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Flying club to offer free rides to kids

The Williams Lake Flying Club is hoping to put as many smiles on as many kids’ faces as possible.
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Tyler Wiseman (front) and friend Ethan Fadero sit in the cockpit of a Cessna 172 during last year’s COPA For Kids event. This year’s COPA For Kids goes Saturday

The Williams Lake Flying Club is hoping to put as many smiles on as many kids’ faces as possible.

On Saturday, June 8 the club is hosting a free opportunity for youth in Williams Lake to fly.

Judy Chambers, member of the Williams Lake Flying Club, said many of the club’s experienced pilots will be at the Springhouse Airpark volunteering their time to give plane rides to kids in their own personal aircrafts.

“Usually we get a good group of pilots out for the day and they’re basically volunteering their time, their airplane and their fuel,” Chambers said.

The event is sponsored by the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA For Kids), which aims to provide motivational aviation experiences to young people. Chambers said the Williams Lake Flying Club’s mandate is quite similar.

“The idea of our club is to promote aviation, that’s the mandate,” she said.

“So in conjunction with COPA they do this.

“They’re all well-experienced pilots who are out flying them.”

Last year 79 kids took to the skies at the event, which was hosted at the Williams Lake Airport.

This year’s event goes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is for kids ages 8 to 17. Anyone wishing to register and fly must be accompanied by a legal parent or guardian.

A registration desk will be setup at the Springhouse Airpark, located 24 kilometres down Dog Creek Road from Highway 20.



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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