100 Planes Fly Across the Country

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One of my clients, Dr. Tony Bates, is one of the 100 pilots flying across Canada to mark the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada.

Tony’s keeping a blog with details of his flight, which started on the July 17th from Boundary Bay airport.  Except in Tony’s case, the flight started just a tiny bit sooner…

My plane ‘lives’ at Pitt Meadows Airport, just east of Vancouver, and a 10-15 minute flight to Boundary Bay. So why did I go to Tofino, 230 kilometres away on the far west coast of Vancouver Island, on my way to Boundary Bay?

Well, my plan has always been to fly the whole length of Canada, and any Canadian will tell you that the Trans-Canada highway starts in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and ends in Tofino. So let’s do the job properly!

You can follow his journey here.  He’s already posted some great photos that capture what it’s like flying a small plane over a big country.  (When he first told me about this project I didn’t have the nerve to tell him that I’ve always jumped out of Cessna 172’s like his, and rarely landed in one …)

Tony, by the way, is 70 years old.

And here’s the CBC.CA story on the flight.

Best of luck Tony !

How the Olympic Athletes Will See Vancouver

During the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the athletes village will be down at southeast False Creek.

If you haven’t been by there in a while, its worth a stroll along the water (start at Science World) where you’ll see the development from that aspect.

Yesterday I toured the area and got a bird’s eye view from the top of one of the buildings.   (click this image for a larger version, or see this and another on Flickr)

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This panorama is a series of six images shot handheld with a Nikon D70 and stitched using PTGui Pro.

More information on this whole area on the City of Vancouver’s website, Southeast False Creek.