Minnesota pilot Dan Jorgenson was one of the "Air Bosses" involved in the 2009 International Air Rally at the Port Hawkesbury Municipal Airport August 19.

PORT HASTINGS - Just over a century after the historic Silver Dart flight in Baddeck, pilots from around the world have included a brief Cape Breton stop on a commemorative trek around the country.
Ten Cessna light aircraft landed at the Port Hawkesbury Municipal Airport last Wednesday, to top off their fuel tanks en route to an overnight stay in Digby as part of the 2009 International Air Rally event known as the Governor-General’s Cup: Cross-Canada Centennial Flight. With connections in every province and territory in Canada, the event - sponsored by Montreal-based Aviation Connection - was specifically targeted to honour the 1909 launch of the Silver Dart and its lasting legacy.
“Baddeck is where it all happened,” said Catherine Tabernas, one of the event’s Montreal-based organizers.
“We are celebrating what aviation became afterwards, and what it has become to Canada. Canada owes more to aviation than any other country in the world, so we are celebrating pilots and planes for what they can do.”
The 2009 edition of the semi-regular International Air Rally is covering 11,500 miles and attracting flight enthusiasts from around the globe, according to Dan Jorgenson, one of the event’s “Air Bosses.”
“We’ve got people from Australia, Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, France, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland - they’re from pretty much all over the world, so that’s kind of interesting,” Jorgenson told The Reporter.
“It’s just a pleasure to meet all these different people here, and to hear all the different stories that they have to tell about where they come from.”
International Air Rally spokesman Mark Helseth, a private pilot whose resumé also includes a position with U.S. Homeland Security, praised Atlantic Canadians for their hospitality towards the event and its participants.
“I’m from Minnesota, and we’re neighbours to Canada and we’ve been coming to Canada for 20 years and enjoying this region, especially Newfoundland and Nova Scotia,” said Helseth.
“The scenery is wonderful, and people are so friendly and warm. I asked one of the line guys, ‘Why are people here so friendly?’ And it kind of caught him off guard - he said, ‘I’ll have to think about that.’ So it’s been wonderful, and we’re just having a great time.”
While most of the event’s participants made their brief fuel-up at the Port Hawkesbury Municipal Airport before heading to an overnight stay in Digby, one pilot spent some additional time in Baddeck to help her prepare for a documentary she is shooting about the Canada’s century of aviation. The American Owner and Pilot Association (AOPA) has assigned MayCay Beeler to prepare a documentary on the Governor-General’s Cup to run on its Web site: www.aopa.org.
“It’s pretty amazing, and I think that’s what’s so much fun about this, because we’re sharing in some of the history of Canadian aviation,” Helseth enthused.
For more information on the 2009 International Air Rally, visit the event’s Web site; www.airrally.com.