There is a huge party for pilots this summer on
Vancouver Island British Columbia! - Jan/Feb 2014
Seen in the Aviation News Journal
By: John Lovelace
"The spirit of flight and the spirit of northern adventure come together in the Century Flight Club of Canada's annual group flights. For 2014 the destination is Vancouver island and already 60 flight crews and 136 people are signed up .In all its expected that the 100 aircraft will sign up for the event by the time registration closes off in May . The flight and convention dates are July 8th and 17th and this marks the 6th annual Convention for the club since its first flight to Nova Scotia in 2009.
The club's mandate is unique: to immerse a private pilot in aviation for a solid week with the goal to develop a better and safer pilot. In all more than 1000 pilots and crew members have participated in the July events with over 1 million air miles flown.
The Century Flight Club has selected Nanaimo on Vancouver Island for our 2014 destination. Dubbed the BC Discovery Tour the dates are July 8th - 17th, 2014. This convention is the result of the experiences gained over the past 5 years events. This year’s flight will begin in Eastern Canada and pilots based in the east will take three to four days to cross Canada and terminate in Nanaimo. And a large number of BC and Alberta crews have already registered too .That's because the centre piece of the event is the full 5 day Fly in and West Coast Convention itself . So while many local pilots will fly over to Manitoba and back track across the mountains with the group, many will just fly directly into Nanaimo. During the convention there will be seminars, speakers, receptions and daily fly outs organized into some terrific locations. On the last day there is the ever popular Awards Banquet at the Coast Bastion which will serve as the convention hotel. But the convention is more than just flying. Many pilots bring wives and families along because air touring in Canada in July sets the backdrop for a great holiday. There is a lot to see and do during the convention with daily activities for non pilots too.
Back in 2009, the first flight of the club was the largest peacetime group coast to coast flight in Canadian history. 127 aircrafts took part in the event that started from Vancouver and ended up in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.
Since then more then, 600 pilots and crew members have participated in the July events that have gone into to the Yukon the Northwest Territories Northern Saskatchewan and the Maritimes and another 18 staging cities from coast to coast. The events are usually fully registered every year and often there is a waiting list. That’s because pilots discovered that, besides a great learning experience, the events are a lot of fun too. Some even have said its like a summer camp for "adults with airplanes". Every year pilots return to see the friends in the club that they have made in preceding years to relax and enjoy the social times too.
The club is the brainchild of John Lovelace. John is a well known TV guy and is the creator of the TV series "The Aviators TV.” Prior to that John produced and hosted 172 episodes of Wings Over Canada. During filming John criss-crossed Canada in a light aircraft more than a dozen times and visited over 275 locations nationwide.
Now as the club grew so did the management committee where pilots from across Canada volunteered to help in the events. They include well known pilots in BC including Co-Chairman, Dave Fitzpatrick from Air 1 Insurance, the Senior Flight Marshal, Dave Qualley from CASARA; and Vic Seder from the Oliver Flying Club. Regional directors from across Canada include: Rick Young - Maritimes, Ron Haslam - Ontario, Robin Fraser - Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Jim and Lois Moffat - Alberta, and Vic Seder for British Columbia. John Smith who was one of the men who worked on the Avro aero is the lifetime honorary Director at large. Colleen Fitzpatrick and Theresa Bernhardt are the Programme Event Directors. In October 2013, Darryl Swenson was named to the newly created USA Directorship.
While the flights only last a week the planning is a year-long affair. When pilots register they get a pass code to the member’s only section of the web site right away. That gives them all the advance booking information and other interesting stuff. Like how to register for your float flying rating when you are in BC next summer. You also get the names of all the other pilots who are registered. After that pretty much everything is taken care of. You receive ground transportation, decals, aviation fuel discounts, room discounts, banquets, guest speakers, assigned parking, and flight itineraries and a 37 page official guide that comes out in June. If you want more information or to register on this the great Canadian adventure just go to the website at www.crosscanadaflight.com."
Coast to Coast Flight: Friday Harbor to Canada's Maritime Provinces - Feb/March 2014
In the Washington Pilots Association
By: Darryl Swenson
"Washington pilots have a huge opportunity right at our doorstep. Flying Canada. There’s a vast landscape of beautiful mountains, rich forests, pristine lakes and glaciers. You say, “That sounds just like Washington!” You’re right, but there’s so much more of it. The second largest country in the world by area, after Russia, also brings open skies, very little traffic, and friendly welcoming people...
The group I joined is called The Century Flight Club. Staring in 2009, celebrating Canada's 100th anniversary of flight, this group has flown annually on some horrendously long cross country flights in Canada. In 2012, for example, the group brushed up against the Arctic Circle on a flight to Yellowknife in the Northern Territories. We headed east from Saskatchewan, crossed the plains of Manitoba, went around the Great Lakes and up the St. Lawrence River. After overnighting in Ottawa we skirted by Montreal, crossed Maine and New Brunswick and landed at our destination, Prince Edward Island. There was only one day's weather delay near Thunder Bay, Ontario. I wonder why they chose that name. Prince Edward Island was an ideal basecamp for day-flights around Nova Scotia and the Maritime Provinces. During our fiveday hotel stay, The Century Flight Club put on daily seminars on flying. This immersed me in the ways of Canadian aviation. I felt like a privileged character to have daily weather reports by Nav Canada briefers - in person!..."
The rest of the article is available HERE, on page 5.
Press
Take a look at some of the press the Century Flight Club has been mentioned in...
Swift Current & Area News - July 15, 2014
By: SWTV Channel - Youtube
"Nanaimo hosts up to 100 pilots this weekend.
On Saturday, for the first time, the Nanaimo Airport hosts the B.C. Century Flying Club, which makes annual, multi-day, distance flights across Canada. The B.C. Discovery Tour is a chance to show off the Harbour City.
The annual event ended in eastern Canada last year, and this year Nanaimo beat out Victoria and several other contenders for the final city.
"It's the attractions we have in Nanaimo - the waterfront, local areas, there's coastline, islands," said Don Crocker Nanaimo Flying Club president.
"It's an excellent opportunity for Nanaimo Airport," said Mike Hooper, Nanaimo Airport president and CEO. "It's a great economic injection into the community."
It concludes a four-day journey for pilots. Saturday there will be a barbecue and other festivities at the airport, followed by a fiveday conference.
"It's terrific," said Ron Whyte, flying club treasurer. "Any time you bring tourists out here, you've got exposure - huge exposure."
Nanaimo Flying Club hosted the annual event, "thanks to the support of Tourism Nanaimo, Nanaimo Flying Club and the Nanaimo Airport Commission," said John Lovelace, 2014 event chairman and a founder of the event.
Participants will take part in daily flights to destinations "in this West Coast aviation paradise," Lovelace said.
The B.C. Discovery Tour is organized by the Century Flight Club, formed in 2009 on the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada.
The conference, in downtown Nanaimo is as much an opportunity to learn as it is a social event for pilots.
Participants fly single-engine aircraft such as Cessna through twin-engine aircraft such as the Piper.
The conference ends as the B.C. Summer Games get underway in Nanaimo, on Thursday. "This month, July, is all about showing the traveling public the assets at Nanaimo Airport," Hooper said.
Nanaimo Airport Host Flying Club for First Time: B.C. Discovery Tour is a change to show off Harbour City - July 10, 2014
By: Darrell Bellaart - original article HERE
Hands Across the Border - September 9th, 2017
We did have a successful "Hands Across the Border" event on 21 June 2017, with six aircraft attending from the Century Flight Club and two attending from BAC (actually three Baby Beeches on the field). Ken and Pam Hardwick, Sundowner N9229S met us on the field when the famous Tex-MEX AKA Jeff Knight arrived with his motley crew from Canada. Sundowner N2380W was also tied down on the field, but the owners where not in attendance at the event. They did receive an International Director business card stuck in the door prior to departure though so they'll know what a great event they missed. As Ken mentioned our group consisted of a number of different aircraft including my Beech Sport, an LSA out of Friday Harbour, WA, a beaver on floats, a Mooney, a 182 and a 206. Your International Director led the charge and everyone landed safe and sound. A quick refresher on the difference between a Unicom freq 122.95 and the CTAF freq 122.9 had everyone singing from the same song sheet for the departure. Introductions were made all around and Jeff presented a short history of the Century Flight Club and the nature of this BAC event to the group. After a short logistical pause our transportation to downtown arrived in the form of Tony and his Swiss army truck! Everybody piled in the back and downtown we went to Campbell's Resort for lunch. The lunch was good and the conversation was lively as we all compared notes on our various airplanes and discussed the similarities and differences of flying in the USA and Canada. Promptly on time, Tony reappeared with his army truck to take us all back to the airport. We can all now scratch riding in the back of an army truck off our bucket lists! After a bit more chit chat, the Canadians took to the air on their return to Penticton with Tex-MEX bringing up the rear, leaving only US nationals, new friends and great memories behind. With a final compliment from Ken on my departure, my Sport and I disappeared over the horizon completing a very successful first inter-club event between the Century Flight Club and the Beech Aero Club. Next year's CFC flying trip is planned to Oshkosh, so I am hopeful that we can again share "Hands Across the Border" at the Mecca. Thanks to Ken and Pam for attending this event and making us all feel so welcome. I hope the rest of your trip was equally successful. Blue skies my friends.
