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 here to read the account of the visit and click here for an update to the story.

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!

More? Try Seven League Boots - Canadian Challenger flights over 1,000 miles!

The album has tons of photos organized into chapters on special events and topics, plus a huge catch-all of pics from round the world since 1983.

In the summer of 1990 two owners, Jim George and Clint Hooper, founded the
International Challenger Owners Association. Their newsletter Challenger News was eagerly received each quarter. The ICOA grew to over 800 members globally before the print medium was superceded by the internet. Now there is an extensive suite of internet-based resources for Challenger owners, including web sites and an email group with over 3,000 members!

The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association 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.

The Canadian Chapter of the ICOA, is under the able leadership of Major (Ret.) Claude Roy of the Canadian Air Force. With hundreds of names on the membership roster this chapter is the most active worldwide. Two major fly-ins are held each year - the Challenger Winter Rendezvous, between Ottawa and Montreal, and the Western Challenger Rendezvous in the summer near Edmonton. As well, birds-of-a-feather flockings happen frequently across the country.

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. Maurice's company Puddlejumper Floats opened up new realms of pleasure for Challenger owners worldwide and is now run by his son Patrick Vinet. The Vinet Award is presented to a Challenger pilot who exemplifies Maurice's passion for flight. The 2011 Award was presented to Bernie and Shelley Rector of East Coast Ultralight in Nova Scotia who have made a major contribution to furthering ultralight aviation on the east coast.

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. Dave Allan passed away from cancer in 2006. Dave was an extremely talented and knowledgeable Challenger builder and inspector. He gave freely of his time to owners across Canada who called for advice and he welcomed visitors to his workshop. The 2011 Award was presented to Bob Robertson, owner of Light Engine Services in British Columbia. In addition to great products and services Bob also contributes to safety by sharing his extensive knowledge with others.

23rd Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous	February 1-3, 2013 Chateau Montebello	Wonderful! Marvelous! Click here for 2013 details!
7th Annual Western Challenger Rendezvous	July 5-7, 2013 Wetaskiwin, AB	Click here for 2013 details! It's on rain or shine!
7th Annual Edenvale Challenger Open House	August 10, 2013 Edenvale, ON	Gathering of the Classics Click here for 2013 details!
4th Annual East Coast Challenger Rendezvous	August 23-25, 2013 Lawrencetown, NS	Click here for 2013 details! It's on rain or shine!
14th Annual Fly-in Carleton Place	September 7, 2013 Carleton Place, ON	Rain Date Sunday 30 Challengers in 2010!
15th Annual Float Tour Challenger 30th Birthday	September 20-22, 2013 Erie Airpark, Illinois	Put it on your calendar! Details To Be Announced
24th Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous	Jan 31 - Feb 2, 2014 Chateau Montebello	2014 details coming soon! Click here for 2013 details!

22nd Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous Chateau Montebello - February 3-5, 2012 SNOW 'n FUN was FABULOUS! Sun & Wind Perfect! Ice & Snow Perfect! 90 Planes!
	Click here for movie trailer! Click here for tons of pics!
Click the poster on the left above for large English and French versions. Click the COPA cover on the right above for full article and pics.

21st Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous Chateau Montebello - February 4-6, 2011 WINTER FLYING - THEN & NOW Blue Sky / Warm Air / Light Wind
	Click here & here for videos!
Click the poster on the left above for large English and French versions. Click the COPA cover on the right above for full article and pics.

20th Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous Chateau Montebello - January 22-24, 2010
	The Big Two Oh! Click above and find the 49 Challengers!
Everything Purrfect! 29 Challengers + 140 at Banquet! Read All About It - COPA Flight - March 2010 - Cover & Feature Click here for The Big Two Oh! and Full Action videos! Click here for Pictures!

19th Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous Chateau Montebello - 30 Jan to 1 Feb 2009
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Ultralights in Canada!

Challenger 25th Anniversary Celebration Erie Airpark, Illinois - Sept. 19-21, 2008
Click here for Evolution!	Click here for Kitplanes!	Click here for Evolution!
Click here for Canuck view!	Click here for COPA article!	Click here for Canuck view!

18th Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous - January 25 - 27, 2008
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Quad City and the Challenger!

17th Annual Challenger Winter Rendezvous - January 26 - 28, 2007
At the 11th hour it was up in the air - then it happened up in the air!

July 2-9, 2000 Owners voyaged to the Saguenay fjords and the CF-18s of Bagotville!

July 20 - August 1, 2000 The first Canadian ultralights crossed the U.S. border for Oshkosh!! Accolades were received from EAA, COPA, FAA and Transport Canada!

July 1999 Float Flying Adventure

Winter 1998 Montebello Meet Magnificent	Summer 1997 Jacksons' Iroquois Fly-in Rated 5 Star
Winter 1995 ICOA Sets Records For Ski Fly-ins	Summer 1996 Challengers Swarm To Haliburton

What does a 250 lb. 6'5" Challenger owner paint on the bottom of his fuselage? Anything he wants! Click on the picture to see what Bruce Craig painted!

Did you see the movie "Fly Away Home", about the geese and the ultralight?
The Migratory Bird Research Group used a Challenger to teach Trumpeter Swans to migrate! These magnificent birds with wingspans up to 8 feet were eradicated from eastern North America a hundred years ago. The three year project to reintroduce a self-sustaining migratory flock concluded with an 800 mile migration from northern Ontario to southern Indiana. That's 800 miles in close formation at the swans' long range endurance speed - 40 mph!

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!