I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President for the next term. Although I was a little apprehensive about putting my name forward for this position, I’m certainly glad I did.

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been flying for 13 years. I hold a Private certificate with a night rating. My training was done at Okotoks on Cessna 152s and 172s. I spent the better part of the last ten years renting from clubs in the local area and trying out different types of planes. I was looking for the club atmosphere and was tired of being just another number in line to rent when I decided to attend one of the CUFC meetings. Shortly after, I took a flight with Wayne Winters of Blue Yonder Aviation in his Merlin and was instantly hooked on the Ultralight experience.

Although the fire wasn’t out, the club and the welcome I received from the beginning put a whole bunch more wood on it! I have since purchased my own Merlin and look forward to every opportunity to fly with everyone in the club. Joining this club has been one of the highlights of my flying, and I look forward to helping make this one of the best clubs in Canada.

I would like to thank Garrett Komm for all his hard work as past President; I’m sure you would agree he has done an outstanding job for all of us. Also stepping down is Robin Orsulak as Director; thank you as well, Robin, for all of your efforts. When you see these gentlemen, let them know you appreciate their hard work serving you. I would like to welcome Andy Gustafsson as your new Director and Carl Forman, who let his name stand as Treasurer.

Thank you to Daryl Gillespie for his informative talk and demo on fiberglass at the last meeting. Judging from the interest and comments, we’ll try and have Daryl back soon. Don’t forget the rust remover on April 5th; we didn’t have one last year, so if you haven’t done anything since, plan to attend and you’ll meet your currency requirements.

Garth Wallace of Happy Landings fame will be speaking at the Calgary Flying Club on April 19 in Springbank. I had the chance to hear Garth speak at the COPA convention in Wetaskiwin, and if you haven’t heard him, it is well worth the effort!

Our annual raffle will take place at the June meeting. Tickets will go on sale starting at the March meeting for $10.00 each or 3 for $25. Don’t be afraid to buy more than one, as the prizes will be worth it. You must be a paid-up member to be able to buy tickets; if you haven’t paid your annual membership dues, please do so as soon as possible.

We are looking at ways to reduce our club expenses, and our largest expense is to print and mail the monthly Skywriter. If you receive the email version (which includes all photos in color), you will NOT receive a printed copy in the mail. If you must have a printed one, please contact Ed D’Antoni.

We are currently looking to acquire a laptop computer for the club. This will be used primarily to enhance our meetings with slideshows, PowerPoint presentations by guest speakers, and so on. In the past, Garrett Komm was using his own personal laptop, and we would like to thank him for that. If you have one that you would like to donate or know where we might purchase a good used one, please let any one of the executives know.

Now that the weather has warmed up, I’m looking forward to some nice, warm flying.

See you soon!