Here we are again, saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring! I can‟t say that I‟m sorry to see winter leave us. I must confess that we really did not have that harsh a winter, but nonetheless, I‟m happy to see it go. There are a number of things to be thinking about when it comes to flying this season: perhaps we need to be looking at periodic cleaning of our aircraft or it is time to do a scheduled maintenance or whatever. One thing that comes to my mind is “What kind of flights will I make this season and perhaps where might I go?” There will be a contingent of pilots going to Oregon and the Yukon later this year for those looking for adventure. There will be Sun ‘n Fun next week as well as Oshkosh and Arlington later on.

No matter what or where you are thinking of flying, we definitely need to watch springtime weather as it can be dynamic in nature and change frequently throughout the day, especially the winds. Being a Challenger pilot, I really pay attention to those “humpty bumps” and the winds as it can be uncomfortable at times. I guess one of the better tradeoffs with this time of year though is the fact we have more daylight which of course translates into more flying time.

An opportunity to go flying came up recently, so a group of us flew up to Red Deer to see Melanie and the girls off at Tipitinas. After eight years of serving excellent breakfasts, lunches and pies (Ed: You just can‟t say enough about the pies), the ladies have sold the restaurant and are going onto other ventures. The restaurant will be open under new management and will be open on Saturday’s so that will add another destination to get some good eats (Ed: the restaurant will be closed for renovations until April 13.).

The sendoff was quite the affair with approximately 30 planes flying in from all over southern Alberta to get a chance for a final lunch with Melanie. Of course, this didn‟t include the dozens of local fliers that made their way over to the restaurant that morning without planes.

Wherever you fly and wherever you land, remember to have fun, be safe and professional… and take a friend along.