Silver Wings Industry & Scholarship Awards Celebration 2022

At our annual Silver Wings Industry and Scholarship Awards gala celebration, the BC Aviation Council (BCAC) recognizes colleagues for specific achievements within the our province’s industry. The BCAC also awards over $70,000 in annual scholarships to aviation and aerospace students - the largest program of its kind in Canada.

We invite you to join us at this gala celebration with other industry leaders and influencers. The evening includes a lively awards ceremony, fine food, live entertainment, an online auction, a high-end travel raffle, a 50/50 draw and superb networking opportunities.

Date:      October 20th, 2022, 17:45 – 22:00

Venue:   Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre West
                3rd Floor, 1055 Canada Place, Downtown Vancouver

Time: 

Dress Code:  Business or cocktail attire. Black tie optional.

Coming into town to attend Silver Wings? Take advantage of the BCAC's Hotel Discount Program. The BCAC is proud to offer our members exclusive hotel rates with our hotel partners. (Please note: for a limited time during COVID-19, these rates are open to all BCAC Supporters.)

The participating hotels closest to the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre are the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre and the Coast Coal Harbour Vancouver. The Pinnicle is another downtown hotel supporting Silver Wings. Of course, there are several hotel partners located near YVR.

Note that all Silver Level Sponsorships have been sold. YVR is the Presenting Sponsor, there is one Platinum Level ($5000), Gold ($2500), Bronze ($625), banner positions ($99) and items for auction opportunities left. Sponsorship Opportunities.

Chair's Women in Aviation/Aerospace Reception

On October 20th, 2022, from 16:45 - 17:45, BCAC Chair Heather McCarley and Vice-Chair Cathy Press (from Vantage Airport Group and Chinook Helicopters, respectively) will be hosting the Chair's Women in Aviation and Aerospace Reception.

This event is by invitation only and a voluntary donation to the Mary Swain Scholarship (which supports and promotes women in aviation and aerospace) is encouraged. To request an invitation, please contact Heather McCarley via Dave Frank, Executive Director. Charitable tax receipts are provided for all personal donations. For more details about this event, please visit bit.ly/CRWAA-22.

Please note that the Chair's Women in Aviation and Aerospace Reception precedes BCAC's Silver Wings Industry and Scholarship Awards Celebration which includes a dynamic awards ceremony, fine food, live entertainment, an online auction, a high-end travel raffle, a 50/50 draw, artist and superb networking opportunities. Event details and registration for Silver Wings can be found here. (To attend Silver Wings, a separate ticket is required.).

Hanger Hangout selling out while you read this!

Welcome to our Hangar Hangout, the BCAC’s Youth Engagement Committee's monthly aviation and aerospace community initiative. Here you’ll have an opportunity to connect and converse with fellow enthusiasts and professionals in the BC aviation and aerospace community.

Join us on Thursday, September 29th, 2022, from 1800-2000 hrs for our fourth in-person casual get-together. We are so excited to announce that this will be an IN-PERSON event held at Harbour Air. This is home to the world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft, the ePlane! You won’t want to miss the guided hangar tour. Harbour Air has kindly donated snacks and beverages for the event.

BCAC's intention is to create an inclusive, friendly, and inviting environment for everyone to meet new people, socialize and connect in the “hangar” setting we’ve all been missing.

This event is free and open to all. Donations to BCAC's growing Scholarship Fund and other Services/Programs are graciously accepted. Tax receipts will be issued for any personal donations.

Special thanks to Harbour Air for opening their hangar doors to us to hold this exciting event. We look forward to seeing you there!

Helicopter TEAAM touches down on Island, offers new solution for remote rescue

Supplementing BC's extensive Air Ambulance services

With its goal of bringing advanced life support medical care to the most remote settings in the province, Squamish-based Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical has expanded its services to Campbell River.

The non-profit organization, which also has centres in Squamish, Prince George and Fort St. John, has set up shop on the North Island to provide helicopter-centred, pre-hospital care in remote sites where surface ambulances either can’t go or take too long to access.

“It was always part of our plan to go to Campbell River it has a fairly significant need for the type of program that we provide,” said TEAAM founder and president Miles Randell.

Randell said the forest industry in particular needs this kind of service, which is able to reach into the most dense brush and access injured workers, start applying medical treatment and get them to advanced care centres in a fraction of the time other services can.

He cites an example, included in a 2017 report from the B.C. Forest Safety Ombudsman, of a forest worker who broke a leg in a remote part of Haida Gwaii in 2014.

It took 11 hours to get the worker, whose leg had been crushed by a fallen tree, to a hospital. The trip included two boat trips and a vehicle ride on an un-serviced resource road. The worker’s leg was ultimately amputated below the knee. Randell said a properly equipped helicopter could have made the trip in a tenth of the time. There have been several cases of workers and residents in rural parts of the province having to wait unacceptable amounts of time to receive medical treatment, ombudsman Roger Harris said in his report.

“The findings of this report clearly indicate that there are serious gaps in the provision of emergency medical transportation services to people living and working in rural parts of the province,” Harris wrote at the time. “This gap threatens the safety of forestry workers, as well as residents, who seemingly have little or no guarantee that they will have access to timely medical transportation in the event of an emergency.” Read More

(Source: Andrew Duffy, Times Colonist, Photo: Courtesy TEAAM)

KF Aerospace welcomes historic Mosquito warplane to Kelowna

KF Aerospace is excited to welcome a wartime legend to the Okanagan Valley. The historic de Havilland 98 Mosquito (VR796), featuring a unique wooden airframe, was flown by pilot Mike Spalding to Kelowna on Thursday, June 30^th.

Arriving from Vancouver International Airport, the Mosquito settled into its new home as part of the KF Centre for Excellence aviation museum and conference centre, which opened in late August. It is one of 30 Mosquitos remaining worldwide, and one of two currently airworthy.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to give this incredibly legendary aircraft a home in the Okanagan Valley at the KF Centre for Excellence,” says Executive Director, Paula Quinn. “The fascinating story of this aircraft is something that will be shared and appreciated by visitors and community members of all ages.”

Introduced by the RAF in 1941, the Mosquito, affectionately known as ‘Mossie’ was used extensively as an Allied night-fighter against the German Luftwaffe and quickly became one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world, clocking speeds over 640km per hour.

The Mosquito’s original wooden frame is made from BC Sitka Spruce, carefully preserved thanks to a five-year restoration project completed by Victoria Air Maintenance. It was also one of many Mosquitos operated by Spartan Air Services in the 1950s and 60s to conduct high altitude aerial cartography missions all over Canada.

“It tells an absolutely amazing Canadian story,” says Quinn. “The aircraft flew around the country for years, mapping out the northernmost reaches of the landscape in a way that was never before possible.”

The Mosquito will be featured as part of an historic aircraft collection at the KF Centre for Excellence, which will include a Hawker Tempest MK2, the Odyssey DC-3 and a Convair CV580 among others.

(Source: KF Aerospace press release)

YVR Presents The Future of Growth and Connection

Working out of a hangar in the Langley, B.C., airport on Thursday, Shaun Heaps was orchestrating dozens of flights to assist communities that are still isolated by the floods and mudslides that devastated parts of the province last month. Mr. Heaps created the volunteer operation from scratch after he and a friend flew over the damage out of curiosity and saw a need.

Since that first impromptu mission, dozens of pilots have signed up to run humanitarian flights. Mr. Heaps is now staying on the ground to manage a fleet of 58 small planes and helicopters. They have been transporting stranded people and delivering supplies, including gloves, heaters, blankets and food for people and pets. Many of the goods were donated by the Sikh community. The group’s planes are flying into Hope, Lillooet, Chilliwack and Merritt, and its helicopters are making runs to smaller, isolated communities between Spences Bridge and Boston Bar.

It has been a chaotic two weeks, and donations have not covered the cost of fuel, Mr. Heaps said. He is annoyed that Canada’s military resources have not been tasked with providing this type of relief. “We’re just a bunch of regular Joes, filling a gap that needs to be filled and hoping that the government will step in.”

Much of British Columbia’s disaster response is being shouldered by local governments, the provincial government and the Canadian Armed Forces, but volunteer groups such as Mr. Heaps’s collection of pilots have been playing a vital role by doing the things governments can’t or won’t. Although the volunteer efforts are often improvised, they have, in ways large and small, sped the province’s recovery. Read More 

CANCELLED!

CANCELLED: The Sky's No Limit - Girls Fly, Too!

On October 1st and 2nd, Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) will be hosting "The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too! (GF2)". This event is the world’s largest Aviation, Aerospace, Marine & Defence Diversity Outreach Event and is held annually each October in honour of the week of International Day of the Girl – a Canadian-driven UN observance.

This signature hands-on experience event is completely free and open to absolutely everyone of any age, gender or citizenship – no registration is required. Aside from well over a billion dollars worth of hands-on assets from the Canadian and U.S. Military, Coast Guard, RCMP, CBSA, various municipal police/fire, search & rescue and other representatives from Aviation, Aerospace, Marine & Defence, we also offer free flights for female first-time fliers of any age. Participants often get the very rare opportunity to meet a NASA astronaut in person! www.girlsfly2.ca for more information.

Mark your calendar and register! CILTNA Webinar: Supply Chain and Automated Freight in Canada

Mark your calendars and join CILTNA on Wednesday, October 5 at 13:00 ET/10:00 PT/12:00 CT/ 18:00 UK for a 90 minute webinar.

With the unprecedented supply chain disruptions caused by a pandemic and war, our supply chains face new realities and challenges to do things differently. Can we leverage the promise of connected and autonomous vehicles for Automated Freight to overcome supply chain problems, and how? Will Automated Freight be the first of the Automated Transportation sub-segments to roll out at scale by addressing this real-world problem, paving the way for later Passenger Autonomous Transportation adoption?

Join us to learn about Canadian and global initiatives in Automated Freight transportation and why and how we can progress with it to move cargo to and from our ports, city to city, and the last mile. Hear industry and government speakers’ presentations and a panel discussion on actualizing Automated Freight’s full potential and benefits for Canada. This is also your opportunity to ask questions and offer input toward solutions. Stay tuned for the webinar schedule and list of expert speakers. The webinar link will be provided to registered participants before the event.

For more information and registration links, please visit CILTNA.com.

GALA: REGISTRATION LINK HERE