Despite some of the wettest weather on record for the Calgary region, we have been able to sneak in some excellent flying adventures over the past month. The highlight had to be attending the 56th Annual Camrose Fly-In Breakfast.

The call came out on Saturday for a 7:30 AM take-off from Carstairs with the intention of beating the crowds. The weather was absolutely perfect with severe clear visibility and not a cloud in sight. The Carstairs contingent included Glenn Bishell in the BushCaddy, Mike Sweere and family in the C-170, Pat Cunningham in the Cessna 120, Richard Schmitt in the Stinson, and of course, me in the Christavia.

This year, the folks organizing the fly-in came up with some simple arrival procedures with four separate reporting points and altitudes to use depending on your arrival direction. We quickly reviewed the procedures, then saddled up and prepared for take-off (which happened just after 8 AM … Oh well, we were close to the planned 7:30 AM departure).

Being the slowest, I quickly took up the “Tail-End-Charlie” position. Shortly after take-off, Ralph and Cheryl Inkster zipped by us in the RV-7A. The flight north was absolutely wonderful with pleasant chatter on our air-to-air frequency. Before long, we were passing by Red Deer Lake and starting our approach into Camrose. Switching over to the Camrose frequency revealed that we had not missed the morning rush. Instead, we were headed into the thick of it.

Fortunately, everyone was using good radio procedures and planning to make the arrival relatively uneventful. As I made my way to the circuit, I heard a glider and tow plane crossing midfield for release and landing on the grass beside the runway.

As usual, the ground crew was on the ball, and before I even left the runway, there was a quad queued up to guide me to a parking spot. The fly-in was great and extremely well attended. I was plane number 86 to sign in (granted it was about 10:30 by the time I got to the registration table). The last I heard, they had topped 100 airplanes. Before long, it was time to go. The return trip was a bit rougher as thermal activity started to form some fair-weather cumulus. In all, it was a wonderful day of flying and hanging out with great friends.

Even though we won’t be formally meeting in July or August, I will still be producing the Skywriter. Please be sure to send me articles about your summer adventures. Be safe everyone.