— By Gus and Clara Corujo

The Durham Flight Training Centre and The Ninety-Nines hosted the ninth annual Girls Take Flight event at Oshawa Municipal Airport on Saturday, April 29. Two weeks later, on May 13, Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre hosted an event called Girls Can Fly, a celebration of women in aviation.

Despite the weather, it was a good turnout in Oshawa for the April 29 Girls Take Flight event, with hangar exhibits and activities available from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Exhibitors included the Durham Flight Centre, The Ninety-Nines, Enterprise Aviation Group, Air Canada, Jazz, Porter Airlines, WestJet, Oshawa Executive Airport and COPA. The outdoor aircraft displays included a De Havilland DHC-8 Q400 from Porter Airlines, Air Canada Express Bombardier CRJ200, the Durham Regional Police JetRanger helicopter, vintage and classic aircraft, military vehicles, fire trucks and more.

Participants also had an opportunity to try out some state-of-the-art virtual reality with an F-18 cockpit simulator. The First Canadian Chapter of the Ninety-Nines and the Durham Flight Training Centre offered the chance to win a free first flight lesson for women and girls who want to learn to fly.

Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre held the annual Girls Can Fly event on May 13 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at its facility located at the Region of Waterloo International Airport. Girls Can Fly was established to promote the aviation industry to girls and young women. The event also features exhibitors from the industry who provided an interactive and engaging experience for attendees of all ages.

New this year, Sunwing Airlines brought a Boeing 737 aircraft to the event along with a team of pilots and crew. Porter Airlines Q400 plane was open for public tours and Jazz displayed a CRJ900 aircraft along with its team. And for animal lovers, Pilots4Paws was on site with some furry friends to promote their work for dogs needing rehoming and medical attention. Special thanks was given to all of the volunteers, Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, COPA Breslau Flyers Flight 26, Great Lakes Helicopter and to the exhibitors.

View the photo gallery from Girls Take Flight Oshawa.

View the photo gallery from Girls Can Fly Waterloo.