Last February, on a cold day in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canadianastronaut Bjarni Tryggvason lifted off in a working replica of the legendary SilverDart to commemorate the centennial of flight in Canada. July 2009 will mark thejourney of 100 aircraft from the west coast to the east coast so that as a massthe Century Flight may congregate on the historic maritime site to celebratethe time when 100 years ago J.A. McCurdy mounted the original Silver Dart andembarked upon the very first flight ever to take place in Canada.

Last February, on a cold day in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canadianastronaut Bjarni Tryggvason lifted off in a working replica of the legendary SilverDart to commemorate the centennial of flight in Canada. July 2009 will mark thejourney of 100 aircraft from the west coast to the east coast so that as a massthe Century Flight may congregate on the historic maritime site to celebratethe time when 100 years ago J.A. McCurdy mounted the original Silver Dart andembarked upon the very first flight ever to take place in Canada. It was on February23, 1909 on the property of inventor Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck. Ofcourse, several years earlier on December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wrightmade history in Kitty Hawk, NC when THE first flight occurred opening the eraof powered flight.

The past 100 years (or 106 for our American cousins) hasseen some previously unimaginable achievements. As incredible as flight itselfis, we’ve since broken the sound barrier, been to the moon, and are arguablywithin a generation of some form of commercial space travel. Generally, flightis somewhat less mystical on the whole now as it was even 30 or 40 years agosince today flying is as much a contemporary norm as is driving a car.

This sentiment relates mostly, however, to commercial travelas we, the relative few who take command of the flight controls in GA aircraft,know that sitting in seat 26B of an A320 is nothing at all like sitting in theleft seat of a C172! But whether you fly the bigs, buzz around in somethingsmaller, aspire to do either, or simply fashion yourself an enthusiast, 100 yearsof flight will without a doubt mean something very special to you.

The Century Flight is one of many celebrations plannedacross Canada throughout 2009 – some large and some small. This includesdedicated portions of major annual events such as the COPA Convention from July17^th to 19^th in Calgary and EAA’s AirVenture from July 27^thto August 2^nd at Oshkosh. Both events will commemorate the Canadiancentennial and between these two aviation celebrations will be other partiesfrom coast to coast in places like Boundary Bay, Brandon, Marathon, Sault Ste.Marie, Brampton, Fredericton, Sydney, and Baddeck itself – all welcoming the arrivalof the Century Flight with pomp and circumstance.

Our acclaimed host, television pilot John Lovelace, will be leadingthe charge across the country in his Piper Navajo attending the COPA Conventionas well as all of the specially selected official venues already mentioned. Theplan was to get 100 pilots to accompany him (your writer included) but we nowhave greater than number in aircraft count alone!  The entire journey will be filmed for a television specialairing across North America late in 2009 with footage also being used for “The Aviators,”a new weekly television series that will premiere in the fall of 2010.

The 100+ aircraft from various official launch points acrossCanada will take part in some or all of the historic coast to coast journey makingstops at venues along the way until arriving at Baddeck for the grand closingceremonies. Participants will be welcomed as celebrities at each of theofficial venues. Community members, pilots, and enthusiasts of all ages will beinvited to join in on the many celebrations that will be planned.

We’d like to extend our thanks to all Century Flightparticipants, volunteers across the country, and well- wishers everywhere as weembark on this journey of a lifetime!

Fly safe(r).

Anthony Nalli is the Executive Producer of the new televisionseries “The Aviators” (www.TheAviators.TV) and a staunch collision avoidanceadvocate operating the site PCAS.ca which is dedicated to the implementation ofaffordable collision avoidance devices in General Aviation with a mission toeliminate mid-air collisions and dramatically reduce close calls. Anthony canbe reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 1-888-PCAS-123(GTA: 416-225-9266), and www.PCAS.ca