by Carl BR Johnson
June 26, 2013
Photo by Carl BR Johnson
Pilots came from far and wide to the Dawson Creek airport to take part in the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) aviation gathering on Saturday.
Kevin Psutka, president of COPA, said the group chose to hold its annual general meeting in Dawson Creek to give their members a chance to show off their aircraft.
“This is a once a year event for pilots of light aircraft to come and celebrate aviation,” said Psutka.
“This was also a chance for us to showcase the local airport to the folks that live in and around here and basically showcase what the value of the airport is to them.”
He said that his association has been in existence since 1952 and they’ve chosen different Canadian cities since then to hold their AGMs.
Past cities have included Peterborough, Ont., and Calgary for their most recent gathering.
He said one class that was held on the grounds was about airplane safety and what a person should do if they’re flying over water and they run into trouble with the aircraft.
“That class will be about telling people to avoid flying over water if they can help it. But if they find themselves inside a sinking airplane, we’ll show them how to safely exit the aircraft.”
More than 200 aircraft stretched as far as the eye could see across the Dawson Creek Airport grounds.
Varying shapes and sizes ranged from 50 foot wingspan Cessnas, all the way up to World War II era biplanes with 100 foot wingspans.
While the event wasn’t classified as an air show, it was characterized as an “aviation gathering” by organizers.
Many COPA members came from far and wide and one such member flew into Dawson Creek in his own Cessna 150 airplane from Beaverlodge, AB to take part in the festivities.
Lloyd Sherk, a COPA member for “quite a number of years”, said he’s concerned that general aviation may not be getting its proper representation in the public eye and he became a member to combat that concern.
“We have to get out and support general aviation, because we need a voice for general aviation,” said Sherk. “The airlines have lots of money so they already have a voice in the government, so we need to step up our visibility.”
He said he started flying when he was a teenager and general aviation started to interest him because, “I ran out of cowboy books at the local library.”
After his love affair with cowboys books fell off he starting reading about general aviation and has been hooked on flying ever since.
Sherk said his love of flying continued when he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and he served our nation in that capacity for 12 years.
“You make the most of your mind when you’re flying because you’re getting so many different inputs and you’re always making adjustments. It’s a technical skill,” he said.
“It’s just the freedom of it, that drives me to fly.”
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