Kids from around the region will get a chance to fly in a plane, learn about them from the ground and hopefully ignite some interest in piloting one of their own someday — all for free.
COPA for Kids will take place at the Westlock Municipal Airport Sept. 14 and is intended to introduce kids of all ages to the world of aviation.
Those ages 14 to 17 can also enroll in a free online ground school, the cost of which is subsidized by the event sponsors.
“The first year we did it, we had something like 160 kids,” said Dan Charrois, COPA for Kids organizer and member of the Westlock Flying Club.
The event takes place every two years, with the first COPA for Kids taking place in 2015. It returned to the airport in 2017 and will be back this year as it is put on every two years, said Charrois.
“The concept of the day is kids show up, and we usually have an airplane or two sitting on the ground that kids can look at. We have pilots and volunteers that go around explaining things, telling what all the parts are for, how airplanes fly and how pilots get their licences.”
At the ground school, volunteers will be teaching specifics about flying and airport safety. Tyler Watson and Laura Welling will be running it this year.
The next step is to schedule kids to go on 20-minute flights around the Westlock area, also with volunteers who come from all over Alberta.
Charrois has also volunteered his own plane for that part of the event. This is a plane he has built himself, a process which took about 2,200 hours spread over 11 years. Plans for the four-seat aircraft came from an Oregon-based company called Van’s Aircraft, which also supplied the materials.
“It’s like building a big Ikea chair, really,” said Charrois.
Charrois spoke to the personal responsibility involved in building your own plane, particularly as it relates to safety.
“Whenever you build it yourself, you’re considered the manufacturer by Transport Canada so you can try different safety enhancements … What ends up happening is with home-built airplanes … you don’t cut corners at all. It’s you that’s sitting in it.”
Since he finished building it at the end of 2017, he’s flown it all across North America — to Winnipeg to pick up a new puppy; to Vancouver in 2.5 hours and even as far away as Florida.
“That’s our preferred way to travel now. Your circle of where you can go has changed a lot” with the new plane, he said.
Plus, speed is not a concern. Unlike road speed limits, air traffic control prefers that planes go as fast as they can.
“It’s all related to my love of flying. It’s why I built the plane, it’s why I organize these things too,” said Charrois.
Organizers are asking that people pre-register on their webpage, www.copaforkids.ca, to make the scheduling of flights a little smoother and avoid long wait-times on the ground. Based on previous numbers, they are expecting 100-150 kids at the airport on Saturday.
