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• Forestry News
• Mill Report
• Safety Stats
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By Susan Merivirta, Chief Financial OfficerCorporate News

It was a pleasure to be part of Coulson Flying Tanker's display at the Truck Loggers' Convention in Vancouver in mid-January.

It was obvious to this Port Albernian that the aircraft is highly regarded by the Forest Industry, but it was a pleasure to watch the reaction of the Vancouver public and media when the big "bird" came to town.

CF-LYL did three water drops in front of the Pan Pacific hotel, and each time the tiered walkways of the Pan were filled with spectators. I have been told that traffic also stopped on the bridges each time the aircraft did its low level fly over them.

Some of the members of the media were "war bird" enthusiasts who wanted to chronicle every part of the aircraft from the inside and out. Video footage was taken of our Water Bomber crew - Pilots - Steve Wall, Bob Dyck and Engineers - Roy Copeland, Mike Johnston, and Steve Kendall - that I believe will become part of video history books on the Aircraft. Wayne, Jim and I were kept busy with tours of the aircraft, as we continue to promote them as viable aviation assets to Industry. Wayne and Jim fielded numerous media interviews and represented Port Alberni and Coulson Flying Tankers with knowledge and passion. Darlene Coulson did a "fantastic" job of setting up the display that many said was the highlight of the convention. Britton Coulson who has been involved with this new Coulson initiative since the first day manned the mobile "control center" and happily explained to anyone who asked how we work with the Forest Service to track the fires and the assets being deployed to fight them. Congratulations to all.

The picture below was taken by Steve Wall. Marsha Walden, B. C. Lotteries, Vice President of Bingo and Gaming Centres and I were sitting in the cockpit of the Mighty Mars Water Bomber - CF-LYL, before our flight to make the second water drop of the Convention. What a thrill!

Postscript: I was at Costco on the weekend. One of the cashiers there saw that my Costco card had Coulson Aircrane on it. She asked me to relay to Wayne how proud she was that Coulson Aircrane stepped up and purchased the Mars Flying Tankers. She said that she grew up in a small logging camp, and the sound of these aircraft flying overhead meant that the forests and her father's livelihood would be saved. She said every time she thinks about it she gets "goose bumps".