Kincardine part of 8th annual Interprovincial Air Tour

Kincardine will be part of the 8th annual Interprovincial Air Tour which begins this Thursday and runs through Sunday.

Eight years ago a group of avid pilots from Northern Ontario got together and formulated a plan for the Interprovincial Air Tour. The idea was to visit airports in Ontario and Quebec that offered interesting things to see and do.

In the following years, the group has zip-lined in Mont Laurier, toured the Nav Can facility in Cornwall, dinner-cruised several waterways, gone underground in Timmins and Val d’ Or on mine tours, explored the old sections of Montreal and Quebec cities – as well as a variety of tours in other towns.

This year's tour will stay in Ontario and includes Kincardine, St. Thompson, Pelee Island and Sarnia.

The participants fly in small private airplanes for this four-day weekend adventure!

In addition to exploring some unique areas of beautiful Ontario, while enjoying their favourite pastime, the pilots present a commemorative plaque to each community visited. The presentation highlights the value of the airports to their communities and showcases the value of general aviation to the Canadian economy.

This year, the group has limited the registration to 40 aircraft, from the normal 55-60, as some of the venues have limited space. As well as having aircraft from Ontario and Quebec, the tour has couples from Michigan, one couple from Oklahoma and one couple from Manitoba registered, so the “Interprovincial” tour is definitely “International”.

The participants fly a variety of aircraft – from vintage 1946 Cessna 140, to Vans homebuilt, to the modern Cirrus. No matter what they fly, the pilots have a camaraderie that is unmatched.

Thursday, May 28, the pilots depart from their home airports and converge on St. Thomas in time for lunch and registration. The St. Thomas airport is hosting an afternoon reception.

The 2015 tour is called the Wine Tour because there will be wine-tasting at every stop along the route (but not during flying times, of course).

Evening entertainment will be a dinner excursion on the Port Stanley Terminal Rail vintage 1935 Pullman Passenger train. The evening will include a stop at the Elgin County Railway Museum. The group will overnight at the numerous Bed and Breakfasts located in Port Stanley.

Friday, the pilots will depart for Pelee Island. There, they will tour the winery and see how wine was produced in the old days. After lunch, provided by Pelee Island Winery, it's off to the Chris Hadfield Airport at Sarnia. A reception will be held at the Huron Flight Centre, hosted by Sarnia Tourism, followed by a cruise on the Duc du Orleans 11. Overnight is at the Best Western and Guildwood Inn.

Saturday morning, the group will depart for Kincardine. Lunch will be held at the airport, followed by tour of the Bruce Nuclear site. Dinner and overnight will be at the Best Western Plus Governor’s Inn. The plaque presentation will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the Kincardine Airport.

Sunday morning, a tour of the Lake Huron Fishing Club's trout hatchery has been arranged. Then all will fly back to
their home airports, knowing that they were able to enjoy a weekend adventure of sightseeing and exploring this great province – best experienced from the air in a small airplane!