Carp ON to Stanstead QC
 

Last Sunday we flew to the Weller Farm (CTQ2) in Stanstead following a lunch invitation for Beefalo burgers. Hmmm. Took about an hour and
20 minutes and though Montreal air traffic controllers said they were too busy to have us transit through their zone at 7,500 ft. They changed their mind when I told them I would fly under it. I must have some sort of reputation there :-)

Beautiful day for flying. Approximately 60 airplanes made it for the gathering. Even Vlad from NYC did a fly by in his RV9A, but could not land due to not having customs
clearance available to him.



Ottawa airport by left wing


Town of Stanstead which straddles the Canada/USA border






Weller Farm in Stanstead (CTQ2)

Beefalo burgers being cooked


Hungry pilots


... squirrel...


Flintstones era picnic table

Vlad made it too! He flew in earlier in the morning but did not land ... it's a Russian thing:)












What James Bond might want to fly

Arrival of an Antonov AN-2








Hummel Bird. We had seen the same aircraft at Ile Ronde (iland just east of Montreal) a few year back.


Three Sonex airplanes came in from Carp. Chris is preparing for the return trip.


Owl's Head


Parc Safari in Hemmingford QC

Nice trip report. Thanks for sharing.
Michel

Nice write-up, Alfio. Had I not been entertaining guests who arrived by RV9A we would have flown down to enjoy the beefalo burgers. Lovely scenery!

Yaman, couldn't happen. Thanks for letting me know Alfio.

... Well, short story long, Alfio tells me that Wellers are having a fly in. I have a deep respect for those people and I watch their ice flyin on Lake Memphremagog for several years never made it. I looked over the weather it's a perfect VFR everywhere as usual. I file eApis back and forth last night and I am going to the airport early in the morning not suspecting anything.

A call to Canpass center, my pen is ready to copy confirmation number, usually takes them couple minutes to ask formal questions. Not at this time. No, you can't go there says a commanding voice. First of all your canpass just expired and second it's not a port of entry... you have to land elsewhere... further explanations made things even worse. NIET!! Here is the phone # you call Mon-Fri 9 to 5... Man those borders are getting tight. :o


So I just went north declared low approach only then departed right traffic to where I came from. People waived. :)








This is where Wellers do their winter flyin at Lake Memphremagog. Customs officers are coming from both sides of the border no clearance needed for pilots.

Vlad made it there around 11:00, and we straggled in about 12:00. I was hoping to at least see Vlad fly by.

For next year, keep this link handy: http://www.ctq2.org/flying/

For our US pilots: A month or two before next year's event, it would be a good idea to email our customs people to give them an idea of how many will plan to arrive. Maybe itt might incite them to provide some customs services on the field, or allow it to become a CANPASS airport for the weekend.

From the Weller website:

We are still trying to get the Canadian CBSA to come give customs clearance for a two hour period from 10am to 12 noon, but not having any luck. This is in spite of the fact I let the RCMP use CTQ2 every week for their patrol of the border, probably saving the Canadian government a thousand dollars in manpower and helicopter time a week. It might help if US pilots all sent an email requesting the privilege of flying direct to CTQ2 that Sunday to: Marie-Claude.Bibeau.C1A@parl.gc.ca Jacqueline Belleau is her very kind and helpful Office Director.

We will try this winter for the lake event. Vlad, are you in?

Great event. This was my 4th time. Tricky runway due to the slope if you land from the north. Hope to have my 4 finished for next year.

We'll make sure to try to meet for the Memphemagog winter event. http://www.ctq2.org/flying/flying-on-the-ice/

Not when this happens, but I am sure Vlad knows all the details :-)