Stetson Flyers

Stetsons Giant Scale Fun Fly:  A Royal Event!

Saturday September 24, 2022 provided near perfect weather for our event with sunny blue skies and warming temperatures. Winds down the runway helped as thirty-one pilots signed up and flew a wide variety of aircraft with no major incidents.

The high point of the day was the arrival of Her Excellency, the Right Honorable Mary Simon, Governor-General of Canada who visited to watch her grandson Christopher Simon fly his dad's big Jaguar jet. Chris did a fantastic job of showing us all up as he flew the big bird through a very smooth routine filled with loops, rolls and multi-point elements in all directions. He nailed the landing in a bit of a crosswind at the time as well, just to put the rest of us to shame! 
The GG was very generous with her time, joining us for lunch and allowing lots of photo opportunities.

Flight Line help from Mike Lalonde and Safety Officer Peter Wakefield kept things moving well throughout the busy periods.

Compliments go out to the many pilots who flew safely today with lots of communication on the line.

August 13-14, 2022 saw the long-awaited return of IMAC competition to Ottawa with 21 pilots from Sept-Iles to Sault Ste Marie and Timmins to Toronto on a weather-perfect weekend.

Six Stetsons were in the mix in classes from Basic through Advanced. We were extremely pleased to see Wayne Karperien and Brian Pepin join in and have a go in their first IMAC contest. These two were out busting it for two weeks ahead of the event, practicing and soaking up info from everyone trying to help them, and really put forward a superlative effort. Brian even pulled an all-nighter putting a brand new F3A foamy together after a small incident on Saturday. He flew it extremely well the next day after only 2 ½ hours sleep and zero practice time!

These two guys are proof positive that you don’t need a huge expensive airplane to have fun with aerobatics. They placed first and second in BASIC class! Congrats to you both for the huge effort!

June 4-5, 2022 was the annual Stetson Ed Rae memorial Fun Fly Event!

After a fine but breezy day for Saturday, Sunday was significantly better!

This weekend (4-5 June) was the Ed Rae Memorial Fun Fly, our first major event since 2019! Nineteen pilots defied the brisk winds and cool temperatures on Saturday and eleven more signed up on Sunday, when the weather was a bit more suitable for relaxed flying. Most people agreed that it was a great opportunity to socialize and get back together after two years of cancelled event. Many thanks to our cooks and food handlers, Debbie, Pauline, Alain and Jim, and to our ever hard working President Daniel. Enjoy the pictures!

Pierre Coulombe
 

March 5, 2022 was......the annual Stetson Winter Fun Fly Event!

What a wonderful winter day!

We couldn't have asked for much better weather for our annual Winter Fun Fly. Sunny skies and very light winds made the cool temperature totally bearable. A great turn out as well, with at least 23 pilots, including several from other clubs as far as Montreal. Many visitors also dropped in to add to the numbers. The convenience of electric planes for winter flying was very evident, as all but two airplanes were battery powered.

There is nothing like a hot meal, a warm drink, and some carbs when you spend a winter day outside. Many thanks to Jim & Deb Denyer for preparing a delicious chili, to Jon Harper for his hot chocolate and donation of too many Timbits to count. Also, Alain Richer's perfect home-made molasses cookies were much appreciated as were the chocolate chip cookies donated unnoticed by a member or visitor. Also, thanks to Daniel Marcotte, Mike Lalonde and Pierre Coulombe for clearing the snow around the tables and pit area. But most of all, thank you to all who came out and made this a most enjoyable event.

Dan Marcotte
President

October 3, 2020 was the Stetson Meeting & Vote (at the field)

Due to COVID-19 the Aviation Museum was unavailable for the annual Stetson Executive vote meeting however as it is mandatory for the club, Dan & the Executive arranged it for the field.

Social distancing, masks and situational awareness is the new normal and was adhered to for the both the meeting and those who remained to fly afterwards.

The Executive and volunteer positions were voted in with John Jackson performing the Master of Arms role. The 2020 budget was discussed along with the proposed budget for 2021. General business rounded out the meeting followed by the official close of the Flight School.

Certificates were presented to the instructors in appreciation of another successful season and the challenges of this particular year acknowledged. Many thanks to the instructors, Len Streefkerk (Assistant C.F.I), executive and those who ensure the Flight School program continues to thrive.