Those magnificent men and women in their flying machines, as the old song goes, will “go up tiddly up, up,” and “go down tiddly down, down,” on Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31, at the Texada Annual Fly-In.
“It’s a celebration of flight,” said event founder Olgierd Dobrostanski. According to him, it began by happenstance in 2007.
Dobrostanski said the Fraser Blues Flying Formation Team, based out of Langley, BC, flew practice routines at the Texada Island airport for a number of years.
“They attached themselves to the area because it was relatively free of traffic and we also have 3,000 feet of asphalt runway, which is pretty good to have, and no traffic,” he said.
An aircraft technician in the Royal Canadian Air Force for 16 years, Dobrostanski was called in when the Fraser Blues needed a generator fixed on one of the aircraft.
“I fixed that for them and we became friends,” he said. “I thought maybe I could get them to come out here and we could have a little demonstration flight.”
From that broken generator, said Dobrostanski, the Texada Annual Fly-In began. Some old pilots and mechanics joined up to organize the annual event.
According to team leader George Miller, Texada welcomed the Fraser Blues and it has become the team’s favourite place to fly.
“We’ve always spent more time there than any other place,” said Miller. “There’s just something about the island. We know the people so well.”
Dobrostanski said he is surprised at the number of pilots who live on Texada and this year between 50 and 70 pilots and planes of all kinds are expected. In the past, planes have flown in from California, Yukon, Manitoba, Alberta and from all over the region.
“Some of them are of the home-built variety,” he said. “Some are ultralight and twin-engine aircraft. We’ve had old fighter planes. We had an old Trojan P28 that came a couple of years ago. We’ve had a couple of biplanes. We just never know.”
The Texada Annual Fly-In is part of what has grown to be Texada Aviation Week. It begins with a youth aerospace camp from Wednesday, July 27, to Saturday, July 30, which, according to Miller, wraps up with a presentation by the Fraser Blues.
Texada Fly-In takes place at the Texada Island/Gillies Bay Airport on Saturday and Sunday and includes the airshow, breakfast, contests and a barbecue. Aviation and automotive displays begin at 9 am.
