|
Home Page | Order Challenger Video | Be Notified Of Web Site Updates | Contact Us
Challenger owners exhibit an infectious enthusiasm for their aircraft. With some 4,000 worldwide, that's a lot of enthusiasm! They are an interesting bunch from all walks of life, with flying backgrounds ranging from rank beginners who did their initial training in their Challenger to professional airline and military pilots with thousands of hours logged. In this section you'll meet some owners, see how they use their planes, and learn about their association and its events. Bryan Quickmire wrote: "A benefit of being part of the Challenger
community is that we meet lots of interesting people. Anyone who sees the
point of flying in a Challenger is something of a kindred spirit and someone
to be enjoyed." "Some of these interesting people are not just interesting they are inspirational as well. This spring Alison and I were on the West Coast and traveled to Sooke on Vancouver Island to visit Andreas and Michele Ruttkiewicz. Click on the picture to read what we learned!"
In the summer of 1990 two owners,
Jim George and Clint Hooper, founded the The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association has profiled members of the ICOA in the monthly COPA / Canadian Flight publication. We've mixed a few of those with some bios from Challenger News to let you Meet A Challenger Owner.
For a peek at even more owners and airplanes, leaf through
our Family Album.
A picture is worth a thousand words a video must be worth a million! If you have high speed internet access you can enjoy videos of Challengers in action. Click to the Challenger Cinema and enjoy! If you don't have high speed internet then click to Challenger Cinema anyways - it just takes a little longer to enjoy! There's also the Challenger Gallery with high-resolution images to download for desktop wallpaper and screensavers or to print and stick on your fridge! And if that still isn't enough, head for our Hot Shots section for still more pics!
The annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous is the venue for presentation of the Maurice Vinet Memorial Award and the Dave Allan Memorial Award. The Maurice Vinet Memorial Award was founded by National Ultralight
Inc in 2001 to honour the late Maurice Vinet who passed away from cancer
in 2000. The 2008 Maurice Vinet Memorial Award was bestowed upon Larry Whittaker of Kugluktuk in Nunavut. Major health issues delayed Larry from taking delivery of his new Challenger built by Dave Griffth near Montreal. After a long recuperation Larry airlined to Montreal and then as his checkout in type he flew on wheels over 3,000 km west to Edmonton with Bruce Brown mentoring in the back seat. Larry then continued solo on wheel/skis over 1,600 km more - north to Kugluktuk on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The ferry flight home totalled just about 5,000 km - not bad for a beginner! Larry gives new perspectives to southern flyers via his eloquent blog of his experiences operating an ultralight above the Arctic Circle. The Dave Allan Memorial Award was founded by National Ultralight
Inc in 2007 to be given each year to a member of the Challenger community
who has made a substantial contribution of a technical nature. The 2008 Dave Allan Memorial Award was presented to Jean-Claude Lachance and Pauline Labrecque of Turbulence Aviation. Over the past decade Jean-Claude and Pauline designed, developed, manufactured and marketed numerous products specific to Challengers. Their products range from the practical (like wheel/skis) to the luxurious (like custom interiors). The Turbulence products are creatively conceived, superbly crafted and fully supported. Jean-Claude and Pauline have enhanced the utility and pleasure derived by Challenger owners worldwide. This was evidenced by the resounding applause from the gathering! Click here for a complete list of past award winners and their accomplishments.
Write the following down on your calendar and plan to attend the next event:
Come to any or all of our events whether you're an owner
or not.
Click here for brief reports on a typical year's Happenings in Canada. And here's a sampling of some past summer and winter Canadian
gatherings:
Did you see the movie "Fly Away
Home", about the geese and the ultralight? On the migration the group's Challenger was used as chase plane. This role is much like that of a sheepdog - herding the swans behind the trike on takeoff, bookending the formation in flight and chasing after the swans when they decided to scoot. Sometimes the birds broke formation to check out something interesting on the ground below. Other times they were escaping something scary like a passing Cessna. When they did break they flew off at over 60 mph!
National Ultralight assigned Bryan Quickmire as liaison to the project. Bryan actually had the honour of flying the group's Challenger on the migration. Ask him sometime how he earned the nickname 'Rex'! Click to the Trumpeter Swan Migration Project for more info and pictures!
If you wish, we'll notify you automatically by e-mail when this site is updated!
To learn and see more order our comprehensive information package and video! |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
