An armada of small planes crossed the country to mark the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. (Leia Hutchings)

On July 17, more than 100 small planes began flying across the country, from Boundary Bay, B.C., to Baddeck, N.S., in a journey marking the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. J.D. McCurdy was the first person to fly an airplane in the British Empire when he flew the Silver Dart off the ice on Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia in 1909.

The mass flight in 2009, which ended July 28, involved the largest group of non-military aircraft to ever travel together across the country, organizers of the trip say.

Pilot and documentarian John Lovelace filed reports from the trip as participants made their way through 30 stops in places including Calgary, Brandon, Man., Marathon, Ont., Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Brampton, Ont., Gatineau, Que., Fredericton and Sydney, N.S.

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Day 12: Tuesday, July 28

The morning of the final day of our coast-to-coast odyssey started out partly cloudy, but that quickly burned off and we had a lovely, hot and humid day for the end of our pilgrimage to the birthplace of powered flight in Canada.

After a nice sleep in and breakfast, the buses took us on a journey back through time along the winding roads of Cape Breton, passing the place where the first powered flight in Canada took place and the graveyard where that pioneering pilot, J.D. McCurdy, now lies at rest.

After a chance to explore the Alexander Graham Bell Museum here in Baddeck, N.S., we all gathered on its rooftop patio for the closing ceremonies of the Cross Canada Century of Flight.

A plane sits in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Cameron Fraser)

On hand were dignitaries from the Silver Dart Centennial Commission and two very special distinguished visitors. Joining us for the closing out of this great adventure were none other then the grandsons of both Bell and McCurdy.

The ceremony concluded with a lovely light lunch and group photo of all of us who had made it from sea to shining sea, par avion!!! Then, after further time to explore in Baddeck, the buses returned us to our motels and camping places, from which we began to go our own separate ways to our places of origin.

In closing, this adventure was about celebrating 100 years of powered human flight in Canada, something vitally important to the true north strong and free. Teach your children and grandchildren how important flying is, because there are many places a bus cannot go, but an aeroplane will get you there safely.

Have a safe journey to your points of origin. It has been a honour to fly with you all.

Day 11: Monday, July 27

All good things must come to an end, but we were not at the end quite yet, this low overcast morning.

The buses picked us up after another, extra hour sleep-in day, to haul us off to the Fredericton airport. Peter, our chief steward, and Robert, our Nav Canada liaison, conducted our morning pre-flight briefing and invited a local expert, a visiting instructor from the Moncton flying school, to fill us in on hazards and how to safely transit Moncton airspace. He gave us a professional and concise analysis of what to expect and then John commented on the most deadly aspect of flying ... "get-home-itis."

We have made it this far and although we all want to get to Baddeck, we must fly safely and respect the weather and the limitations of training and aircraft.

Then John and our IFR rated crews launched themselves towards Sydney via Moncton to act as this day's weather scouts. The rest of us did something any ex-military person knows: "hurry up and wait."

Then word came from John aboard Century Zero One to sit tight as it was below VFR (visual flight rules) along most of the intended route. A couple of crews who had wireless internet started monitoring the weather radars and we all saw the thunderstorms about to pass over Moncton. So it was off to the airport coffee shop for breakfast or a snack.

Patience is a part of the game in VFR flying and one by one the airports along our route started to report opening to VFR traffic. First Sydney, then Moncton and finally Fredericton. Peter Lubig, our chief flight steward, headed out as lead aircraft of the second wave to scout the en route weather and Hugh Gregory, one of our CASARA Search and Rescue pilots, brought up the rear as last aircraft out of Fredericton.

The ride to Moncton was bumpy, but the view was worth it, as central New Brunswick is very beautiful. We all rounded Moncton on the south side of the river to steer clear of the thunderstorm just departing to the northeast. Then, it was onward into the clear skies along the shores of the Northumberland Strait.

he aircraft capable of VFR over the top popped upstairs to enjoy a better view and we swung out over the water by a mile or so near Fox Harbour to avoid a massive storm closing from the southeast.

A plane flies from Boundary Bay, B.C., to Springbank, Alta. (Peter Lubig and Leia Hutchings)

Onward we pressed, across Trenton and Antigonish to Port Hawkesbury, home of, I believe, the deepest causeway in the world. At this point our high-flying aircraft had to descend to 2,500 feet to get under a layer of broken cloud to remain in VFR and then a diversion started. Just a few at first, but then most of the inbound aircraft departed from the pre-planned track up the east side of Bras d'Or lake and, one by one, we all crossed over and flew along the shoreline of the Baddeck township to have our first look at where history was made 100 years ago.

Charlottetown Radio expertly looked after our arrival into Sydney, and the refuelling went off like clock work. Then came tying down the aircraft. There's rocks in that ground, big rocks, stubborn rocks. It took some of us up to 15 tries a side to set our tie-down stakes, so we could anchor our planes against any high winds that might occur.

The buses were waiting for us and we immediately headed off to the farewell banquet at the firehouse hall. For many, it was their first taste of a Maritimes delicacy, a lobster dinner. Our thanks to Tourism Nova Scotia for graciously sponsoring such a fine welcoming feast. There was also roast beef, pasta and salads for those who preferred or could not partake (due to allergies) in the lobster feast.

We concluded with the usual bus ride to our motels. After 3,042 nautical miles of flying, the end is in sight and we will see you all tomorrow in Baddeck for the closing ceremonies. G'night to all from Sydney, N.S.

Day 10: Sunday, July 26

For a non-flying day, a day of relaxation, this day turned out to be the busiest public event so far in our coast-to-coast aerial adventure.

Over 2,000 people turned out walk the flight lines and meet the crews of the Cross Canada Century of Flight team here in Fredericton. Some came from as far away as Saint John, N.B., where the first human-crewed flight in Canada occurred, way back in 1840 (a lighter-than-air balloon flight).

The day started out appropriately with sleep in to 7:30 a.m. AT after the long haul from Brampton, Ont., the day before. Then the buses picked us up for the scheduled leisure events, starting in the morning with a tour of the Canadian Forces Base Gagetown Military Museum, then in the afternoon a concert at the lighthouse and a changing of the guard.

For some it was independent exploring via rented car or being taken on a personalized tour by members of the local flying fraternity. For three lucky individuals it was a trip down memory lane and an "insiders tour" of their old squadrons and regiments at CFB Gagetown, to see how the place had changed and developed in the years since their posting here.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. it was open house, with crews taking the general public on escorted tours of the flight line. One of the CASARA aircraft from the Boundary Bay, B.C., group rotated 65 youngsters through its cockpit, where happy parents got to snap a photograph of their kids sitting in the captain's seat of a search-and-rescue aircraft.

We and the attending public were also treated to a water bombing demonstration and the Tiger Moth that had joined us in Brampton took folks up for scenic flights. Inside the customs hall there were displays and booths, with an exceptional line of scale-model aircraft on display that all admired. Food and refreshment were on sale as a part of a fundraiser for the Fredericton Food Bank and the local media were also present, with Fred-FM broadcasting live from right next to the Century of Flight Command Centre trailer (just outside the customs hall).

After a hot muggy day of proudly sharing the saga of our epic adventure with over 2,000 visitors, it was back to our motels and hotels to clean up before we were bused into the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel in downtown Fredericton for a wonderful banquet.

We were warmly welcomed by local dignitaries, including the New Brunswick's minister of the environment, the mayor of Fredericton and the chair of the Airport Committee. John present a certificate of exceptional achievement to the Fredericton airport for the outstanding job they did in preparing for our visit.

Then John brought us up to date on the status of the fleet. There was good news and not so good news.

The not-so-good was that the four aircraft trapped in Thunder Bay by the line of thunderstorms across central Ontario had finally given up and turned back to their home bases in Western Canada.

On the better news side, the four aircraft that had attempted to fly to Fredericton via Rivière-du-Loup so as to stay completely in Canada for the whole trip were still grounded by bad weather in Montmagny, just east of Quebec City. The crew that diverted to Rockcliff-Ottawa with engine trouble had completed their repairs and were also waiting for flyable weather.

This aerial photograph was taken as the armada travelled to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

The good news was that six more aircraft joined us in Fredericton for the final leg of our adventure, with commercial pilot trainees from Beijing who were studying at the flight school in Moncton, N.B., joining our armada.

The evening concluded with a fact-filled, hilariously funny and entertaining lecture from Saint John aviation historian Harold E. Wright on how many centuries it took humankind to overcome the surly bonds of gravity and achieve the freedom of flight. Then it was back to our motels for a well-deserved rest and due to the weather, another "sleep-in" as the best weather for flying will occur around mid-day tomorrow. G'night to all from Fredericton.

Day 9: Saturday, July 25

We arrive in the Maritimes right on schedule!

Wow!!! The only word that can describe yesterday's aerial voyage down the St. Lawrence River from Toronto to Montreal and onward to Fredericton.

The morning started with the Brampton Flying Club pulled out all the stops to give us an excellent pancake breakfast sendoff. They had also arranged for our weather briefing to be done by CBC meteorologist. He had some serious forecasting tools with him on his laptop and he got it right.

The essence of the forecast is that the 600-mile flight would be a balancing act of getting the planes out of Brampton quickly before the next system moved in and then plan the arrival into Fredericton latter in the day after the bad weather in the Maritimes moved out.

Then a chap from Nav Canada's Toronto Centre briefed us on the departure options and issued us individual transponder codes that we were to use for this entire leg of our journey from sea to sea. Then it was heads down, get the charts prepared, strap on your aircraft and off we thundered into the muggy skies of southern Ontario.

More than a few of us elected the western departure route, which allowed us to fly south and then east along the shores of Lake Ontario past the Toronto skyline. It was a view to behold as we flew past the CN Tower and downtown core of Canada's largest city.

It was pretty hazy up there, but the views were unparalleled and the weather seemed to be in a mood to be nice to us today.

When we got to the St Lawrence River at the eastern end of Lake Ontario the building cumulus clouds formed a long, many-mile-wide aerial valley on either side of the river all the way to Montreal.

As we could not reach Fredericton in one long hop, we opted to visit various communities along the way to refuel, with aircraft from our armada dropping in on Kingston and Cornwall, St. Jean and Sherbrooke and Quebec City, to name a few.

Planes parked in the Springbank Airport near Calgary on the first stop of the cross-country tour. (Scott Dippel/CBC)

The desired routing - north-east up the St Lawrence past Ville de Quebec (Quebec City) to Riverie de Loop and then south down The Saint John River Valley - was not flyable as the CBC meteorologist chap had predicted. So most diverted to Sherbrooke in the Eastern Townships to await word from our experienced "weather scout" pilots on conditions for an overflight of the U.S.A.'s state of Maine and onward into New Brunswick.

The catch here was one of "cumulusgranitis", an aviator expression for "clouds with rocks in the middle." The state of Maine has mountains tall enough to snag a low-flying aircraft in bad weather conditions. By early afternoon the reports were coming in that it was scattered cloud from Sherbrooke over those mountains all the way to Millinock, Maine, where daytime heating had lifted the cloud base to 6,000 feet. Thus we could easily hop over the tops of those mountains safely and then slide down under the now high cloud base for the final 60 miles into Fredericton.

In southern New Brunswick the moist air coming northward off of the Bay of Fundy arranged a "bath" for our aircraft in the form of isolated showers, which nicely washed all the bugs off of our windscreens and the leading edges of our wings as we approached the Capital of New Brunswick.

The joker was several aircraft experience micro down bursts on short final with some ground level turbulence as they landed at Fredericton. The slick runways made life more interesting when applying the brakes.

The fueling team at Fredericton was briskly efficient and well organized. They laid on extra staff to deal with "rush hour" of the rush of our aircraft all needing to be refueled before they were expertly marshaled into their parking spots.

Thus the Cross Canada Century of Flight armada has safely arrived on the east coast of Canada right on schedule!

There are another 20 planes we hope will catch up with us here or in Sydney, Nova Scotia, tomorrow for the awards banquets.

Tomorrow is an "open house" day and all are invited to come out around lunch time to Fredericton Airport, to visit with us and hear about our epic journey from Sea To Shining Sea.

Good night from the Capital of Canada's bilingual province, the land of the United Empire Loyalists and the Acadians, Nouvelle Brunswick!

Day 8: Friday, July 24

Our second morning in Sault Ste. Marie started out with a short sleep-in, as the weather forecast said that there would be fog that would burn off by mid morning. So we arranged for the buses to pick us up at 7, 8 and 9 a.m.

At the airport it was a waiting game for the fog to lift. At 10:30 the fog started to burn off and with VFR weather being reported for the inland route down to Brampton, the Century Crews scrambled for their cockpits. Peter and Hugh disseminated the latest weather reports for the airports between The Soo and Brampton, Ont., to those who wanted yet another update and we took off.

Well, to put it mildly the weather today would do its best to confound us, but ingenuity and determination saw us all get through to Brampton.

Aircraft that flew "Over The Top" were force to turn back and join those who had decided to take longer North Shore routing down the Georgian Bay shore, while others took the "follow the highway" inland route.

Again, as with the Dryden to Thunder Bay leg, several of our more experienced folks became unofficial "weather scouts", reporting back about what they were running into as they blazed the trail for the following fleet. In fact, we all helped each other - which resulted in most folks getting a nice easy ride south because our "scouts" found and reported where the ugly weather was before folks could run into it (because they ran into it first). XM satellite radio was also a big help and the crews that had the receivers were reporting enroute weather to everyone.

So, we dodged thunderstorms, endured brief but intense rain showers, low (but passable) ceilings and enjoyed a unique view of the Canadian Shield Country.

Getting into Brampton was a smooth affair, with Toronto Centre helping and a volunteer retired ATC at the unicom at Brampton. Then it was a briskly efficient ground crew tucking each arrival safely into its pre-assigned parking slot.

We quickly registered, prepaid for our refueling, and then the weather decided to remind us who was the boss and gave us all a good soaking with a Welcome to Brampton cloud burst. Then we got bused downtown to the hotel to check in and enjoy a quick wash up.

Meanwhile, back at the airport folks who tried to go south via the middle of the lake route but had to turn back were starting to arrive. By 18:00 we were all gathered back at the Brampton Flying Club hanger for a most delightful barbecue chicken dinner party with relaxing easy listening music provided by the Bob Parkins Jazz Band. Brampton Club member and retired pilot Geoff Day put on a wonderful slide show over supper of all the pictures that had been uploaded to the century website since the journey started eight days ago.

Pilots clean their Cessna Cardinal plane before taking off from Boundary Bay airport in Delta, B.C. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

We were dining with a very special Guest Of Honour ... the replica of the Silver Dart had been brought in and was on display.

After supper we were received and welcomed by various dignitaries and John brought us up to date on the aircraft situation. Seventy-five in the current fleet, with 10 still catching up and 15 more due to join us. We were now a fleet of 100 aircraft for the final legs of this epic odyssey.

John told us we could have an hour sleep in tomorrow morning as it was predicted to be another foggy sunrise. Then the microphone was handed off to Canadian Aviation Historian Ted Barris, who gave a marvelous presentation on the history of the British Commonwealth Air Training Program and The Forgotten Ones ... the instructors who trained over 225,000 air crew personal during World War 2. After Ted's presentation, desert was served - fittingly a birthday cake for the celebration of 100 years of powered flight.

Then those who wanted to stay longer could, but for most it was back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow the Century Flight shall, weather permitting, proceed to Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Good night to all from Brampton, Ont.

Day 7: Thursday, July 23

Another overcast day greeted the Century Flight Team this morning. As promised yesterday, the organizers had our mini-weather briefing team up and operating at 6 a.m. local time.

Unfortunately the weather was not improving. The band of low pressure pushing north eastward from the U.S. was producing marginal and below VFR (Visual Flight Rules) cloud ceilings so we put everyone on hold with a briefing set for 11 a.m.

When the latest forecasts were published by Nav Canada we saw the weather around Toronto was still IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) only and the cloud base ceilings between here and cottage country (the southeast side of Lake Huron north of Toronto) was MVFR (Marginal VFR) — many aircraft in flight reported that the weather had deteriorated below even that very tight standard.

Thus the decision was made to postpone by 24 hours our attempt to reach Brampton, Ont.

At the 11 a.m briefing we informed the crews that we were staying grounded for the next 24 hours as the number one rule in aviation is safety first. A few of crews who are IFR rated and commanding IFR-equipped aircraft have elected to push forward but with thunderstorms predicted after 2 p.m. local time, staying here in Sault Ste. Marie is much better then scattering a fleet of aircraft at alternative airports all over the province.

John also reported hearing from the three crews still trapped by bad weather in Thunder Bay, Ont. They were in high spirits and were enjoying the wonderful hospitality in the pilots' lounge at the Esso refueling depot there. One of our chaps was presented with a lovely cake for his 50th birthday. Two thumbs up to Esso in Thunder Bay for taking care of our crews waiting out the bad weather over on the western shore of Lake Superior.

We have cut the crews loose to enjoy an unscheduled day of leisure in the Gathering Place at Sault Ste. Marie. When it came time for supper, we held our banquet in the hotel restaurant. We could have had banquet room but it was a windowless affair and the dining room had fantastic views of the St. Mary's River. A no-brainer really, pilots always prefer a good field of view to a windowless environment.

John took the podium briefly to give us the latest reports from the crews delayed by weather. New crews were also introduced at this stopover. He also asked which crews would be interested in a slight diversion during the Fredericton to Sydney leg, to fly as a group over the Centennial Bridge across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. The objective here is a loose formation flight that will be aerially photographed with the bridge in the background by noted aerial photographer and our Chief Flight Steward Peter Lubec.

This evening was a supper of surprises! Several crews made it around the top of Lake Superior just in time to join us for supper. The Piper 22 Tri Pacer with the blown engine jug we had to leave behind back in Brandon, Man., arrived, followed by one crew from Thunder Bay and another from Atatokin. The Atatokin crew had tried for Thunder Bay from Dryden, got turned back and had to divert southwest by some 80 nautical miles to find a safe place to put down for the night. Then they tried again today but Thunder Bay was again fogged in. So, they flew from Atatokin direct to Geraldton and refueled there. They then flew eastward to Marathon, where a blanket of fog sent them onward to Wawa for another refuel before they finally caught up with us here in Sault Ste. Marie, just in time for supper.

The talent show was interesting with three crews proving themselves brave enough to perform something musical in front of their peers.

Then it was up to our rooms to do flight planning for tomorrow morning when we will attempt to reach Brampton. Given what the weather has been doing, some teams have prepared several routes in case one is fogged over or shut down by low cloud. The first bus leaves for the airport at 6 a.m. and the first takeoff is at 7 a.m.

Day 6: Wednesday, July 22

This morning under overcast skies with a light drizzle falling, the Century Flight crews headed south for Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

A pilot looks to the ground as he takes off from Boundary Bay airport. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

As we fly southeast we have entered cottage country. The Canadian Shield portion of the Century Flight continued southward over countless lakes now dotted with an increasing number of cottages. The forests changed from coniferous to deciduous as we neared Sault Ste. Marie but the low cloud was determined to hug the hills just inland off the highway. We could not see very far to the east.

Our departure from Marathon, Ont., and our arrival into Sault Ste. Marie was smooth teamwork. There is no doubt about it — we are getting better at this.

We slept in and arrived later than we originally planned so we quickly got our aircraft tied down before the buses whisked us off to the Canadian Bush Plane Museum for a welcoming wine and cheese reception.

Before the reception we had a briefing. We were given updated Brampton arrivals information on what we could expect when we got there. John brought us up to date on the missing members or our armada who could not get through the storm belt yesterday to the west of Thunder Bay. Final count: two crews still in Brandon, Man., eight crews in Thunder Bay, Ont., and three crews in Dryden, Ont.

The Piper Tri Pacer which needed some engine work in Brandon had been successfully repaired and has flown from Brandon as far as Thunder Bay. One of our aircraft from Dryden to Marathon encountered significant hail and was missing some paint off the leading edge of his propeller. On the upside, five more aircraft joined the group here at Sault Ste. Marie so we have over 65 aircraft in the main body of the armada.

On hand here in Sault Ste. Marie were local dignitaries and the president of the museum. The museum did a door prize draw and three lucky crews received prizes in the form of free accommodation, free fuel or a goodies bag full of museum memorabilia.

Then we were free to explore this wonderful museum with many of Canada's original bush planes on display in their original colours with full descriptions of what tasks they performed. Also included were displays of several wrecks that had been recovered from crash sites and the stories of how they came to grief.

At suppertime were bused to our hotels to enjoy an evening off to rest or explore Sault Ste. Marie as the individual crews saw fit.

Tomorrow the adventure continues as the Cross Canada Century of Flight armada moves closer to the east coast and Baddeck, N.S. The command centre has already left to drive through the night to have things ready in Brampton for our arrival.

But again weather here in Eastern Canada is going to be the big factor for us. We will have a weather-briefing base set up in the hotel at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Crews can then get weather information so they can make an informed "Go or No Go!" decision.

Good night to all from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Day 5: Tuesday, July 21

Today the Century Flight team needed to thread our way through a 160-km wall of thunderstorms and heavy rain to reach our next destination. It was the most challenging weather conditions we've encountered so far in our adventure.

The day started out sunny as the crews assembled their gear and headed to the airport for a delicious breakfast put on the by the Brandon Flying Club crew. A sizeable number of people also came out to give us a warm send-off.

A Cessna 182J plane is seen through the grass at Boundary Bay. (Darryl DyckCanadian Press)

Shortly after 7 a.m., the first planes from the Oaks Group roared skyward to start what would be the longest flying distance in one day our group would undertake. From Brandon, Man., via one of three refueling stops, our aircraft would attempt to cover the 593 air miles to Marathon, Ont. in just one day.

The Oaks Group was followed at 8 a.m. by the Dickens Group aircraft and at 9 a.m. the May Group aircraft were launched. By 10:15 a.m. all of our flights were underway. During the first leg from Brandon to the various refueling points in western Ontario, we saw the skies turn from clear to partly cloudy, to that tall wall of the towering cold front which tried to side swipe us two nights ago on our arrival in Brandon. We had caught up with it.

All of our aircraft made it safely to the Kenora, Dryden and Fort Francis refueling stops. Some of the late arrivals into Kenora were treated to a visit from Canadian Air Force CF-18 supersonic fighter-bomber which dropped in to refuel as well. At most refueling stops, small crowds of local people came out to meet us and chat with us.

At our various refuel points we all anxiously checked the weather. About 26 aircraft diverted to Dryden to wait out the line of storm cells that were marching northward from the American border. As the weather improved, our more skilled low-level pilots took the lead as weather scouts forging ahead and radioing back reports for the VFR (Visual Flight Rules) pilots, to help them plot a safe passage between the cells of rainfall. Then 30 miles west of Thunder Bay we broke clear and everyone climbed to higher altitudes to take advantage of the very brisk tail winds higher up.

The transit of the north shore of Lake Superior has to be one of the most spectacular flights one can make in Canada. Towering bluffs, rocky shores and deeply carved ravines dominate the northern coastline of this — one of the world's largest bodies of fresh water. There were still some patchy layers of clouds about but that did not deter many of us from flying high and enjoying the wonderful views to the north across the Canadian Shield. This is bush pilot country!

After close to six hours of flying, one by one, our teams arrived at "top of descent" and pulled the power back for the downhill coast into Marathon. Just to make life interesting, there was a nice gusty northerly, making us all work hard on that final half kilometre to touch down with turbulence and wind shear as the brisk winds swooped and fell with the contours of the rugged hills around Marathon airport.

The welcome by the town of Marathon was professional for the aircraft and old country warm for their tired crews. Hot drinks and sandwiches awaited the crews up in the hanger. The parking and fueling of the 65 thirsty aircraft was accomplished with military-like precision. We later found out that the crew had come down the night before to hold a full-scale dress rehearsal of the marshalling and refueling operation.About 16 aircraft got weathered in behind and will catch up with us today.

From the airport the buses ferried us into town where we enjoyed a wonderful fish-fry supper at the Moose Hall with two local and very talented Country Music bands (one all guys, one all gals) entertaining us through supper. One of our lady pilots joined the all gents band to play on her small electric harp for a while. We were warmly welcomed by local area officials, both civic and First Nations after which John publicly recognized those who had performed exceptionally well in their volunteering with certifications of appreciation.

Then came the highlight of the evening — the announcement that we could all sleep in tomorrow morning. As our next stop is only 179 nautical miles south (all flying distances are calculated in nautical miles), or 290 kilometers to the rest of our non pilot friends across Canada, our lift-off times were put back two hours so we could all get a good night's rest.

With that the buses hauled us off to our motels. If that high pressure system over Quebec continues to hold off that cold front we fought our way through west of Thunder Bay, we should be able to look forward to several days of nice weather. Good night to all from Marathon, Ont.

Day 4: Monday, July 20

On the morning of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we all awoke to sunny skies with a few scattered clouds. The expected thunderstorms and hail did not materialize. The towering cold front that was threatening us at sundown last night had swept completely past to the north of Brandon and we were blessed with an undisturbed night's sleep.

Today was a rest day and after three very busy days of flying and attending the COPA convention we all certainly needed it.

After a relaxed breakfast, the crews went their separate ways to do whatever they pleased. For some this meant flying in formation with Peter to get aerial photos of their aircraft soaring over the vast prairie of southwestern Manitoba. For others it was a leisurely stroll back to the airport to take in the Commonwealth Aircrew Training Museum.

Some lucky ones though were in the right place at the right time, as the wonderful folks of Brandon proceeded to gather up the sight-seeing flight crews strolling about like stray cats. The crews were taken on impromptu tours of the city and shown the local sights.

It was not too hot, it was not too chilly, just a nice relaxing day for all.

At 4 p.m. the buses shuttled us all back to the airport for a 5 p.m. briefing. Peter and his flight steward team had everything finely tuned and gave us the latest routing updates so that we will be able to steer clear of the many restricted areas around Winnipeg. The crews also received revised departure and arrival instructions for Brandon, Man., and Marathon, Ont.

As at the previous stop over in Springbank, more aircraft joined our growing armada, bringing us to a total of 85 aircraft.

Six of our crews have flown on ahead to visit their cottages and we will catch up with them in a day or so. Two of our West Coast crews had to bid us farewell today as they began their journey home to return to their day jobs.

John concluded the briefing by rewarding some well-earned certificates and acknowledged the outstanding work done by the various volunteers here in Brandon.

With the briefings complete, it was time for supper and the welcoming speeches from a host of local dignitaries. After a lovely meal prepared for us by the ladies of the Hutterite colony, it was time for a bit of entertainment, starting out with a very nice slide show of the city of Brandon, which was then followed by a quiz.

Prior to supper, everyone was asked by the emcee to identify the farm tools on each table. The answers ranged from correct to wildly out in left field as the real nature of each tool was revealed. Finally, the evening was capped off with a sterling performance by Matt Falk, an up-and-coming standup comic, who had many laughing so hard they were nearly in tears. Then it was back to the motels for a good night's sleep for tomorrow's flight to Marathon.

Day 3: Sunday, July 19

Crews broke camp at the hotels by 6 a.m. to load buses and head to the planes at the airport. To avoid the risk of prop strikes on the grass, most aircraft were "tugged" out onto the apron before they were started. Then one by one, they taxied down to the runup area.

ATC (air traffic control) did a terrific job and in the first hour close to 40 airplanes were already away. En route refuelling went well and was surprisingly easy — the idea to break the flights into three assigned refuelling centres worked well.

There is absolutely no congestion in the sky with the flight spread over 100 miles in the sky. In the traffic avoidance system on our Navajo we tracked only three of our airplanes on the display screen the entire trip into Brandon. The ride was smooth all the way with tail winds of 15 to 20 knots. The flight service station did a good job at Brandon and someone said they had three people working the tower.

Cross winds were gusting to 20 knots on runway 08, so most planes used the shorter runway 14. Aside from the cross-winds, the bad weather forecasted passed us to the north. Brandon set up a ground control unit right on the grass and had four "follow me" units that escorted us all to our stations.

Refueling went on all day, with a refuelling truck snaking back and forth between the airplanes. There were at least 1,000 residents on hand to greet us with live entertainment and a barbecue. We gave out hundreds of copies of the official Century Flight Guide. Well done, Brandon!

Notes: All the planes are working well mechanically, with only some small "snags," including one plane that needed a plug replaced after it failed its runup test. Another four airplanes joined in at Brandon. Several Air Canada flights were monitoring our air-to-air frequency and contacted us with their good wishes. We know that at least three flight simmers are with us from their homes in Queensland, Australia. Dave, Gord and Stan or doing an outstanding job in the mobile command centre. They are driving all night to get to each destination and they are there waiting for us at each leg the next day.

On yesterday's blog I commented that I had heard that ATC was short-staffed. Judging from the support we got today all along the route, I would say that was not the case!!

Day 2: Saturday, July 18

Another warm summer day in the west dawned this morning as a few more planes flew in to join us at Springbank. There was much to do. Some of our members who flew in from the east took advantage of the day off for some mountain flying training in the Rockies. Peter Lubig went up to do aerial photography with Ray McFeetors in his 182-turbo plane.

Jason Colbourne and his father, George, from Deer Lake, N.L., flew in with their Cardinal 177. The displays were busy with a steady stream of people all day long. Special thanks to the crew of the Orion [and the DND] who spent the day with us here at the COPA convention. The film crew broke out our new jib and we got some good shots we will use for the documentary.

The Springbank Esso FBO did a great job and worked from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. this morning refuelling the planes and will finish up the refuelling today. We had a pilots' meeting this morning to go over the flight legs, which will be more complicated as we travel through Calgary airspace, then the first leg out of Boundary Bay.

Also the word is that there is a shortage of controllers on duty tomorrow. The grass parking area here is rough so we are figuring it may take a little longer to launch tomorrow to give us time to tug some of the planes out to the paved apron. We will be joined by another 21 aircraft over the next few days so tomorrow the adventure continues. Despite the fact that the weather is forecasted to deteriorate at our next destination in Brandon, everyone is in good spirits given the Rockies are behind us.

Day 1: Friday, July 17

The day dawned sunny and clear on the West Coast and we assembled at 6:30 a.m. for the first leg to Calgary. The good weather on Day 1 was a big relief for all of us. If we get bad weather on this trip we have more flight options in the Prairies than we will have in the narrow passes of the Rocky Mountains.

We had one pilot this morning that woke up very ill and he was not able to make the flight. Another crewmember ended up turning back to Golden, B.C., when his GPS failed. But at the end of the day, we have about 80 planes safe and sound here tonight at the Springbank Airport west of Calgary, and everyone is feeling pretty good but tired.

Another 30 people will join us as we move across the country. There is some socializing going on at the hoedown tonight but the film crew is back at the hotel, logging tapes. The feeling I'm getting is that everyone is sick and tired of the bad news on the economy. It seems, for now at least, it's all about having some fun for a change.