February might be the shortest month of the year, but we packed quite a bit into it as a family. Brenda got off to a flying start with a chance to go for a flight in a Fleet Canuck on skis. Her connections in aviation are getting pretty good, and one of the payoffs is being able to go flying occasionally. Another example is that after it was announced throughout Vintage Wings that Brenda had been appointed the new Western Director of Advancement, Brenda received a number of congratulatory emails. One of them was from the ISS! Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who is on the space station now and will become the station commander later this month, sent Brenda an email from outer space congratulating her on the new role. I can’t say that I know any other person to have received an email from outer space!
Later in the month we were fortunate enough to go and hear Sir Ken Robinson talk at the public key note address for the Calgary Teacher’s Convention. The talk was on the 14th and we went on a double date with our friends Stu an Jacquie – not sure if Stu and I got the full complement of brownie points for that valentine’s day outing, but it was interesting to hear and see Robinson after having been positively influenced by his writing. Robinson is an engaging speaker with a dry sense of humour – apparently he has another book nearing publication, so look for a book review on that one day.
The next weekend was the family day weekend. Brenda had a little Vintage Wings business to conduct with some of the volunteers so on the Sunday afternoon we went out to the hangar in Springbank. Lots of interesting things were going on there – the Stearman was undergoing its annual inspection, the Mustang was just sitting there looking awesome, and Krusty, one of the volunteer pilots, was getting some tail-dragger practice time in on a Citabria doing touch-and-goes. Krusty would fly for about a half-hour then come back to the hangar for a bit of a break and then head out again. Each trip he took someone with him (since flying is more fun when shared…). Brenda and I both had a chance to do some circuits with Krusty – what a blast! Krusty is a former fighter pilot and very good about talking though all that he is doing while flying. I even got to take the stick for a part of two circuits. Thanks, Krusty!
The next day we took the kids out to Banff for the day – had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory and then went swimming. We didn’t even wait an hour; we just drove straight form the restaurant to the pool. How is that for parenting on the edge? It was beautiful out in the mountains and, once again, we wondered why we don’t do this type of day trip more often. The months and years fly by and days to just enjoy swimming without waiting an hour after eating are fleeting!
We rounded out February with a tour of the Viking Air Ltd Twin Otter production line. Brenda is involved with Women in Aviation and organized a tour of the Viking factory where they are building all new DHC-6 Twin Otters – one of only four companies building certified aircraft in Canada and the only one in the West. It was really interesting to see the work they do and the staff there was most accommodating. It was also very gracious of the WIA group to open the tour up to non-women spouses and other hanger’s on.
To round out the month, Brenda has flown to Ottawa for a week to meet and collaborate with the staff and volunteers at Vintage Wings main location in Gatineau. The programs this summer are very ambitious – the “Yellow Wings” training aircraft are being dispersed to nine locations across Canada as part of a program to work with the Air Cadet league to encourage teens to consider careers in science and technology. It will take a good effort for all involved to coordinate it all. No doubt Brenda will be home in a few days with some great stories.
