Flying BC Podcast

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 …

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 S…

"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…

"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 Can…

"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 perfo…

"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 …

"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 Hoove…

"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…

"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 …

"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…

"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 jus…

"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 care…

"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 …

"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…

"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…

“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 t…

"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 Air As an aspiring float plane pilot, and a fan of technology and business, this episode's guest is someone I’v…

"This is one of only a few planes that I've flown where it has such a high degree of thrust to weight that you can do a maneuver like a tail slide; decide you don't like the tail slide, apply power, and fly out of the tail slide while going backwards." Part 2 of our discussion with Geoff Latter, airline captain and airshow pilot, where he explains …

"I know that airplane pretty well, but it doesn't matter. We go through the same process every year as if you're coming to a new aircraft. Because the only way to train proficiency, is to be disciplined." Geoff Latter is an airline captain and an airshow pilot flying a Nanchang CJ-6 and now a Yak-50. In this first of two episodes, we take a deep di…

"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 Chops If you're a fan of Flight Chops on YouTube, you may have recently seen an epi…

"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 video…

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…

"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 …

"I could feel the trees smacking the bottom of the airplane. It was like a machine gun sound. And then, all of a sudden, they went back into the cloud." 178 seconds to live. Just under three minutes. If you're a pilot you've no doubt heard the statistic. Continued visual flight into instrument conditions claims a disproportionate number of general …

"When I started feeling like I was overwhelmed...my brain went automatically to private pilot school default. Hands and feet. I disconnected the autopilot, and I flew it raw." Angie Tanton is a pilot with a penchant for flying in the overseas, off-the-grid world. With 8000 hours under her belt, and 6000 of those on floats, she's chasing a career fu…

"Never ignore the gut feeling...the hairs on the back of your neck. If it doesn't feel right, stop. Ask yourself why. If you still can't figure it out, don't do it." - Kevin Maher On this episode we introduce the podcast hosts and veer off into discussions on pilot knowledge and job prospects, the importance of standardizing procedures and decision…