Boy, what a month! There have been a lot of exciting things happening along with some tragedy. October was an incredible month for weather, with warm temperatures and light winds for the majority. Even the time change was delayed a week, giving us an extra week of evening flying.

Unfortunately, October was marred by an unusual rash of light aircraft accidents. There were four in the last week alone, with two of them being fatal and another still missing. Of course, the media quickly glommed onto the tragedies, issuing the cry “the sky is falling!” The media coverage brought about a number of discussions with our non-aviation friends, explaining that recreational aviation is not just a suicide wish. However, there were a lot of good events this month. I’m sure that everyone heard the coverage of the new Airbus A380 making its inaugural passenger flight earlier in the month. What an amazing machine! This airliner has two full passenger decks, including passenger cabins with sleeping accommodations. One couple paid $50,000 for a cabin on the 7-hour flight from Singapore to Sydney.

This past Saturday was a wonderful morning for flying, so Barry Wood and his wife Janice joined me in the Musketeer for a flight down through Bragg Creek and along the Elbow River for a little sightseeing with a stop at Springbank for lunch. We heard a number of CUFC members in the air, enjoying the day.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to fly with Mike Sweere and Glenn Bishell in Mike’s new steed, a 1950 C-170A. Although he took delivery of the plane in July, the import inspection was only completed this past Friday. The plane is very nice, with a sharp paint job and a very clean interior. Mike is sure to enjoy this classic for years to come.

He wrote an article for this issue detailing the sale of his previous plane, the Aeronca Chief, and has promised a follow-up on the purchase and ferry flight of the new plane from Pennsylvania. In other news, Glenn Bishell purchased a new Bushcaddy kit. This time, he’s going with the 4-place R-164 model. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing this new bird in the air soon.

As a heads-up, I’m planning to arrange a night at SAIT’s Art Smith Aero Center facility for our meeting in January. I’ll be sure to keep everyone up to date as I firm up plans.

Hope to see everyone at the meeting next week. Until then, fly safe.