Flying on Eagles Wings

Quick Facts - Jim is a pilot for Courtesy Air in Buffalo Narrows. When Jim is not flying, you can find him in his back yard working on his vehicles, fishing with his brother, or enjoying life with this wife and two daughters)

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I went to was grade seven when I dropped out, and because of it, I had a real hard time to reach my goal of being a pilot. I always wanted to fly, but without an education I had to go to work. I worked with my father who was a fisherman, and then I went to work for Resources (SERM). I believe it was for thirteen years I worked for Resources.

I first started as a Fire Protection Worker 1 and then I went up to a FPW3. Fire fighting was a big part of SERM, and it seemed that that as time when on planes became more important in fighting fires. The quicker you can get to a fire, the better chance you have of putting it out before it spreads out of control. Planes are more efficient in putting out initial fires than the old style method of trucking people to the fires.

It was then that I got interested in flying big time. I was around aircraft lots, even going on choppers, and then I went to Bird Dog. (A Bird Dog flies around pin pointing the fires and tests the best way for larger planes to approach the fire). I was a Bird Dog officer for 5 years, guiding water bombers.

When I moved to La Range, I thought I would get my private pilot license. I was living in Buffalo with my family when we moved. I was able to be transferred. I would work in the summer time and wintertime I had off. I followed my wife because she got a job in LaRonge. She was a dental therapist. The opportunity was there for me and that's how I got my private license. The exam was a tough one. I had a hard time with the exam because I dropped out of school so early. Basically I just about gave up, Ray McKay, Ec. Development, got me re-booted. He developed a satellite school program in La Ronge.

He had some funding available for Native pilots but you were pretty much on your own. The instructor flew into La Ronge from Saskatoon. He tried to fill in the gaps. But believe me, it felt as if I were blind when I tried to understand what was going on. I hired a tutor, there was one guy there, he was taking his private license. I got him to teach me the ins and outs of the exam.

Even that didn't help me as much as I would have liked. I passed my private pilot's license, but I failed the exam for my commercial license. I walked away for just about a year. Then Nolan told me about the course. I had to go back and re-study. I had to meet a deadline, there is only a limited amount of time you have to rewrite a test. To make the story short, I passed the exam. That was the biggest academic struggle of my life.

My wife was there for me as well when I got my commercial license. She helped me with my homework, and was supportive of me when I was down. The day I passed my exam I went to Wollaston for 6 months, and she followed me. All in all it was a good experience. Now, I know there are a lot better opportunities for someone who wants to get into flying than there were ten years ago. When I first started flying work was less than seasonal, now I fly all year round if I want.

I think I started in training in 1991, by the time I was all done it took me about 4 years. I walked away from my private license for about a year. I started working for Pat Chartier, and then I went back to Resources for 3 years. At the time I wasn't sure about flying. Flying can be a scary job at times, especially when you are the Bird Dog. Now I enjoy my work with Courtesy Air, and I am trying to upgrade my skills to fly bigger planes. I hope that in five years that I will have completed all of my training, and will be flying commercial flights on the big planes.