S. Ont. members elect new director

COPA has a new director representing Southern Ontario. Harold Fry of Wiarton, Ontario was elected by COPA members in a by-election which closed on Friday, August 10.

The by-election was called in the Spring when then Director Darin Graham stepped down to take a job in New Zealand.

Fry, who is the co-Captain, for COPA Flight 68, Wiarton, will promptly begin work on his mandate of improving communication between the individual COPA Flights and the National Organization.

It is his belief that COPA does an outstanding job as the voice of plane owners and pilots to both Transport Canada and Nav Canada, but he wants to extend this interaction to the individual Flights.

Fry plans to achieve this with an annual visit to each of the 11 Flights in Southern Ontario, relaying the latest COPA National news and giving each Flight the opportunity to send their concerns and questions directly back to the organization.

Fry earned his private pilots’ license on Sept. 30, 1994. Since then he has flown more than 900 hours in his Piper Cherokee 180.

When operations of the Wiarton Airport was turned over from Transport Canada to the municipalities in 1996, he formed a volunteer group, Friends of the Airport, to help cut operating costs through maintenance work. Two years later he assisted in the establishment of Flight 68 and until December 2004 served as Captain for this amalgamated group (FOTA/COPA). So far, members have contributed more than 16,000 hours of volunteer time to the Wiarton Airport.

Harold is known throughout the Ontario aviation community from his monthly e-mail newsletter, which reaches more than 1,000 Flight members, pilots and aviation-minded folk. He spearheaded the creation of the Wiarton Airport web page, annual Platinum Triangle Poker Run, and Peter Bulmer Memorial Aviation Scholarship.

His dedication to aviation has resulted in personally flying more than 200 Young Eagles, a proposed airpark at CYVV, and has earned him four provincial/federal appreciation awards, including the prestigious COPA Appreciation Award, “Direct Action Saves Airports” in 2005.

Welcome aboard Harold Fry.