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Your guide to active living in Chilliwack.
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T U E S D AY, M AY 2 8 , 2 0 1 3
New hope for EFI? Trustee who voted against early French immersion has new plan Alina Konevski The Progress
There’s fresh hope for an early French immersion program in Chilliwack. Board of Education trustee Silvia Dyck believes that the district should fund EFI through its reserve balance. On May 12, the board of education voted to reject an EFI program starting in 2014 in a tight 3–2 vote, on the grounds that the district couldn’t afford the program right now. Dyck will bring forward a motion at next month’s board meeting proposing that the board amend its budget guiding principles, in order to allow the $600,000 reserve to be used for the establishment of an EFI program. Dyck voted against EFI two weeks ago. Her change of heart may be the final push that brings early French immersion to Chilliwack. If all other trustees vote on the new motion on June 11 as they had on the previous one, Dyck’s motion would pass. A reserve is meant to support the educational needs of a community, stated Dyck in her draft report, to be presented to the board at Tuesday’s public meeting. “It is contradictory to hold a reserve while suggesting that we do not have the resources to start a new program that is both parent supported and part of our national identity as a bilingual country...We need to walk the talk.” In its first year, EFI would cost $578,035, according to an analysis by superintendent Evelyn Novak. This is just below the annual reserve amount of $600,000. After its first year, the costs for EFI climb, peaking at $1,052,535 by year five as more school grades join the program. Continued: FRENCH/ p9
Dave Mathieson (aka Super Dave) is an aerobatic pilot who chose Chilliwack as his training town. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS FILE
Choreographing ‘a dance in the sky’ Stunt plane practice brings business to Chilliwack, but also a few complaints Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
The roar of Super Dave’s plane is being heard over Chilliwack — even though the local Flight Fest isn’t until August. The recent aerobatic flights are because pilot Dave ‘Super Dave’ Mathieson has to practise on a regular basis for safety reasons, Ray Firkus of the Chilliwack Flight Fest Society, tells The Progress. Super Dave made Chilliwack his official training town a couple of years ago, so he’s been pre-
paring manoeuvres in his MX2 two-seater plane for 15 minutes at a time. Mathieson is gearing up for a big summer season of air shows across the country, such as the free Flight Fest in Chilliwack. Both City of Chilliwack and Chilliwack Airport officials have fielded a few noise complaints from residents since the twicedaily practice flights started. But the city has no jurisdiction over the federally issued, special flight operating permits. “Some are finding it noisy and
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inconvenient, but he’s only up there 15 minutes at a time, and it’s not every day.” “All air show performers have to practise to get their cues just right,” said Firkus. “It’s a dance in the sky they are choreographing.” It all about split-second timing, momentum, and calculations as he flips and rolls the plane without any audience members below him. High performance pilots have to get their “G tolerance” built up every year. “It’s done in the interest of safety,” Firkus said, who takes on the role of Air Boss during the Chilliwack Flight Fest every year. “This is something we want to encourage.”
Mathieson flies one of the most advanced aerobatic aircrafts out there, an MX2. It’s designed for plus-or-minus 16Gs, and has a roll rate of 500 degrees per second, powered by a 380-horsepower motor. That gives the plane a top speed of 300 miles per hour. All of the special flight operating certificates from Transportation Canada and insurance papers are in perfect order, say officials, but a handful of calls have come in anyway. A pilot needs a special permit when doing flips and rolls below 2,000 feet, heading toward the ground, like those required to Continued: DAVE/ pW3
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