About Us
Lake Aviation is located in Kingston, Ontario about 800 feet below and to the left of where this picture was taken on final approach to runway 19 at Kingston Norman Roger’s Airport:
Lake Aviation is owned by Rob and Sonia Lake.
Rob began his flying experience as a teenager in Air Cadets in Peterborough, Ontario. He won a flying scholarship and learned to fly gliders at the Omeemee Soaring Club. Later while studying Electro-Mechanical Technology at Sir Sanford Fleming College and working part time at the Peterborough Airport, Rob obtained his private pilot’s license on Cessna 152’s and 172’s.
Rob then started a 22 year career in the field of industrial automation. Career and other interests kept him away from the airfield, but the flying bug was only dormant, not dead.
In 2001, wanting to get back into flying, Rob ordered his first Challenger sub-kit and began building the plane in his basement and garage during his spare time and on vacations. Finally in May of 2005, Challenger C-IRDL took it’s maiden flight.
Now Rob enjoys taking friends flying with him for aerial tours of the scenic 1000 Islands area around Kingston. He finds it especially enjoyable and rewarding to introduce someone who has never flown before to the joy of flying. And, of course, there are also those entertaining morning flights to enjoy the proverbial $100 hamburger at another airfield or a fly-in – to which Challenger pilots enjoy a 75% discount.
Though Rob loves to fly his Challenger, he suffered from aircraft builder’s post partum depression (ABPPD). The garage was empty. Nothing to build. Nothing to drill, rivet, file, sand, glue, or paint. What to do? Rob did the only reasonable thing. He ordered another Challenger kit!
So now Rob builds Challengers professionally and also supplies some of the tools and accessories that he developed during his experience with building and maintaining an ultralight aircraft.
Rob and Sonia can be found at:
810 Vintage Court
Kingston, Ontario
Canada
K7M 7A5
Tel: 613-389-1468
email: lakeav@gmail.com
Rob and Sonia Lake at the Canadian Aviation Expo in Oshawa, Ontario on June 23, 2007 in front of their Challenger C-IRDL :
