Still almost 2 months to go before the new year but I’m already antsy to break out the cameras and head out to watch airplanes.

Here in the Great White North (take off eh?) the airshow season cranks up around the beginning of June.  Looks the Waterloo Airshow will be first of the mark in this area with their show on the first weekend of June.

Since that’s a long dry stretch between here and there I took the plunge and made my bookings to attend SUN n FUN in Lakeland Florida at the end of March.

Lakeland is about 1/2 way between Tampa and Orlando and is second only to Oshkosh for Fly-In participation and large crowds of aviation enthusiasts. This event has been on the bucket list for a while so it will be good to cross this one off.

Air Canada flight to Tampa booked (thank you Aeroplan).  Courtyard Marriott in Brandon booked. Rental car booked.  Tickets purchased.  Flying down Monday the 26th and coming home late on April 1.  Sunshine, warm weather and things that fly.  That’s the way to beat the winter blahs!

Many thanks to the crew of Air Canada flight 879 for getting me home yesterday.  Another Swiss trip in the flight log and hopefully the last one for the year.  Outside of turbulence over France it was an uneventful trip and, if you have to fly economy, seat 19K (exit row window) is one of the best.

Here C-FMWY,  a Boeing 767-300ER built in 1996, sits at gate E47 in Zurich just before we boarded.  That makes 14 flights for 2011 for a total of 20,385 miles flown with 49 hours in the air.

I really thought my trips to Switzerland were at an end but this time next week I’ll be on Air Canada flight 878 somewhere over Labrador headed for Zurich. To get in the mood, here’s some shots of a ferry ride I took from Rapperswil to Zurich a few years ago.

Little bit of chatter going around the old saltmine that I might need to make one more business trip this year back to the land of mountains and chocolate.  Powers that be are talking about some meetings in Switzerland.  Frankly, I’d just as soon leave the suitcase in the closet until next year but as long as they’re paying the piper, I’m dancing.

Of course, this hasn’t been a particularly busy business travel year.

Now that the season is over it’s time to start going through the thousands of pictures that I’ve taken this year. Under the top picture (handsome dude, right?) there’s a link called “AIR SHOW PHOTOS”. Hover over it and you’ll see a listing of shows. Click on any and you’ll be taken to a separate page where a Picasa slideshow starts. Click on any photo and you see it larger and you’ll be able to navigate through the shots at your own speed. Comments are very, very welcome.

A rare weekend off with no opportunity to go look at airplanes.  Frankly, I could use the rest.

Next weekend is the Canadian International Airshow at the CNE in Toronto.  Then it’s off to Niagara Falls New York for the Thunder Over Niagara military show.  Finally, September 17 in Gatineau Quebec for the Vintage Wings and EAA show and fly-in.

That should be it for 2011.  Looking at the 2012 calendar, I’m already seeing 7 that I’ll either be working or attending.

The calendar marches on and mid-August finds 3 more air shows on my to-do list.  Two I’m working and one is just to watch.

First on this list is the Waterloo Air Show that takes place August 20-21 at the Region of Waterloo International Airport outside of Toronto.  I’m working airside security at this one so there won’t be many photo opportunities but I’ll do my best to grab a few shots of what looks to be a fantastic group of performers and static displays including the Snowbirds and the CF-18 demonstration team.

The end of the month marks the unofficial end of Summer and in Toronto that means two things.  The end of the CNE and the Canadian International Air Show, better known as the CNE Air Show.  This will be my second year working in Boss Control on the Ontario Place island.  Absolute best seat in the house to see a fast paced over-water show from the likes of perennial favourites the Snowbirds to the V22 Osprey making its first appearance and the Heavy Metal Jet Team who put on a great show at Oshkosh.  Dates for this show are September 3rd, 4th and 5th.

September 16th marks probably what will be my last road trip of the year to watch airplanes.  Vintage Wings of Canada and the EAA Canada chapters come together for Wings over Gatineau, a one day event which promises to see the skies full of birds- military, private, old and new.  I’m a member of both groups but this one is strictly for pleasure and picture taking.  Gatineau is located just across the Quebec border from Ottawa.

The Canadian air show calendar might be more compressed than the US but there’s lots to see in that time.

Now that Wings & Wheels is just a painful memory it’s time to start looking forward to going to attending aviation events without having to work my ass off.

First on the list is the ESL International Air Show in Rochester New York on July 16.  This will be a good practice run for Oshkosh as I’m way, way rusty with my cameras.  Other than iPhone pix, I haven’t picked up the Nikon’s since I went to Dayton.  The hotel is booked and I’m waiting to get my ticket when they go on sale in mid June.

The clock says 3am Wednesday morning but my brain says it’s 9pm Tuesday.  Every time I travel I go through this.

I’m back in Switzerland for business meetings that began yesterday (today?) and end Thursday evening.  Off to the airport on Friday and back home by 4:30 in the afternoon.  So, in less than 5 days I will have:

- flown over 8,000 miles

- been on an airplane for more than 17 hours

- lost 6 hours of my life on Sunday and gained it back on Friday

- spent 2 hours on trains back and forth from the little town of Lachen and the Zurich airport

- sat through nearly 30 hours of meetings

The worst part of these trips is the jet lag that sets in on day 2 and continues through the following weekend.  I don’t sleep well on planes, especially now that we’re relegated to economy, and have no trouble getting a full night’s sleep the first night in the hotel.  Day 2 always, always ends with me being up half the night and only really feeling sleepy about 5 minutes before the alarm goes off.  Makes the day’s meetings go really, really, really long.  This will continue for the balance of the trip.

I’ll get home Friday afternoon and will drag my ass off the plane and attempt to stay awake long enough to wish Jan a happy anniversary.  By 9pm I’ll be in bed hoping beyond experience that I’ll get a full night of sleep.  Nope.  About 3am I’ll be wide awake and will spend the rest of the weekend wandering around in a fog.  Things will get back to normal just in time to go back to work.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Business travel is not what those who haven’t done a lot of it think.  It’s not glamorous, it’s not fun.  It sucks out loud.

In 23 days I’ll hop a plane for a quick flight to Milwaukee to attend AirVenture 2010, better known as Oshkosh.

AirVenture is the world’s largest gathering of aircraft and enthusiasts.  First held in 1953 with about 150 visitors, it’s grown to the point that over 2,500 planes are set to arrive.  Here’s a long video that explains the whole thing.

Once a year, Oshkosh becomes the busiest airport in the world!

UPDATE:  Work got in the way.  Had to cancel.