The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor A century ago, many in society argued that if people were meant to fly, they would have been born with wings. If only they could have known Odile Rablat. The 59-year-old from France touched down in Flin Flon recently as part of an aerial tour of central and northern Canada. But it wasn't Rablat's photographs of the scenic landscape that caught people's attention; it was her preferred mode of transportation. She pilots a paramotor trike. By no means common, the vehicle is essentially a large motorized scooter with a set of hang-gliding wings and a rear propeller attached. The whole contraption looks rather dangerous, but Rablat, who has been flying her trike for seven years, has no qualms. "What I like is open air, because I can see all around me," she said through a thick French accent. Reaching top speeds of 100 km an hour Ð three to four times slower than a commercial aircraft Ð Rablat is at total peace. "It's no fast and no slow, just a good speed to see, to take pictures, to go back if there is (something) interesting," she said. Rablat has spent the summer flying over parts of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Her journey began on June 24 when she departed Cambridge, Ont., outside Kitchener, to head into the vast expanse to her west. See 'Region...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 After reaching the NWT, Rablat headed back east through Alberta, landing at the Flin Flon Municipal Airport on Sunday, Aug. 21. Though some people had told her there wasn't much to see in this region, Rablat now knows they were mistaken. "It's very beautiful with lakes, rocks and the city," she said, adding that the area reminds her of Sudbury, Ont., another mining region. Rablat found a unique sight in the HBMS tailings pond, which harbours toxic mine waste. "Red and green and blue. Oooh! It's not good, but it's beautiful," she said with a smile. Weather delays Naturally, the weather delays that impact commercial aircraft are a much greater obstacle for Rablat. "If it's light rain, I can fly, but if it's a big rain, I have to land," she said. "If bigger rain is (forecast), I don't fly." Rablat was not sure when she would land back in Cambridge, where her son lives and stores her trike, but she is scheduled to catch a (traditional) flight back to France on Sept. 24. This is Rablat's third time taking her trike to the skies of Canada. In 2009, she flew from Montreal to B.C. Last year she got a bird's-eye view of the Maritimes. She carries an array of gear with her, including a tent she will often set up at the airports where she lands. She also stays at hotels and sometimes finds accommodations with people intrigued by her story. Looking much younger than her 59 years, Rablat, who manages a centre for children with family problems back home, vows to keep flying as long as she is physically capable. And who can blame her? Up in the air, sometimes 11,000 feet above ground, she is as free as a bird.
