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PUFA NEWSLETTER
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October 11, 2000
Daryl Hegyi, President
Jeff Rochon, Vice-President
Glenn Ursel, Treasurer & Acting Secretary
Mail to: Pacific Ultralight Flying Association
102-16071 82 Avenue
Surrey, B.C. V3S 2L6
PUFA Newsletter published by Glenn Ursel
From The President
by Daryl Hegyi
This has been a busy month, so far. Glenn left for Churchill but, this year, didnt leave me with the newsletter as he did last year when he went on his epic trip to the Baja with Gordon and Beverley Denham and Claude Leclair. However, because he had to get the newsletter out so early, I didnt have time to prepare my text for the words from the President for this issue of the PUFA Newsletter so I will confine my message to just the notice of nominations this month.
We are going to have elections for the Executive next month of November, so this month we need to nominate the candidates for President, Vice President and Secretary. I will not stand for another term of President since I am now completing my second term of office but Glenn will run for another year as Treasurer. He will also continue to produce the PUFA Newsletter for at least the period to next spring of 2001 but he advises me that, if anyone wishes to take over the newsletter at any time, they are most welcome to do so.
Please note the PUFA meeting for this month and make every effort to attend to facilitate the nominations for renewal of your Executive.
Editorial Note
by Glenn Ursel
Im off on another travel adventure, this time to Churchill, Manitoba to see the Polar Bears that congregate on the shores of Hudson Bay at this time of year in anticipation of the ice forming on the bay which will permit them to resume their hunt for seals and replenish their bodies gaunt from starving on land all summer. I will be driving (not motorcycling) to Thompson, Manitoba and then taking the VIA Rail train from there to Churchill which is a 15 hour train ride. Should be interesting!
Accordingly, I am sending the PUFA Newsletter out a little on the early side since I will be away for the rest of the month.
Fred Baron has sent us in another one of his short stories, this one called The Shrinking Airways which both entertains us with his historical perspective on the local ultralight scene and exhorts us to become more active in our club membership.
I was talking to someone recently at the King George Airpark about the new fee for medical certificates being reduced from $185 to $55 and he didnt seem to be aware of this. So I am including the article by Garth Wallace reprinted from the COPA Canadian Flight magazine which explains the changes in Transport Canada fees for processing medical certificates as a result of recent changes in pilot medical periods.
Finally, I happened to notice an article by David Marsh in the July 7th issue of the Surrey/North Delta Leader which reports on the recent extension of the lease for the Delta Airpark for another five year period. I included this in our newsletter since some of us fly into this airfield on a more or less frequent basis and we are therefore keenly interested in seeing the Delta airfield preserved as such.
The Shrinking Airways
We, living here in the ever shrinking airways of the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, BC, are subject to the many restraints put on us by the Federal Government, local governments, parks, airports and individual owners of small airfields.
My flying experience started in 1982 when I soloed in a Lazair with 2 powerful McCulloch chain saw engines with an incredible 6 hp each. We figured they were 5 hp each but somebody was spoofing us. So here I was a young fellow at the tender age of 44 who didn't know an aileron from a rudder. In a week I soloed. No dual training, just a spirited instructor. The biggest event in my life.
But, back to the shrinking airways. The skies seemed so much more open then. I could fly to Tsawwassen over Boundary Bay Airport to the tip of Richmond by the Reifel Refuge Bird Sanctuary. One fellow even landed in the Richmond Square parking lot.
Mind you, I was only flying at a fantastic 20 mph. What a great adventure! I gave up my girl friend, sex and late nights just so I could get up early and go flying. I still remember the exhilaration of those early morning flights with a nip in the air, the sun in your face just rising in the west. Or was that the East? It was a great feeling, the bugs in your teeth and the wind in your face.
I still have a half interest in a Lazair and still fly it. But now we have 29 hp engines and I can't go into US air space. Before I could fly by Lynden and Bellingham in Washington State as long as I didn't land. I could climb up to 4,000/10,000 feet over the Gulf of Georgia Straits and fly to Saltspring Island. But now it is restricted to 2,500 feet ASL. The world is getting smaller. The airways are shrinking. And I'm getting heavier. Now I have a GPS, a VHF, a strobe, ELT and a cell phone and we go 100 mph. Maybe things are getting better. I'm not sure how Akbar flies his Waco with no VHF radio and he's a 747 Captain for Canadian Airlines, a real purist! Now I can't even land in USA. But I snuck down to Arlington in '99 in my ultralight. Don't tell anyone. I was on pins and needles waiting for Big Brother to haul me off in chains. I used to fly there in my Lazair for years, no problem, till some fellow took it upon himself to enquire about the legality of a non-certified airplane flying the US airways. That cut my flying in half, even today. Shrinking Skies!
Some times I fly high near the border, close one eye (not saying which eye) and stray into the forbidden fruit of those beautiful green fields over the "land of the free". Then I realize I must be lost because everything looks too progressive down below. So I scurry back like a refugee seeking sanctuary.
Pretty soon they will have us in a giant bird cage doing circuits. Oh, I know Im a bit overboard on all this but I do believe you have to be vocal in writing and in your club. I may have offended some friends by my rhetoric about contributions to our club; either about writing a short story or having a function at your field or, if you dont have an airfield, at your house. Nevertheless, be a contributor. Dont be just a taker. Some members are taken aback by my forwardness. However, as I said, the skies are getting smaller. So, lets all be vocal. I marvel at the participation at the model airplane fields on the weekend. Lets all pull together and broaden our horizons. Watch out that the bloody red baron doesnt get on your tail. From the desk of the eye in the sky!
Fred Baron
Pilot medical periods extended
Following COPAs recommendations from two years ago, the association is pleased to report that Transport Canada has introduced more improvements to medicals. In addition to the change to the licence validation certificate introduced last year, which did away with the 90-day limit to the doctors renewal of your medical, Transport Canada is launching a single pilot fee structure and extended pilot medical periods effective July 15, 2000. This represents a significant saving for non-commercial pilots in Canada.
SIMPLIFICATION OF PILOT FEES
In response to COPAs assertion that the pilot fee structure was too
complicated and, in some cases, unfairly applied, TC has introduced a new
single fee of $55.00 for the processing of a medical certificate. This
replaces the recurrent pilot fee structure and its 14 different charges
ranging from $45 to $185. Pilots holding more than one type of licence
are familiar with the difficulty calculating their fee. All holders
of licences and permits that are currently charged a fee for the issue
of a medical certificate will be subject to the new fee beginning on July
15, 2000. Medical examinations and declarations completed on or after
that date will trigger the issue of an invoice for the new single fee of
$55.00.
INCREASED MEDICAL VALIDITY PERIODS
Transport Canada and the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council
have approved changes to Part IV of the CARs to increase the medical validity
period of the medical certificate attached to certain licences and permits.
COPA made a representation, based on experience in some other countries
where the period between medicals is much longer, that there is no good
reason why non-commercial pilots should be subject to such frequent examinations.
Most pilot licences validated with a Category 3 are affected by the extensions.
Medicals for Private Pilot, Balloon and Gyroplane Licence holders under
40 years of age are extended from two year to five years. Holders of the
same licences who are 40 years or older have their one-year medical extended
to two.
AUTHORITY CARRIES RESPONSIBILITY
The extended periods reduces the cost and hassle factor in maintaining
a pilot licence. It also recognizes that pilots are a responsible group
of citizens. Please treat this extended medical validation carefully. Help
us prove that pilots are capable of making correct medical "go/no-go" decisions
on their own between extended periods of medical examinations. If you are
in doubt of your medical capacity to fly dont go.
Garth Wallace
(Originally published on the COPA website at: http://www.copanational.org/members/articleAugust1.shtml)
Delta Airpark gets five more years
Despite the objections of provincial environment officials, a recreational flying group should have the run of the Delta Heritage Airpark for at least another five years.
Greater Vancouver Regional District parks officials will negotiate a five-year licence renewal with the Recreational Aircraft Association to use and operate the park, located near the eastern end of Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta.
The pilots use of the airpark has been criticized by the handful of residents in the agricultural area, saying the planes are noisy and potentially dangerous. But parks staff say the complaints have declined since 1997, when a new set of safety and noise reduction guidelines were adopted.
The B.C. government, however, says the airpark is disrupting wildlife, if not people, and continues to call for it to be shut down.
In a May 31 letter to regional parks staff, provincial biologist Tony Barnard says the airpark is on the fringe of sensitive wildlife habitat, especially for migrating shorebirds. The airplanes low-flying approaches (about 180 metres) are disruptive and should be terminated, Barnard writes. But the GVRD, which collects $25,000 in annual fees from the airpark, says it has heard no compelling arguments against renewing the licence.
BVRD parks superintendent Mitch Sokalski said no evidence of any disruptions has ever been produced. Meanwhile, the commercial Boundary Bay Airport, about five kilometres west of the airpark, also straddles the wildlife area yet hosts far more aircraft activity, he said.
The airpark is pretty minimal by comparison, he said. Sokalski said the GVRD intends to form a joint group with Barnard and his staff to find ways to reduce any disruption of wildlife.
The licence renewal is expected to be finalized by the end of July.
David Marsh
Surrey/North Delta Leader
July 7, 2000