Week 2 in the West - My First Professional Flight

The Calgary Flying Club Hanger (and Clubhouse)
on a cloudy Monday Morning

We'll, I must admit, I haven't updated this as frequently as I would have liked to, however there really hasn't been all that much going on until yesterday (Monday 28).



My first week at the Calgary Flying Club has been very uneventful. I settled into Calgary just before the weekend, but that weekend and for the next 9 days, we had a low-pressure system sitting over the American west, which pushed up some very very moist air from the gulf, right along the Rockies, creating extremely low level clouds, freezing fog and freezing drizzle! Below are a few screen-shots of the aviation weather forecast for both Calgary International Airport and Springbank Airport - For those of you non-aviators, it is telling us that at the airport its Overcast with a 500 foot ceiling and light snow, calling for lots of freezing drizzle and freezing fog with Vertical Visibility of 100-200 feet in the short-term forecasts (FZDZ FZFG). This weather also put a fair amount of strain on the International airports with their flights Arriving and Departing with the weather at some of the airlines 'bare minimums.'

I went in for my first day to write some aircraft exams, ensuring I know all the different systems on the different aircrafts that the Calgary flying Club flies. Doing that administrative work was good for me - one of the few things I got paid for around here! Now the money is nothing to hee and haw about, but who said Instructing for that! We are only paid for the time we spend with students briefing on the ground, or instructing with the engine running. - Apart from that, its really just a bit of waiting, until the next student, or until someone shows up that says 'I want to fly!'

Tuesday (26th) I was introduced to the DA-20 Diamond Eclipse, a light and sleek training aircraft which is built in London, ON. I went up with another one of the instructors, when we saw a slight break in the clouds - just to get familiarized with it. I haven't got any pictures of flying it, or even of the aircraft itself, however that will be soon to come! Apart from that, most of the time was spent at home, going over my briefing and ground-school instruction notes; trying to be as prepared as I possibly can.


Throughout that week, I was introduced to two of my new students. Both are looking to join the Mount Royal University Aviation Program in the fall, and one of the requirements is a private pilot's licence. One has started with me full time and the other will be starting with me full-time once he finishes his university courses in April. It will surely be a great opportunity for more learning, both for my student AND myself.




With Pilot training, what we try and do, is as much teaching as possible on the ground, then go demonstrate that exercise and allow the student to practice it in the air. The more they grasp and understand the concept on the ground, the easier it becomes in the air (and the less expensive it becomes for their bank accounts at the end of the day). It is a lot easier to teach something on the ground, as opposed to the loud environment of the aircraft where there are many more things going on, all at once.

The Springbank airport - an Aerial shot from the circuit

This week has sure brought some better weather (and I hope it sticks around for a LONG, LONG while!) Yesterday, I was taken up by Tom, the Chief Flight Instructor when the week long fog finally started to dissipate. We flew south, to a small town called Bragg Creek: A place we take most of our Introductory flights, where we allow them to have control of the aircraft and get a sense of what flying is really all about. This flight allowed me to be 'checked out' to take Intro students up, allowing the dispatchers to put prospective students into my day, giving me the opportunity to fly more.


Today also marks a very monumental day - my first professional flight as a pilot, where I was paid to fly the aircraft, not paying to fly! Sure was a magnificent feeling! I took my first student go up for his first lesson 'Attitudes and Movements' - teaching him the very basics. It also happened to be his first flight in a small aircraft. It went great, he was very receptive to the coaching and sure got a lot out of it. Once we landed I asked him how he liked it - to quote him 'It was like driving a Ferrari.... but better!' I guess that means it was pretty good!

I have a few flights booked for tomorrow now, so I'm off to prepare! I will update with more pictures as more good weather comes our way!

View of the Foothills, which have been immersed in fog
and low level cloud for the last week and a half

All settled into the 'Heart of the New West'

no, there's no foliage just yet - I found this picture on the net

Well, I've just spent the first weekend settling into my new place in Calgary. I am renting a room from a long-time friend of the family, who lives in the Northwest part of the city. It's perfect, as I will be working about 15km west city at the Springbank Airport.

I have myself a new ride, which I definitely feel much better about driving. I know this one would be legal to drive on roads in every province and territory and that it would have no problems passing any sort of emissions test! I have much more confidence that it's going to start when I get up to go to work tomorrow morning, and that I will ACTUALLY make it to my destination, without having to take my battery inside so its strong enough to endure several cranks!

I've temporarily placed my camera in a location I do not remember, however, it will be high on the priority list to find it tonight to bring it along with my on my first day of work, which is tomorrow! From what I have been told about what to expect for the first few days is that we're going to over some company documents, and do a flight or two to the 'practice area' to get familiarized with the areas surrounding Calgary, and the procedures for training in it's airspace. Now, the weather is calling for snow all weekend and next week, but hasn't been right to date, so lets hope the snow and clouds hold off until my days off!

Surely will have another post up (with some pictures) tomorrow after the first day.

Next Stop: Calgary

Well, after a weeks trip down to southern Canada and a road trip later around Ontario, the Maritimes and Alberta I've come back with some good news: a job instructing, getting me in the air! I will be starting to instruct at the Calgary Flying Club in Calgary, AB in the later half of March which is very exciting! Don't worry for those interested... I will be continuing this blog as I progress and move / fly to different places.

As for the new job, I will be starting out by working in the mornings on the ramp and the afternoons Instructing until it becomes busy enough to support another full time instructor. It's the basic progression of most flight instructors to start out on the dispatch desk scheduling flights or on the ramp, fueling, de-icing and moving aircrafts. It will be good for some extra money to live while building my client base from the ground.

The Drive from Calgary, west to Springbank Airport

The Calgary Flying Club is located at the Springbank Airport, which is a very busy airport just on the outskirts of the Calgary area. The airport is known mainly as a training airport, supporting 5-6 different flying schools.

I am very excited (can you not tell) to move to Calgary and actually start flying, however I will miss living in the North and will hopefully get a crack at some flying up here, later on in my career. The cold days and winter past times, the true 'Canadian' locals, my co-workers and especially those who took me into their houses when I was scrambling for places to stay.

In the past month, there has been a few interesting trips which have come up in and around Smith which we've had to deal with. The day before going on my trip to the south, I had to prepare the Turbo-Otter for a trip far north for some Caribou hunting well North of the treeline. On top of putting the aircraft to bed with all of its heaters plugged in and covers on the airfoils we prepped different things like fuel drums full of Jet-A inside the cabin to ensure there was more than enough fuel to make it back safely, along with many other safety and emergency 'just-in-case' items. Whether it's pushing 30 or 40 below, the aircraft has to be ready to go when it's supposed to, regardless of how much time it takes to prep the aircraft outside in the cold.

As for this trip, and many similar trips which come up on a regular basis. The people up here charter the aircraft and spend the day, or days at a time going up to remote locations where the animals run free, getting these animals as a source of both food, and income. They use all of the animal's meat to feed their families or to sell, along with Hides, which can sell for quite a price, if cured properly.


Apart from the many hunting trips, we had some visitors come to town from other parts of NWT, including Yellowknife and Hay River for a skating competition. We a few of our Jetstream aircraft chartered to go pick them up to bring them into town, then back again at the end of the weekend. We also had one of First Air's ATR aircraft land, bringing in young kids and their parents into town. With Northwestern being the only operator at the airport, we were called in to unload and reload the aircraft when they came in and when they left at the end of the weekend. Things like this, keep things constantly changing and don't allow it to get boring for too long on the ramp.

Loading bags into the First Air ATR

The past week has brought some magnificent sightings of the Northern Lights, however my camera does not have the proper shutter speeds to take pictures of these glowing bands illuminating the North Sky. In the last week they have been brighter than usual, lighting up the entire sky - I just wish I had these when I first started and was riding the bike to and from work in the black night.

That's all for now, I will surely be continuing my blog as I move south - to Calgary!