EAA Chapter 245, Ottawa, Ontario

September 2020 – My name is Mark Richardson and I am the president of EAA Chapter 245 in Ottawa, Ontario. I am very pleased to introduce you to EAA Chapter 245, located just outside of Ottawa. We have a great chapter and we are all proud to toot our own horn. We always look forward to our camping sortie to AirVenture every year at the same spot. Sadly, this year it was not to be.

Mark Richardson

Chapter 245 was created in 1966 and has been an active chapter ever since. We have our own hangar facility with a lounge, workshop, and tool crib at the Carp airport (CYRP).

Our busy hangar.

A view of our beautiful airfield.

With more than 90 members, we have a breadth of age and experience in our chapter from teenagers to nonagenarians, ex-Snowbirds, current Air Canada captains, and student pilots. We try to encourage as much participation in aviation as possible with Young Eagles days, fly-in breakfasts, displays at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (CASM) on Canada Day, and invitations to our meetings and Sunday morning BS get-togethers.

Teaching kids to build ribs.

Always a popular activity for kids and adults alike.

Our Canada Day celebration.

We are also quite active flying. A lot of the members own their own aircraft, everything from ultralights and Cubs, through RVs, Cirruses, and Beavers. On any given evening or weekend in the summer there is quite a bit of flying activity in and around the chapter, and because it is so varied it is always interesting and fun.

Cozy Mk IV

Hummel

Zenith and Rebel

We were one of the lucky chapters a few years ago to be presented with a set of Zenith Cruzer wings assembled at Oshkosh during the wing building Give Flight project in 2015. Our chapter bought the rest of the kit and the Cruzer is nearing the "bolt the wings on and make airplane noises" stage. There is a small but dedicated band of members that come out on Sundays to work on the Cruzer (although that has been on hiatus for several months now). We have just recently decided to recommence work on the Cruzer with strict COVID protocols to keep everyone safe.

Cruzer getting a touch-up.

In normal times (and these are certainly NOT normal times) we hold our chapter meetings at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum on the third Thursday of the month at 1930. What a stellar location for our meetings in a building chock full of Canadian aviation history! Unfortunately, for at least the near future, we will be having our meetings online using Zoom. Not ideal, but it will certainly be better than nothing. We had our August meeting recently (August 22) at our hangar. Everyone was masked up and social distancing, but nonetheless we all enjoyed spectacular weather, a great BBQ lunch, and the camaraderie we have all been missing for a while now.

Chapter meeting with social distancing, masks and hangar open.

If you live in the Eastern Ontario area and have an interest, please join us! We are always looking for new members. We have a great chapter with lots of really good people and tons of knowledge and experience. If you are interested, check out our Facebook page, our website, or email me or our membership director Phil Johnson. We look forward to meeting you.

Chapter hangar viewed from the air.