Your EAA Canada Council — Working for You

March 2019 - As the new chair of the EAA Canadian Council, I’d like to say hello to all EAA members in Canada. Most of my hours have been built up in an RV-7 that I built. I also completed a DR-107 One Design. I have attended and taught EAA SportAir Workshops, participated in EAA chapter leadership, flown Young Eagles, volunteered at conventions, and am an EAA technical counselor. I’d like to sincerely thank our recently retired Chair Jack Dueck for his unbridled enthusiasm and leadership for countless years. All EAA members in Canada owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jack for his efforts and success in promoting Canadian interests within EAA. I’d also like to thank EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board Jack J. Pelton and the rest of the council for their support and confidence in me as their new chair.

As many of you know, here in Canada, we have our own council that works directly with EAA headquarters. This is similar to some of the other councils, like the Homebuilt Aircraft Council, Ultralight & Light-Sport Aircraft Council, Legal Advisory Council, etc. What you might not realize is that the Canadian Council is the only council that is geographically based. EAA recognizes that Canada has the second-largest number of members outside of the United States. Your council represents Canada within EAA and EAA within Canada. The Canadian Council provides EAA with a perspective of the issues and challenges that affect Canadian pilots and aircraft owners. These issues are not always the same as experienced by our U.S. counterparts, but our involvement with EAA connects us to the largest aviation organization in the world. That connection provides an extremely influential and effective support network.

Your Canadian Council is made up of some very active and enthusiastic volunteers spread across the country. The council is currently composed of:

Lloyd Richards, EAA 171396 — Lloyd is one of the original Young Eagles pilots in Canada, having flown more than 2,600 Young Eagles. Lloyd is also a Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) director, which gives us a direct liaison to another strong general aviation association within Canada.

Ed Lubitz, EAA 16074 — A retired ATP, Ed is currently enjoying retirement flying ultralights. He helped build the flying replica of the Silver Dart that was used in 2009 during the 100th anniversary of the first flight in Canada. He has been a great resource on the CARs and legalities surrounding aircraft and pilot licensing.

Ian Brown — Editor of the Bits and Pieces e-newsletter. Ian is bilingual and represents English and French members. He is very knowledgeable in new technologies and makes a very popular presentation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for Canadian and American pilots on crossing the border with a homebuilt aircraft.

Jack Neima, EAA 413636 — As one of the newest members of the council, Jack provides new ideas and fresh energy. One of his key initiatives is how to use existing, low-usage aircraft to provide flight opportunities and ownership to more pilots and pilot wannabes.

We also have a new member of the council whose name is yet to be announced but will possibly be by the time this article goes to print. Please watch for an announcement in next month’s Bits and Pieces.

Lastly, EAA has added another member to its staff to support us, freeing up Charlie Becker’s time for other pressing activities within EAA. We’d like to thank Charlie for his many years of liaison and support to the EAA Canadian Council. We are fortunate to have Kyle Ludwick as our new direct contact to EAA. Kyle has been a real asset to our council in providing support and guidance at all times.

The council is critical in organizing and supporting the EAA Canada Tent and some of the Canadian presence at AirVenture, working with Nav Canada, Transport Canada, and in some cases the FAA to work through issues and concerns that affect general aviation. We look forward to increasing our involvement with Nav Canada and Transport Canada going forward.

One of the things that I’ve been doing since becoming chair has been to reach out to the chapter presidents. My goal is to get direct feedback from these active members located across the country. I want to hear what’s working for them, what their challenges are, and what opportunities they see. I would love to hear from any of our members who would like to reach out to me directly. Please use the Contact Us button at the top of this email and put Comments to President in the subject line.