By Laureen Nelson-Boutet

Some of the gang at Buttonville, starting out	Rockcliffe airport in sight
Akky & Laureen at Rockcliffe a/p	Jocelyn & Karin, lunching at Rockcliffe
McCutcheon in Rockcliffe a/p	Akky and Laureen - dinner in Chicoutimi
C-FFOV  Mary Norman & Lyn Shinn in Chicoutimi	Karin Williamson & Margo McCutcheon
Gwen Hems in C-GOVQ	Saguenay area flight
Saguenay area flight	Saguenay area flight
Saguenay area flight	En Route to Quebec City
Jean Franklin Hancher	Linda Kiff
Marilyn Dickson - responsible for all those " white envelopes "	Laureen & JYB
Gwen & Margo	Jocelyn
Shania Twain Centre, Timmins	Dinner in Timmins, Jocelyn LeCluse, Susan Begg in background, Lloyd Richards & his wife Marg
, Akky, Jocelyn at Hollinger Gold Mines, Timmins	The group of Goldminers
En route from Timmons to SS Marie	S S Marie a/p - approach
Bushplane Museum SS Marie	Laureen , Susan & Maureen at SS Marie
first place - Mary is "in shock" & can't wait to show all her students !!	First place winners.. Marilyn presenting the cup to Mary Norman & Lyn Shin
second place winners, Laureen Nelson & Akky Mansikka	third place winners ..Susan Begg & Maureen Egan
SS Marie group shot	SS Marie , Cdn / US Border
planes lined up at SS Marie	Laureen & Akky back at Buttonville

The 5^th Annual Gold Cup Air Rally was initially planned in June 2005 to coincide with the joint meeting of the Ninety-Nines East Canada Section and North Central Section (USA) in Ottawa.  Due to poor weather, the rally was rescheduled for September 23^rd to 27th, 2005 and the departure location was changed to the Buttonville airport (CYKZ).

Participants:

• Team 1: Linda Kiff and Susan Ball in Piper Cherokee PA28 140 C-FEYH

• Team 2: Laureen Nelson-Boutet and Akky Mansikka in Cessna Cutlass RG  C-GJYB

• Team 3: Mary Norman and Lyn Shinn in Cessna 185 Amphib  C-FFOV

• Team 4: Margo McCutcheon & Gwen Hems in Beach Baron C-GOVQ

• Team 5: Susan Begg and Maureen Egan in Mooney M20E C-FTEM

• Team 6: Jocelyn LeCluse and Karin Williamson in Cessna 172 C-GAGV

• Team 7: Marilyn Dickson and Jean Franklin Hancher in Piper Cherokee 140 C-FVLA

Route:

This year’s VFR route took us over some incredible scenery plus some remote areas so we all had to make sure that we had proper survival equipment, the appropriate charts, E6B flight computer, the AIP and flight planning rulers, etc., in case the GPS failed! The route took us from Buttonville CYKZ - Rockcliffe/Ottawa CYRO – Chicoutimi (St. Honoré) CYRC – down the Saguenay River to the Saint Lawrence River – west over Quebec City CYQB – Trois Rivières CYRQ - Maniwaki CYMW- Timmins CYTS - Sault Ste.Marie CYAM- home.

Challenges:

• Weather - We encountered fog, rain and poor visibility in Timmins on Day 3 of the rally. We all welcomed not having to get up early on that Sunday a.m. as we had done lots of flying the 2 days prior and now we could drink lots of coffee and visit the Hollinger Gold Mine and Shania Twain Centre!  Once some lingering cloud cover moved off to the east late morning of Day 4, we were all able, and eager to fly to Sault Ste. Marie for the last formal part of the rally and the Awards & Banquet Night.
• The “White Envelopes” – As in previous rallies, each time that we started out on a new leg, each plane was given a white envelope which contained lots of    questions &/or aerial photographs to identify. If we weren’t busy flying, we were busy figuring out the answers to all the questions (too bad if you forgot your AIP!). We all found the questions/answers to be very practical, challenging and a great learning tool.

 Memorable times:

a)  This year’s Gold Cup Air Rally winners were Mary Norman/Lyn Shinn, followed by Laureen Nelson/ Akky Mansikka and Susan Begg/Maureen Eagan. Gayle Manley, a former 99, arranged an amazing dinner for us in Sault Ste. Marie.

b)  The Bushplane Museum in SS Marie is a “must see”.

c)  The colours around SS Marie were at their peak.

d)  The scenery flying down the Saguenay River and west along the Saint Lawrence River towards Quebec City is breathtaking.

e)  Chicoutimi is a great place to practise your French.

f)   The photographers & reporters & airport manager were waiting for “the female pilots” at Sault Ste. Marie airport (our group was featured on the front page of the SS Marie Star the following day!). A fellow who was working in the pilot’s lounge remembered our group from last year’s rally to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan!

g)   Gayle Manley, a former 99, arranged an amazing dinner for us in Sault Ste Marie.    

h)  Susan Begg arranged lunch at Rockcliffe, Henri Cote arranged lunch at Maniwaki and Roxanne Allard organized the overnight accommodation in St. Honoré.     

i)   Lloyd Richards & his wife Marg, synonymous with “Young Eagles”, welcomed   us to Timmins and showed us what northern hospitality is all about! I recommend that pilots fly to Timmins more often and stay involved with the Young Eagles Program.

j)   Watch out for coyotes on the runway at Rockcliffe airport!

More importantly, this rally demonstrated once again, the cooperative spirit within the group. Even though we were competing against each other, we were also helping one another. New friendships developed along the way. This rally brings an incredible amount of visibility to the 99s as a women pilot’s organization. A group of women enjoying themselves, flying to various airports around the country helps to show all ages of women aviation possibilities, as careers or for recreation.

A special thanks to Margo McCutcheon, Marilyn Dickson (don’t stop putting those “challenges” together), Noriko Date, Dee Birchmore, Corinne Shalley and Anna Nosko for all their hard work to make this rally an event that we always look forward to flying!