A lively debate has emerged on the Canadian Owner and Pilots Association Facebook page on whether or not Canadian pilots should attend AirVenture in July. The levying of stiff tariffs on Canadian goods and repeated comments by President Donald Trump suggesting the 158-year-old country should become the 51st state has unleashed a wave of patriotism and that has apparently influenced the flight plans of Canadian pilots, particularly when it comes to making the trek to Oshkosh. "Not a chance. Only when the Trump regime is gone will I consider crossing the 49th," said one of about 100 COPA members commenting on the post.
I wish there was something we could write articles about that doesnât fan the flames. You know, like AIRPLANES. Avweb has become just another place for people to be political. This isnât a story. This is just some hack garbage that continues the vitriol and division. If you donât like Trump, thats ok. But giving this kind of stuff the light of day is just as bad or worse than Trump himself. What Canadian pilots should be doing is coming to Oshkosh ANYWAY. Because why would you let ANY politician take you away from something so fun and special??? Nobody is going to care if you are Canadian and you donât come. Nobody. So why miss out over what a politician said? SAD SAD SAD. Do better Russ Niles. Your politics have certainly shown through in your writing in recent years. Stick to airplanes and aviation. Keep your politics out of it. We donât read Avweb for your politics. Just my opinion.
Nobody is going to care if youâre Canadian? Did you just make their point for protesting Canadians? Maybe it has something to do with the president of a Canadian neighboring country threatening the sovereignty of Canada? Or did you simply neglect to put yourself in the shoes of Canadians whose sovereignty is being threatened?
This is an aviation story. Keep publishing aviation articles even if that aviation topic is created by government policies and statements and the aviation communityâs discussion or reaction. Just my opinion.
Why would I want to go to a party where Iâd feel unwelcome? Thatâs really what it comes down to.
Canadian pilots have been loyal participants in Oshkosh for decades. I have Canadian friends and family, I understand where theyâre coming from. When theyâre dismissed with comments like âNobody will care if you donât come,â it only reinforces the feeling of being disrespected.
Itâs not about being thin-skinned. Itâs about being good neighbors and knowing when that respect isnât being returned. For some, staying home this year says more than showing up and I get that.
And I agree with Douglas_C, this is an aviation story. When a whole group of pilots reconsiders attending the biggest GA gathering in the world, thatâs news and belongs in the conversation.
Canada has no leverage. The U.S. has all the leverage. In the end, which is very near, Canada will capitulate on everything the U.S. is demanding. Plain and simple, it doesnât matter how much Canada cries, jumps up and down, holds their breath until they turn purple. It doesnât matter.
There are smart countries (the ones cutting deals right now) and there are the dumb ones holding their breath kicking and screaming like Canada. The longer they wait, the more they will lose.
'I wish there was something we could write articles about that doesnât fan the flames. You know, like AIRPLANES. â
If somethings seems on fire, maybe check your hair.
This subject is very important to many pilots in Canada, and the US. Try talking about âAIRPLANESâ without including weather, regulations, pilots, fuel, manufacturing, safety, etc. A news piece covers a subject in similar fashion.
In case you need another hint, your complained political bias, well, it just happens to be your own. Maybe try and take your own advice, and âKeep your politics out of it.â
It is becoming increasingly difficult to fathom the depth of division between aviators around the globe.
Iâve spent two and a half decades of my time in this industry trying to foster dialogue and open/ honest communication.
While much of my effort was focussed on seaplane-, aerobatic- and glider- pilots, my overall focus and conviction has been, that vibrant communication (at times inconvenient, harsh and very direct) will help our community to face the challenges brought by NIMBYâs, overreaching political influence as well as capricious and arbitrary rule-making.
Some if my best friends and strongest supporters are Canadians and I was given memberships in multiple Canadian pilot groups and associations. Canadian pilots went to battle for American advocacy groups and vice versa.
Thinking that a single stumbling elephant has the ability to make American âaviatorsâ look down on Canadian âaviatorsâ or to tell them that ânobody caresâ about their protest and absence from one of the worlds most important aviation events, is shocking.
One of my early Western Riding instructors once told me to always be mindful when proudly sitting on a particularly tall (high) horse. Two rules apply. (1) Youâll fall longer and (2) the impact is harder.
Make sure there is some sort of relationship left when this current political clownery ends. That will be a bit over 3.5 years from now.
Everyone wants to kill the messenger. I only lay out the facts as I see them and they are just that, facts. Leave the emotion out, itâs not productive. Get your head out of the sand and understand the facts, all of them.
There is this thing called cause and effect. The crack in the damn is widening and will burst allowing water to seek its natural level. You canât stop this. It will happen. The only option left is to adapt. You donât adapt, you donât survive.
Some feeling tells me that the âdamnâ has already broken. Except, this particular dam was never ever holding water, to begin with. Maybe manure and I fully agree, the levels are rapidly rising!
I hope my Canadian friends will reconsider. Anyone who runs an international business like I do, fully understands the gravity of these tariffs. I buy props from Germany and engines from Canada. 10% tariff on $175,000 worth of props is more than my profit margin so guess what Mr American Customer, you get to pay the tariff. That will teach those Germans a lesson right?
Fortunately, so far, new Pratt engines fall under the USMCA agreement so no tariff. So far.
I am confident this will get worked out very soon. I just hope the damage between the US and Canada is repairable. I love Canadians and love that country. But I do agree, the US has been taken advantage of too long.
The Canucks arenât happy!!! Shocking! The Make America first agenda hurts their feelings. Please. Grow a set. You are currently governed by an unelected globalist! SO GET OFF OF YOUR SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS HIGH HORSE and realize, there would be no Canada without the US! The Canadian government has hugged up to the Chinese Communist Party and has been infiltrated. Castroâs son made sure of that.
You should stay home and fix the mess your government has created for you! A quick fix. Return the $billions of aid the American taxpayers have given you!
We hear a lot of crying about these tariffs, but no one even mentions that on the world market, we the American manufacturers get shafted by all of the other countries. You like your âCheapâ goods, because they are made in slave labor countries and exported here, then our decent hard working yet good paid employees canât sell any of our products in their countries because of large tariffs and restrictions on imports. WE are trying to force an equal playing field. If the other countries allow an equal field the tariffs will stop.
Canadian aircraft owners spend money and I think voting with your wallet is an effective protest. Money goes where itâs invited. I look forward to their return.
Bravo to the bold Canadian Pilots who refuse to cave into our Boy-King Bully. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Wish more Americans felt this way.
And it is an aviation story. It will be a different Oshkosh if Canadians stay away in large numbers.
There is always a back-story when it comes to Trump-bashing like this article written by a TDS-suffering Canadian: " Trudeau insulted Trump for years, now places are reversed - Trudeau has spent years attacking Trump to boost his own political fortunes, so why are Canadians upset that Trump is returning the favour?" Brian Lilley, Toronto Sun, 12/27/24. When Pierre Poilevre is Canadian PM, things will be a lot different, and better, for our friends to the north.
While I agree this is an aviation website, not intended for political debate: ANYTHING that disrupts the aviation marketplace - even political in nature - can have significant impact on what we make and fly. So without the partisan rhetoric, here is my take on tariffs.
We have been here before (Smoot - Hawley tariffs of 1930 that helped make a depression into the global Great Depression) but I am a bit young to remember that one. I DO, however, work with a UK aviation manufacturer that has had to navigate the perils of Brexit and must fully account for and accommodate the peculiarities of the US if it ever expects to sell into the US genav market. My own advice has been due to the major problem of lawyers and insurers on one hand, and excessive FAA compliance costs making the US too costly to use in global supply chain means the only way to work in that marketplace is to come in from outside. It is not the tariffs, but the unpredictable (insert your own expletives) application of a set of rules with no ability to plan around any stability for the next 4 years means we will simply not do business in the USA. On the military side: the whole NATO compliant status of products is one thing, but the inward, isolationist tariffs make one think twice about products being US military friendly rather than just NATO acceptable. IMHO: only way forward is with US licensee and/or partner with duplicated supply chain at MUCH higher cost.
Fully understand the reasons behind this protectionism, but having even the least bit of understanding of history and markets I have to say the way to protect your economy is by limiting access through quality and other standards, not arbitrary and totally unpredictable trade protectionism.
So, will not be at OSH, did not do S&F this year, but also skipped AERO as well since instabilities in marketplaces means slowing marketing efforts to spend the time and money trying to navigate stable supply chain development. That translates into more innovative products not coming to an airframe near you any time soon.
Notice how one comment, from a group of 100, on some Meta page, is converted into the headline âCanadian Plots Sayâ. Notices how AvWeb want to join in to stir up the same garbage here.
