The 2013 Iqaluit airshow was held in conjunction with Nunavut day evenings on July 9, 2013.  The weather co-operated for this edition of the bi-annual Iqaluit Air Show.  This event has proven popular over the last few years, and this year was no exception. There was a big turnout for the static displays, and the fly-by of Royal Canadian Air Force Aurora and CF-18 aircraft.

Here in the Eastern Arctic, air travel is the way everyone gets everywhere.  There are no roads between communities, or to the south.  So we all rely heavily on the aviation industry for things like transportation, shipping, medical emergency travel, search and rescue, and exploration.  That translates into lots of interest in planes and flying.  We were lucky enough to participate in the the first Iqaluit Air Show in 2009, when we owned a Cessna 172 here.  It was was fun then, and fun now.

CanAero Publishing has a website with interesting information about their books, ebooks, and Canadian aviation generally.  You'll find some interesting slide shows and articles as well.  CanAero was known for publishing Aviation Canada magazine.  Check out Bob Baglow's CanAero site here.

Jack Wiegand completed the trip of a lifetime in just 58 days. He planned to set a Guinness World Record as the youngest person to fly solo around the world.  He was in Iqaluit for a few days between May 6 and 10, 2013.  His stop here was a bit longer than expected, due to some bad luck with a forgotten passport.  But with that behind him, he set off to see the world and complete his mission.  You can check out Jack's trip on his website, his Facebook page, or his daily Blog.

He was flying a 2006 Mooney Ovation2 GX N432BG.  And he used the trip to raise funds for a couple of his favourite charities.  You'll find more about that on his webpage, along with a complete live track of his round the world flight.

The photo shows Jack in his immersion suit in front of Frobisher Bay Touchdown Services here at CYFB, Iqaluit, Nunavut, just before he headed off to Greenland for the next leg of his trip on May 10th. Clck on the photo to enlarge.

Matevž Lenarčič is attempting something few have tried.  He's flying an advanced ultralight from Slovenia to Iqaluit, over the north pole, and then back to Europe over the north Atlantic.

The project is called Greenlight Worldflight. It takes him through northern Europe, to Svalbard, Norway and over the pole. On the Canadian side, he landed at the Enivronment Canada weather station at Eureka, then on to Resolute Bay, Nunavut and arriving in  Iqaluit on May 7, 2013. After a few minor repairs, he left Iqaluit May 10th, heading south to St. John's Newfoundland. From there, he's following the path of Charles Lindbergh across the North Atlantic to Kerry, Ireland, and then back to Slovenia.  A remarkable trip.

And he's doing it in a small plane.  He's flying the Pipistrel Virus-SW in a standard configuration.  Along the way, he's planning to collect black carbon data for scientific analysis.

We're following his trip on the Greenlight Worldflight website tracking page, which is using real-time tracking data from Spidertracks. You'll find lots of great information about the trip on the Greenlight site.