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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1996-05-01, Page 8Success on a wing The team at Freedom Lite Inc. of Walton earned top honours at the Sun 'n Fun air show in Florida rcentiy, capturing the prize for Best Commercial Ultralight. Receiving the award are, from left: Larry Edwards, owner Rob McIntosh and Bruce Millar. WEST WAWANOSH MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY "Neighbour helping Vighbour Since 1879' YOUR LOCAL AGENTS Frank Foran, P.A. Roy Insurance Broker Inc. Lucknow 528-3824 Clinton 482-9357 Lyons & Mulhern, Banter, MacEwan, Feagan Insurance Goderich 524-2664 Goderich 524-8376 Donald R. Simpson, Kenneth MacLean, Ripley 395-5362 Paisley 368-7537 Delmar Sproul, McMaster Siemon Insurance Auburn 529-7273 Brokers Inc., Clinton 482-3434 Mitchell 348-9150 Chapman-Graham & Assoc. John Nixon, Owen Sound 376-1774 Brussels 887-9417 Miller Insurance Chapman Graham Insurance Kincardine 396-3465 Walkerton 881.0611 Georgian Bay Orr Insurance Brokers Insurance Brokers Stratford 271-4340 Owen Sound 376.4049 City Insurance Offices Sarnia 383-0044 "INSURANCE FOR FARM, RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND AUTO" PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1996 Walton business taking off and flying high By Janice Becker From a hobby to a business and all for the love of flying. That is how Freedom Lite Inc. in Walton got started just a few short months ago and the new manufac- turer of advanced ultralights has already earned one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. At the recent Sun 'n Fun air show in Lakeland, Florida, (the second largest in North America) Rob McIntosh's ultralight design re- ceived the award for the "Best Commercial Ultralight." It is the highest award a manu- facturer can obtain, says McIntosh McIntosh, who has been flying ultralights for 10 years, began to construct the machines through kits purchased from other companies. As his interest and experience grew, McIntosh developed his own ideas on how an ultralight should be designed and after buying out the stock and a few ideas of a bankrupt British Columbia manu- facturer two years ago, McIntosh put his plans into production. "It took 30 months of planning, but the ultralight was introduced in January." Having acquired the stamping and. machining skills of a Kitchener company, McIntosh and his crew assemble and distribute the design from the Walton shop. Kits can also be r"rchased. The McIntosh Skywatch SS 11 comes in two models, 50 horse- power and 65. It is designed as a tandem two-seater and dual con- trols to allow for training flights. It can cruise as slowly as 30 miles per hour or as fast as 90 mph, says McIntosh. "It is also very quiet because the engine is behind the passengers." A unique feature of the McIntosh ultralight is the fact that one man can easily fold the wings, permit- ting the craft to fit in a common garage. The machine is made of various types of aluminum, all stamped and machined and is flown by a light- weight aircraft engine. McIntosh credits his team of Cord Whiteley, Larry Edwards and Bruce Millar for making the ven- ture a success. The men not only assemble the crafts in which they had input for the design, but Edwards, a licensed commercial pilot, will be offering flight training this year. A license can be acquired in a week of regular classes, with knowledge of both meteorology and flying, says McIntosh, for the price of $2, 000 to $3,000. The Skywatch SS 11 is easy to maintain and requires approximate- ly 200 hours to assemble if pur- chased as a kit. A kit costs between $20,000 and $30,000. As McIntosh's notoriety increases with recognition from the Sun 'n Fun air show, he expects to see increased interest from the Euro- pean and American markets. "They see Canadian ultralights as a top quality product, but our com- pany will look after locals first. We will make sure they are happy," says McIntosh. Be Involved! S ports Crusaders get awards The Brussels Crusaders hockey season officially came to a close Friday night following their team banquet held at the Legion. The Crusaders enjoyed an excellent year ending with the ultimate goal - The Senior "A" Championship. Team accomplishments included 18 straight home games without a loss, (they were within 49 seconds of being undefeated for the 1995- 96 season (-21 games -) on home ice). They lost only one of their last 12 regular season games and posted a 12-3 won-loss record in playoffs including, without the benefit of home ice advantage, eliminating the first and second place teams. Of the four losses in their last 27 games played, three were by a single goal, and the fourth was by a two goal deficit. Defensively, the team allowed the least goals against and were the least penalized team in the Senior "A" division averaging less than 20 minutes in penalties per game. Individually, Ron Strome enjoyed a three goal All-Star game performance with goaltender Pat Cronin being credited with the win. Goaltender Jay Evershed posted a league best 2.66 goals against average going undefeated (7-0-2) in regular season. Steve Fritz led all playoff scorers in assists (24) and points (33) in 15 games played. Pat Cronin posted the only shutout of the playoffs enroute to recording the best goals against average and won-loss record (2.94, 7-1). The banquet ended with the pre- sentation of the following awards: leading scorer in the regular season, Corey McKee; leading playoff scorer, Steve Fritz; coaches award, Brian Campbell. Appreciation plaques were presented by the players to Coach Gary Dauphin, Manager Hugh Nichol, Trainer Peter Exel, Director of Finance Gary Pipe and Chief Executive Officer Mark Pennington. Special thanks to all Crusader sponsors and fans, especially those who travelled throughout the playoffs (estimated attendance for the championship game in Ripley was 1,000) and everyone who stepped forward to help out whenever needed. The Crusaders next event will be a Slo-Pitch Tournament in late May. Watch for more details as they become available. • For a complete list of workshops being held around the County, please call the Huron County Planning and Development Department at 519-524-2188. Remember to attend the workshop on the New County Plan at F.E Madill Secondary School (Wingham) Thursday, May 9, 7:00 p.m. Why Should I Attend? • I will be affected by the New County Plan because it will affect local and County decision making and that will affect me; • I want to hear what Huron residents said about community values in the recently completed Community Action Kits; • I want to voice my community issues; • I want to influence public policy before it is drafted; • I care about the future of my community.