Rideau Lakes Aerodrome is a small airstrip in so far as the number of aircraft permanently based at the airfield year round, currently 4 aeroplanes. Despite that, with a 3200' strip, mostly grass with an area near the middle made up of a mix of grass and gravel, it's a lovely place to fly into and spend the morning enjoying the company of aviators and like minded people along with local residents who enjoy a visit and a hearty breakfast served by the flying club members.

Flying club members and COPA Flight 56 members combined to volunteer to make the Rideau Lakes spring fly-in breakfast an enjoyable and successful one along with some 21 aircraft landing at the airport as well as a couple of straight float aircraft landing on Upper Rideau Lake, mooring at the docks in the village of Westport, just a 2 minute drive from the airport.

The spring weather in southern Ontario wasn't the most ideal at times however, for the fly-ins that were lucky enough to have decent weather, aircraft numbers showed just how hungry pilots have been to get back in the air after a winter of little to no flying. From vintage de Havilland of Canada aircraft to a visiting helicopter, there were a few nice additions to the Rideau Lakes fly-in and, hopefully, we'll see them return for future fly-ins.

As mentioned, de Havilland of Canada was represented by two of their famous aircraft, the first of which was a DHC-1 Chipmunk, the first wholly designed & built de Havilland of Canada aircraft to come out of their Downsview factory. The Chipmunk is a tandem 2-seat aircraft developed not long after World War II and first flew in May 1946 and was introduced to the market later that year. It was utilised by the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Air Force as well as 21 other militaries around the world. The RCAF used their Chipmunks until 1972 while the RAF used their aircraft until 1996 with several still in operation utilised as glider towing aircraft.

The Chipmunk was produced in 3 countries; Canada, the UK and Portugal and was built from 1946 until 1956 with almost 1900 aircraft having been built. The Chipmunk was originally fitted with a Gypsy Major engine offering the aircraft a cruise of 103mph, a VNe of 138mph, surface ceiling of just under 16,000' and a range of almost 260 miles. There are an estimated 200+ Chipmunks still flying around the world both in civilian and a few military related roles. There are numerous variants with updated avionics, more powerful engines, different canopies and there were several converted to become Super Chipmunks that were fully aerobatic with clipped wings and larger control surfaces.

The only helo to visit the spring fly-in was the Safari 400. This helicopter is the culmination of several different companies stemming from the first design by aerospace engineer, Harold "Pop" Enigh, who designed his first single place "homebuilt" helicopter in 1953, produced by Helicom. Enigh saw the need for a 2-place homebuilt helo and sold his design, featuring a 150hp Lycoming, in 1970 to International Helicopters in New York. His design evolved into the Commuter II A & B. Over the years the Safari was developed and made its debut at Oshkosh 1992. The company and designs changed hands to eventually become Safari Helicopters with the 400 & 500 models. Apart from the Canadian dealer, there are now dealers in Australia, New Zealand, France, Brazil, Mexico and 7 dealers in the US.

There were a few ultralight aircraft that made the trip including the Tecnam P92-Echo, a Flight Design CTSW and a J3 Kitten. These ultralight aircraft vary in size, design and speeds but are greatly enjoyed by their owners. In many cases you wouldn't necessarily know that many ultralight aircraft are not "aeroplanes" save for their registration which, in Canada, has a C-I designation rather than a CF/C-F or C-G for aircraft. Many ultralight aircraft have very short take off and landing characteristics making them popular for those who don't necessarily have a lot of useful land for a longer airstrip.

The town of Westport isn't particularly large but it is well serviced with various accommodations such as The Cove Inn, Victorian Luxury Suites and Water Wood B&B. There are also numerous general merchandise stores such as Life is Good, Westport, Village Green Originals, Seasons of Westport, Pinecone Westport, Kudrinko's Ltd grocers, Lower Mountain Merchantile, Northern Edge and Lake Effects, most of which sell clothing, books, collectibles, giftware and more. There's also the Vanilla Beans Cafe & Creamery, Tangled Garden Cafe, Cedar Bridge Ice Cream & Candy, Tasty Goodness Bake Shop as well as Westport Brewing Company and Scheuermann Vineyard & Winery. Lastly, you'll find a library, a bank and the Rideau District Museum where you can learn more about the area.

The winds were fairly light to start the day but picked up a bit later on in the morning. That saw some pilots elect to switch ends so back-taxiing was necessary. Despite that, every pilot showed consideration for others safety by pulling off the runway so other aircraft could land behind them and then all could back taxi together. There was lots of parking available so visitors who came by car could have a closer look at aircraft and pilots and crew could walk over to the flying club for breakfast.

Breakfast was served to many throughout the morning and people came and went, both by aircraft and by personal vehicle. Club members volunteered to cook, serve and tidy up as well as chat with visitors. Ground crews marshalled aircraft to and from parking ensuring everyone's safety and all in all the day was a great success.

This week we had a look at some of the visiting aircraft to the Rideau Lakes Flying Club Spring Fly-in 2024. Next week we'll return to Rideau Lakes Aerodrome for a look at other visiting aircraft and area information.