Graduate Profiles

I graduated from the CAM program in 2007, since graduating I have had the opportunity to fly for a small northern medevac operation and recently changed over to charter flying.

Upon graduation I was hired right seat in a Cessna Caravan by a small medevac operator called Northern Air Solutions based in Muskoka and Sault Ste Marie. This was a great learning experience for me as there was a ton of flying in all types of weather conditions. The nature of northern medevac flying is you never know what each day is going to bring, one day you are flying a patient on a routine transfer into Pearson International and the next you could be on an emergency call to a gravel strip at a Native Reserve on James Bay served with only an NDB approach. Medevac flying is a great way to rack up hours and learn how to fly in serious IFR conditions. There are lots of legs each day which gives a fresh FO lots of opportunity to perfect those crosswind landings. You also get to meet a lot of interesting people and understand how the Ontario Air Ambulance system works (or doesn't work). I was able to become a captain on the Caravan for charter flights after about 800 hours on the airplane. The Ontario Air Ambulance system requires captains to have 2000 hours and an ATPL so I was not able to be PIC on medevac flights but did get to do a few charters including taking a group of caribou hunters up to a lodge on the border of Manitoba and Nunavut, a long way in a Caravan but quite the learning experience!

In September 2008 I was contacted by a friend of mine who flew for a charter company out of Buttonville and he mentioned that they were looking for a King Air FO. This seemed like a great opportunity for me to build up some multi time and also move closer to home. I went for an interview, met with the Chief Pilot and within 2 weeks I was flying the King Air. The company is called Flightexec and they fly King Air's, Cheyenne's, Falcon 10's, a Citation and a Challenger. Their main base is located in London across the apron from the Diamond Flight Centre but they have a satellite base in Buttonville. Charter flying is a completely different world to medevac flying but each has their advantages. I fly less hours now but we go to many interesting destinations including West Palm Beach, Phoenix, New Brunswick, and everywhere in between. Flightexec is a great company to work for with lots of young ambitious pilots including 3 prior Empire Instructors.

I am now just short of getting my ATPL and completely unsure of what the next step will be, unfortunately the industry has slowed down quite a bit from a year ago but there are recent signs of recovery, which is promising. My advice to recent and future grads would be this; the best way to get a job in aviation is to have a job, whether it is pumping gas or washing airplanes, being around the industry and making contacts is a huge advantage. Be friendly and talk to as many people as you can because you never know when you might cross paths again and it's a great way to gain knowledge of the industry.