Aviation in Ontario

[TwinHuey]

That's right, Rob. I totally forgot about Dini Petty and the pink chopper!

Something else I forgot was what it was like to take photos in sunny weather! I captured EK242 passing through 5600 feet over Erin Mills today about two minutes after a YYZ runway 23 takeoff this afternoon.
View attachment 533471

Dini started flying / reporting in 1967. By the time I started flying helicopters in 1975, she had moved on and been replaced by Dianne Pepper.

Helicopter pilots were a small community and we all knew each other. Dini came back to fill in when Dianne was on vacation and because her licence had lapsed, I was her traffic report pilot a couple of times. She was quite nice, but always late.

Dianne eventually got checked out on the Bell 212 and was Canada's first female EMS helicopter pilot.

Dianne Pepper

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Dini started flying / reporting in 1967. By the time I started flying helicopters in 1975, she had moved on and been replaced by Dianne Pepper.

Helicopter pilots were a small community and we all knew each other. Dini came back to fill in when Dianne was on vacation and because her licence had lapsed, I was her traffic report pilot a couple of times. She was quite nice, but always late.

Dianne eventually got checked out on the Bell 212 and was Canada's first female EMS helicopter pilot.

Dianne Pepper

View attachment 533480

That's a great bit of GTA history there, Rob. Fantastic!

 

[SubHuman]

Downsview Airport's Final Departure

Bombardier’s final Global 7500 from Downsview takes flight - Skies Mag

Toronto plane spotters gathered in sub-zero temperatures on March 23, 2024, to capture photos of the aircraft at a milestone moment.

skiesmag.com

 

[TwinHuey]

April 14.

On Comstock just west of Warden.

I drove by this yesterday and took the drone there today to try to capture shots of the cockpit.

@Tim MacDonald is UT's resident jet expert who can identify this old bird.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Beauty photos of that old Delta 727-200. Great shots of the flight deck! This old bird has seen better days. One thrust lever is gone but otherwise it seems to be a relatively complete cockpit. They really should close the FO window though.

 

[lenaitch]

That'll buff right out. Coming to a budget carrier near you.

 

[SubHuman]

Some don't like it, but Condor's stripe livery gets attention.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

I get a migraine just looking at that thing.

 

[SubHuman]

Airport Road, near the former Wendy's

 

[lenaitch]

Airport Road, near the former Wendy's
View attachment 565824

Not a Wendy's (and Country Style??) anymore? That's sad. That used to be a very popular location for spotting. They (or somebody) even put out picnic tables on the grassy areas. Plane spotting coffee and snacks.

North Bay's airport is hosting an Airbus A350-900 'Flightlab' which is their corporate testbed. It will be around for a couple of weeks. Our daughter was talking to the flight crew and apparently they like our icing conditions at certain altitudes over Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay.

Massive Airbus aircraft doing testing at Jack Garland Airport

'Supporting Airbus and the operations of their second largest production aircraft presently is an extraordinary opportunity for YYB as well as the City of North Bay'

www.baytoday.ca

A flying laboratory for future technologies

Flight testing is a critical step to analysing the maturity and measuring the performance of future aircraft technologies. Through its flight test platforms, Airbus Flightlab puts these technologies to the test. Today, the Flightlab team is focused on expanding its ecosystem to offer even more...

www.airbus.com

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Not a Wendy's (and Country Style??) anymore? That's sad. That used to be a very popular location for spotting. They (or somebody) even put out picnic tables on the grassy areas. Plane spotting coffee and snacks.

North Bay's airport is hosting an Airbus A350-900 'Flightlab' which is their corporate testbed. It will be around for a couple of weeks. Our daughter was talking to the flight crew and apparently they like our icing conditions at certain altitudes over Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay.

Massive Airbus aircraft doing testing at Jack Garland Airport

'Supporting Airbus and the operations of their second largest production aircraft presently is an extraordinary opportunity for YYB as well as the City of North Bay'

www.baytoday.ca

A flying laboratory for future technologies

Flight testing is a critical step to analysing the maturity and measuring the performance of future aircraft technologies. Through its flight test platforms, Airbus Flightlab puts these technologies to the test. Today, the Flightlab team is focused on expanding its ecosystem to offer even more...

www.airbus.com

Seems to be an A350 party in Ontario lately. Pearson has two long term guests with the Air France frame stuck here since the hard landing Jan 21st and Philippine Airlines A359 here since May 3rd. I saw the Philippine airframe pop up on Flightradar 24 yesterday up at the north end of the field but have no idea what happened to it. Something broke really good for it still to be here.

 

[TwinHuey]

From the past...mid 90's(?)

Looking west from Don Mills Road at the eastbound 401.

Sikorsky S76A C-GIMT.

Photo credit - Darryl Dahmer

 

[Admiral Beez]

Just saw the Italian air force fly over my house.

Italian Air Force flies over Toronto Thursday

The red, white and green of Italy’s Air Force is gracing the skies of Toronto Thursday for a flyover.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

 

[Tim MacDonald]

How bizarre. A one act air show that nobody knew about. I can't help associating that team with Ramstein. It's really hard to believe it is almost 36 years since that show ended with so many fatalities..

 

[Admiral Beez]

How bizarre. A one act air show that nobody knew about.

My first thought was this is what it must have sounded like on 24 February 2022 when Russia kicked off its Ukraine invasion.