THIS TRANSCRIPT IS AI GENERATED AND WILL CONTAIN SOME SMALL ERRORS. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT thepilotprojectpodcast@gmail.com. We understand the importance of good subtitles but currently as a one-person operation we just don't have the ability to edit these in a timely fashion and keep episodes coming out regularly. Thank you for your understanding! Further, this transcript does not reflect some late edits made to the episode but are largely correct. Thank you! WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.824 All right, we're ready for departure. Here at the Pilot Project Podcast, 1 00:00:02.872 --> 00:00:05.276 the best source for stories and advice from the pilots of the 2 00:00:05.298 --> 00:00:08.236 RCAF. I'm your host, Brian Morrison. Returning with me 3 00:00:08.258 --> 00:00:11.108 today is our guest from Episode 15, newly winged 4 00:00:11.144 --> 00:00:13.532 RCAF pilot Scott Harding. Scott, 5 00:00:13.596 --> 00:00:15.456 congratulations and welcome to the show. 6 00:00:15.558 --> 00:00:17.952 Thanks very much. Glad to be back, Brian. Yeah. 7 00:00:18.086 --> 00:00:20.528 So before we start, let's go over Scott's Bio as a 8 00:00:20.534 --> 00:00:22.848 refresher. Scott joined the RCAF in 9 00:00:22.854 --> 00:00:25.476 2007 as an Air Combat Systems Officer, or 10 00:00:25.498 --> 00:00:28.384 Axo, through the regular officer training program. Upon 11 00:00:28.432 --> 00:00:31.396 completing his degree at the University of Western Ontario, he was sent to 12 00:00:31.418 --> 00:00:34.196 one Canadian Forces flight training school, now known as 13 00:00:34.218 --> 00:00:37.168 402 Squadron in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Here, he 14 00:00:37.194 --> 00:00:39.576 earned his Axo wings in 2012 and was posted to 15 00:00:39.598 --> 00:00:42.484 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron in Ottawa. 16 00:00:42.612 --> 00:00:45.556 After five years of flying, he completed successive staff tours 17 00:00:45.588 --> 00:00:48.356 as an operational planner with the Air Component Coordination 18 00:00:48.388 --> 00:00:51.336 Element, or Ace, in Yellowknife, and then as a senior staff 19 00:00:51.368 --> 00:00:54.216 officer for Electronic Warfare at one Canadian Air Division 20 00:00:54.248 --> 00:00:56.936 in Winnipeg. 15 years after originally joining, 21 00:00:56.968 --> 00:00:59.948 scott finally made the switch to pilot, and as of three days ago, uh, at 22 00:00:59.954 --> 00:01:02.816 the time of this recording, has completed phase three flight training and 23 00:01:02.838 --> 00:01:05.804 earned his RCAF pilot wings at three Cfffts 24 00:01:05.852 --> 00:01:08.768 in Portage. Today, we're following through on our promise to 25 00:01:08.774 --> 00:01:11.392 check in with Scott and hear about his adventures in the flight training 26 00:01:11.446 --> 00:01:14.272 program. If you haven't already listened to Scott's first interview 27 00:01:14.336 --> 00:01:17.236 on Episode 15, I highly recommend you check that one out as 28 00:01:17.258 --> 00:01:20.230 well, to learn about his background and phase one and two. 29 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.028 So, Scott, when I was making this interview, I realized, I 30 00:01:25.034 --> 00:01:27.684 don't think we covered this the first time around. Where did 31 00:01:27.722 --> 00:01:28.920 aviation start for you? 32 00:01:28.990 --> 00:01:31.876 Aviation started for me, like a lot of your guests, I was an air cadet 33 00:01:31.908 --> 00:01:32.424 growing up. 34 00:01:32.462 --> 00:01:32.664 Okay? 35 00:01:32.702 --> 00:01:35.444 But getting me into air cadets was, uh, my grandfather, 36 00:01:35.492 --> 00:01:37.930 who flew for Canada for many, many years. 37 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:41.324 My mom just sent me a picture of my 38 00:01:41.362 --> 00:01:44.348 grandfather, my grandmother, I think it was 1955, 39 00:01:44.434 --> 00:01:47.352 black and white photo. And it was their wedding announcement 40 00:01:47.416 --> 00:01:50.080 from the newspaper. And they were, 41 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:53.068 congratulations to Mr. And Mrs. Clark, 42 00:01:53.164 --> 00:01:55.900 who are going to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, 43 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:58.608 for their first trip as a couple, because 44 00:01:58.694 --> 00:02:01.596 Dave Clark is posted to Portage La Prairie 45 00:02:01.628 --> 00:02:02.320 for flight training. 46 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:02.924 No kidding. 47 00:02:02.972 --> 00:02:05.904 1955? Yeah. So he was a pilot 48 00:02:05.952 --> 00:02:08.320 way back in the day. And I remember, uh, 49 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.216 stories of him flying Air Canada, flying prime 50 00:02:11.248 --> 00:02:13.924 ministers around and all that jazz that built 51 00:02:13.962 --> 00:02:16.820 into me joining Air Cadets london Air Show 52 00:02:16.890 --> 00:02:19.748 was a thing every year back in the day, and loved 53 00:02:19.764 --> 00:02:22.696 doing that. And, uh, it just kind of built and built and built. I 54 00:02:22.718 --> 00:02:25.304 did power and glider as an air cadet and then 55 00:02:25.342 --> 00:02:28.136 eventually went well, the next logical step is 56 00:02:28.158 --> 00:02:29.720 joining the military to fly. 57 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.556 Yeah. So, like so many of us. Another air 58 00:02:32.578 --> 00:02:32.952 cadet. 59 00:02:33.016 --> 00:02:34.110 So many of us. 60 00:02:35.440 --> 00:02:38.300 So here we are. You're done. Phase three. How was it? How was your experience 61 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:39.196 on phase three? 62 00:02:39.298 --> 00:02:42.096 It was fast and furious. The course is 63 00:02:42.198 --> 00:02:45.104 short. It's a lot of effort in a really 64 00:02:45.142 --> 00:02:48.000 short period of time. So it's only about four months 65 00:02:48.070 --> 00:02:50.864 long. And you have a test, like week 66 00:02:50.902 --> 00:02:53.892 one and a half. You're already writing your first exam. 67 00:02:54.026 --> 00:02:56.996 Your second exam is like, a week later. And then 68 00:02:57.018 --> 00:02:59.616 you're right into the sims, right into the airplane. 69 00:02:59.728 --> 00:03:02.676 And, uh, it's pretty constant, but, uh, it 70 00:03:02.698 --> 00:03:05.524 was a lot of fun. It was a great experience. Great 71 00:03:05.562 --> 00:03:08.376 people, great instructors. The cross countries and the 72 00:03:08.398 --> 00:03:11.336 mutual flights, all amazing opportunities. And I 73 00:03:11.358 --> 00:03:14.040 learned a ton. I struggled a bit, but I learned a ton. 74 00:03:14.110 --> 00:03:16.072 Okay, I'm really interested to hear about that. 75 00:03:16.126 --> 00:03:16.632 Yeah. 76 00:03:16.766 --> 00:03:18.760 Did you find the learning curve to be steep? 77 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.692 It was yeah. Like I said, day one, 78 00:03:21.826 --> 00:03:24.364 you do the normal introduction. Hi, everybody. This 79 00:03:24.402 --> 00:03:27.164 is all the people you need to know. Day 80 00:03:27.202 --> 00:03:30.076 two was into the books and be prepared for your 81 00:03:30.098 --> 00:03:32.412 first exam next Wednesday. Kind of deal. Yeah. 82 00:03:32.466 --> 00:03:35.360 Even when I came back to do my instructor course, 83 00:03:35.430 --> 00:03:38.336 we spend the first couple of weeks of ground school with the 84 00:03:38.358 --> 00:03:41.248 phase three course. If there's one starting at that time, and it 85 00:03:41.254 --> 00:03:44.196 is like, boom, here we go. Get ready for your first exam because 86 00:03:44.218 --> 00:03:44.852 it's next week. 87 00:03:44.906 --> 00:03:45.750 Yeah, exactly. 88 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:49.636 What were the biggest differences between Phase two and three? 89 00:03:49.818 --> 00:03:52.788 So I know I said on phase two or here in Portage, in 90 00:03:52.794 --> 00:03:55.520 general, they treat you like an adult and you're kind 91 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:58.516 of responsible for your own success or failure. It's 92 00:03:58.548 --> 00:04:01.192 even more so in Phase three. I found there was 93 00:04:01.246 --> 00:04:04.104 more computer based training CBTS in 94 00:04:04.142 --> 00:04:07.112 phase three, and it was really just, all right, 95 00:04:07.246 --> 00:04:10.124 off you go. Come back in a week and we're going to test 96 00:04:10.162 --> 00:04:13.030 you on all the things that you need to know. There were some, 97 00:04:13.030 --> 00:04:15.848 uh, instructor led lessons to confirm the knowledge 98 00:04:15.944 --> 00:04:18.604 and reviews before you write the test, but 99 00:04:18.722 --> 00:04:21.292 it really is the entire course. 100 00:04:21.426 --> 00:04:24.176 It's dependent on you and the work that you do 101 00:04:24.278 --> 00:04:26.032 in order to pass. Yeah. 102 00:04:26.086 --> 00:04:29.036 And there's a good reason for that, too. Right. As you can attest 103 00:04:29.068 --> 00:04:31.904 to as an axo and being out in the real 104 00:04:31.942 --> 00:04:34.816 world, when you get to a squadron, they're not going to hold your 105 00:04:34.838 --> 00:04:37.364 hand. They're going to give you an upgrade booklet and say, 106 00:04:37.402 --> 00:04:40.116 okay, we'll see you in two years. You'll get 107 00:04:40.138 --> 00:04:42.932 mentorship and training, of course, but it's going to be up to you to complete 108 00:04:42.986 --> 00:04:44.432 those things and to take the initiative. 109 00:04:44.496 --> 00:04:47.236 Yeah, exactly. So I think it's really good. I think it 110 00:04:47.258 --> 00:04:49.992 builds upon what they did in phase two in the sense 111 00:04:50.046 --> 00:04:52.856 of getting you to be successful on your own 112 00:04:52.958 --> 00:04:55.080 and then this really just takes it the next step. 113 00:04:55.150 --> 00:04:58.136 Yeah, for sure. So can you take us through a 114 00:04:58.158 --> 00:05:00.072 day in the life of a Phase three student? 115 00:05:00.206 --> 00:05:02.956 Yeah. So ground school is very much the same as it was on 116 00:05:02.978 --> 00:05:05.688 phase two. Wake up in the morning, go get breakfast, 117 00:05:05.784 --> 00:05:08.204 head into the study lounge, and you're either doing 118 00:05:08.242 --> 00:05:11.176 CBTS all day or, uh, you're in the classroom 119 00:05:11.208 --> 00:05:12.316 with an instructor. 120 00:05:12.428 --> 00:05:15.024 And for the listeners, CBTS is computer based 121 00:05:15.062 --> 00:05:15.504 training. 122 00:05:15.622 --> 00:05:18.476 The difference between phase two and phase three in the flying portion 123 00:05:18.508 --> 00:05:21.344 is more so there's a lot more prep and planning I 124 00:05:21.382 --> 00:05:24.096 found for the phase three flying. 125 00:05:24.208 --> 00:05:26.964 So where in phase two there was a little bit of 126 00:05:27.082 --> 00:05:29.812 map prep and then route study. In phase three, 127 00:05:29.866 --> 00:05:32.484 there's a lot of understanding the rules and 128 00:05:32.522 --> 00:05:35.508 regs a lot more in detail. M, can I 129 00:05:35.514 --> 00:05:37.832 take off today? What's the weather going to be like 130 00:05:37.886 --> 00:05:40.884 tomorrow? Is it VMC? Is it, uh, VFR 131 00:05:40.932 --> 00:05:43.832 meteorological conditions? I e. Is it nice 132 00:05:43.886 --> 00:05:46.532 outside? Can I go fly? Or is it IMC 133 00:05:46.596 --> 00:05:49.536 IFR meteorological conditions wherein 134 00:05:49.588 --> 00:05:52.536 I need to use my instruments? Well, we're doing a VFR portion 135 00:05:52.568 --> 00:05:55.436 today, so it has to be nice outside. We have to 136 00:05:55.458 --> 00:05:58.344 have 3000 foot ceilings and 3 miles 137 00:05:58.392 --> 00:06:01.256 visibility, that kind of stuff. So understanding those 138 00:06:01.298 --> 00:06:04.176 rules a lot more in depth than we had 139 00:06:04.198 --> 00:06:06.992 to in phase two. A lot more of the decision making 140 00:06:07.046 --> 00:06:09.936 is on the students, seemingly anyways. I know 141 00:06:09.958 --> 00:06:12.944 the instructors are making all the calls in the background, but they 142 00:06:12.982 --> 00:06:15.892 rely on us to brief them. Hey, this is the weather today 143 00:06:15.946 --> 00:06:18.036 and this is what we can and can't do. 144 00:06:18.218 --> 00:06:21.044 Yeah, I've seen that too. My observation has been that 145 00:06:21.082 --> 00:06:24.036 obviously the instructor has the final say, like 146 00:06:24.058 --> 00:06:26.960 you said, but the students have to take ownership in the process and 147 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:29.704 they have to be actively involved in, like you said, not just 148 00:06:29.742 --> 00:06:32.696 knowing the rules, but interpreting and applying them. Which is like 149 00:06:32.718 --> 00:06:33.736 a whole other level. 150 00:06:33.838 --> 00:06:36.776 Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's one thing to know what the 151 00:06:36.798 --> 00:06:39.660 words say, but to be able to understand them and apply 152 00:06:39.730 --> 00:06:42.716 them, uh, is really a key to phase three, for 153 00:06:42.738 --> 00:06:42.972 sure. 154 00:06:43.026 --> 00:06:45.964 Yeah. And that's kind of the difference between being 155 00:06:46.002 --> 00:06:48.984 able to select the right bubble on a multiple choice 156 00:06:49.032 --> 00:06:51.320 test and then actually being a pilot. 157 00:06:51.400 --> 00:06:52.290 Yeah, exactly. 158 00:06:53.380 --> 00:06:56.336 So when we last checked in, you said that you found the 159 00:06:56.358 --> 00:06:59.036 hands and feet to be the biggest challenge of the flying 160 00:06:59.068 --> 00:07:01.408 course. Did you find that change in phase three? 161 00:07:01.494 --> 00:07:04.370 No, it was still the biggest challenge. Uh, 162 00:07:04.370 --> 00:07:07.044 I mean, when you look at it, I had a bunch less hours 163 00:07:07.162 --> 00:07:09.988 than most guys coming onto the course, save for 164 00:07:10.074 --> 00:07:12.704 guys like yourself that got to skip phase one with the commercial 165 00:07:12.752 --> 00:07:15.636 license. But then you already had the experience in order to 166 00:07:15.658 --> 00:07:18.312 do that. That's right. So for me, it was still the most 167 00:07:18.366 --> 00:07:21.256 difficult thing. The difference being in the 168 00:07:21.278 --> 00:07:23.800 King Air versus the grove. The King Air. We're not doing 169 00:07:23.870 --> 00:07:26.324 aerobatics. We do steep turns 170 00:07:26.372 --> 00:07:29.100 once in the practice area, and then everything 171 00:07:29.170 --> 00:07:31.868 else after that is circuits and 172 00:07:31.954 --> 00:07:33.260 normal flying stuff. 173 00:07:33.330 --> 00:07:33.852 That's right. 174 00:07:33.906 --> 00:07:36.780 So the hands and feet were still not a problem, 175 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:39.836 but still the struggle that I had. But for 176 00:07:39.858 --> 00:07:42.352 the most part, I was able to get over that by, again, 177 00:07:42.406 --> 00:07:45.392 just doing the chair flying and making 178 00:07:45.446 --> 00:07:48.096 sure I can offload some of the other 179 00:07:48.278 --> 00:07:51.232 mental stimulation so that I could put 180 00:07:51.286 --> 00:07:52.732 more towards the hands and feet. 181 00:07:52.796 --> 00:07:55.412 Yeah. The good thing about that 182 00:07:55.466 --> 00:07:58.340 being an issue, if I could put it that way, 183 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:01.316 is it's better than, say, your decision making being your 184 00:08:01.338 --> 00:08:04.112 biggest struggle. Hands and feet will come with time and practice. 185 00:08:04.176 --> 00:08:04.836 Yeah, exactly. 186 00:08:04.938 --> 00:08:07.936 So will most things, but I would argue that 187 00:08:07.978 --> 00:08:10.856 as long as you're able to have good enough hands 188 00:08:10.878 --> 00:08:13.224 and feet to earn your wings, the rest will come in time. 189 00:08:13.262 --> 00:08:13.944 Yeah, exactly. 190 00:08:14.062 --> 00:08:15.912 It's actually a fairly small problem to have. 191 00:08:15.966 --> 00:08:18.780 And, I mean, really, the hands and feet piece 192 00:08:18.850 --> 00:08:21.788 was really only important on landing and 193 00:08:21.794 --> 00:08:24.648 takeoff. Not that those aren't critical times of flight, 194 00:08:24.744 --> 00:08:27.230 but those were the only times that it was really obvious 195 00:08:28.340 --> 00:08:29.184 yeah. 196 00:08:29.382 --> 00:08:32.336 During literally what are known as the critical phases of 197 00:08:32.358 --> 00:08:32.960 flight. 198 00:08:35.140 --> 00:08:38.016 So you just mentioned the simulator. Phase three has 199 00:08:38.038 --> 00:08:40.384 a significant amount of simulation, or roughly about 200 00:08:40.422 --> 00:08:42.704 50%. How did you find that? 201 00:08:42.822 --> 00:08:45.604 It was interesting. A little bit of a change from what I 202 00:08:45.642 --> 00:08:48.448 experienced on the grove side. The simulator for the King 203 00:08:48.464 --> 00:08:51.316 Air has much better fidelity and is actually, uh, a 204 00:08:51.338 --> 00:08:54.024 certified simulator. So when we did our 205 00:08:54.142 --> 00:08:56.520 IFR practice, we were actually 206 00:08:56.590 --> 00:08:59.464 getting actual IFR time that we could 207 00:08:59.502 --> 00:09:02.392 log. So it was interesting 208 00:09:02.526 --> 00:09:05.000 knowing that the first, I think, 209 00:09:05.070 --> 00:09:07.656 18 missions that we did were all in the 210 00:09:07.678 --> 00:09:10.636 simulator. And then you go into the airplane, and 211 00:09:10.658 --> 00:09:13.564 it's like, all right, well, you've already done this 17 times. 212 00:09:13.762 --> 00:09:16.664 You should know how to do this. But wait a minute. 213 00:09:16.792 --> 00:09:19.784 I've never been in this airplane, so it was a bit of a leap 214 00:09:19.832 --> 00:09:22.816 from that. But when you look at, uh, what industry does 215 00:09:22.918 --> 00:09:25.792 I know a couple of guys that are Air Canada pilots and have 216 00:09:25.846 --> 00:09:28.832 never seen the inside of the aircraft until their first 217 00:09:28.886 --> 00:09:31.856 passenger flight. Now, obviously, there's a guy that knows what 218 00:09:31.878 --> 00:09:34.450 he's doing that's flown a bunch beside him. But 219 00:09:34.900 --> 00:09:37.668 for new pilots in our Canada, it's the same kind of 220 00:09:37.674 --> 00:09:40.496 thing. So the fact that there was a lot of simulation, 221 00:09:40.608 --> 00:09:42.944 I think, also takes away, uh, the weather 222 00:09:42.992 --> 00:09:45.892 factor. Uh, it meant, no matter what, every 223 00:09:45.946 --> 00:09:47.860 single day we could be in the simulator. 224 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:49.300 Yeah. It gives you great continuity. 225 00:09:49.380 --> 00:09:52.232 Exactly. Yeah. So we flew for the first three 226 00:09:52.286 --> 00:09:54.744 weeks we were in the simulator every day. 227 00:09:54.862 --> 00:09:57.496 And for the SIM anyways, we got pretty good at 228 00:09:57.518 --> 00:10:00.316 it. Now, there's some things that the SIM doesn't do great. You 229 00:10:00.338 --> 00:10:02.748 can't taxi in the SIM and basically anything 230 00:10:02.834 --> 00:10:05.804 below 100ft in the SIM is 231 00:10:05.842 --> 00:10:08.188 a bit off. It's not perfect 232 00:10:08.274 --> 00:10:11.068 anyways. Uh, but all of the airborne stuff is 233 00:10:11.154 --> 00:10:14.128 exactly what it's good for. And then the emergencies was the 234 00:10:14.134 --> 00:10:16.876 other piece. So we don't do any actual emergencies in the airplane 235 00:10:16.908 --> 00:10:19.410 anymore. Everything is done in the SIM. 236 00:10:19.780 --> 00:10:22.656 So they can do anything they want in the SIM because you can't 237 00:10:22.688 --> 00:10:25.328 kill yourself. It's all engine failures 238 00:10:25.424 --> 00:10:27.984 and yellow page. So non critical 239 00:10:28.032 --> 00:10:30.996 emergencies, uh, take time, open the checklist and see 240 00:10:31.018 --> 00:10:33.780 what's going on. But also all the critical ones like engine 241 00:10:33.850 --> 00:10:36.836 failures, engine fires, anything that requires you 242 00:10:36.858 --> 00:10:39.576 to take action right away. We can do that all in the 243 00:10:39.598 --> 00:10:42.436 SIM. And then you don't ever risk the airplane or risk 244 00:10:42.468 --> 00:10:43.268 the air crew. 245 00:10:43.364 --> 00:10:46.164 Yeah, and like you said, this is sort of industry 246 00:10:46.212 --> 00:10:49.196 standard and I think it's something we're going to see more and more in the 247 00:10:49.218 --> 00:10:52.124 Air Force. Like it or not. We're always looking 248 00:10:52.162 --> 00:10:54.780 for ways to do things with lower 249 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:57.788 cost. And obviously it costs less to operate a 250 00:10:57.794 --> 00:11:00.604 simulator than it does to operate an know 251 00:11:00.642 --> 00:11:03.580 as pilots, we all want to fly, we all want to fly the airplane. 252 00:11:03.660 --> 00:11:06.500 And I think it's natural sometimes to have a bit of a, 253 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:09.344 uh, the SIM again. But the truth is you get great 254 00:11:09.382 --> 00:11:12.336 experience out of it and you go in with a positive attitude and it 255 00:11:12.358 --> 00:11:14.948 can be an awesome learning experience. And like you said, 256 00:11:15.114 --> 00:11:17.972 I bet you the progress you folks made 257 00:11:18.026 --> 00:11:20.820 in those three weeks or so in the SIM was crazy. 258 00:11:20.890 --> 00:11:23.744 You probably went from literally what's, a King 259 00:11:23.792 --> 00:11:26.052 Air to I can operate a King Air. 260 00:11:26.106 --> 00:11:28.856 Yeah, exactly. So we did that three weeks of 261 00:11:28.878 --> 00:11:31.544 simulator stuff and then jumped into the airplane the next 262 00:11:31.582 --> 00:11:34.328 day. And while there's some differences, like I said, 263 00:11:34.414 --> 00:11:37.368 I knew where all the buttons were, I knew how the airplane was going 264 00:11:37.374 --> 00:11:40.100 to react. So I could basically just hop in the 265 00:11:40.110 --> 00:11:43.036 cockpit and go. And there wasn't a lot of get to know 266 00:11:43.058 --> 00:11:45.852 you time with the airplane because I already knew it, it was good to go. 267 00:11:45.906 --> 00:11:46.510 Yeah. 268 00:11:47.280 --> 00:11:50.232 So the training plan, essentially the curriculum 269 00:11:50.296 --> 00:11:53.276 has changed some since we covered it with an instructor. 270 00:11:53.388 --> 00:11:55.068 What are some of the new elements? 271 00:11:55.244 --> 00:11:57.980 So from what I understand from the instructors, 272 00:11:58.060 --> 00:12:00.410 the two big new elements I guess are mutual, uh, 273 00:12:00.876 --> 00:12:03.824 flights, which I think we'll get into, and the 274 00:12:03.862 --> 00:12:06.804 fact that we don't do all the training in Portage anymore. So 275 00:12:06.842 --> 00:12:09.748 from what I understand, the previous training plan, 276 00:12:09.914 --> 00:12:12.864 almost everything was done in portage until you do a couple cross 277 00:12:12.912 --> 00:12:15.732 countries and then you come back and you finish off with 278 00:12:15.786 --> 00:12:18.616 like an iron triangle to Dolphin and Brandon and 279 00:12:18.638 --> 00:12:18.824 back. 280 00:12:18.862 --> 00:12:19.512 Yeah, that's right. 281 00:12:19.566 --> 00:12:22.488 We don't do that anymore. So all of the circuit work that 282 00:12:22.494 --> 00:12:25.416 we do VFR, we do a little bit in portage just to 283 00:12:25.438 --> 00:12:28.344 get comfortable with the airplane and then we leave. We go to Gimli 284 00:12:28.392 --> 00:12:31.368 and Lactobani. We go to Russell. 285 00:12:31.464 --> 00:12:34.376 You know, all these communities around here that have airports, 286 00:12:34.488 --> 00:12:37.148 and we go there to fly mhm for a couple of 287 00:12:37.154 --> 00:12:39.744 reasons, I think. One, because it 288 00:12:39.782 --> 00:12:42.000 forces you to understand different 289 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:44.944 airports, different procedures. You're not always 290 00:12:44.982 --> 00:12:47.920 under control. So none of those airports that I just mentioned 291 00:12:48.070 --> 00:12:50.796 are controlled airfields like here in Portage. 292 00:12:50.908 --> 00:12:53.776 So you're dealing with Brandon radio, which is just 293 00:12:53.798 --> 00:12:56.596 a guy on the ground who you say, hey, this is what I'm doing. And he 294 00:12:56.618 --> 00:12:59.556 says, cool, here's the other people that are in the area. Or 295 00:12:59.578 --> 00:13:02.564 a Gimli where there's nobody. And you have to talk to the other 296 00:13:02.602 --> 00:13:05.268 traffic directly. Hey, helicopter over there, 297 00:13:05.354 --> 00:13:08.296 I'm over here, I'm doing this. Okay, what are you doing? Okay, now 298 00:13:08.318 --> 00:13:10.952 we all know what we're doing. We'll stay out of each other's way, 299 00:13:11.006 --> 00:13:13.896 deconflict in between, uh, each other. So 300 00:13:13.918 --> 00:13:16.872 it was really good for that. And the other piece is you get 301 00:13:16.926 --> 00:13:19.340 used to different airfields itself. 302 00:13:19.490 --> 00:13:22.364 So if you always land on 31 left 303 00:13:22.402 --> 00:13:25.212 or one three right here in Southport, you're always 304 00:13:25.266 --> 00:13:27.836 going to have Pappies to tell you 305 00:13:28.018 --> 00:13:29.804 where your glide slope is. Right? 306 00:13:29.842 --> 00:13:32.472 So which we just googled and it's precision approach 307 00:13:32.536 --> 00:13:35.484 path indicator. It's a series of lights. There's four of them. 308 00:13:35.602 --> 00:13:38.380 They turn from white to red as you're in the right 309 00:13:38.450 --> 00:13:40.152 position on the glide slope. 310 00:13:40.216 --> 00:13:43.028 Yeah, so in Portage, you always have Pappies if you're on the 311 00:13:43.034 --> 00:13:45.844 outer runway. So you always know what your glide slope looks 312 00:13:45.882 --> 00:13:48.756 like. You're always going to have the same shape of the 313 00:13:48.778 --> 00:13:51.684 runway, you're always going to have the same length of the runway. So 314 00:13:51.722 --> 00:13:54.516 you're going to get used to that. And then you're going to get 315 00:13:54.538 --> 00:13:57.348 into a herc and go fly somewhere in, I don't 316 00:13:57.364 --> 00:14:00.228 know, Africa, where it's a 3000 foot runway 317 00:14:00.324 --> 00:14:03.224 that's only 50ft wide, and you have to figure 318 00:14:03.262 --> 00:14:06.052 out how to land on that mhm. So by going to Gimli, 319 00:14:06.116 --> 00:14:08.956 by going to Lactabani, by going to Brandon and 320 00:14:08.978 --> 00:14:11.916 Verdon and Russell and all these other places, all of the 321 00:14:11.938 --> 00:14:14.796 runways are different shapes and sizes. Uh, obviously they're all 322 00:14:14.818 --> 00:14:17.656 rectangles, but they're all 3000ft 323 00:14:17.688 --> 00:14:20.344 long and 50ft wide, or 7000ft 324 00:14:20.392 --> 00:14:23.216 long and 100ft wide. And it changes the 325 00:14:23.238 --> 00:14:26.080 view and it gives us the perspective of, okay, 326 00:14:26.150 --> 00:14:29.056 I can't always look for the same picture in 327 00:14:29.078 --> 00:14:31.644 front of me. I have to adjust it based on the runway. 328 00:14:31.772 --> 00:14:34.708 Yeah, that's a huge advantage. When I went through, 329 00:14:34.794 --> 00:14:37.492 we focused a lot more on steep turn 330 00:14:37.546 --> 00:14:40.436 stalls, slow flight out in the area, and then we'd come 331 00:14:40.458 --> 00:14:43.236 back and do circuits in Portage, like you 332 00:14:43.258 --> 00:14:46.216 said, almost exclusively. And while I think that was a 333 00:14:46.238 --> 00:14:49.144 good, strong training course, I do think this is going to set, 334 00:14:49.170 --> 00:14:51.752 uh, up pilots for a stronger start 335 00:14:51.886 --> 00:14:54.744 just through the breadth of experience that they're getting. 336 00:14:54.942 --> 00:14:57.752 And also, it's crazy to say, 337 00:14:57.806 --> 00:15:00.696 but sometimes you'll run into people or even you'll 338 00:15:00.728 --> 00:15:03.576 find in yourself, you'll get to a squadron, you'll 339 00:15:03.608 --> 00:15:06.444 learn to fly this new operational aircraft that's super 340 00:15:06.482 --> 00:15:09.404 complex and amazing. You'll have 341 00:15:09.442 --> 00:15:12.396 no problem transiting around IFR because you've done a lot of that kind 342 00:15:12.418 --> 00:15:14.684 of work. But the first time you have to transit somewhere 343 00:15:14.732 --> 00:15:17.596 VFR or the first time you go into an uncontrolled 344 00:15:17.628 --> 00:15:20.288 airport and it's been a while, you got to look up all the 345 00:15:20.294 --> 00:15:23.056 rules, obviously, but it can be like, wow, it's a bit 346 00:15:23.078 --> 00:15:25.648 daunting. I haven't done this much before, so 347 00:15:25.734 --> 00:15:28.644 hopefully we'll have less of that kind of thing going on with this 348 00:15:28.682 --> 00:15:29.460 new training plan. 349 00:15:29.530 --> 00:15:32.036 Yeah, we get a lot of really good experience doing that kind of 350 00:15:32.058 --> 00:15:32.532 stuff. 351 00:15:32.666 --> 00:15:35.060 Yeah, I think that's a great way of conducting the training. 352 00:15:35.130 --> 00:15:36.230 Yeah, for sure. 353 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:40.216 So you mentioned this briefly before. Can you tell us what a 354 00:15:40.238 --> 00:15:42.408 student mutual is and what it's like to fly one? 355 00:15:42.494 --> 00:15:45.476 So a student mutual is essentially a solo 356 00:15:45.508 --> 00:15:48.296 for a multi engine pilot, if you will. Normally, an 357 00:15:48.318 --> 00:15:51.248 instructional trip is you as a student in the left seat 358 00:15:51.284 --> 00:15:54.156 and the instructor in the right seat of the cockpit. A 359 00:15:54.178 --> 00:15:57.176 student mutual is a student in the left seat and a student in the right seat 360 00:15:57.208 --> 00:16:00.156 with no instructor at all. So very similar to what you would have got as 361 00:16:00.178 --> 00:16:03.048 a solo on a Harvard or in the Grove. And 362 00:16:03.074 --> 00:16:05.904 we have three of those on the course now. The first one is just 363 00:16:05.942 --> 00:16:08.752 in the circuit itself. So you and your 364 00:16:08.806 --> 00:16:11.536 flight partner just go up and beat the pattern a bit, 365 00:16:11.638 --> 00:16:14.316 come back down, land, park it, swap 366 00:16:14.348 --> 00:16:17.216 seats, and then do it again so that the other guy gets the flying 367 00:16:17.248 --> 00:16:19.876 experience and you get, uh, the right seat experience. 368 00:16:20.058 --> 00:16:22.628 The second one is exactly what we just talked about, a 369 00:16:22.634 --> 00:16:25.620 VFR round robin trip. So for my mutual, we went to, uh, 370 00:16:25.626 --> 00:16:28.536 Gimli and then Lactobani and then came back and it 371 00:16:28.558 --> 00:16:31.496 was a lot of fun. So it's just you and another student. You 372 00:16:31.518 --> 00:16:34.504 guys are fully responsible for yourselves, your 373 00:16:34.542 --> 00:16:37.428 airplane, your procedures, and it's really good 374 00:16:37.454 --> 00:16:40.364 for building confidence. The last mutual you do 375 00:16:40.402 --> 00:16:43.372 after your final test, so it's a weird one 376 00:16:43.426 --> 00:16:45.960 in that you're already done. You have essentially 377 00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:48.976 completed the requirements to graduate, but you still have one 378 00:16:48.998 --> 00:16:51.632 flight to go. Mhm, and uh, that's your 379 00:16:51.686 --> 00:16:54.044 first, quote, unquote, solo 380 00:16:54.172 --> 00:16:57.040 IFR trip. It's on what we call 381 00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:00.096 your ticket. So when you pass your final instrument test, 382 00:17:00.198 --> 00:17:02.908 we get an IFR ticket, a license essentially, that 383 00:17:02.934 --> 00:17:05.876 allows us to fly IFR. Normally we've been doing 384 00:17:05.898 --> 00:17:08.768 that with an instructor under their ticket. Now it's 385 00:17:08.784 --> 00:17:11.488 under our ticket. So myself and my partner 386 00:17:11.584 --> 00:17:14.500 got the airplane, made sure it was all gassed up, 387 00:17:14.570 --> 00:17:17.496 figured out what the plan was, flew off to Saskatoon, did 388 00:17:17.518 --> 00:17:19.976 an approach on the way, had lunch in 389 00:17:19.998 --> 00:17:22.824 Saskatoon, got the airplane gassed up, paid 390 00:17:22.862 --> 00:17:25.848 with the credit card given by the school, and then we jumped back in the 391 00:17:25.854 --> 00:17:28.730 airplane and flew back to Portage. So it's really, 392 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:32.156 you know, we've done all these procedures. I've done this with an 393 00:17:32.178 --> 00:17:35.004 instructor a couple of times. This is the first time where 394 00:17:35.042 --> 00:17:37.996 we get to go out and really do this by ourselves. And 395 00:17:38.018 --> 00:17:40.796 it really solidifies all of the training, all of the 396 00:17:40.818 --> 00:17:43.632 things that we've done to get to that point to pass 397 00:17:43.686 --> 00:17:46.624 the final instrument test. It solidifies all that 398 00:17:46.662 --> 00:17:49.504 in, like, hey, we trust you to go out and do this 399 00:17:49.542 --> 00:17:50.944 by yourselves. Have fun. 400 00:17:51.062 --> 00:17:53.748 That is so cool. I didn't realize that there was a 401 00:17:53.754 --> 00:17:56.660 mutual like, I knew about the mutes that were 402 00:17:56.810 --> 00:17:59.776 going to the circuit doing around Robin. I didn't 403 00:17:59.808 --> 00:18:02.736 realize there was an actual IFR trip 404 00:18:02.768 --> 00:18:05.764 where you shut down and had lunch. And IFR I think we've mentioned, 405 00:18:05.802 --> 00:18:08.520 is instrument flight rules. That's just so cool, because 406 00:18:08.590 --> 00:18:11.352 honestly, it's not something you're going to do until 407 00:18:11.406 --> 00:18:14.200 you're an aircraft commander. And even then, 408 00:18:14.270 --> 00:18:17.016 depending on what aircraft you fly, if you have a flight engineer or 409 00:18:17.038 --> 00:18:20.024 whatever, you're not involved in every single step of that, like the fueling 410 00:18:20.072 --> 00:18:22.904 and stuff. So you might not do that until you're 411 00:18:22.952 --> 00:18:24.504 back at portage as an instructor. 412 00:18:24.552 --> 00:18:25.292 Yeah, exactly. 413 00:18:25.426 --> 00:18:27.512 What a cool thing to do as a new graduate. 414 00:18:27.576 --> 00:18:30.512 Yeah, it was so cool and so much fun to just 415 00:18:30.646 --> 00:18:33.568 get up airborne and then go, wait a 416 00:18:33.574 --> 00:18:36.396 minute, it's all on there's. 417 00:18:36.428 --> 00:18:39.264 There's nobody here to know. Oh, 418 00:18:39.302 --> 00:18:42.250 no, that's what ATC just told you. Or no one to, uh, 419 00:18:42.598 --> 00:18:45.136 okay, let's do this procedure or this kind of 420 00:18:45.158 --> 00:18:48.148 landing. No, no, it's all you. You get to choose what kind 421 00:18:48.154 --> 00:18:51.136 of approach you want to do. If you miss a clearance, you're 422 00:18:51.168 --> 00:18:53.860 calling back to say, hey, sorry, 423 00:18:53.930 --> 00:18:56.804 guys, can you say that again? Because I missed it. It's all on 424 00:18:56.842 --> 00:18:59.736 you. So it's a real good confidence booster, and it was such 425 00:18:59.758 --> 00:19:00.488 a cool experience. 426 00:19:00.574 --> 00:19:03.368 Yeah, I was just going to say the same thing. Um, what a 427 00:19:03.374 --> 00:19:06.008 boost for your confidence to just really show yourself, 428 00:19:06.094 --> 00:19:08.280 like, I can do this, let's go. 429 00:19:08.350 --> 00:19:09.160 Yeah, exactly. 430 00:19:09.310 --> 00:19:10.668 That is awesome. 431 00:19:10.754 --> 00:19:13.708 And as far as I know, between my partner and I, we did 432 00:19:13.714 --> 00:19:15.464 not lose our tickets on this first flight. 433 00:19:15.512 --> 00:19:17.630 You wouldn't know by now, I think. So 434 00:19:19.600 --> 00:19:22.300 one of the other big adventures you take on phase three 435 00:19:22.370 --> 00:19:25.264 are two multiple day cross countries. Can you tell us about 436 00:19:25.302 --> 00:19:25.552 those? 437 00:19:25.606 --> 00:19:28.496 Yeah, sure. So there's two cross countries, like you said, uh, one is to 438 00:19:28.518 --> 00:19:31.468 the US. And the other is to western Canada. 439 00:19:31.564 --> 00:19:34.516 So the idea is we want you to get some experience 440 00:19:34.618 --> 00:19:37.264 in US. Flying. Similar, but slightly 441 00:19:37.312 --> 00:19:40.084 different ATC, but, uh, they want you to have some 442 00:19:40.122 --> 00:19:43.108 experience in that, and they want you to have some experience flying in 443 00:19:43.114 --> 00:19:45.844 the mountains. The mountains in Canada, there's no 444 00:19:45.882 --> 00:19:48.696 difference in terms of the actual procedures, but you 445 00:19:48.718 --> 00:19:51.508 do have a bunch of granite around that you want to avoid. 446 00:19:51.604 --> 00:19:54.420 So they want to send you out there with an instructor 447 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.080 and give you some time to really, uh, get comfortable 448 00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:59.612 flying in slightly more 449 00:19:59.666 --> 00:20:02.508 dangerous, uh, locations. So, 450 00:20:02.594 --> 00:20:05.416 for my first cross country, we ended up doing the US. Cross 451 00:20:05.448 --> 00:20:07.940 country first, and we went down to, uh, 452 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:10.796 Minnesota, Nebraska, and Missouri. 453 00:20:10.828 --> 00:20:13.744 So we started the first day, flew down to St. Louis with 454 00:20:13.782 --> 00:20:16.556 a stop in Rochester, Minnesota, to clear customs. 455 00:20:16.668 --> 00:20:19.560 And then the second day, we flew, uh, 456 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:22.548 into Minneapolis, uh, Minnesota. Uh, at the end of 457 00:20:22.554 --> 00:20:24.576 the day, that was really cool. Very busy 458 00:20:24.608 --> 00:20:27.396 airspace. Uh, and then on the third day, we went 459 00:20:27.418 --> 00:20:29.910 through Duluth, Minnesota, and then, 460 00:20:30.110 --> 00:20:31.488 uh, back into Portage. 461 00:20:31.584 --> 00:20:34.084 Okay, so how did you find that experience? 462 00:20:34.202 --> 00:20:36.996 It was very cool. So, uh, it's basically normally 463 00:20:37.028 --> 00:20:39.736 what happens when you have a full course of four people, 464 00:20:39.838 --> 00:20:42.632 two students and instructor in each airplane. So 465 00:20:42.686 --> 00:20:45.432 one student is flying, the instructor is in the right 466 00:20:45.486 --> 00:20:48.072 seat, and then the second student is in the back 467 00:20:48.126 --> 00:20:50.516 doing the comms. So talking to ATC, 468 00:20:50.628 --> 00:20:53.404 requesting clearances and all that kind of stuff. So 469 00:20:53.522 --> 00:20:56.476 the original plan was I was going to be in the backseat at the beginning, and 470 00:20:56.498 --> 00:20:59.240 then fly the second leg. There was a little bit of shuffling, 471 00:20:59.320 --> 00:21:02.080 and, uh, if, uh, my partner's listening, he's probably 472 00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:05.072 laughing about this, but I ended up flying the first 473 00:21:05.126 --> 00:21:07.984 leg, and I wasn't totally prepared for 474 00:21:08.022 --> 00:21:10.896 that because I hadn't done the planning for that leg. But 475 00:21:10.918 --> 00:21:13.664 I ended up flying the first leg into the US. And 476 00:21:13.702 --> 00:21:16.320 figuring out how to clear customs, uh, in Rochester, 477 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:19.204 Minnesota. And it was an experience I've never done that 478 00:21:19.242 --> 00:21:22.116 before. When I was flying the Alpha jet, I would fly in on Air 479 00:21:22.138 --> 00:21:24.420 Canada and meet the airplane wherever it was. 480 00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:24.884 Oh, wow. 481 00:21:24.922 --> 00:21:27.512 So this was really my first time being on board 482 00:21:27.646 --> 00:21:30.596 or being in charge of a military aircraft and landing 483 00:21:30.628 --> 00:21:33.272 to clear customs. And it was a super cool experience. 484 00:21:33.406 --> 00:21:36.084 Yeah, those trips are really very formative. 485 00:21:36.212 --> 00:21:39.016 A lot of learning takes place on those. I would say 486 00:21:39.038 --> 00:21:41.884 that in those three days, you probably learn as much as, like, 487 00:21:41.922 --> 00:21:44.796 ten other flights back out of Portage. You're just 488 00:21:44.818 --> 00:21:47.788 doing so much, and you're seeing so many new things. What do you think 489 00:21:47.794 --> 00:21:50.476 is, like, the biggest thing you learned flying into the States? 490 00:21:50.578 --> 00:21:53.440 So, I mean, really, it's kind of like we said earlier with, 491 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.240 uh, the simulator missions, it's continuity. So 492 00:21:56.390 --> 00:21:59.360 you fly three, four days in a row. You do 493 00:21:59.430 --> 00:22:02.032 three or four approaches every single day, and 494 00:22:02.086 --> 00:22:04.916 maybe two touch and goes, or a touch and go and a 495 00:22:04.938 --> 00:22:07.796 final landing. So the amount of experience that 496 00:22:07.818 --> 00:22:10.612 you get in that three day period, you're doing 497 00:22:10.666 --> 00:22:13.416 nine approaches, you're doing probably six to 498 00:22:13.438 --> 00:22:16.344 eight landings. All of that together will 499 00:22:16.382 --> 00:22:19.188 combine to make you just such a better pilot. 500 00:22:19.364 --> 00:22:22.150 Aside from, okay, now you're talking to us, uh, 501 00:22:22.782 --> 00:22:25.192 ATC. Sometimes they talk 502 00:22:25.246 --> 00:22:28.004 extremely fast. Procedures are slightly 503 00:22:28.052 --> 00:22:30.136 different, but nothing too crazy. 504 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:32.444 Uh, just a couple of things you have to learn before you go down there. 505 00:22:32.482 --> 00:22:35.388 Yeah, exactly. And they teach you all of it and then test you on 506 00:22:35.394 --> 00:22:38.380 it before you go do it. Mhm, but it was such a cool experience 507 00:22:38.530 --> 00:22:41.436 to listen to the ATC, to do all 508 00:22:41.458 --> 00:22:44.448 of these approaches. And the approaches themselves 509 00:22:44.534 --> 00:22:47.388 are exactly the same as what we do here in Canada. So you're 510 00:22:47.404 --> 00:22:50.012 really getting the same experience and the same ability 511 00:22:50.156 --> 00:22:52.144 that you're going to have to do on your final test. 512 00:22:52.262 --> 00:22:55.236 Yeah, it's really kind of like the hero's quest where you go 513 00:22:55.258 --> 00:22:58.084 out and prove yourself and you come back a different 514 00:22:58.122 --> 00:22:58.420 person. 515 00:22:58.490 --> 00:23:01.456 Almost exactly, yeah. So then the second cross 516 00:23:01.488 --> 00:23:04.324 country is the, uh, western Canadian cross country. The 517 00:23:04.362 --> 00:23:07.236 design is get you out in the mountains and get you some mountain 518 00:23:07.268 --> 00:23:10.196 experience. So we left here, flew through Medicine 519 00:23:10.228 --> 00:23:13.076 Hat, and then, uh, I did an approach in Castlegar, BC. 520 00:23:13.188 --> 00:23:16.148 Which was super cool, like you're 521 00:23:16.164 --> 00:23:18.696 doing an approach through a valley, you have 522 00:23:18.798 --> 00:23:21.628 10,000 foot mountains on either side of you, 523 00:23:21.714 --> 00:23:24.668 so you really have to pay attention to what you're doing. There's a lot 524 00:23:24.674 --> 00:23:27.036 of autopilot that we're using at that point. 525 00:23:27.138 --> 00:23:30.088 So the autopilot is going to do what the autopilot 526 00:23:30.104 --> 00:23:33.088 is going to do, but if it does something that you don't expect, you got 527 00:23:33.094 --> 00:23:35.724 to be ready to take control. So just because the plane's flying 528 00:23:35.772 --> 00:23:38.768 itself doesn't mean you're not paying attention. So 529 00:23:38.854 --> 00:23:41.484 Castlegar was really cool. Then we went into Calgary. 530 00:23:41.612 --> 00:23:43.116 Can I ask you a question about Castlegar? 531 00:23:43.148 --> 00:23:43.664 Yeah, go for it. 532 00:23:43.702 --> 00:23:46.568 Were you there, uh, in good weather or was there clouds? 533 00:23:46.684 --> 00:23:49.636 No, it was pretty good weather, which was one of the only reasons why we did 534 00:23:49.658 --> 00:23:52.628 it was because we could go down, do the approach. I 535 00:23:52.634 --> 00:23:55.184 think we even did a touch and go that day and then 536 00:23:55.242 --> 00:23:58.136 did, uh, what we call a spec vis departure. So 537 00:23:58.238 --> 00:24:00.900 essentially, you have to climb to a certain altitude 538 00:24:01.060 --> 00:24:03.912 visually in good weather before you can enter 539 00:24:03.966 --> 00:24:06.756 cloud. And in doing so, that will kind of, quote 540 00:24:06.788 --> 00:24:09.468 unquote guarantee you that you're not going to hit a 541 00:24:09.474 --> 00:24:12.316 mountain as you're climbing out or going en 542 00:24:12.338 --> 00:24:15.324 route. Uh, so we had the weather in order to do the spec 543 00:24:15.362 --> 00:24:18.316 vis departure, which was great. It meant that I did do 544 00:24:18.338 --> 00:24:21.116 a touch and go and was able to climb up and see the 545 00:24:21.138 --> 00:24:23.984 mountains and go, okay, don't go over there because 546 00:24:24.022 --> 00:24:26.976 that's going to hurt and the little King Air is 547 00:24:26.998 --> 00:24:29.244 not going to win against the 10,000 foot mountain. 548 00:24:29.292 --> 00:24:32.176 No, I did an approach into Castlegar, which we were only going to do 549 00:24:32.198 --> 00:24:34.632 to the low approach because we did not have the weather. 550 00:24:34.796 --> 00:24:37.664 And let me tell you, it is a weird, weird 551 00:24:37.712 --> 00:24:40.656 feeling when you know there's mountains all around you and you're 552 00:24:40.688 --> 00:24:43.236 in cloud and you just have this magenta line on your 553 00:24:43.258 --> 00:24:46.244 GPS and you start descending and you're like, well. I 554 00:24:46.282 --> 00:24:48.896 just trust that the GPS and the autopilot and 555 00:24:49.018 --> 00:24:51.956 we're all in the right place and we know where we are and there's 556 00:24:51.988 --> 00:24:54.804 nothing in these clouds. Like, it is a weird 557 00:24:54.852 --> 00:24:55.204 feeling. 558 00:24:55.252 --> 00:24:58.196 It is a very weird feeling. So after Calcigar, 559 00:24:58.228 --> 00:25:01.132 we did Calgary for the night, mhm, and then after the next 560 00:25:01.186 --> 00:25:04.140 day, we went to Comox Victoria. And then on the way back 561 00:25:04.210 --> 00:25:06.844 from Victoria, we did Kamloops. And it was 562 00:25:06.882 --> 00:25:09.816 exactly that. The weather was crap, the clouds 563 00:25:09.848 --> 00:25:12.656 were right down to the ground. So my partner was 564 00:25:12.678 --> 00:25:15.456 flying the approach. I was in the backseat, uh, and 565 00:25:15.558 --> 00:25:18.496 I'm looking out the window going, man, I hope he knows what 566 00:25:18.518 --> 00:25:21.104 he's doing because I have no control of this 567 00:25:21.142 --> 00:25:24.032 situation and I can't see anything other than 568 00:25:24.086 --> 00:25:26.980 cloud. And like you said, you're just diving through the cloud, 569 00:25:27.050 --> 00:25:29.876 following the Magenta Line, hoping that things are going to work out. 570 00:25:29.978 --> 00:25:32.756 They did. I didn't crash into a mountain and neither did my 571 00:25:32.778 --> 00:25:35.716 partner. And, uh, back to Calgary for that night and then we came 572 00:25:35.738 --> 00:25:36.740 home the following day. 573 00:25:36.810 --> 00:25:39.688 That's an awesome trip for people listening, just to take a 574 00:25:39.694 --> 00:25:42.632 second to think about the geography of that. You guys went 575 00:25:42.686 --> 00:25:45.588 from Central Canada all the way to the west coast, 576 00:25:45.684 --> 00:25:48.616 to the tip of the west coast and back, all in this 577 00:25:48.638 --> 00:25:51.500 little King air and hitting all these spots along the way. 578 00:25:51.570 --> 00:25:52.844 Think about what an adventure that is. 579 00:25:52.882 --> 00:25:55.736 Yeah. 22,000ft going over the mountains. We flew 580 00:25:55.768 --> 00:25:58.428 directly over top of Whistler. I actually have a 581 00:25:58.434 --> 00:26:01.416 picture looking down on Whistler, and you can see the snow 582 00:26:01.448 --> 00:26:04.416 and the ski runs and everything. And then leaving Victoria, we 583 00:26:04.438 --> 00:26:07.244 were climbing up, I forget where we were, probably like 21,000ft 584 00:26:07.292 --> 00:26:10.208 going eastbound and there was a cloud deck and you 585 00:26:10.214 --> 00:26:12.852 could see Mount Baker, uh, down in the States 586 00:26:12.986 --> 00:26:15.956 poking out through the top of the clouds. Wow, such 587 00:26:15.978 --> 00:26:16.900 a cool experience. 588 00:26:17.050 --> 00:26:18.164 Yeah, that's awesome, man. 589 00:26:18.202 --> 00:26:19.270 Yeah, so cool. 590 00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:23.040 So like we said, your graduation was on Friday. 591 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.148 I can still clearly remember getting my wings put on 592 00:26:26.154 --> 00:26:28.856 my chest. And I remember that after I 593 00:26:28.878 --> 00:26:31.764 marched back to the flight, I kept looking down at these wings, 594 00:26:31.812 --> 00:26:34.440 like almost in shock that they were there. 595 00:26:34.590 --> 00:26:37.192 It was kind of like, wow, I can't believe I have 596 00:26:37.246 --> 00:26:40.156 wings. What was the feeling like when you had your pilot wings put 597 00:26:40.178 --> 00:26:40.808 on your chest? 598 00:26:40.904 --> 00:26:43.708 So there were nine of us that graduated last week. 599 00:26:43.794 --> 00:26:46.412 Six from the Helo flight and three on my course. 600 00:26:46.546 --> 00:26:49.292 So I actually happened to be the last person 601 00:26:49.426 --> 00:26:52.316 among all nine of us to get my wings. So I had to 602 00:26:52.338 --> 00:26:55.296 sit there and watch eight other people get their wings ahead of 603 00:26:55.318 --> 00:26:58.144 me. And then when they called my name and I marched up 604 00:26:58.182 --> 00:27:01.056 and my mom and my dad, my wife are there, my 605 00:27:01.078 --> 00:27:03.844 in laws, my two brothers are all there waiting to 606 00:27:03.882 --> 00:27:06.736 watch and watch me get my wings. It's 607 00:27:06.768 --> 00:27:09.716 such an amazing feeling. Uh, such a relief at 608 00:27:09.738 --> 00:27:12.724 the same time. Uh, the course is 609 00:27:12.762 --> 00:27:15.636 short, but it's intense. And 610 00:27:15.738 --> 00:27:18.488 getting to that finish line is such 611 00:27:18.574 --> 00:27:21.416 an achievement and a relief when you get there and you 612 00:27:21.438 --> 00:27:24.292 can finally, like, now I've got these wings on my chest. 613 00:27:24.356 --> 00:27:27.156 It feels heavy, but, man, I'm so relaxed 614 00:27:27.188 --> 00:27:30.056 right now. And then, exactly the same thing. 615 00:27:30.158 --> 00:27:32.844 I got my wing stepped back, salute, and I start 616 00:27:32.882 --> 00:27:35.804 marching off. And I did kind of peek down at it. I looked 617 00:27:35.842 --> 00:27:38.604 at all my buddies, the, uh, eight of them standing there behind 618 00:27:38.642 --> 00:27:41.552 me that all had their wings on already. And I'm like, man, 619 00:27:41.606 --> 00:27:44.304 we did it. I can't believe we did it. This is 620 00:27:44.342 --> 00:27:44.930 amazing. 621 00:27:45.860 --> 00:27:48.768 Honestly, it'll rank as one of the best days of your 622 00:27:48.774 --> 00:27:50.108 life. It's so memorable. 623 00:27:50.204 --> 00:27:50.704 Absolutely. 624 00:27:50.822 --> 00:27:53.564 Yeah. I hope that alone, hearing that alone 625 00:27:53.612 --> 00:27:56.228 inspires some people to go for it because it's just such an 626 00:27:56.234 --> 00:27:58.964 incredible thing. It's such a crazy thing to 627 00:27:59.002 --> 00:28:01.956 achieve, and so much work goes into that point, and 628 00:28:01.978 --> 00:28:02.820 then you're there. 629 00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:05.656 Yeah. And for those listening, remember, 630 00:28:05.758 --> 00:28:08.696 this was 16 years after I joined the 631 00:28:08.718 --> 00:28:11.288 military, trying to join the military as a 632 00:28:11.294 --> 00:28:14.152 pilot. I waited 16 years for this moment, 633 00:28:14.286 --> 00:28:16.900 and just incredible, man. Incredible. 634 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:18.040 Yeah. That is something. 635 00:28:18.110 --> 00:28:18.730 Yeah. 636 00:28:19.760 --> 00:28:22.556 So now that you've graduated, can you let us know where 637 00:28:22.578 --> 00:28:23.624 you've been posted? 638 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:26.616 Uh, yeah, so we found out the day before. I am posted 639 00:28:26.648 --> 00:28:29.496 to Four Three Six Squadron in Trenton to fly 640 00:28:29.528 --> 00:28:32.336 the CC 130 J model Hercules. It 641 00:28:32.358 --> 00:28:35.296 was my number one choice, and I am so excited to 642 00:28:35.318 --> 00:28:36.384 go do this, man. 643 00:28:36.422 --> 00:28:39.296 That is so cool. What are you most excited for at 644 00:28:39.318 --> 00:28:40.416 four? Three, six? 645 00:28:40.598 --> 00:28:43.424 There's so many things, man. Like the travel. First 646 00:28:43.462 --> 00:28:45.892 of all, they get to go to some really cool 647 00:28:45.946 --> 00:28:48.868 places. The C 17 and the Polaris, they get to 648 00:28:48.874 --> 00:28:51.684 travel, too. But when it's an airport that's too 649 00:28:51.722 --> 00:28:54.596 small to take a C 17 or a Polaris, who 650 00:28:54.618 --> 00:28:57.492 do you call? You call the herc? And in goes the J model 651 00:28:57.546 --> 00:29:00.456 to drop off whatever you or pick up whatever you need. So 652 00:29:00.478 --> 00:29:03.416 I'm so excited about the travel and the places that I'm going to get 653 00:29:03.438 --> 00:29:06.424 to go. But for me, the big thing and the reason why I 654 00:29:06.542 --> 00:29:09.408 pushed for a pilot transfer this late in my career 655 00:29:09.524 --> 00:29:12.380 was because I wanted to be operational. I wanted to be, 656 00:29:12.450 --> 00:29:15.064 I say near the pointy end. I know they're not pointy, 657 00:29:15.112 --> 00:29:17.640 but I wanted to be near that tactical 658 00:29:17.800 --> 00:29:20.700 doing things on the ground kind of deal without 659 00:29:20.770 --> 00:29:23.152 having to be on the ground. I joined the Air Force for that's. Right. 660 00:29:23.206 --> 00:29:25.404 It can get pretty pointy for the Air Force. 661 00:29:25.452 --> 00:29:27.792 Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to do something 662 00:29:27.846 --> 00:29:30.368 operational, and I don't think there's anything 663 00:29:30.534 --> 00:29:33.532 other than maybe flying a fighter jet. I don't think there's anything 664 00:29:33.606 --> 00:29:36.564 quite as pointy in the Air Force as a, uh, J model 665 00:29:36.602 --> 00:29:39.476 Hercules. So I'm so excited to go get to 666 00:29:39.498 --> 00:29:42.096 do some of that tactical airlift, 667 00:29:42.208 --> 00:29:44.500 dropping paratroopers, high, low level, 668 00:29:44.570 --> 00:29:47.460 whatever, just to get into it, uh, 669 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:49.800 and really be operational. It's exciting. Yeah. 670 00:29:49.870 --> 00:29:52.808 For listeners. We've done two shows that kind of relate to 671 00:29:52.814 --> 00:29:55.784 this. One was with Sky Simpson on the C 130, 672 00:29:55.822 --> 00:29:58.644 J Super Hercules. We also, for Remembrance 673 00:29:58.692 --> 00:30:01.304 Day, interviewed Mike Cool about his time in Tactical 674 00:30:01.352 --> 00:30:04.312 Airlift, which was at the time, on the H model Herc in Afghanistan. 675 00:30:04.376 --> 00:30:07.288 And interviewing those two people really gained 676 00:30:07.304 --> 00:30:10.184 me an appreciation for what that community does, how intense 677 00:30:10.232 --> 00:30:12.252 some of the flying is, and just how cool it is. 678 00:30:12.306 --> 00:30:15.216 Yeah. And I've listened to both those episodes again since I 679 00:30:15.238 --> 00:30:18.064 got my selection, and it made me even more 680 00:30:18.102 --> 00:30:19.424 excited to be able to go do this. 681 00:30:19.462 --> 00:30:19.952 That's awesome. 682 00:30:20.006 --> 00:30:20.368 Yeah. 683 00:30:20.454 --> 00:30:23.104 What do you think will be the biggest challenge at four, three, 684 00:30:23.142 --> 00:30:23.632 six? 685 00:30:23.766 --> 00:30:26.596 As much as I'm going to love the travel, the travel is also going to be a 686 00:30:26.618 --> 00:30:26.944 challenge. 687 00:30:26.992 --> 00:30:27.300 Yeah. 688 00:30:27.340 --> 00:30:29.876 Uh, I know a lot of the other folks that have come on the 689 00:30:29.898 --> 00:30:32.708 podcast have talked about it. You're away a 690 00:30:32.714 --> 00:30:35.360 bunch. There's no tactical airlift 691 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:36.272 into Trenton. 692 00:30:36.336 --> 00:30:36.804 That's right. 693 00:30:36.842 --> 00:30:39.272 It's all away with 694 00:30:39.326 --> 00:30:42.248 that. It means I'm going to be away a lot. It's going to be a bit of 695 00:30:42.254 --> 00:30:45.048 an adjustment for my family. We've talked about it. 696 00:30:45.134 --> 00:30:47.704 I didn't really think about it until they, 697 00:30:47.902 --> 00:30:50.876 you know, give me your selection choices. And then 698 00:30:50.898 --> 00:30:53.724 we started looking at it and I went, oh, jeez. Other than 699 00:30:53.762 --> 00:30:56.732 maybe search and rescue, there's no 700 00:30:56.786 --> 00:30:59.612 job in air mobility where you're staying home 701 00:30:59.666 --> 00:31:02.060 on a regular basis. Mhm, everything is away. 702 00:31:02.130 --> 00:31:05.056 Auroras you go away for maybe a longer period of time, but 703 00:31:05.078 --> 00:31:07.824 you're still away a bunch. Uh, J model C 704 00:31:07.862 --> 00:31:10.828 17s. There's a lot of out and back trips, so there's 705 00:31:10.844 --> 00:31:13.716 going to be a lot of time away and that's going to be tough on the 706 00:31:13.738 --> 00:31:16.576 family. So I've listened to the spouses 707 00:31:16.608 --> 00:31:19.556 episode and I took a lot of what was 708 00:31:19.578 --> 00:31:22.468 said on there from the spouses that 709 00:31:22.474 --> 00:31:25.448 you had. And I think that 710 00:31:25.614 --> 00:31:28.600 taking some of those lessons learned will help ease the 711 00:31:28.670 --> 00:31:31.544 pain of being away so much. But I really think that 712 00:31:31.582 --> 00:31:34.200 that'll probably be the biggest challenge. 713 00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:35.160 Yeah. 714 00:31:35.230 --> 00:31:37.720 It's something that's really important to be aware of. 715 00:31:37.870 --> 00:31:40.364 There's almost no multi engine 716 00:31:40.562 --> 00:31:43.516 cockpit you can end up in that doesn't end up with quite a bit 717 00:31:43.538 --> 00:31:46.316 of time away. SAR like you said, 718 00:31:46.418 --> 00:31:49.004 sometimes you're home more, but at the same time, it comes with a very 719 00:31:49.042 --> 00:31:51.964 challenging schedule. So you're home, but 720 00:31:52.002 --> 00:31:54.928 your schedule is all over the place. You do a lot of standby, and a 721 00:31:54.934 --> 00:31:57.424 search can come up where, hey, I'm going up 722 00:31:57.462 --> 00:32:00.336 to Ekaluit for the next who 723 00:32:00.358 --> 00:32:03.152 knows how long, weeks or whatever. So 724 00:32:03.286 --> 00:32:06.160 that is definitely a tough part of flying in general. 725 00:32:06.230 --> 00:32:07.590 Yep. Yeah, for sure. 726 00:32:08.360 --> 00:32:11.140 What would you say was the single most helpful tool 727 00:32:11.210 --> 00:32:13.188 that helped you succeed in flight training? 728 00:32:13.354 --> 00:32:16.336 So, for me, I think the most helpful tool was 729 00:32:16.378 --> 00:32:19.176 talking to other people, talking to the course ahead of 730 00:32:19.198 --> 00:32:22.068 you to get some information, lessons learned 731 00:32:22.084 --> 00:32:25.064 from them, things that they messed up and maybe can help 732 00:32:25.102 --> 00:32:28.072 you not make the same mistakes. Talking to courses behind 733 00:32:28.126 --> 00:32:30.796 you because there's a lot of knowledge in the building in 734 00:32:30.818 --> 00:32:33.612 general, and maybe someone else can help you. Talking 735 00:32:33.666 --> 00:32:36.476 to the hilo dudes next door, talking to the 736 00:32:36.498 --> 00:32:39.036 instructors, talking to friends. So 737 00:32:39.218 --> 00:32:41.756 one of the guys that was there and you've already interviewed him, Blake 738 00:32:41.788 --> 00:32:44.544 McNaughton. Blake, um, is actually a friend of my 739 00:32:44.582 --> 00:32:47.104 brother's. So when I got to Portage back in 740 00:32:47.142 --> 00:32:50.000 January and I met Blake and he went, oh, 741 00:32:50.070 --> 00:32:53.056 you're Scotty Harding. And I went, you're Blake McNaughton. And then we took 742 00:32:53.078 --> 00:32:55.984 a picture together and sent it to my brother. Blake and I became 743 00:32:56.032 --> 00:32:58.868 really good friends after that. And I remember a couple of 744 00:32:58.874 --> 00:33:01.776 times sending Blake a message saying, hey man, I'm 745 00:33:01.808 --> 00:33:04.804 really struggling with this. Form was the first 746 00:33:04.842 --> 00:33:07.540 one on phase two. I had a bit of trouble 747 00:33:07.620 --> 00:33:10.536 towards the end of my phase two with form, and he called me 748 00:33:10.558 --> 00:33:12.968 instantly and said, hey man, how's it 749 00:33:12.974 --> 00:33:15.944 going? Here's some tips and tricks that might 750 00:33:15.982 --> 00:33:18.968 help. But really just talked me down, gave me a 751 00:33:18.974 --> 00:33:21.868 little bit of confidence, like, hey man, you've made it 752 00:33:21.874 --> 00:33:24.684 this far, you can do this. But also imparted some 753 00:33:24.722 --> 00:33:27.596 wisdom in the sense of, here's some ways that you 754 00:33:27.618 --> 00:33:30.520 can get through what you're doing. And he did it again. 755 00:33:30.520 --> 00:33:33.408 Uh, when I was flying night flights, I struggled a 756 00:33:33.414 --> 00:33:35.984 bit on the night flying. And he 757 00:33:36.022 --> 00:33:38.816 called and said, hey man, here's some things that you can 758 00:33:38.838 --> 00:33:41.824 think, uh, know, he sent me a couple videos of him 759 00:33:41.862 --> 00:33:44.544 flying nights. So Blake's my 760 00:33:44.582 --> 00:33:47.396 example of a really good person to talk to, 761 00:33:47.498 --> 00:33:50.404 but we all have those kind of people. And I think learning from 762 00:33:50.442 --> 00:33:53.300 others and talking to other people was, for me, probably 763 00:33:53.370 --> 00:33:56.188 the biggest tool to success on phase 764 00:33:56.224 --> 00:33:59.112 three and in flight training in general, being able to learn 765 00:33:59.166 --> 00:34:02.084 from other people and take their knowledge 766 00:34:02.132 --> 00:34:04.072 and apply it to your training. Yeah. 767 00:34:04.126 --> 00:34:06.984 No person is an island, and if you try to get 768 00:34:07.022 --> 00:34:10.008 through flight training alone, you might be able to, but 769 00:34:10.014 --> 00:34:12.876 it's going to be a lot harder. It's going to be a lot more stressful, and you're giving 770 00:34:12.898 --> 00:34:15.756 yourself a lot of unnecessary pain. I have so many 771 00:34:15.778 --> 00:34:18.716 mentors I can think of that, uh, have helped me get 772 00:34:18.738 --> 00:34:21.724 through really difficult times, either in training or operational. 773 00:34:21.772 --> 00:34:24.716 Flying could be just when you need advice 774 00:34:24.828 --> 00:34:27.808 on leadership. As pilots, we get all of 775 00:34:27.814 --> 00:34:29.670 our training on leadership through mentorship. 776 00:34:29.670 --> 00:34:29.750 Ah. 777 00:34:29.830 --> 00:34:32.396 Um, we don't get very much formal leadership 778 00:34:32.428 --> 00:34:35.376 training. There's just so many things that you need to rely 779 00:34:35.408 --> 00:34:37.620 on other people to help you learn and get through. 780 00:34:37.690 --> 00:34:38.532 Yeah, exactly. 781 00:34:38.666 --> 00:34:41.540 I also think it's important to acknowledge that you did have 782 00:34:41.610 --> 00:34:44.596 a couple spots where you struggled and it's important for people to 783 00:34:44.618 --> 00:34:47.368 hear. You will have times where you struggle in flight training. 784 00:34:47.454 --> 00:34:50.264 You will have flights that you fail. That doesn't mean 785 00:34:50.382 --> 00:34:52.984 that your time is over. It's just time 786 00:34:53.022 --> 00:34:55.172 to learn from it and reattack. 787 00:34:55.236 --> 00:34:57.792 Absolutely. We've talked about mental 788 00:34:57.876 --> 00:35:00.876 resiliency before and I know that, uh, came up on a couple of 789 00:35:00.898 --> 00:35:03.852 your podcasts that mental resiliency is 790 00:35:03.906 --> 00:35:06.652 key because you're going to struggle. I know one 791 00:35:06.706 --> 00:35:09.368 dude who graduated a few courses ago 792 00:35:09.474 --> 00:35:12.000 who never had any failures throughout his entire 793 00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:14.784 training. And good for him, great on 794 00:35:14.822 --> 00:35:17.760 him, but he's the outlier 795 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:20.624 mhm everybody else at some point is going to struggle with 796 00:35:20.662 --> 00:35:23.652 something. Uh, and maybe it's hands and feet for me, 797 00:35:23.706 --> 00:35:26.544 like it was on form and mineral landings 798 00:35:26.592 --> 00:35:29.524 was the other thing. And night flying and okay, 799 00:35:29.562 --> 00:35:32.436 there was a couple of things, but, uh, it 800 00:35:32.458 --> 00:35:35.416 was critical to have that mental resiliency. And I 801 00:35:35.438 --> 00:35:38.184 won't lie, I struggled with it when I 802 00:35:38.222 --> 00:35:41.144 failed. Uh, my pretest, uh, for 803 00:35:41.182 --> 00:35:43.912 Clearhood Phase, I did some ed, some extra 804 00:35:43.966 --> 00:35:46.484 dual for it. Uh, and it wasn't 805 00:35:46.532 --> 00:35:48.588 sufficient. And I was really 806 00:35:48.754 --> 00:35:51.676 angry. Not at my instructor. He didn't do 807 00:35:51.698 --> 00:35:54.376 anything wrong. He's just evaluating what I'm 808 00:35:54.408 --> 00:35:57.100 doing as a student. I was angry at me 809 00:35:57.170 --> 00:35:59.964 because I knew I could do this and I still 810 00:36:00.002 --> 00:36:02.820 struggled. Um, and so for, uh, 811 00:36:03.142 --> 00:36:05.504 me at that point, I was breaking down 812 00:36:05.542 --> 00:36:08.464 and I went back to what I know best and 813 00:36:08.502 --> 00:36:11.264 went, I'm just going to go for a run. And it was 814 00:36:11.302 --> 00:36:14.016 chilly outside, but not cold. And I just went for a 815 00:36:14.038 --> 00:36:17.024 run. And I think for the first, like 600 meters, 816 00:36:17.072 --> 00:36:19.124 I was running like three minutes and 30 817 00:36:19.162 --> 00:36:22.096 seconds/km, which is ridiculous. That ended 818 00:36:22.128 --> 00:36:25.124 after about 600 meters. But the whole point was I got 819 00:36:25.162 --> 00:36:28.136 out there and I released a lot of that stress and 820 00:36:28.158 --> 00:36:31.064 a lot of that anxiety and anger. And that 821 00:36:31.102 --> 00:36:33.976 for me, that's one of my outlets. Uh, you need 822 00:36:33.998 --> 00:36:36.756 to know what that outlet is because you're going to struggle 823 00:36:36.868 --> 00:36:39.288 and you need to know how to make it through that struggle. 824 00:36:39.384 --> 00:36:42.236 Yeah. I would also say it's probably good to 825 00:36:42.258 --> 00:36:45.196 struggle while you're in flight training. You mentioned some 826 00:36:45.218 --> 00:36:47.996 people make it through without failures. I was 827 00:36:48.018 --> 00:36:50.392 lucky enough to be someone who made it through without failures, 828 00:36:50.536 --> 00:36:53.120 but I think that actually set me up 829 00:36:53.270 --> 00:36:55.824 poorly to I didn't learn how to deal with 830 00:36:55.862 --> 00:36:58.784 adversity until I was on an operational squadron. And 831 00:36:58.822 --> 00:37:00.240 that's a hard place to learn that. 832 00:37:00.310 --> 00:37:03.216 Yeah. Because you're going to be maybe not fail, uh, an 833 00:37:03.238 --> 00:37:05.716 upgrade flight or something, but you're going to be put in a 834 00:37:05.738 --> 00:37:08.276 situation that is going to have some 835 00:37:08.298 --> 00:37:11.204 adversity to it 100%. And if you 836 00:37:11.242 --> 00:37:14.096 haven't had a chance to work through some of those demons 837 00:37:14.128 --> 00:37:17.076 already, then that could be detrimental 838 00:37:17.108 --> 00:37:20.104 to your performance. So not suggesting that 839 00:37:20.142 --> 00:37:22.984 anybody should try and fail a flight so they could feel adversity, no, 840 00:37:23.102 --> 00:37:25.896 but it is a good experience to 841 00:37:25.918 --> 00:37:26.248 have. 842 00:37:26.334 --> 00:37:28.856 Yeah, I think what we're saying is embrace it as a learning experience. 843 00:37:28.958 --> 00:37:29.368 Absolutely. 844 00:37:29.454 --> 00:37:32.364 If you do run into that situation and I did personally, like 845 00:37:32.402 --> 00:37:35.388 all cards on the table, I did need some extra training on 846 00:37:35.394 --> 00:37:38.316 one of my upgrades on the Aurora, and it was a hard pill to 847 00:37:38.338 --> 00:37:41.196 swallow, and I really wish that I had had to learn that 848 00:37:41.218 --> 00:37:44.208 lesson earlier. I did learn it. I had great mentorship at 849 00:37:44.214 --> 00:37:47.116 the time and I got through it, but it's tough. So hopefully 850 00:37:47.148 --> 00:37:49.712 you learn those lessons earlier and you move on 851 00:37:49.766 --> 00:37:52.544 and you just keep on, uh, with 852 00:37:52.582 --> 00:37:53.496 learning and growing. 853 00:37:53.548 --> 00:37:54.470 Yeah, exactly. 854 00:37:55.560 --> 00:37:57.908 Okay, we are down to our last three questions 855 00:37:57.994 --> 00:38:00.820 already. They're going to be our standard last three, 856 00:38:00.890 --> 00:38:03.572 but we're going to kind of tailor them to your flight training 857 00:38:03.626 --> 00:38:06.616 experience. So what was the most important thing 858 00:38:06.638 --> 00:38:09.608 you did to keep yourself ready to succeed in flight training? 859 00:38:09.774 --> 00:38:12.644 So studying, for sure, staying in the books, 860 00:38:12.692 --> 00:38:15.576 like I said, for phase three, the rules and 861 00:38:15.598 --> 00:38:18.476 regs and being able to understand and apply them 862 00:38:18.578 --> 00:38:21.292 was huge. So just reading the book once 863 00:38:21.346 --> 00:38:23.768 wasn't good enough. So really getting in the books 864 00:38:23.864 --> 00:38:26.844 and getting back in the books. So you study 865 00:38:26.882 --> 00:38:29.868 a bunch for the simulator phase, and then you just go do a 866 00:38:29.874 --> 00:38:32.668 bunch of VFR flying for a while and then you're back in the 867 00:38:32.674 --> 00:38:35.296 simulator to do IFR. Well, you still need to know all those 868 00:38:35.318 --> 00:38:38.204 IFR rules, so you got to get back in the books and restudy. 869 00:38:38.252 --> 00:38:41.184 So studying was one of the big ones. Make sure you stay 870 00:38:41.222 --> 00:38:43.916 in the books and stay current with what's going on, but then just 871 00:38:43.958 --> 00:38:46.896 having that outlet as well. Make sure that you're 872 00:38:46.928 --> 00:38:49.924 not always in the books. Make sure you're not always prepping for 873 00:38:49.962 --> 00:38:52.532 flights. You have a way to relax and 874 00:38:52.586 --> 00:38:55.190 separate your mind and relax your body. 875 00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:59.272 Now that you're a qualified pilot, I'll ask you this. What do you think 876 00:38:59.326 --> 00:39:00.516 makes a good pilot? 877 00:39:00.628 --> 00:39:03.256 I think being humble, and I think some of your other 878 00:39:03.278 --> 00:39:06.264 guests have said this, but being humble, being 879 00:39:06.382 --> 00:39:09.196 willing to recognize your mistakes or recognize the 880 00:39:09.218 --> 00:39:12.124 spots where you're going to struggle is critical. Because 881 00:39:12.162 --> 00:39:15.132 if you go into it thinking that you're the 882 00:39:15.186 --> 00:39:18.156 best thing since, uh, Maverick and you 883 00:39:18.178 --> 00:39:21.116 think you can do everything better than everybody else, you're going to 884 00:39:21.138 --> 00:39:24.016 struggle. And maybe it won't be in the cockpit, but it 885 00:39:24.038 --> 00:39:26.928 will be personality based. So you need to 886 00:39:26.934 --> 00:39:29.856 be humble enough to recognize that you 887 00:39:29.878 --> 00:39:32.784 don't know everything, that you're not the best, and 888 00:39:32.822 --> 00:39:35.444 maybe you are the best, but you need to be able to step back and go, 889 00:39:35.482 --> 00:39:38.416 hey, I'm still willing to learn from whoever I'm 890 00:39:38.448 --> 00:39:41.332 talking to. I think being a pilot, especially 891 00:39:41.386 --> 00:39:43.892 in the RCAF, is a constant learning 892 00:39:43.946 --> 00:39:46.472 experience. And if you're not willing to 893 00:39:46.526 --> 00:39:49.368 continue to learn, then you're going to 894 00:39:49.374 --> 00:39:51.864 miss it. So being humble to know your 895 00:39:51.902 --> 00:39:54.776 shortcomings and make yourself better, yeah, I 896 00:39:54.798 --> 00:39:55.144 like that. 897 00:39:55.182 --> 00:39:58.008 And even you mentioned, even if you are the best, every course has a 898 00:39:58.014 --> 00:40:00.956 top candidate. But like you said, there's still 899 00:40:00.978 --> 00:40:03.772 so much to learn. Everyone has something to learn. And you'll see 900 00:40:03.826 --> 00:40:06.636 people who are on squadron who've been 901 00:40:06.658 --> 00:40:09.484 there, who've been in that community for decades, and they're still 902 00:40:09.522 --> 00:40:12.304 learning. And they might learn something from you, even, that you bring through 903 00:40:12.342 --> 00:40:15.296 from that you learn in flight training, some trick you've learned or 904 00:40:15.318 --> 00:40:18.240 whatever everybody's constantly learning. So 905 00:40:18.390 --> 00:40:21.184 even if you are like the top candidate of your course, you've still got 906 00:40:21.222 --> 00:40:21.920 tons to learn. 907 00:40:21.990 --> 00:40:22.850 Yeah, exactly. 908 00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:26.996 You've been the senior course for a while now in the multi engine 909 00:40:27.098 --> 00:40:30.068 section of the school. As the senior course now leaving the 910 00:40:30.074 --> 00:40:32.896 school, if you ran into someone just arriving to start their flight 911 00:40:32.928 --> 00:40:34.948 training, what advice would you give them? 912 00:40:35.034 --> 00:40:37.768 Talk to the people ahead of you. Talk to the guys ahead of 913 00:40:37.774 --> 00:40:40.376 you. Make sure you stay in contact with the guys that are 914 00:40:40.398 --> 00:40:43.144 leaving the course that's behind. My 915 00:40:43.182 --> 00:40:46.024 course hasn't even completed their clearhood test, 916 00:40:46.142 --> 00:40:48.852 so they haven't even made it to that automation IFR 917 00:40:48.916 --> 00:40:51.916 phase yet, which means when they get there, they're going to have all 918 00:40:51.938 --> 00:40:54.844 these questions and I'm sorry, but we're not there 919 00:40:54.882 --> 00:40:57.820 to answer them. So make sure you got contact with guys 920 00:40:57.890 --> 00:41:00.796 and talk to the people ahead of you because they're going through all 921 00:41:00.818 --> 00:41:03.712 the same struggles that you're about to go through. Um, when 922 00:41:03.766 --> 00:41:06.736 we went into nights and I struggled, I 923 00:41:06.758 --> 00:41:09.536 went and talked to the course ahead of me. Hey guys, what did you 924 00:41:09.558 --> 00:41:12.224 do? How did you get through this part? Both 925 00:41:12.342 --> 00:41:15.140 not sleep deprivation, but a little bit of 926 00:41:15.290 --> 00:41:18.116 not being at the top of your game because you're flying off your 927 00:41:18.138 --> 00:41:20.996 circadian rhythm. How did you get through that? How 928 00:41:21.018 --> 00:41:23.988 did you adapt to not being able to see the 929 00:41:23.994 --> 00:41:26.804 airport as well? Talk to the people ahead of you because they 930 00:41:26.842 --> 00:41:29.624 know the struggles that you're going to go through and might have 931 00:41:29.662 --> 00:41:32.376 ways around it. So if you're showing up in Portage right 932 00:41:32.398 --> 00:41:35.080 now, talk to the people ahead of you. Yeah. 933 00:41:35.230 --> 00:41:38.136 And also the people who have just finished a 934 00:41:38.158 --> 00:41:40.924 course. You won't meet anyone who has been in the books as 935 00:41:40.962 --> 00:41:43.804 much as those. Like, they've just worked as hard 936 00:41:43.842 --> 00:41:46.508 as they possibly can to achieve this 937 00:41:46.594 --> 00:41:49.420 crazy thing. So they're going to know their stuff. 938 00:41:49.490 --> 00:41:50.350 Yeah, absolutely. 939 00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:53.760 Okay, so Scott, I know that you're on leave today, 940 00:41:53.830 --> 00:41:56.624 so I really appreciate you taking the time to drive to my 941 00:41:56.662 --> 00:41:59.616 place from Winnipeg to do this interview. It's really cool to 942 00:41:59.638 --> 00:42:02.400 check in with you and see how the next phase of your flight training 943 00:42:02.470 --> 00:42:05.392 went. And who knows? I'd love to connect again 944 00:42:05.446 --> 00:42:08.292 once you get some training under your belt at four three 945 00:42:08.346 --> 00:42:10.772 six and just hear how things are going there too. 946 00:42:10.826 --> 00:42:13.684 Yeah, absolutely. Brian? Yeah. You got my phone number. Give me a call. Okay, 947 00:42:13.722 --> 00:42:14.404 happy to do it. 948 00:42:14.442 --> 00:42:17.304 Awesome. All right, that's going to wrap up 949 00:42:17.342 --> 00:42:20.036 our chat with Scott about phase three, multi 950 00:42:20.068 --> 00:42:22.712 engine and life as a student. For our next 951 00:42:22.766 --> 00:42:25.476 episode, we'll be doing a shorter episode featuring 952 00:42:25.508 --> 00:42:28.312 Mike Baring's experiences being deployed for Op 953 00:42:28.366 --> 00:42:31.236 impact over Christmas. Do you have any questions or comments 954 00:42:31.268 --> 00:42:34.044 about anything you've heard? Or would you or someone you know make a great 955 00:42:34.082 --> 00:42:37.036 guest for the show? Or is there a topic you'd love to see covered on 956 00:42:37.058 --> 00:42:38.636 the show? Please send us an email at 957 00:42:38.658 --> 00:42:41.484 thepilotprojectpodcast@gmail.com 958 00:42:41.602 --> 00:42:44.432 did you know that we put out videos for every episode we create 959 00:42:44.486 --> 00:42:46.896 on social media? You can find us at 960 00:42:46.998 --> 00:42:49.776 podpilot project. These videos feature footage of 961 00:42:49.798 --> 00:42:52.736 RCAF aircraft set to cool music with quotes from the 962 00:42:52.758 --> 00:42:55.696 show, and all the footage is shot by RCAF air 963 00:42:55.718 --> 00:42:58.644 crew or members. We'd like to thank you once again for 964 00:42:58.682 --> 00:43:01.444 joining us for the show. We had a lot of fun with it and we hope you did 965 00:43:01.482 --> 00:43:04.420 too. As always, we'd like to ask for your help with the big three 966 00:43:04.490 --> 00:43:07.396 that's like and follow us on social media. Share with 967 00:43:07.418 --> 00:43:10.244 your friends and follow and rate us five stars wherever you get 968 00:43:10.282 --> 00:43:13.232 your podcasts. That's all for now. Thanks for listening. 969 00:43:13.296 --> 00:43:15.510 Keep the blue side up. See you.