Ah, airplanes ! Ever since the age of 5, I always wanted to be a
pilot. I remember a neighbor who used to build his own planes
right in his garage. All kids would excitedly gather when he
started his engine at spring, just before taking his completed plane
to the nearby seaplane base (the Commodore Marina in Laval-Quebec).
What an amazement !
Since then, I never stopped having my eyes turned skyward as soon as I
hear the sound of a passing airplane.
And then, on
May the 2nd, 1994, I bit the bullet (never too late to make one's dream come
true !). I registered for a flying course at the Cargair Flying School, located
at the Mascouche airport and I finally became a pilot !!!
Ah yes, I
almost forgot ! My name is Michel Charette and I live near
Montreal, Quebec (Canada).
I am also a member of a few aviation associations
!
Here's a
picture of me
proudly standing right next to the airplane in which I made my first
solo flight (March 3rd, 1995, looking quite younger I must say...). What an
unforgettable moment !
It is a
small Cessna 150-M (1976) registered C-GUFN - a two-seater training
airplane with a small 100HP engine. Small as it may be, this
airplane reacts enthusiastically to every pilot inputs, making it a
very popular trainer.
I was
granted my Day VFR Private Pilot License (VFR stands for Visual Flight
Rules) on August 6th, 1996 - big thanks to Louise Gagnon,
chief-instructor at Cargair for her patience - and then I got my Night
Rating on October 30th, 1996. (big thanks also to the late Stéphane Lebrun).
For more
information:
Cargair ltd.
I used to rent
C-172s
from
Cargair
at the
Mascouche
airport
(CSK3) and flew as often as I could afford
to ! Here is a picture of me standing proudly near C-172 C-GVXM at
the completion of my first 300 NM cross country flight.
June 17th,
2003: I am now a professional pilot !!!!
Indeed, I have passed both the dreaded Transport Canada written exam (preceded
by the flight review on May 23rd) with
success! Whoaaaa, that was a lot of studying!
January 10, 2004:
Everything changed ! I finally achieved my childhood dream and
acquired my very
own airplane, a nifty
1948 Cessna 140, C-GNCJ.
I now have logged more
than 540 hours of flight (almost 300 of
them flying my 140), nothing, really ! Seems like I still have everything to learn... but I'm having a lot of fun!
June
2006: When I changed the plane's headliner (see pics
here) I happened to bump into a nice older
gentleman at my friend's hangar. He was working on a very nice
1958 C-172. We chatted a little bit and I soon realized that he
actually was the very man I talk about above, the one who first gave
me the aviation bug !!! Awesome ! Talk about a coincidence
!!!
After 45 years, to meet the man who without knowing, lighted a
lifelong passion into me... And the funny thing is, he actually
learned to fly on a C-140 ! There are nice coincidences
sometimes...
J
