Canadian Countdown to AirVenture 2024

March 2024 – I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the calendar and realized we’re less than 150 days away from meeting at Oshkosh again!

With 2024 being the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, we are proudly anticipating the performance of our Snowbirds at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024. We are hoping the Snowbirds will join us at our annual Canadian Breakfast, and if they can, it will result in our breakfast moving to Friday morning to accommodate their schedule. We’ve invited them for a meet and mingle at our Ice Cream Social as well.

I appreciate the suggestions that you’ve sent for possible presentations at AirVenture. We’ll work on the schedule soon, so keep your ideas coming. Another initiative that I’ve suggested to EAA is to create an area on their website ‘for Canadians.’ I envision Canadians clicking a Canadian flag icon, which will provide information specific to Canadians, like our insurance package. Another example I discovered was that EAA offers chapter resources online with marketing templates. However, if you try to order these materials, you quickly discover it forwards to an American supplier who won’t ship to Canada! Perhaps we can also include information on how to fly into and out of the U.S. and/or Canada. I’m looking for your input on content that could be incorporated in the Canadian area on EAA.org.

In my last message, I mentioned that we will be organizing a Little Canada camping area again, but EAA is requiring changes for this year. We are working out those final details, but in the meantime, if you are interested in participating, please send an email to Phil at chapters.eaacc@gmail.com. It’s important to ensure your name is on his mailing list, so as soon as the details are solidified, he can communicate with you.

Thank you to those who sent me emails regarding your C-Plan experiences. As I shared last month, unfortunately it’s been 15 years since the program was revisited by EAA, and I’m afraid during that period, EAA had not received much feedback regarding member satisfaction or the broker’s level of customer service. I have since passed on your experiences to EAA and I am confident EAA has listened.

I continue to attend meetings on the ADS-B initiative in Canada. At this point, discussions are underway for adoption in Class B. We raise the flag for homebuilts and ultralights to ensure we are considered as regulations are developed for the next classes of airspace.

I look forward to your emails — they help pass the time as I count down the days to Oshkosh!
Raquel