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Montebello Montage
You know your fly-in must be catching on
when a huge number of owners and enthusiasts take the trouble to fly or
drive on a snowy weekend bookended by bitter cold to a venue situated far
from major population centers. With attendees coming from as far away as
British Columbia on the left, the Maritimes on the right, and the United
States at the bottom you know something must be working!
In fact, one Challenger owner, General Maurice
Baril, now Canada's envoy to the United Nations and retired head of the
Canadian Armed Forces, actually flew back on Friday from East Timor (north
of Australia, in the middle of nowhere) specifically to attend Saturday's
banquet before flying out again on Sunday.
General Baril was one of 160 (a new record,
up from 146) who attended the banquet. Many other day trippers missed the
banquet but attended the daytime seminars where not even standing room
remained. Despite the frigid cold plus snow in air and in the forecasts,
a dozen Challengers even flew in!
This Rendezvous was the 13th consecutive
Challenger winter fly-in - surely a record in its own right. Also a record
in the ultralight industry is the fact that 2003 marks the 20th anniversary
of the beginning of Challenger production! Next year will be the 20th year
that National Ultralight has served as Canadian distributor!
The photos below are mostly from the camera
of Bryan Quickmire. There are a ton of them so why not go get the beverage
of your choice while this page loads!
Don't forget that as usual you can click
any picture for an enlargement.
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Of course the point of a fly-in is to fly in. At the banquet
the flyers-in were honoured with special hats commemorating this the 20th
anniversary of the Challenger. Here's the intrepid ones with their bases
and round trip distances:
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Tom Reavell
London, ON / 1,133 km
Andre Girard
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
Gord Ekstrom
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
Bruce Brown
St Lazare, QC / 140 km
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Keith Robinson
Georgian Bay, ON / 846 km
Claude Roy
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
John Woudstra
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
Louis Pouliot
St Lazare, QC / 140 km
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Norm Hull
Otty Lake, ON / 269 km
Conrad Watters
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
Peter Caverly
Carleton Place, ON / 236 km
Michel Deland
Mayo, QC / 74 km
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Saturday morning during a break in the weather ...
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... all come out to play ...
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Wiper switch?
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They went that a way!
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'Vr' = 'V rotate'?
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or 'V rocket'!
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Up, up, and away!
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Wonderful world!
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Sure wish I was ...
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Sure glad I'm ...
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Vive la difference!
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Narrow Body
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Wide Body
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Wide afterburner!
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When the weather break breaks ... this:
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... becomes this:
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... so people do this:
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Vectors for the ILS pls!
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People Follow Planes
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Everyone loves a parade!
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IFR = I Follow Rivers
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This is FUN!
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Challenger Check-out
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Dressed in red and 8 ...
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I said
I'd take YOU for a walk!
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Linda "Nanook" Taylor
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Speaking of people, here's just a few who attended.
Of course everyone was very special!
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General Maurice Baril
ret'd Chief of the Defence Staff
now Military Envoy to the UN
Frank Hofmann
Director, COPA & IAOPA
Mark Paskevich
President, Rotax Canada
Louis Pouliot
Aviation Récréative du Québec
Michael Flahault
Owner & Artist Extraordinaire
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Arlo Speer
Director of Recreational Aviation, Transport Canada
Michel Hell
Publisher/Editor, COPA Flight
Daniel Sasseville
Aéro Propulsion Technologie
Steve Busby
Aerolight Flight Services
Sqn. Ldr. Norm Hull
Owner & CF-104 Pilot
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Kathy Lubitz
President, Ultralight Pilots Association of Canada
Garth Wallace
Humorist, Author, Publisher
Jean-Claude et Pauline
Turbulence Aviation
Gord Ekstrom
Plane Works Ltd.
Iva Armstrong
80 years old this year!
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Special Guest Challenger
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C-ISNE was the "sheepdog" in the Trumpeter Swan
Migration Project.
Read all about it
in the Owners section!
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"C-ISNE" = "cisne"
which is the
Portuguese word for "swan".
Talk about clever!
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Not even "standing room only" at the seminars!
Topics included Rotax engine operation, Canadian regulations, and a wonderful
slide show "Salty Dip 02".
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Dr. Tom "T-Bird" Reavell became the first person
ever to fly away with
all three awards: the "Farthest Flown" and "Best Showplane"
as well as the prestigious "Maurice Vinet Memorial Award".
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Tom's C-ITAR logged
400 hours in 2 years!
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R to L: Tom Reavell,
Bryan Quickmire,
Patrick Vinet,
Ian Coristine
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2002: London<=>PEI
4,400 km in 8 days!
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The Vinet Award honours a Challenger pilot who exemplifies
Maurice Vinet's incredible passion for flight. Maurice's company Puddlejumper
Floats opened up new realms of pleasure for Challenger owners and is now
run by his sons Patrick and Andre. Past recipients include Major Claude
Roy and Gord Ekstrom.
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The banquet was also the venue for the world premiere of
the U.S.
"Fine Living Channel" TV show called "Your Private Island"
showcasing the Challenger in an episode on the 1000 Islands.
The channel's motto is "Live Life Like You Mean It"
and it focuses on the finer things that life has to offer. We concur that
the Challenger fits into that category!
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Your Private Island
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Garth Wallace
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Sightseeing at its finest!
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Garth Wallace (pilot, humorist, author, former publisher
of Canadian Flight,
and all round good guy) was the guest speaker at the banquet.
Garth gave a highly entertaining talk entitled "Why Women Don't Fly"!
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| Garth later emailed his view of the happening at Montebello:
"Congratulations to Claude, Bryan and Ian for being the spark
plugs for such a great gathering of aviators last weekend. I wish your
enthusiasm and hard work could be bottled and distributed across Canada.
What you guys are doing is what recreational aviation needs everywhere.
Maybe when Claude retires from his day job, we can persuade him to tour
Canada in his Challenger more often to spread his love for fun flying.
Liz and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the 13th Challenger Winter Rendezvous.
Challenger owners know how to make everyone feel welcome and it sure is
easy to be the guest speaker for a group that loves to laugh. The Chateau
Montebello is a wonderful and unique venue. The food was superb and the
service was first class. Best of all, it was great to spend time with old
aviation friends and to meet so many new ones. Please keep up the good
job you are doing with the Challenger Owners Association. Liz and I look
forward to being a part of it again."
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So, to conclude we'll let pictures tell the story. Look below
to see
what kind of time a random sample of owners had at Montebello 2003!
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Scott & Neil
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Conrad
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Whether you were or weren't
at this year's happening remember:
Same Time, Next Year!
PS: This has become a real family event
- bring your loved ones too!
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For great pictures of the 2002 Rendezvous:
The Full Montebello
There's coverage of lots of Challenger
events in the Owners section!
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If you wish, we'll notify
you automatically by e-mail when this site is updated!
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Chateau
Montebello, Quebec
