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Canadian Challenger Winter
Rendezvous 2006 Saturday and Sunday, January 27 - 29, 2006 saw 200 people attend the 16th annual Challenger Owners Association Winter Rendezvous at the Chateau Montebello in Montebello, Quebec. ChallengerWest were proud to be among participants from across Canada (New Brunswick to Nunavut to Yukon to Vancouver Island) who attended the annual winter fly-in. This year due to severe weather to the west, just over a dozen challengers were able to attend. Saturday was nice, but windy, and the predicted storm blew in by Sunday bringing 3" of snow and freezing rain. A few Challengers were still on site later on Sunday morning and we got some pictures.
Here's a new challenger with a Rotax 582 Engine and a BRS Chute. This one got off the snow in no time in a light head wind - I'm guessing 25 metres or less! Click the photo if you want to see the take off for yourself.
In addition to the aircraft themselves, there were numerous seminars, Challenger equipment exhibits, and the outstanding Banquet on Saturday evening. Some 200 enthusiasts ate way too much great food and commiserated about the Challenger aircraft and all things aviation. The culmination of the evening was a delightful presentation by Claude Roy and Gord Ekstrom about their summer 2005 journey around the north end of Lake Superior. Gord was pleased to win the "Best of show" award for his plane. The Fairmont Chateau Montebello is truly one of Canada's most beautiful destination resorts. When we weren't busy looking at Challengers, there was dog sledding, snowshoeing, horse drawn sleigh rides, cross country skiing, paraskiing, skating, swimming, and numerous other winter activities to enjoy.
Enjoy the photos and the video clips! Hope to see you there next year! Right after we got home, our PuddleJumpers arrived - all the way from Lachute, Quebec where they are made. Only a few days before, we had lunch in Lachute, which is not far east of Montebello. We are now a dealer for Puddle Jumper Floats. Notice the lack of snow in Alberta in January!
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