What happens when two COPA flights get together for breakfast once a year? Well, it gets bigger and bigger each year.

For the past four years, I have been inviting club members from CUFC Calgary, COPA Flt 114, and the Lethbridge Sport Flyers, COPA Flt 24, to meet halfway at Vulcan and walk over to the local golf course clubhouse to have breakfast together. This would give us a chance to meet pilots from another club and a chance to see some new planes. I would try to avoid the weekend that the Town of Vulcan has their fly-in so we do not have any conflicts.

It started out small. I think the first year it was less than a dozen planes with a few other people that drove in. Each year it has grown, and this year, on August 19th, we had 24 planes fly in to continue the tradition of meeting with another club. Again, we had the drive-in gang that didn’t have a plane to fly in but wanted to come enjoy the gathering. In total, we had about 36 people in attendance. We even had our youngest member fly in this year. Emma Branch (age three), Troy’s daughter, flew in with Dad in the RV-9.

The parking area at the airport was full, and we all made it in and back out without any problems, which is always a good thing. It was great to see that all the pilots flying in did their circuit procedures correctly too. It is always nice to have a place to fly to, and although we never need a reason to fly, this event puts both a place to go and a reason for going together. I would like to thank Joe Harrington and Andy Cummings for helping me with their support in the Lethbridge club. I look forward to Saturday, August 18th, 2007, when we will again have a place and a reason to go flying.

Fly Safe