Even the weather cooperated as the old time UPAC Convention returns!

As with pre-covid times, organizers and attendees again watched the weather forecasts closely in the days before this year’s UPAC Convention. As with every year, the forecasts changed frequently. Fortunately, they changed for the better and by Friday, things were looking very promising with sunshine and light winds expected for Saturday although rain was forecast on Sunday.

Due to COVID, this was the first full weekend UPAC Convention to be held since 2019 and a good turnout was expected. Sure enough, a steady flow of people began arriving Friday and continued during the weekend, although most arrived by car and RV while the number of aircraft arrivals was reduced compared to other years.

In any case, festivities began Friday evening with a chili supper, followed by the classic movie- The Magnificent Men and their Flying Machine

On Saturday, a jam-packed schedule of activities began with a full slate of seminars. John Baker from Rotac Repair, kicked them off with an interesting and informative seminar on the care and feeding of Rotax 2 and 4 Stroke Engine. There were lots of questions and everyone came away with a better understanding of how to look after their engine. John has a Youtube channel (RotacRepair.ca) with quite a few of his tips online.

This was followed by a panel discussion about the different types of ultralights, hosted by Kathy Lubitz with participation from 3 ultralight instructors: Cathy Montgomery (trikes), Darek Magusiak (powered paraglider) and Colin King (fixed wing). The discussion was very informative with a lot of questions, especially about transitioning to Powered Paragliders.

The third seminar of the morning was on aircraft insurance, presented by Sandi Odebunmi, an aviation insurance broker from Sound Insurance Services. She had lots of advice for pilots and owners regarding policy options and making claims.

The convention continued with the BBQ lunch and the draw for the great prizes donated by the exhibitors and others. It was nice to see so many attendees again enjoying good food and socializing in the sunshine as planes flew overhead.

After lunch, Michael Heintz from Zenair gave an interesting talk about the latest developments at Zenair, how the “pandemic” affected them and what they’re working on now.

This was followed by a presentation by Kevin Brown called A.I.M. for Safety.

The afternoon was capped off with the Annual General Meeting. President Kathy Lubitz gave her State of the Organization address, followed by financial reports and election of directors. There was also some lively discussion about growing the membership.

After the AGM, the good food and good times continued with a BBQ supper and another movie.

The weather Sunday morning took a turn for the worse with low cloud and rain but despite that, the convention wrapped up with attendees enjoying a hands-on demonstration by John Baker on Rotax carb balancing.

Thanks to Kathy Lubitz and all the volunteers who once again made the 2022 UPAC Convention a great success. See you all next year!

It was a great weekend! Drive-in guests were welcomed at the Convention Registration booth. Fly-in guests were marshalled to their parking spot and greeted by Elyssa Reiter.

Food was available at the Cafe Les Aires all weekend.

Nelson’s T-shirt says it all; Eat. Sleep. Fly. Repeat. The weekend was all about aviation.

Seminars, hangar flying, camping, and even a flying pig! Lots of different fixed wing ultralight, home-built, and certified aeroplanes, a seaplane, a couple of float planes plus weight shift control trikes, and even a flying pig!

The camaraderie was infectious!

Exhibitors and Sponsors
Donations once again did not disappoint for the annual draw prize table. We are extremely fortunate to have such amazing corporate sponsors and UPAC members supporting this fund raiser.

Donations included an Icom portable radio, demonstration flights, gift cards, tool sets, flight bags, cold hard cash, and more. Ticket sales for the draw for these prizes helps UPAC cover convention expenses.

We have provided the business cards on the next 2 pages of the businesses listed below. Please support them.

Donations from businesses.
Icom Canada Icom handheld radio
Fisher Flying Products Gift certificate towards flight training
Rotacrepair.ca iPad cover, hat, cups, water bottles, LED lights
CASAIR spark plug cleaner
Zenair / Aircraft Mfg Floats Hats plus demo flight in Zenair 601
Harry Wallia Demo flight
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Gift certificate
Bright Skylights Plus Tim Horton gift card
Smart Pilot Aircraft Spruce Gift Certificate
Gofast Innovations 3 sets of tools
Paragliding.ca 2 Books, 5 wind socks
Hammond Aviation Pilot Bag
Sound Insurance Visa gift card
Henrys’ Garage Ltd. Tim Hortons gift card
MacPat Rotac RCAF flag
Lift Off Aviation Demo flight
Aerotrike Aviation 5 Demo flights
Air Trikes Enterprises Digital altimeter
UPAC 2 copies World Directory of Leisure Aviation + 4 UPAC hats

Donations from Members
Dave Stevens No Parking Sign, License Plate Holder
Ron Turnbull $50 Cash
Lionel Richer Fly360 Flight Computer

Special thanks to:
Lost Aviator Coffee Ltd. of Guelph ON supplied the coffee for the entire weekend. It was great to wake up to such great coffee! Check out their full service Coffee Bar and Roastery at 404 York Rd in Guelph, Ontario. Get their story at store at www.lostaviatorcoffee.com

ARGO Canada lent us one of their ARGO demonstrators for the weekend. It sure was handy for running errands such as checking and resupplying port-a-potties and outhouses and changing garbage bags.

Evan Kitchen of Earlhaven Farms lent us his Kubota ATV utility vehicle and his big trailer which really helped getting tables, chairs, and the wood pallets for the fence moved into place.