Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 37 seconds.
On Sept. 29, 2013, kids with cancer and their families took flight at the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association (CH2A) at CYQG – Windsor Airport. The Windsor Regional Hospital’s Top Guns event to raise awareness for childhood cancers brought guests up close with a variety of military and civilian aircraft, pilots, and hosted aviation themed activities. The event gave over 300 invited guests the opportunity to experience the thrill of flight with helicopter and airplane rides around Windsor.
Activities on the ground included an aircraft static display which represented over 100 million dollars in military hardware. Featured aircraft included the CF-18 Hornet (piloted by Captain Arthur McKay of Windsor/Leamington), CT-155 Hawk (piloted by Captain Bassam Mnaymneh of Windsor), CP-140 Aurora, and a CH-146 Griffon helicopter.
Phil Roberts, director of operations at the Windsor International Airport, one of the event sponsors, developed an airport management plan to coordinate the aircraft and pilots that gave rides to the children and their families. Although bad weather cut the rides short, the rain did not dampen spirits.
“Everybody involved did the utmost they could to make this event just as great as they could make it,” said Roberts. “Everybody was putting their heart and soul into it. It’s not difficult to do when all you’re getting in return is big smiles. Standing out in the rain for most of the day marshaling airplanes is not difficult when the kid who gets out of the airplane is beaming ear to ear, never been in an airplane before, and is feeling pretty good. That was pretty exciting.”
The kids were all named captain-for-the-day and given honourary wings to mark the occasion. They were treated to souvenir t-shirts, commemorative photographs, and a Pilot’s Log Book to record memories and pilot autographs.
The vision for Top Guns came from event chair, Paul McCann. Paul is involved in the aviation community and also works in the hospital’s cancer program.
“This event was the culmination of several aviation themed events during our Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September – starting with a visit to our Paeds unit by Astronaut Chris Hadfield,” said McCann. “The aviation community and military represented at Top Guns should be very proud. It was successful in so many ways. Watching pilots, who don’t normally wear their emotions on the sleeves of their flight suits, wipe tears from their eyes and hug kids with cancer who flew or sat in their aircraft, was inspirational. For many kids with cancer and their families, their experience with aviation is often related to care and not always a positive one. Witnessing these two worlds coming together so positively at Top Guns, you knew something great was happening.”
The event and all activities were free to the children and their families. In addition to the Windsor International Airport, sponsors, donors, and volunteers that made this event possible included the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, The Windsor Flying Club, and YQG – Your Quick Gateway.
“Airports are places where you visit one location. You don’t get to go on the airfield, you don’t get to get up close to the airplanes, and now they’ve been given access,” said Roberts. “They get to go into a unique place that normally people aren’t allowed to be in and walk around and not only participate, but really get into the aircraft and be at the controls. I think a lot of these kids who have gone through treatment, and their parents; you could tell that they realized this was something unique that was happening.”
Planning for next year’s event is already underway.
