The inaugural Canadian Warbird Operator Conference (CWOC) is being held this week in Ottawa. The CWOC aims to bring together Canadian operators of ex-military and other historical aircraft as well as representatives from Transport Canada, Nav Canada, and other industry partners for a two-day forum tackling important topics relevant to operating these aircraft in the Canadian context. This not-for-profit venture is aimed at the Canadian warbird and historical aircraft community.

Topics to be explored include:

• TC Exemption NCR-021-2016 (The “Warbird Exemption”) explained
• Maintenance and the Special Certificate of Airworthiness – What you need to know
• Nav Canada fees at an airshow
• The future of FAST in Canada
• Insurance for Warbirds and airshows
• Recurrent training

The keynote speaker at Friday night’s banquet will be Marco Rusconi. Hailing originally from Florence, Italy, Rusconi completed his initial flight training in Victoria before joining the Canadian Armed Forces in 1997. A former Snowbirds pilot, he retired from the RCAF in 2011 and went on to work as an airline pilot. In 2010, Rusconi acquired a 1952 Mk IV Harvard and joined the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team.

COPA’s Director of Government Affairs Carter Mann, himself a Nanchang CJ-6A owner and pilot, will be attending. eFlight looks forward to publishing his report in next week’s issue.