Local pilot Terry Mortimore treated SooToday to a flight above the Sault and area Friday evening in his recently completed personal aircraft.
“Flying gives you a whole different perspective on the world, being able to see it at a different altitude,” Mortimore said.
Indeed it does.
While flying on a jet airliner takes you above the clouds, a flight in a smaller plane at a lower altitude gives a person a whole new sense of the natural beauty of the Sault and area.
Mortimore purchased his kit airplane (an RV-6A produced by Van's Aircraft of Oregon) in four major pieces over the years, beginning in 1994.
He slowly and steadily began building the plane in the garage of his home, then last year, moved the various pieces out by truck to a rented hangar space at the Sault Ste. Marie Airport to get the plane ready for final assembly.
"My father flew, and I grew up around airplanes when I was a kid . . . he had airplanes all the time when I was growing up, so that's how I got bit by the aviation bug," Mortimore said.
The steel plant employee plans to fly to southern Ontario on weekends to visit family members, as time allows.
Mortimore is the new COPA Flight 66 captain (president).
COPA Flight 66 is the recently-revived Sault and Algoma chapter of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), a group that brings pilots together for flight and social occasions.
COPA Flight 66 held its third annual COPA for Kids event Saturday at the MNRF hangar beside the Sault Ste. Marie Airport.
The event, designed to introduce young people to the thrill of flight, was a success, with 220 children and youth from eight to 17 years of age, who had been pre-registered by their parents on the COPA Flight 66 website, getting the chance to enjoy free flights aboard small airplanes.