August
2010 Newsletter
THOMPSON
VALLEY SPORT AIRCRAFT CLUB
(Member of
Recreational Aircraft Association)
Kamloops,
Beautiful British Columbia, Canada
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There will be no Club
meeting in August.
See you at the Mall!
Weather
Because
of a forest fire at the east end of Bonaparte
Lake, the Thompson Valley has been filled with
smoke for over a week. The fire is now 100%
contained, but the smoke still keeps on coming,
and it is pretty bad for people with respiratory
problems. It seems like in some areas the
visibility is only a few miles, but the
commercial airlines are still flying. And so am
I, as much as I can. on Monday August 2 I was up
at 4500'ASL and the smoke was much less there,
but on the way back down I went through a layer
where I almost choked!
ARLINGTON, 2010
By
Barry Meek
It had been five years since I could arrange a
trip to the Arlington airshow, but it came
together this July. Seasonal flying jobs
were one reason for missing the show but the slow
economy has cut down on the need for pilots this
year, so with this forced retirement came the
opportunity for me to do other
things. As it turned out, Dennis and
Lynda Seib planned to drive down from Kamloops in
their new motorhome, and offered a seat and a bed
if I could make it. I wouldn’t turn
down something like that, and was very grateful
for the opportunity.
So it was that we got away early on the Friday
morning, and following a long wait at the border,
and an equally long battle with the
Bellingham-area traffic, we got to the Arlington
airport late that afternoon. On arrival, we
found a truck and camper parked half-way into the
camp spot Lynda had reserved, and there
wasn’t room for the 30-foot
motorhome. The inconsiderate owner
was nowhere to be found, so Lynda simply backed
up to his door, and we shut down right
there. A good start to a friendly
weekend.
Our initial reconnaissance of the airport and
attractions was a bit disappointing in my
opinion. After a five-year absence from
Arlington, it was quickly apparent that what we
read about general aviation in general, is
true. Things are on the decline.
Fewer pilots are being trained, fewer hours are
being flown, government regulations are having
their affect causing higher costs and greater
restrictions on where and how we fly.
There’s more than just higher fuel prices to
blame for the slide in G.A. Even down at
the south end of the field where the ultralights
gather, there was so very little activity, we
could only hope things would pick up on
Saturday. Unfortunately, they
didn’t. The early morning flying that
was always the wake-up call at the campground
didn’t really happen this year. Just a
few planes flew in the circuit in the early hours
of Saturday morning.
Exhibitors were scarce. There wasn’t
much exciting presented for showing.
Several of the newer LSA designs were on hand for
inspection, but for the most part, that section
of the field was pretty empty. Many
itinerant aircraft did show up, as pilots with
their families continue to fly in and camp under
their wings. And the airshow was exciting
each afternoon. We didn’t see too many
helicopters, and no gyrocopters this year.
To anyone who has been to Arlington on an annual
basis, this may not seem a fair assessment.
You have to remember I’ve missed the past
five shows, so if there’s been a gradual
decline in attractions, the regular attendees
wouldn’t notice the big drop that I saw over
that period of time. But make no mistake,
it’s different now than back in 2004/05,
just as general aviation is when compared through
the same time frame.
The weekend wasn’t by any means a loss or
write-off. Other members we see around
Knutsford were camped there as well, and the
social part of Arlington was up to par.
Dick Suttie, Gerald Gibbons and Dan Berwin showed
up, as did Larry Williams from Vernon and John
McDermott from Salmon Arm. One activity I
can recommend if you go next year the downtown
Arlington street fair. That is one thing
that’s probably bigger and better than
ever. We had a very enjoyable afternoon
snooping around and came back to the campground
loaded with plenty of free giveaways.
Barry Meek. bcflyer@hotmail.com
To read all of
Barry's previous articles, go to http://www.ocis.net/tvsac/BMLetters.html
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