The 6th
Annual 99s Gold Cup Air Rally took place Friday, September 15th
to Monday, September 18th, 2006. This year’s planned route
was eastbound from Oshawa ( CYOO ) to Burlington, Vermont ( KBTV ),
where we would clear customs and have a scheduled lunch then overnight
in Bar Harbour, Maine
( KBHB) . Rally participants were then scheduled to arrive at Grand
Manan, N. B. ( CCN2 ) late
Saturday afternoon, following a lunch stop in St. Stephen , N.B. (
CCS3 ) earlier in the day. We were
also informed that there would be the usual fun challenges and
adventures along the way!
Participants:
- Team 1: Laureen Nelson-Boutet and Akky Mansikka
in Cessna Cutlass RG C-GJYB
- Team 2: Mary Norman and Lyn Shinn in Cessna 185
Amphib C-FFOV
- Team 3: Jocelyn LeCluse and Janet Chesterfield in
Cessna 172 C-GAGV
- Team 5: Anna Nosko and Lisa Aalto in Grumman C-GHLN
- Team 7: Karin Williamson and Nancy Holden in
Cessna 172 C-GKKW
- Team 8: Corinne Shalley and Noriko Date in Cessna
172 C-GZXW
-
Team 9: Marilyn Dickson and Jean Franklin Hancher
in Piper Cherokee 140 C-FVLA
-
Team 10: Margo McCutcheon, Asti Livingston, Mary
Warner Smith & Nat McHaffie in Beach Baron C-GOVQ
-
Team 11: Susan Begg and Sharron Lutman in Mooney
M20E C-FTEM
-
Team 12: Suzanne Wiltshire and Heather Bradacs in
Cessna Cutlass RG C-GOFD
-
Team 13: Jan Brown, Anna Pangrazzi and Dee
Birchmore in Stationair 206 C-FJMB
|
|
|
|
Lineup in Oshawa
|
|
|
|
Mary checks weather
|
|
|
|
Group shot in Bromont
|
|
|
|
Margo and Mary in Bromont
|
|
|
|
Laureen & JYB in Bromont
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marilyn sneaking off with biggest lobster claw
|
|
|
|
The winners Marilyn and Jean
|
|
|
|
Collage of photos, created by Laurel Small
|
|
|
Our actual Route & events !! :
Due to low
ceilings, the VFR route was revised and we finally departed Oshawa
Friday afternoon for Bromont, Quebec. Unfortunately, two of our
registered planes were unable to make it to the starting line at Oshawa due
to weather. We stayed at the beautiful Chateau Bromont which overlooks
the ski hills & golf course. After breakfast and a group photo, we were shuttled back to
the airport. The early morning fog had not yet lifted in the valley
and ceilings were still not high enough to safely cross over the mountainous
terrain to the east.
After numerous
weather updates and reviewing various routings, we finally noticed a
break in the weather. We quickly
returned to our planes, did our final preflight checks and were
airborne once again. We flew
direct to Grand Manan, flying over the state of Maine (the Condor
Military Operations area or MOA was not
active ). Six of the planes decided to land in St. Stephen, N.B. for
fuel where they were greeted
with lots of smiles, the press and a tasty late afternoon lunch. The
rest carried on to Grand Manan airport
for the spot landing contest and to be welcomed by all the local
spectators, some of whom had hung
around for hours waiting for our arrival. There had been some major
press coverage on the Ninety-Nines ahead of time !
We were transported
by an old blue schoolbus to the Marathon Inn which was built in the
late 1800’s and overlooked the
harbour. This Inn was quaint, had lots of character and was a great
location for our special banquet
and awards night, complete with a fresh lobster dinner. We quickly
“checked in”, then grabbed our “
Scavenger Hunt Lists “ and proceeded to work through the list before
it got dark.
Some of us went for
a swim in the Atlantic Ocean ( for bonus points ) and/or socialized
with the locals. I finally got to
check out “ Dulse “ which is a red seaweed / sea vegetable that grows
attached to rocks and Grand Manan is
known for the best dulse because of the geography of the island.
After a blueberry
pancake breakfast, a check on the weather and a brisk walk to the
Swallowtail Lighthouse which
was established in 1860, we were able to enjoy the calmness of the
Atlantic Mist, observing fishing boats heading out for their daily
catches and watching the seals play. Since undesirable weather
was forecast for the next few days, we were not able to spend the
balance of the day in Grand Manan
to observe the endangered “ Right Whale “ (Eubalaena spp.) or check
out the 240 species of
birds. The old blue schoolbus picked us up, drove us over to a seafood
plant where a number of us
stocked up on lobster &/or scallops then headed back to the airport.
By 1 pm, the last plane departed
the picturesque island and headed west.
Some of the planes
stopped and fueled up at St. Stephen while others scattered off
stopping in Sherbrooke, QC.,
St. Jean, P.Q., Bromont, QC., Cornwall, Oshawa, Buttonville, Brantford
, Guelph and Ottawa. One
plane enjoyed a scenic circuitous route via Bangor / Glens Falls / St.
Catherines as they made their way
safely back to London. However, we always kept track of each other.
Challenges:
a)
Weather - We encountered fog, low ceilings and reduced
visibilities en route, more during this rally than on previous ones.
b)
Flying over mountainous areas versus flat terrain.
c)
The “ Brown Envelopes “ – As in previous rallies, each time that we
started out on a new leg, each plane was given an envelope which
contained lots of questions &/or aerial photographs to identify.
Since the emphasis was more on the safety of flying, we ended up
answering the questions as quickly as possible once we landed.
However, we all found the questions / answers to be very practical,
challenging and a great learning tool.
d)
Strong headwinds westbound and flying in haze with the sun directly in
your eyes.
e)
Finding certain items on the “ Scavenger List “.
f)
For some, getting the lobsters back home !
g)
For our organizers, Mary and Lyn, having to cancel out totally on our
US destinations.
Memorable times:
a)
Congratulations to the Gold Cup 2006 Air Rally winners Marilyn Dickson
and Jean Franklin Hancher ! This team proved their excellence in
flying skill, knowledge and full participation in the scavenger hunt (
best photo of a huntsman along with the largest lobster claw and full
immersion by both of them in the Atlantic Ocean ).
Second : Susan Begg and Sharron
Lutman
Third : Laureen Nelson-Boutet and
Akky Mansikka
Fourth : Suzanne Wiltshire and
Heather Bradacs.
b)
Congratulations to Karin Williamson and Nancy Holden who won
the spot landing contest ! We heard that they almost took the “ X ‘
right off the pavement !
c)
The amount of press coverage of the Ninety-Nines on this trip,
the welcome receptions and the smiles.
d)
The friendliness of all the locals.
e)
New friendships among the participants.
f)
Discovering new places plus ones that we will want to go back
and check out.
g)
Those “flightsuits” came in handy.
h)
A couple of copilots experiencing the thrill of flying “VFR
Over The Top”
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
very special thanks to Mary Norman and Lyn Shinn, our main organizers
who stayed positive despite the weather and route changes and for
staying up late marking those quizzes !! Thanks to Dee Birchmore for
the publicity, Noriko Date for prizes & rally numbers, Corinne Shalley
for registration etc, Margo McCutcheon, Mary Norman and Julie
Beverstein for preflying the route, Linda Kiff for recommending &
acquiring the Chateau Bromont for us and to all those who helped
behind the scenes.
Visit
www.canadian99s.org for photos of the rally.
See everyone next year
!!\
|
