A light dinner will be served at 6:30pm. Our speaker will begin at 7pm.
Many weekend warrior General Aviation (GA) pilots will fly short cross countries to their favourite airport for that CAD $100 hamburger. Some of our Buttonville Flying Club (BFC) members will think about longer cross countries to AirVenture or SUNnFUN. In fact, some of our members have ferried aircraft to far away locations in South America. Off course, we would be remiss not to mention the northern trips that the club planned and executed over a decade ago.
Think about a long cross country circumnavigating the earth Pole to pole. A five month plan to circumnavigate both poles stretched into nine months before Robert DeLaurentis successfully piloted his 1983 Twin Commander 690D to a landing at San Diego’s Gillespie Field on August 12, 2020, after flying through 22 countries and six continents. Among Robert’s primary goals was to celebrate the “similarities in people, not the differences” and to promote better understanding worldwide. Since completing the flight, Robert is using the airplane as a vehicle to share his experience by promoting science, technology, engineering and math education and relaying how “aviators doing good things” can promote aviation. Robert will be joining us over ZOOM.
About Robert DeLaurentis
The self-described “Zen Pilot” began his journey in his aircraft, which he named Citizen of the World, on November 16, 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic closed borders worldwide and added layers of challenges to the ambitious adventure. Robert observed how coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and isolationism “seemed to split the world apart with great intensity.” However, he said he was “so dedicated to the mission that there was no way I was going to walk away from it.” His vision of connecting the South and North poles “and everybody in between” took on a new meaning as an “empowering example of connection, collaboration, and possibility” as the world came to grips with life’s new reality. Robert has over 2,400 hours in his logbook. A notable pilot, listed in Wikipedia, Robert has flown his single-engine Piper Malibu Mirage and his twin turboprop Turbo Commander to 53 countries in the past five years and to all 7 continents. During this time, Robert crossed the North and South Poles solo. Robert was in the Navy for 14 years (4 years active and 10 years reserves) leaving in 2003 as a Lieutenant Commander. For more information, checkout https://flyingthrulife.com.
Location:
This is a hybrid meeting, on Zoom and in person. If you cannot attend in person, check your BFC-News email for the Zoom link!
The in-person session will be held at the SMS Training Facility at 75 Tiverton Court. This is just off Allstate Parkway just short of the old Nav Can tower on the southwest side of the field. Google Maps link.
Come North up from Hwy 7 on Allstate Parkway just past the sign that says No Exit after the 2nd or 3rd stop sign, and Tiverton is on the left. Follow it west to the end (only 100 meters or so) and go to the Toshiba Building, #75. Go left into the parking area (you may recognize a number of Ambulances parked there). The door for the Training Center is at the basement area on the South side of the building. The door is normally closed but we will have someone letting people in. Call Dave Sprague if you need assistance -- his cell phone number is posted in the BFC-News announcement of this meeting. Or, ask in the WhatsApp group.
