Familiarization Flights Managed by Volunteer Pilot Group
Several volunteer pilots with private aircraft often provide familiarization flights to youth including those attending the Texada Aerospace Camp. Youth who so choose together with their parent(s) or guardian can therefore take a flight as a passenger in these private aircraft. The pilots are primarily members of the Courtenay Airpark Association (https://courtenayairpark.com/), and they have been volunteering in this capacity for several years. They may be joined, potentially on short notice, by one or more pilots who are not members of the Courtenay Airpark Association. All the pilots are licensed by Transport Canada. They fly a wide variety of aircraft, including homebuilt aircraft, and each aircraft is registered by Transport Canada. The planes have either 2 or 4 seats, and are correspondingly insured to carry either 1 or 3 passengers.
For the past 3 years, the following pilots have kindly volunteered to provide familiarization flights:
Dale Erhart (Retired Air Force/Air Canada pilot)
Ray Henault (Retired RCAF General (4 Star), former CDS, Chief of NATO Military Committee, President of Courtenay Airpark, RV6 aircraft)
Chris Hansen (former maritime patrol pilot 407 Sqn pilot and coordinator for the event)
Karl Kiltz - hobbyist pilot
Sylvain Fortin - an Aviation Maintenance Engineer and hobbyist pilot
Planes/Registrations used in previous familiarization flights:
Owner Type of plane Transport Canada Registration
Dale Erhart Challenger II C-IDWU
1 passenger (commercially built)
Ray Henault RV-6 C-FTUQ
1 passenger (homebuilt)
Chris Hansen Sidewinder C-GCSW
1 passenger (homebuilt)
Karl Kiltz Zenair CH601, ultralight C-FVTZ
1 passenger (commercially built)
Sylvain Fortin Cherokee 180 C-GUUH
3 passengers (commercially built)
The homebuilt airplanes are associated with the EAA, and the youth become Young Eagles when they take a familiarization flight in them. More about the Young Eagle program can be found here - https://www.eaa.org/eaa/youth/free-ye-flights. This opportunity is chosen randomly by a lottery system but parents can inform the pilot group, through the camp, that they do not wish their youth to fly in a homebuilt airplane. Youth can also specify that they do not wish to sit in the front passenger seat of a plane.
additional news info
https://courtenayairpark.com/news/13536870
page 5 - https://share.google/OhSqeNxcATI5e7uVa
Familiarization Flight Path
Familiarization flights take off over Gillies Bay from the airport. Flight routes typically include parts of Gillies Bay, mid-to-north Texada Island, the Algerine Passage, the Malaspina Strait, and the Georgia Strait.