WESTLOCK, BARRHEAD - The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of a lot of events that are held each summer: rodeos, fairs, concerts, show n’ shines, and the annual fly-in breakfasts that are hosted by flying clubs at their local airport.
But the usual prohibitions against large gatherings don’t apply to the friendly skies — even when planes are flying in a tight formation, the pilots are still separated in their cockpits.
That’s when Scott Holmes of Outlaw Air Racing came up with the idea of doing the first-ever Edmonton Air Tour, which will include stops in Westlock and Barrhead/Mayerthorpe.
“What the gist of this thing is, by law we can’t do an air show without a whole lot of planning and emergency management … As soon as you have an assembly of people, there’s a whole bunch of responsibility behind that,” said Holmes.
“What we’re doing instead to keep things simple is … taking some really cool, experimental, unique-looking airplanes that most people don’t get to see very often and we’re going to fly into each airport and we’re going to meet on the apron, which is kind of the main tarmac.
“At most stops there will be some kind of presentation or tour, just to … highlight to everybody around that Alberta aviation is alive and well.”
The Edmonton Air Tour is slated to take place on Saturday, Aug. 8. It will start out at Villeneuve Airport at 8 a.m. and then go around to Drayton Valley, Wetaskiwin, Camrose and Josephburg before heading to Westlock.
While these times are very tentative, the schedule for the air tour has the planes arriving at Westlock between 12:30 and 1:15 p.m., at which point a short tour and presentation will take place.
The air tour will then travel to Barrhead/Mayerthorpe between 1:45 and 2:30 p.m.. Holmes explained that because of the small size of both airports, the planes
will be splitting up, with one half going to Barrhead and the other flying to Mayerthorpe.
Once the pilots have finished at Barrhead/Mayerthorpe, they will head back to Villeneuve, finishing the day at around 3 to 4 p.m.
When asked what kind of planes will be involved in this tour, Holmes said there will be several aerobatic planes, the kind typically used in air shows.
There will also be some unique-looking stunt planes, twin engine planes and modified bush planes with enormous tires, “the ones that can land and take off in 30 feet,” Holmes said.
A number of planes will belong to aviation businesses operating throughout the province and will bear company logos. Holmes said there will probably be about 10 airplanes in total that are used for hire in some capacity.
He also hopes to bring out a turbine crop-duster, though that plane is obviously busy at this time of year so it may not be available.
In total, there should be around 20 to 30 planes taking part in the air tour. Holmes noted they are somewhat limited by the size of the rural airports.
“The problem is if we bring in too many airplanes, then we’re going to end up with traffic jams,” he said. “This whole day is going to be one of the most challenging logistically I have ever dealt with in my 30 years of living.”
But that’s only one of the challenges of the air tour — Holmes noted they’re dealing with a lot of amateur-built planes with engines that are far from reliable.
“If nobody breaks down, I will be so happy,” he said.
As well, if a storm develops in a certain location, then that location will have to be skipped, and if the weather turns ugly across the entire route, then the tour will have to be moved to Saturday, Aug. 15.
“We’re going to do the best we can here, but it’s quite weather-dependent,” he said.
So why go to all this fuss? Again, Holmes indicated the purpose of this tour is to remind people that Alberta aviation is alive and well, but it needs to be supported by local communities with airports of their own.
He noted that many large aviation companies got started with amateur-built small-time ventures, citing the construction of the Lear Jet as an example.
“It’s no different from some of our people in Alberta building planes in their garages right now,” he said.
Also, Holmes said this tour is a way of giving back and letting those kids who haven’t been out of their house due to the pandemic a chance to see some cool planes go by.
“Hopefully, it leads to one or two of them being inspired and saying they want to do that,” he said.
Westlock stop
As noted earlier, there will be short tours and presentations planned for many of the stops along the tour, and Westlock is no exception.
Benita Pedersen of the Westlock Flying Club said they are supporting this event in lieu of their usual fly-in breakfast.
Pedersen said people who come out to the airport on Aug. 8 will have the opportunity to watch the planes come in and take off.
“This should be a fun event and an opportunity to view some interesting planes,” Pedersen said, noting that anyone coming out to the airport should bring their own lunches and refreshments.
During the Westlock stop, the pilots will be greeted with short speeches from both Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken and Town of Westlock mayor Ralph Leriger. The speeches are set to start at around 1:15 p.m.
It is not known what events are planned at the Barrhead Airport, as a representative of the Barrhead Flying Club could not be reached.
