Welcome to the “messy months”. March and April are usually the more challenging months to try and get some flying in. Weather conditions can range from sunny, windy, heavy snow and rain… usually in the same day. Even those promising morning with bright clear skies and gentle breezes can hide a monster that will leave you cleaning for hours. As the day warms up, the snow melts and pools on top of the runway… which, of course, is still frozen 3”-4” below the surface. As you hit this benign looking surface, your plane is immediately transformed into the Stealth Fighter with a dull, black finish. Yup, that would be Grade A, Alberta mud!

I hit it a week ago after a great Sunday of flying. To be honest, I forget all about the mud as I returned home in the warm, sunny afternoon. For me, it was a mild inconvenience that was remedied after an hour of cleaning with a hose. However, I can certainly see how this could become a major problem if I were to go into a field with no water services readily accessible. I’d certainly be concerned about taking off with the amount of mud I had accumulated on Chrissy.

Another concern this time of year is airframe ice. With the spring melt in progress and mornings around the freezing level, it may be tempting to head out early and warm up the plane before the morning mist has completely cleared away. It’s also tempting to do a maintenance run while it’s foggy or just highly humid. After all, airframe ice is only a concern if you plan to fly… right?

We saw the results at the shop last week when we were running a plane in some thin ice fog. The engine started running rough and the pilot running the engine decided to shut down. In less than 10 minutes of running, the propeller has built up 1/4-1/2” of ice over most of the forward face of the blade. The vibration started when some of the ice shed from one blade.

Fortunately, the messy months will be over soon enough, signifying the beginning of “flying Season” for many pilots. As you can see from the “Flying Events” section, there is a lot on the board already for this year.

There are two highlights for me. The first is at the end of June in Dawson Creek where COPA will be holding it National Annual General Meeting. I attended the meeting in Wetaskiwin back in 2005 and had a great time. I’m looking forward to attending this year’s meeting although I’m not sure if I’ll be camping or hoteling it this year.

The second event is Oshkosh, or more formally, EAA AirVenture 2013! There are a few of us planning the trip this summer including Bob Kirkby, Carl Forman and Stu Simpson. Yup, you heard right, Stu Simpson is going to Oshkosh!!! I haven’t convinced him to actually fly into Wittman Field yet, but I have a few months to convince him that it really isn’t that scary . If any of you are adventurous enough to join us, you’re more than welcome.

Well, that’s it for this month.