Congratulations to the Barrhead Flying Club on hosting another successful event.
On Sunday, May 25 the flying club hosted its sixth annual Fly-in breakfast and while I must admit I enjoyed my time there, it was a bittersweet moment for me.
Just like many people I have always dreamed of having my own plane and being able to fly off to exotic locations at the drop of a hat.
OK perhaps, not so exotic. In my flying fantasies I always wanted to be able to fly myself and family into some of the small Canadian communities that are off the beaten path and that distance and time restrict my ability to do so now.
For example, the Kootenay region of B.C. or Newfoundland. I have even gone so far as going to the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association’s places to fly page and plot out distances between locations and runway lengths so that I would know what dream aircraft to buy.
Of course, I did all of this with the realization that there was never any possibility of ever being able to achieve this dream. After all as a community reporter, with a salary to match, I would never be able to afford the thousands of dollars needed for pilot training or the tens of thousands for a plane.
But it was nice to think about every once in a while and if I ever won one of those big $50 million lotto prizes … who knows.
However, during the fly-in even that dream was dashed. As a reporter over the years I have had a number of cool assignments. In Red Deer I was able to meet singer B.J. Thomas, a movie producer, a handful of professional athletes and of course fly in a general aviation aircraft.
The latter is something I have had the joy of doing on multiple occasions, including at the fly-in. In order to get some overhead pictures of the event, Whitecourt pilot Jonas Boll graciously offered to take me up in his Pipistrel Virus. It is a wonderful machine, capable of both short field performance and great speeds, especially compared to other aircraft in its class, but the one thing it isn’t is easy to get into. At least if you are a middle aged man, who is not exactly at his fighting weight.
Other biology also comes into play as well, for example will your stomach be up to the task. So far I am proud to say that I have never needed to use an airsickness bag, but I must admit at times the butterflies in my stomach have flown almost as fast as the aircraft.
So even if I was to win the lotto and somehow cram myself into one of the small flight training aircraft, it is doubtful my constitution would allow me to complete my flight training.
It is a painful realization, almost as painful as the time I realized that I would never be able to take over as the starting goalie of the Vancouver Canucks. Probably.
