With eyes turned to the skies, people will see the high-flying art of the Fraser Blues precision formation flying team, coming out of retirement to perform at the seventh annual Texada Fly-in on Sunday, July 21.
Based at Texada Island airport in Gillies Bay, Canada’s smallest certified airport, the event will also feature the RCAF Search and Rescue squadron, RCMP craft, ground displays and demonstrations, about 50 visiting aircraft participating in contests, great food and for the first time an aviation art show by members of the Canadian Aviation Artists’ Association.
Activities kick off at 5:30 pm on Saturday, July 20, with a “fly-in fling” featuring dinner, dancing and live music at the Royal Canadian Legion in Van Anda and soar into full throttle at 9 am the next morning. The fly-in includes a delicious pancake breakfast, flying displays, aviation-related booths, flightseeing tours of Texada by KD Air, barbecue lunch, aviation celebrity speakers, homebuilt aircraft, an air cadet flag ceremony and demonstrations of teaching “tools” from the Texada Aerospace Camp. The camp for youth aged 10 to 18 is the only one of its kind in BC and will have taken place during the week leading up to the fly-in. Teaching tools include a wind tunnel, rocket-launching equipment, model aircraft and a flight simulator.
“Texada’s event is the best little fly-in in aviation history,” says organizer O.C. “Doby” Dobrostanski. “Planes come in from all over and we have a really exciting day.”
About 1 pm, the Fraser Blues flying team will be piped out to the runway for its thrilling precision formation flying demonstration, the only show the team is performing in 2013.
The aviation art exhibition will feature videography presentations, photography, sculpture, stained and fused glass, clothing including hand-painted leather items, quilting and embroidery, folk art, handmade crafts, drawings and oil and acrylic paintings.
Another special addition for Texada’s fly-in this year is a display of antique automobiles by Powell River Vintage Car Club.
For more information about the fly-in, readers can look online or call Dobrostanski at 604.486.0334. For anyone missing this event, a second chance to watch high-flying antics is at the Comox Air Show, August 17.
