If you’re like me, anything aviation related on TV will attract my attention. When a show combines classic cars and vintage taildraggers…I’m doubly hooked! On this new episode of Flying BC I speak with Jessica James, co-star and pilot on History Channels’ Lost Car Rescue TV show. Jessica flies a bushwheel-clad Stinson on the show as they search for and recover classic cars around rural Canada.  We also talk about how her career path changed just as she was stepping into a job with Harbour...

In this special edition of Flying BC from EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2022, we catch up with Jason McDowell (@cessnateur), Luke Penner (@harvsairinverted) and Steve Thorne (@flightchops) to get their take on the world's greatest aviation gathering. Follow Flying BC on Instagram @flyingbritishcolumbia and sign up for the mailing list at www.flyingbc.com #OSH22 #Airventure #EAA

The 5 members of the Porter family are going to fly around-the-world in a single engine aircraft and raise $1 million for the global charity SOS Children's Villages. Flying BC caught up with them right before they departed Vancouver for the first leg.  You can find out more information and donate to their charity on their website www.5inthesky.com Sign up for the Flying BC mailing list at www.flyingbc.com

"Our 206 landed in the community and they were on rations because nobody knew about them. We found out about them so we put a bunch of stuff together and flew it out to them. They were literally crying." When parts of British Columbia were cut off due to flooding in November 2021, General Aviation came to the rescue. Aviators and volunteers quickly banded together to provide highly adaptable relief, offering lifelines to isolated communities and filling gaps in the supply chain. In the...

"I heard a big crunch and then the scenery disappeared! I couldn't figure out why everything was gone all of a sudden, and it took me a while to realize I was looking at the bottom of the lake!" Dominique Prinet was a bush pilot in the late 60’s, flying everything from Cessna 180’s to Single Otters and Beech 18’s into some very remote places in Canada's far North. Later in his career he became a Vice President at Nordair and Canadian Airlines. He’s written a great book called Flying to...

"You can't expect perfection, but you can strive for precision, and I think they are two different things." If airshow flying is the flashy rockstar of aviation, competition aerobatics is the soloist in the orchestra. One is all about the show and the spectacle from the perspective of a crowd, where the other is a highly precise and practiced performance striving for perfection.  I sit down with Mark Cunningham and Christian Baxter at Boundary Bay airport to discuss all things...

"Your decision-making skills, everything, it benefits drastically by making the step into the float plane world." Peter Grimm is the President and Chief Pilot at Van City Seaplanes in Vancouver, BC. If you've ever wondered what it takes to be a float plane pilot on the West Coast, this episode is for you. Peter dives into how to get the experience and training you need, the intricacies of coastal weather and flight planning, the differences between lake and salt-water operations, and why...

"So we flew all the drums out, and laid them on the blue ice, and then we went back with pictures. We were all so happy because, you know, 100 drums, we did a good job and it looked really nice. And just the way he looked at the pictures when we showed him...we were, like, 'uh oh'. He's says, I'm really sorry guys but this won't do..." Linden Hoover is a First Officer with the legendary Canadian company, Kenn Borek Air. He has been flying the Twin Otter and Basler (Turboprop DC-3) in Northern...

"People don't necessarily know that this doesn't have to be a career. This can be something that is an add-on to your life...a fantastic add-on to your life." In North America, we enjoy a freedom of the skies that is the envy of the rest of the world. And a lot of that is due to strength in numbers, and advocacy efforts from organizations like COPA – the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association. There’s a lot of change and new faces coming into COPA head office in the past few months, and as a...

"So I sat down in the roughest water I think I've ever landed in, and it's not that big of a plane so it was pretty big waves for those little floats. And I landed so far from the camp because I just wanted to be down on the water sooner than later." On this episode of Flying BC, I chat with my friend Katie Cowley about her first couple years as a new commercial pilot. For the past year, she’s been flying on floats and wheels out of Sioux Lookout in Northern Ontario, living the bush pilot...

"One of the things we recommend for all clients if you're going to purchase in the US, is to send a Canadian Maintenance Engineer down across the border to view the aircraft and do your pre-buy for you." Michael Wilton is the President of FlightSimple Aircraft Sales, and his job is to help pilots navigate the world of buying and selling an aircraft. On this episode, Micheal walks us through the steps people should take when buying a plane, the pitfalls to avoid, and answers some of the...

"If a commercial flight test is not successful, it's typically not a question of stick and rudder skills or knowledge. More often than not it's the lack of attention to detail."Anna Serbinenko is an airshow performer, Chief Flight Instructor at Canadian Flight Centre, and a Transport Canada Pilot Examiner. But her life involves a lot more than just flying. She’s has a PHD in Financial Mathematics, is fluent in eight languages, has lived around the world, and is a competitive athlete. Upon...

"The ideal candidate is someone who's got some Tiger Moth time or Stearman. Those two airplanes are exceptional initial experience trainers because they tend to amplify your faults without killing you."Dave Hadfield is the Chief Pilot at Vintage Wings of Canada, home of the Michael Potter Collection. Dave grew up around airplanes, and after a career with Air Canada he found himself in the right spot, with the right experience, to start flying warbirds. We discuss what it's like to fly the...

"Does your instructor have a mentor? Does your instructor have someone more knowledgeable, more skilled than they are, that they are unafraid to ask questions to?"Kimberly Lysak is a Class 1 instructor, holds an ATPL, and is ICAO-certified in Advanced Flight Instruction and Aviation Training Management. As the flying school she worked for pressed pause in 2020, she launched her own online community to help instructors weather the storm, and improve their craft. She’s a big believer that we...

"So if you have the love of aviation and you want to spread it among youngsters, and have people come into aviation, I don't think there's a better place to start than in schools. One person joins and then all of a sudden you have a huge class."Vignesh Rajasekar has already accomplished a lot in Aviation at the age of 23, and he’s not slowing down. He’s a Class 1 instructor, Chief Flight Instructor at McMurray Aviation, Founder of his own aviation consulting business, and just recently...

"The men we were picking up were jubilant about finally getting out after many weeks of solitude. Not so for the men we were leaving behind..."On this bonus episode, W.T. (Tim) Cole reads one of the many bush flying stories from his book & memoir, Tight Floats and Tailwinds. Patreon supporters enjoyed an advance listen to this bonus. If you'd like more exclusives, advances, and perks, consider supporting the podcast at http://www.patreon.com/flyingbcYou can buy Tim's book on the BCGA...

“It’s pretty intimidating for an Ontario farm boy to be out there saying, holy mackerel I’m just about at the tip of mainland North America and everything rests on this big ol’ round engine.”W.T. (Tim) Cole takes us on a journey through his aviation career starting in the 60’s at the legendary bush operation, Laurentian Air Services, all the way through to his various roles in Transport Canada on the West Coast, and his flying adventures post-retirement in his Cessna 172. His career is a...

"There's certainly an economic aspect to it, an environmental aspect to it, there's a disruptive aspect to it. There's a whole bunch of things that make it (electric aircraft) make sense for us." - Greg McDougall, CEO and Founder, Harbour AirAs an aspiring float plane pilot, and a fan of technology and business, this episode's guest is someone I’ve been angling to talk to since this project started. I finally had the chance to sit down with Greg McDougall, Founder and CEO of Harbour Air, to...

"You know, it would be embarassing to get out of an upside-down SuperCub with a bent-up prop and a scuff on my helmet. But it would be better than not getting out and having to pull me out and waking up three months later with a brain injury." - Steve Thorne, Flight ChopsIf you're a fan of Flight Chops on YouTube, you may have recently seen an episode about helmets and his first flight in the Harvard wearing one. On this episode of Flying BC I catch up with Steve for a follow-up now that he's...

"The way we do it at the museum is we brief the plan and we fly the brief, and we don't improvise. It says on the board in real big letters that never gets erased...No Improvising."Steve Thorne, perhaps better known as Flight Chops, has over 300,000 subscribers and 47 Million views on Youtube. His context-laden aviation analysis and learning videos take viewers through everything from warbird flying to tailwheel checkouts to seaplane training. In this episode, we discuss the challenges of...

Special bonus episode with former Snowbirds Lead and CF-18 Demo Pilot, Rob "Scratch" Mitchell. He answers listener questions about how the Snowbirds create their show routine, how aerobatic pilots adapt to new airports, whether he prefers solo or team flying, and how they deal with turbulence while in tight formation. This is an example of the sort of exclusive bonus content you will experience as a supporter on Patreon. Among other benefits, patrons will have an opportunity to get their...

"I remember that moment. There was 22 sets of eyes just staring at me, and they all said the same thing, 'What do we do now, Boss?' That's when the penny dropped for me that, ah, this is what leadership is about."Rob "Scratch" Mitchell's 20-year career in the Royal Canadian Air Force is highlighted by his time as a CF-18 demo pilot, and two tours with the Snowbirds, including as Team Lead in 2006-2007. Performing at airshows sparked his interest in acting and film, and eventually it became...