association:
In early June we participated in the 99’s First Canadian Chapter’s Poker Run, and invited a young student pilot from the Toronto area to accompany us. What a great day for flying! Summer is the past secretary for the Maple Leaf Chapter, in Southwestern Ontario, and is currently co-chair of Maple Leaf Chapter. She is also a member of the Fleet Canuck Flying Club and is getting familiar with flying a 1946 Fleet Canuck!
pappleaviation.ca 