A pair of cadets with Nanaimo’s 205 Collishaw Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron are preparing to take off into the wild blue yonder.
Cadet flight sergeants Andrew Gates and Philip Jones are spending their summer at the Regional Gliding School (Pacific) on the Air Cadet Private Pilot Scholarship Course.
The pair are two of 36 air cadets from across the province selected for the opportunity to get their private pilo’ts licence.
They will be trained on a Cessna 172 in seven weeks at the Victoria Flying Club, Pacific Flying Club out of Boundary Bay and Montair Aviation at Pitt Meadows.
“I can remember wanting to be a pilot before I could spell my name,” said Gates. “There was a time when I would have to sit on the Canadian Flight Supplement just to see over the instruments to look outside.”
Jones said getting a pilot’s licence has been in his sights since the day he joined cadets.
Both had their first solo flight July 13. Graduates receive their cadet wings and pilot licences Aug. 13.
Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a national educational youth organization sponsored by the Canadian Forces and the civilian Air Cadet League of Canada.
For more information on cadets, please visit www.cadets.ca/lhq/205air.