The Moose Jaw Flying Club held its latest meeting on Feb. 21.
The meeting was attended by around a dozen active club members and took place at Hangar 3E – Bill Nyman’s hangar – located at the Moose Jaw Municipal Airport. The meeting was presided over by chairman Roger Blager and treasurer Al Gall.
Meetings such as this are held on a regular basis to help keep the club accountable and to ensure the active participation of all paid members.
Treasurer’s report
Gall opened the treasurer’s report with an updated bank total.
As of the Feb. 21 meeting, the Moose Jaw Flying Club held $7,682 in the bank, with an additional $75 pending to be added. Aside from fundraising events such as the club’s annual Fly-in and Pancake Breakfast event, this money is raised by the club’s 23 current paid members.
For expenses, $172 was stated as the only expense incurred recently, with an additional $500 anticipated to be spent as part of a planned two-part sponsorship contribution to the COPA (Canadian Owners and Pilot’s Association) 215 organization.
This total, as was pointed out, is comparable to the amount held in the bank by the similarly sized Estevan Flying Club, suggesting that the local club is on the right track. “So, we’re not doing too bad,” Blager acknowledged.
Tables and chairs
One key topic was the question of how best to acquire a number of tables and chairs to accommodate the club’s members and to host upcoming fly-in events at the Municipal Airport. Many existing chairs are beginning to rust and have become unsafe after being stored for the winter.
The club is seeking 10 – 12 eight-inch tables and a number of folding chairs estimated to be around 50 in number, and after some discussion, a budget of $3,000 has been set and was voted into effect.
Anybody from within the community is welcome to contact the club if they have tables or chairs available. The club has specified that chairs should ideally fold up to accommodate a large number in the limited available storage space.
Flying days
Citing the Estevan Flying Club as an example, several members expressed an interest in adding a similar monthly team flight with a variable destination.
“We need to get a couple fly-outs, and they don’t have to be big and expensive,” said Blager. “We’re a flying club, and we don’t fly anywhere, so we need to do that.”
Such an expedition would be an optional “fun flying day.” Estevan’s flying club holds one of these outings on the last Saturday of each month, and Moose Jaw’s members took interest in hosting a similar arrangement.
Such events would take place during a weekend, and as one member suggested, pilots could fly almost anywhere to “grab a coffee.”
Members discussed the merits of visiting a number of aviation-themed museums, of which Oshkosh (Wittman Regional Airport) in Wisconsin and the adjacent EAA Aviation Museum was listed as one suggestion.
Flying across international borders can be a tedious experience, as it was pointed out, but Blager also noted that this could serve as an opportunity for pilots to gain experience with border crossings and the associated logistics.
Fundraising
To help raise funds for the club, a number of fundraising initiatives were discussed.
Last year’s Fly-in Pancake Breakfast fundraiser earned the club approximately $1,000. A follow-up fundraiser is planned for Aug. 17 this year, with the anticipation of scaling up the event to honour this year’s 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
On a more ambitious note, one member brought up the successes of the Estevan Flying Club who was able to source a fully functional B17 Flying Fortress flown in from Oshkosh.
During the one-day event, approximately $11,000 in profit was raised after the public was offered rides for around $500 each. The event proved to be a success, and was “profitable,” according to that member.
In recognition of this success, the local club is considering a similar event if it can source a comparable aircraft.
The Moose Jaw Flying Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. The meetings are held at Bill Nyman’s hangar (Hangar 3E) at the Moose Jaw Municipal Airport, located 14.8 kilometres from downtown Moose Jaw. Membership costs $20 for the year.
To contact the local flying club or to learn more, visit SKCOPA.ca.
